IT Career Energizer

GUEST BIO: Anne-Marie is a software tester, trainer and coach with a reputation of excellence and passion for the craft of software testing.  An electronic engineer by trade, software testing chose her when she started testing protocols against European standards. Anne-Marie has developed software testing courses and lectured at the University of Technology, Sydney. EPISODE DESCRIPTION: Phil’s guest on today’s show is Anne-Marie Charrett. She is currently running her own software testing, training and coaching business. By trade, she is an electronic engineer, who, early in her career became interested in testing protocols, which she has been doing for the past 20 years. Anne-Marie is also a coach, trainer and Software Test Consultant. She is also a well-known conference speaker. KEY TAKEAWAYS: (1.01) – So Anne-Marie, can I ask you to expand on that brief intro and tell us a little bit more about yourself? Anne-Marie explains that when she left university, it was not her intention to become involved in software testing. However, at the time, there was growing interest in protocols and making sure that they conformed to European standards, something that Anne-Marie was drawn to. Anne-Marie got used to testing each layer to make sure that it conformed to the standard. But, she soon realised that this was not an indication of quality. She recognised the fact that things had to work together properly for the system or software to be deemed as truly fit for purpose. The realisation that testers had to dive deeper and go beyond whether the software meets a standard and check that it does its job drove her to become a software tester. From there, becoming a software engineer was a natural progression. (3.17) – Can you please share a unique career tip with the I.T. career audience? Over the course of her career, Anne-Marie has learned to follow the advice – “don’t be nice, but do be kind.” She goes on to explain what she means by that. She says that you need to work smart. To do what is right for your career and the project that you are working on. So, sometimes you have to push to get things done and stand up for what you know has to be done. But, you can still do that in a kind way. She went on to add that you need to think strategically about your career and how you get things done in the workplace. This is something Anne-Marie thinks Angie Jones does particularly well. (3.17) – Can you tell us about your worst career moment? And what you learned from that experience. Years ago, Anne-Marie moved from managing a team of 30 testers to leading 250 engineers. For her, it was a big change. She was working in a very different environment with people who thought and worked in a different way. Her new team needed to be motivated differently. Unfortunately, Anne-Marie did not fully realize this until it was too late. Anne-Marie had taken a very similar approach as she did when she was running her testing team. Making sure that everyone understood the big picture. What the end customer wanted, how the developers worked as well as what the system needed to do. Her band of 30 loyal testers had happily followed her and thrived when she had managed them in this way. The engineers were not as comfortable with this approach. They were far more empirical. For them, it was facts and figures that motivated them. So, things did not go well. However, she learned a lot from this experience, including the fact that there is a difference between leadership and management. She also realized that you need to communicate your value, even when you have not been asked to do so directly. If you produce software you have something solid to show for your efforts. With testing, it is not as easy to demonstrate how you contribute. It also taught her to think and talk about quality engineering in terms of business outcomes. This helps the person you are speaking with to understand the contribution you are making to the company’s bottom line. Anne-Marie explains that you have to adapt your message to fit in with that person’s role. For example, the finance guys will be more interested in how much the new software saves the company than they would be in the fact it will make someone’s job easier. (10.10) – Phil asks Anne-Marie to share her best career moment. Anne-Marie’s most rewarding experience has been running her own company. She has really enjoyed creating a space in which talented people can work, thrive and discover skills that they never knew they had. Anne-Marie is also really proud of SpeakEasy, which she set up with Fiona Charles. This initiative pairs up those who want to speak at conferences with mentors. The majority of IT conference speakers are still men, something Anne-Marie and Fiona wanted to play a part in changing. As a result, most of the people they help are women or those from minority groups. It has been a huge success. Plenty of experienced speakers have come forward to be mentors and they have helped lots of people. Plus, many conference organizers have agreed to leave a few slots free specifically for SpeakEasy participants, which has been a great help.  (15.03) – Can you tell us what excites you about the future of the IT industry and careers? The fact that the industry has woken up to the importance of diversity is something that Anne-Marie sees as a big positive. Diversity will lead to more ideas and different solutions. (16.39) – What drew you to a career in IT, Anne-Marie? Like many people of her generation Anne-Marie had a Commodore 64, which sparked her interest in IT. But, not necessarily in the same way it did for many others. Like most kids, she found learning to program interesting. But, what really fascinated her was how the computer itself worked. She wanted to find out enough to dismantle her Commodore 64 and find out. (17.37) – What is the best career advice you have ever received? Anne-Marie said that it was a something her Dad told her – Don’t be afraid to ask for advice. People love giving advice. When you ask someone for advice you are laying the foundation for a strong relationship, as well as benefiting from their experience.  (18.52) – If you were to begin your IT career again, right now, what would you do? Anne-Marie says that she would get involved in Site Reliability Engineering, from the start. Learning how to design and set up systems in the most optimal way is fascinating. For someone who loves looking at the big picture and working to push quality levels up, as much as Anne-Marie does, the SRE sector is a perfect fit. (19.30) – What are you currently focusing on in your career? Right now, Anne-Marie wants to scale her business. Fortunately, she has a good partner who is helping her to learn the skills she needs to be able to do this. (20.18) – What is the number one non-technical skill that has helped you the most in your IT career? Being able to ask the right questions has proved to be an invaluable skill for Anne-Marie. She says that most of the time, smart people already have the answers to their problems. Usually, all they need is to be asked the right questions, something that Anne-Marie is very good at doing. (21.13) – Phil asks Anne-Marie to share a final piece of career advice with the audience. Anne-Marie’s advice is to “never let people put you in a box.” Instead, set your own boundaries and work out ways to gradually push beyond them. BEST MOMENTS: (7.44) Anne-Marie – “I learned the importance of communication. You need to communicate your value, even if nobody's asked for that.” (9.06) Anne-Marie – “Now, I talk about quality engineering in terms of business outcomes, “ (14.31) Anne-Marie – “People are interested in personal experiences. People are interested in how you approached a problem and solved it.” (17.41) Anne-Marie – “Don’t be afraid to ask for advice. People love giving advice.” (20.50) Anne-Marie – “By probing and asking thoughtful questions, often, the answers evolve out of that conversation." CONTACT Anne-Marie: Twitter: https://twitter.com/charrett @charrett LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/testingtimes Website: https://annemariecharrett.com

GUEST BIO: Nina Zakharenko is a Senior Cloud Developer Advocate at Microsoft, focusing on Python. Before joining Microsoft, she was a Software Engineer with over a decade of experience writing software for companies like Reddit, Meetup, and HBO. In her spare time, she enjoys snowboarding, hiking, and tinkering with wearable electronics from her home base in Portland, OR. EPISODE DESCRIPTION: My guest on today’s show is Nina Zakharenko. She is a Senior Cloud Developer Advocate for Microsoft. Nina is also a well-known conference speaker who covers many technical subjects. Although Python is her area of expertise. Before joining Microsoft, Nina spent a decade writing software for a range of companies, including Reddit, Meetup, HBO and several PayPal subsidiaries. She has also run several JavaScript, Jquery and Git workshops for Girl Develop It. KEY TAKEAWAYS: (1.07) – So Nina, can I ask you to expand on that brief intro and tell us a little bit more about yourself? Nina describes herself as a “newly minted Developer Advocate”. For the 10 years preceding her joining Microsoft, Nina worked as a software engineer. About 5 years ago, she started giving conference speeches, for fun. She really enjoyed it, so took things more seriously. Today, she is a regular conference speaker. (1.40) – How many conferences talks have you given? Nina says that she has lost count, but it’s a lot. She has spoken in Russia, Prague, Scotland and given several keynote speeches. (2.03) Phil asks Nina if she speaks on a range of different subjects or if she mostly repeats the same speech. Nina explains that she speaks about a range of IT subjects. For example, technical debt and how to develop excellent code review processes. However, the bulk of the speeches she delivers are related to Python, which is really her area of expertise. (2.25) – Can you please share a unique career tip with the I.T. career audience? Nina’s ultimate career tip is to focus on doing one thing, at a time. New things in tech come and go, so keeping up with everything is very challenging. The trick is to find one thing that you feel passionate about and stick with it. If you do not, you will end up being pulled in all directions. Nina’s passion is Python. As soon as she started focusing on it and getting involved in that community her career flourished and really took off. (3.23) – Can you tell us about your worst career moment? And what you learned from that experience. Nina has found that her worst career moments occurred when she is following the money instead of her passion. For example, one of the startups she was working for was taken over. Overnight, everything changed. Nina did not feel 100% comfortable with the ethics of the new company and did not share their leadership values. So, she was no longer happy working there. But, she tried to make it through to the four year cliff period, so that she could secure her share options. This decision ended up being a big mistake. Basically, she burned out. So, she had to leave before the four years were up, without her shares. Of course, it meant that she was a bit poorer. But, it was the right decision. Overnight, she felt happier and soon landed another job, one which she really enjoyed. It is important to understand yourself. To know what you want to get out of your job. Nina’s advice is to find a job that offers you the right balance for you. (5.08) – Phil asks Nina what her best career moment was. Nina says that was probably when she gave her first talk in front of a big audience of about 400, at PyCon.   