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medium.com post articles show a good insight into IT topics

Note – I have no endorsement or arrangement with medium.com. I use medium.com on my own accord as a resource to research into other creators and writers in the IT space. To view some of these posts you may need to be a subscriber. I do not or will not advise you to be a subscriber, it is up to your own decision if you wish to subscribe to this resource.

This post has been written to comment on posts I’ve read on the medium.com platform. Alot of these creators and writers I’ve read share the same values and principles that should be applied in your learnings and IT journey. I’ve provided a summary/important lines (in italics) and opinion points on some of the parts to these articles.

https://alexchesser.medium.com/professional-development-is-a-choice-e90fb8719259

Points of interest:

  • Professional development must be deliberate and it must be what YOU want for YOUR career.
    • This is so true on so many levels
    • I’ve seen people get dictated and order by others in the workforce because they don’t have the control or confidence to do anything else or break out of the cycle
    • Ensure you plant small seeds of learning. Add 1% each week to your learning
      • Over the course of 52 weeks, by adding 1% of learning to your knowledge base you will have added 52% more knowledge than before.
      • It’s better than adding 0%
    • Be deliberate in your learning. Learning can be as simple as watching an AWS video, writing notes on the video (e.g. writing down some points of interest and then researching further those points) or applying to a course or exercise.
  • Open your calendar app right now. Invite yourself to a 1 hour meeting called “professional self reflection” set it to recur weekly.
    • It’s great to say you want improve and learn new skills in IT, but you actually need to set aside time, yes set aside time to dedicate to learning and improving.
    • Most people think immediately hours and hours behind a desk learning and torturing over books. No! let me tell you learning can be as simple as watching a YouTube video, reading a 5 min article on an IT opinion piece or doing an exercise in building an IT app in AWS.
      • None of the the examples provided involve hours and hours on end.
        • (Of course if you are immersed and have a desire to spend more time on these activities then yes that is your choice)
    • The most important part of watching or reading is to reflect and apply these learnings
      • Ask yourself how you can apply these learnings to your IT career or journey
        • (E.g. I want to learn more about AWS. I will watch an intro video into the AWS foundation course, watch a video on IT networking, watch a video on containers etc. I will then write 2-3 lines on what I believe I have learned, reflect on these 2-3 written lines and think how to apply this to building an app, solving an existing IT problem at work etc)

https://janehoran.medium.com/make-way-for-mentors-8a72b2df3c92

Points of interest:

  • This article reflects on the needs of (IT) mentors
  • Today we’re bombarded with different (IT) messages from all sources. E.g. parents, schools, social media, regular media, IT professional etc
    • Everyone has an opinion and young IT individuals probably struggle understanding these messages because it doesn’t actually address the issue’s they are having.
      • E.g. Troubleshooting IT, climbing the career ladder, looking at other IT industries etc
  • Having that face to face IT mentor or even starting a simple conversation about how an IT individual began their career, asking them the challenges, and more importantly asking the specifics on how they faced and resolved challenges will embed small seeds of knowledge in your career.
    • I.e. When I refer to specifics I refer to the resources, tools, systems, the specific teams used by the IT individual to troubleshoot the challenges
  • When you speak to an IT professional, you get the feelings, emotions and empathy they share.
    • This is more powerful than doing an IT short / online course
    • (Online course has their place but more for skill building in my opinion)

https://jordbrown.medium.com/how-i-learn-technical-things-fast-a5b3f253d915

Points of interest:

  • Sharpening the Axe
    Abraham Lincoln famously said;
    “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
    He was talking about the importance of preparation and it’s the foundation on which we should build our skills.
    • Preparing for a IT job interview? Research into other competitors
    • Do a Google search of generic statements related to the job interview
      • E.g. What is a common ticketing system the IT industry uses, can you show me same screenshots (you can study some of the buttons and functions on these screenshots, and further research ).
    • Interested in learning Cloud skills
      • Watch a Y.T. video, read a Cloud development article, if you subscribe to a mainstream newspaper, check what the discussions are under the Technology section
    • Spending time on these simple activities will improve your overall learning in the long term
  • Allowing Immersion
    It’s easy to learn when we’re in the right environment.
    • I’d like to focus more on the resources you follow
    • Do you spend all your time following your social media creators
      • I.e. Watching meaningless video’s that don’t fuel your knowledge base but are just mere time wasters or reading content from your favourite real TV series?
    • Why not follow creators that have created content on their subject matter and are less than 5-10 minutes?
    • E.g.
    • Add one or two IT creators to your followings so you at least add some learning improvement to your day
  • First Principles
    Asking “why” is a key difference separating a beginner from a master.
    I didn’t understand the importance of this until I started progressing in my career.
    • When building your knowledge ensure you gather as much info as possible
    • Don’t focus on the ‘why’ part but the ‘how’
      • E.g. How does this API talk to this application, or how does the logging work for this app. You can then follow up with questions like, what is the API written in, where is it hosted, how do you update (add, edit, delete) the API etc
    • Build a table on these questions or create dot points with some points underneath documenting your knowledge building
      • This table will have gaps at the start but you can always add pieces to it. E.g.
development table
  • The example above uses a API called Payment API which is just a made up service for this point.

Summary:

  • The main summary / point to take away from these medium articles, is to point out the subtle messaging of others
  • It may not relate to you straight away but continuing to read these publications will enhance and broaden your knowledge, and appreciate the users perspective
  • By providing some examples (after the italics), I hope I can give you an insight on how to absorb these publications
    • If it helps, write down some of the points of interest (from your own readings) and reflect later on how you can apply them to your learning

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