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If you have been an avid reader of my blog, well done reading this far. If not that’s ok.

Disclaimer – This post is my opinion and my opinion alone. Please do not model your career path based on these blog post alone. Further to add I make reference to other third parties, to which I have no connection with or have any financial arrangement.

This post is reflecting on my 13+ years in the IT workforce. If I had my time again to educate, learn, grow and absorb what I know today. I may have done things differently. If I had to give 5 tips for anyone wanting to get educated in the IT space and workforce, I would suggest the following.

1. After finishing high school, I would relearn the way to learn
   • I recently came across this study/learning coach Justin Sung
     • I watched some of his video’s on mind maps, encoding, learning to listen to your mind when it’s telling you to stop learning
     • Traditional note taking is not as effective as most people think
     • Tips on effective reading
   • I found Justin’s study and learning methods quite interesting. I had some learning difficulties when I was younger. Had I come across these techniques earlier I may have improved my grades.
     • I finished high school with a ‘C’ as my average
   • Today I feel I’m a more effective learner, not just though observing Justin Sung’s content but through my experience of trial and error of learning.
     • E.g. When I entered my second role at my first job (support an online payment system), I had to start my learning from scratch.
     • I would write down note after note after note on every single issue not in a structured way.
     • Today after trial and error on writing notes on what I learned in the workforce, I can write effective documentation, procedures and notes which I share with my colleagues.
   • Further to add, I would take my time to learn my topic and subject rather race through
2. I would learn Cloud sooner
   • I first heard cloud in the mid 2010’s
   • Back in those times cloud concepts only covered backups and saving data into the cloud.
   • Today we have the world’s best and popular apps running in numerous in the cloud
   • I’m sure in the early 2010’s some apps would have already been running in the cloud.
   • If I knew this around that time, I would have absorbed cloud much sooner
     • Upon researching AWS, the birth year of AWS Cloud computing was in 2006. We’re in 2024, AWS cloud computing is less than 20 years old.
3. I would read and immerse in IT books and learn the lingo/language
   • During my time in the workforce I developed my IT language
   • I didn’t know how to explain and describe IT issues, let alone perform the mental troubleshooting
     • I.e. Understand from the customer perspective what they are experiencing, understand the flow of the issue, understand the hops (a lingo word in networking) between systems / functions etc.
   • Below is an example of explaining a basic issue
     • E.g. The File API system failed 3.30am according to this log. The log shows a ‘500 unreachable error’ when transmitting the payment file titled MondayPayment0924.txt.
       • 3.30am is the time we have out backups occur. The backup system DNS host name is backup.someserver.com. Can we please check the status of backup.someserver.com at 3.30am. Please check the individual server ip’s behind this DNS.
       • I will chat with the dev to confirm if there is a way to resubmit this file into the backup system.
   • Two books I found very useful that helped me improve my overall appreciation of the IT ecosystem. I would recommend reading of of these (or both, if that is your choosing).
     • “The DevOps Handbook. How to create world-class agility, reliability, & security in technology organizations: Gene Kim, Jez Humble, Patrick Debois & John Willis.”
     • “The science of lean software and devops. Accelerate. Building and scaling high performing technology organizations: Nicole Forsgren, Phd, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim.”
4. I would rethink going to Uni
   • I tried to major in IT Security back in 2010.
   • I didn’t pass some of the cryptography classes and did not want to reattempt it
   • So in the end I just exited with a Bachelor of IT
   • Looking at my experience now, I don’t regret going to Uni however my Uni experience has not added any benefit to my career
     • Sure I managed to prove to myself by finishing my Uni degree but my learning continued right up until now.
     • My continued desired to learning, open mindedness and will to push to improve are the attributes that live within my career still to this day.
   • Perhaps I may have completed a Diploma or Advance Diploma in IT and find a job after completion.
     • Or find an Online IT Course on Udemy, Udacity etc
   • In the end your always learning on the job
5. Find myself a IT mentor/coach. Ask more IT professionals what they do day to day
   • An obvious one. I can’t recall if I had the opportunity before in my uni days, to speak to a mentor, get advice and learn what IT professionals do.
   • Asking IT professionals what they do would have given me more perspective on the employment options out there.
     • I would have like to have been provided some feedback / input on entry level jobs
     • Had I known earlier about Cloud computing, I would have asked what opportunities exist in the industry in this field.
   • I wouldn’t face focused too much about finding a job (although important as a prospective IT professional), but rather, continue to build by IT skills away from the classroom.
   • Ask the uni for a shadowing opportunity with an IT professional. Similar to a high school work experience event.
     • I would ask questions about what the IT professional does daily, ask challenges (and what the process is to fix issues), document notes (review them at the end of the day and take the time to reflect on these notes) and speak to others on what they do as well.

Summary:

• The 5 points I mentioned above is a post reflection of my studies and my 13+ years in the IT workforce
• Hindsight is a wonderful thing. The main take away from this post if to never stop learning and improving.
  • Don’t believe what you know now will be permanent. Your skills need to continue to evolve in the industry.
  • There will always be someone with higher skills that come along. Learn from that person and build on what you know.
• Your only as good as your current skills.