She was shaking throughout her speech. Despite this, she was able to deliver a great talk. After giving that first speech, Nina realized that people were really interested in her experiences and what she had to say. One of Nina’s ambitions is to give the keynote speech at PyCon. (7.42) – Can you tell us what excites you about the future of the IT industry and careers? Nina likes the fact that in the IT field there are lots of opportunities for those who want to act as mentors, far more than in other industries. This is a good thing for everyone. It means that those that want to mentor can, while those that want to learn can do so easily, which is great for the future of the industry. (9.08) – Phil says that, over the past decade or so, he has noticed big changes in this area. The industry is far more open and inclusive than it used to be. People are now more commutative and ready to respond positively when they are asked for help or advice. (9.32) – What drew you to a career in IT? Nina has always wanted to be a software engineer. At 11 years old, she said exactly that in one of her school essays. Curiously, it was her dislike of the band Hanson that motivated her to build her first website. She learned HTML, just so she could put together her anti-Hanson site. (10.44) – What is the best career advice you have ever received? Nina says she was once told not to think of her career as being something that is attached to a specific workplace. If you are not getting what you need from your current work all you need to do is to move onto something else. When you work in the IT industry, there is no need to let your career stagnate. (11.21) – If you were to begin your IT career again, right now, what would you do? Nina says that if she were to start out again, she would make sure that she started her career working in a field that she felt passionate about. Her first job was in the finance sector writing enterprise applications, which she never really enjoyed doing. If you have multiple offers take the time to choose wisely. Choose the place that is going to help you to stay passionate about what you are doing. Don’t just throw a dart and see where it sticks. (12.27) – What objectives are you currently focusing on? Right now, it is becoming a better developer advocate that is driving Nina on. She comments that at first she thought she already had all of the skills she needed for her new role. Now, she knows there is more for her to learn, something that she is very keen to do. Currently, she is focusing on her customers and making sure that they have the best possible experience. (13.18) – What is the number one non-technical skill that has helped you the most in your IT career?  Nina says that her ability to take hard or complex problems and break things down into easy steps so that anyone can understand it has proved invaluable. She uses this skill when she writes and when she puts together her videos or speeches. Without this ability, it would have been possible for her to have helped so many people to experience that ‘aha moment’. (13.50) Phil asks Nina if she structures her delivery in a particular way. For example, selling the big idea first then drilling down to the detail. Nina says yes in a way that is what she does. She likes to add a little bit of mystique into her conference talks. If she can, she takes her audience in one direction then switches things up part way through. She finds that doing so holds their attention and turns what are sometimes quite dry subjects into something that is a little more interesting. (14.21) – Phil asks Nina to share a final piece of career advice with the audience. Nina’s parting piece of career advice is to “trust your gut.” If something catches your attention or excites you, listen to your gut rather than just your logical mind. We like to think of ourselves as being logical beings. But, in reality, we are mostly driven by our emotions. BEST MOMENTS: (2.35) NINA – "Focus on doing one thing well, at a time." (3.34) NINA – “My worst IT career moments came when I was trying to follow the money instead of following my passion." (9.09) NINA – “I think the openness and the sort of inclusiveness within the IT industry have certainly grown over the last decade." (11.11) NINA – "If you feel like your career is stagnating, it's okay to look around." (14.55) PHIL – “We think we're logical. But when it boils down to it, we're all emotionally driven" CONTACT NINA: Twitter: https://twitter.com/nnja @nnja LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninaz Website: https://www.nnja.io

GUEST BIO: Ian Massingham is a Technical Evangelist at Amazon Web Services and has been working with cloud computing technologies since 2008.  Ian has around 20 years’ experience in the IT industry, covering operations and engineering within hosting, telecommunications and cloud service providers.  Ian has a particular interest in the development of Connected Device and IoT applications. EPISODE DESCRIPTION: Phil’s guest on today’s show is Ian Massingham. Ian has already had a long IT career and is still enjoying getting involved in new fields and pushing the boundaries. He started his career by working for a hosting and internet company that is credited with opening up the UK market. Ian and his team used their telecommunications and coding experience to provide fast and affordable internet services to thousands of UK homeowners. Over the years, Ian has worked as an engineer, developer, manager and leader. Today, he leads Technical and Developer Evangelism for Amazon Web Services. KEY TAKEAWAYS: (0.58) – So Ian, can I ask you to expand on that brief intro and tell us a little bit more about yourself? Ian starts by elaborating on the scale, scope and reach of his AWS role. He is responsible for educating software developers and technical end users of AWS on a global scale. Plus, of course customers who are not yet users of the service. Helping them to see how they can use the platform to improve what they are currently doing and use it for new projects. (1.57) – Does that mean that you have to travel a lot? Ian responds by saying yes. He has to attend a lot of different kinds of events and provide support for team members, right across the globe. Plus, he is a prolific speaker in his own right, which also entails a lot of travel. (2.25) – Phil asks Ian to elaborate on the amount of public speaking work he does. Speaking is a big part of his role as the Director of AWS Evangelism. In fact, his whole team spends a lot of time making presentations. When they recruit new members they look for people who are capable of connecting with software developers across the full range of skill levels. (3.05) – Can you please share a unique career tip with the I.T. career audience? Like many developers he went from being an individual contributor to a manager, then a leader and senior leadership roles. However, unlike most other IT professionals he has periodically taken a step back and worked as an individual contributor again. This slightly unusual approach has really borne fruit. It has helped him to develop all kinds of new skills and deepen his understanding of the latest technologies and how they are deployed. (4.09) – Phil asks if taking this approach refreshes his existing skills as well. Ian says absolutely. When he first joined Amazon Web Services, in 2013, his tech skills were getting rusty. He had just spent several years in a leadership role in which he did not really do any developing. So, when he joined AWS he took the opportunity to spend a bit of time working as an individual contributor, technology evangelist. He really enjoyed reawakening and refreshing his skills, while he got up to speed with cloud computing. It enabled him to familiarize himself with the AWS way of working and their product range. Those three and half years took him into a lot of new areas. (5.18) Phil says that it sounds like Ian enjoys keeping his hand in from a technical perspective. Ian agrees, that is true, which is one of the reasons he enjoys working for AWS so much. Recently, they invested in AI and machine learning services. Just last year, they announced some robotics services. There is also Ground Station - a service for people who want to download data from their satellite infrastructure. So, there is plenty going on within the company that enables Ian to indulge his passion for new technologies.  (6.11) – Can you tell us about your worst career moment? Ian says his worst moment was not a single incident, more of a challenging period in his career. Back in the 90s, he worked for a small hosting and internet access startup. They provided hosting, mainly for businesses like Channel 4 and the Dixon stores group. At the time, most companies did not have a website, so this was actually quite exciting work. In 1998, the Dixons group asked them to set up and run their new Freeserve internet service. It was an innovative service that grew at a phenomenal rate. At the time, everyone was still using dial-up. There was no cloud computing either. So, every time a customer signed up they needed server space and the company was constantly running more telecommunications links to the building. Unsurprisingly, Ian and everyone else at the company ended up working ridiculous hours. It was an exciting time that opened up all kinds of opportunities for Ian, but it was also very stressful. (9.14) Was there anything in particular that you learned from that experience? One of the things Ian learned from the experience was how to recruit. The phenomenal rate at which the company grew meant that Ian was constantly recruiting new staff. It was a relatively new business which still had a startup mentality, so everything was very fluid. Recruiting the right people at a fast enough rate was a challenge, especially because the roles were so blurred. There was a lot going on, which meant people just had to muck in to get everything done. In that situation getting the onboarding right proved critical. New staff needed to have the right support. Without it they could not settle in quickly and become viable members of the team. It was also important from a retention point of view. Even today, when it comes to recruitment, Ian’s focus is on getting the onboarding process right. He knows from experience with the right support new people quickly ramp up to full capacity and are far less likely to leave after just a few months. Making sure that people feel like they have got the right kind of support around them is really important in leadership. (10.44) – Phil asks Ian what his best career moment was. Again, for Ian it was not a single moment, more a period in his career that he has found to be fulfilling. Right now, he is particularly enjoying the rate at which AWS is innovating and introducing new services. For example, in 2017, they introduced 1400 new services and features. This astonishing rate of change ensures that Ian gets to talk to people about a huge range of services, technologies and innovations. He is also lucky enough to be able to find out, first hand, how people are using these new services and features. All of which he enjoys and loves speaking about. In the past year alone, he has run sessions about the application of AI and machine learning. He also delivered the keynote speech at an O’Rilley AI conference, in London. In April, he gave the closing keynote speech at a major AWS summit that was held in Singapore. At that event, he got to live demo a chatbot. During his presentation, the audience interacted with chatbots using text and Facebook Messenger. The really cool thing about the whole experience was that Ian was the one who had written and deployed the code being used. Naturally, that experience is one that he views as a career highlight. He has also really enjoyed building out the AWS team. Seeing people that he has recruited grow and go on to bigger and better things is something that Ian takes a lot of pleasure from. (13.12) – Can you tell us what excites you about the future of the IT industry and careers? Ian knows that the services AWS provides are going to free up organizations, so that they can focus their cash and time on being truly innovative. There is not going to be a need for the next generation of developers to spend their early career doing repetitive tasks. For example, in the 90s Ian’s team would spend every Monday provisioning infrastructure. Now, that same task can be done with just a few clicks using the AWS console. Freeing up people’s time in this way is going to have a hugely positive impact. It will leave developers free to be more creative and truly innovate. This means that all kinds of problems can be solved using the vast range of technologies that are now available. (15.22) – What drew you to a career in IT? To answer that one Ian has to go right back to when he was a child. Back then, his father ran a training program for teachers. He produced all of the written training materials using a hand-cranked duplicating machine. At the time, photocopiers were too big and expensive for small organizations to own and run. So, when he discovered he could computerize things, he did. Ian witnessed the way this transformed his father’s business. That in turn sparked his interest in IT. At school he got involved in technology in every way he could. So, it was only natural for him to study computer science at university. (17.09) – What is the best career advice you have ever received? Ian says he would not call it advice as such, more encouragement, which he listened to. While he was working for Planet Online, they were taken over by a telecommunications firm. For Ian, this meant a change in direction, a big one. His new boss saw something in him, so set about persuading him to get involved in the process of finding, assessing and acquiring other telecoms firms. In that role he had to deal with the CEOs of some very large companies, something Ian did not think he was equipped to handle. It was his boss who persuaded him that he could and he was right. In that role, Ian grew in confidence and acquired a whole new skill set. (18.27) – If you were to begin your IT career again, right now, what would you do? Ian says that he would focus on software rather than infrastructure. Now that infrastructure is an area of diminishing impact. Today, it is all about software. He would seek to learn a range of languages and become a true software engineer rather than just a developer. Having the ability to jump across different programming languages and a strong understanding of the foundations would be his aim. Ian believes anyone that is new to the industry will succeed if they take this approach. (19.45) – What career objectives are you currently focusing on? Ian main task, right now, is growing his team. In fact, that is one of the reasons he wanted to join Phil for his podcast. Currently, he is recruiting for all kinds of roles, positions he is very keen to fill. He is currently hiring managers and specialist evangelists for various domains. So, his immediate goal is to fill those positions, which are available in AWS offices across the world. Ian will also be focusing on a couple of other AWS projects that are yet to be announced. He will also be hiring for those, a bit later in the year (20.36) – What is the number one non-technical skill that has helped you the most in your IT career? Ian says for him the ability to communicate has proved invaluable. Being able to listen properly and understand what the customer wants and distil it down to its essential has really helped him in his career. Ian points out that you also need to be an effective outbound communicator. It is very important to maintain high standards of public communication and to be able to adapt your message to suit your audience. (21.51) – Phil asks Ian to share a final piece of career advice with the audience. “Don’t be afraid to try out new things.” Apply for new roles even if you do not have all of the qualifications and experience asked for. Ian says that when AWS recruits, the specification they come up with is more of a wish list than anything else. They really don’t expect to find many candidates that tick all of the boxes. That is the case for most organizations. So, it is always worth just applying for roles that you think might be just a little bit beyond you. BEST MOMENTS: (4.48) IAN – "It was a great opportunity to come back to software development, and rediscover some of the more technical aspects” ( 10.32) PHIL – "I think the onboarding process and just embedding people into a team, making them feel part of what's happening, is vital." (11.09) IAN – “In 2017, we released over 1400 new services and features. That's a huge beat rate of new innovation. " (12.48) IAN – “It’s really awesome to see the talent that you've bought into the organization progressing through the senior IT levels." (15.03) IAN – “As software continues to evolve, the services will get more and more sophisticated," (21.45) IAN – “Those are really important skills in my view, communications inbound and outbound.” CONTACT IAN: Twitter: https://twitter.com/IanMmmm @IanMmmm LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imassingham

GUEST BIO: Kristina Balaam is a security intelligence engineer at Lookout where she reverse engineers mobile malware. Prior to Lookout, she worked as an application security engineer at Shopify focusing mostly on Android mobile security and is currently pursuing an MSc. in Information Security Engineering. EPISODE DESCRIPTION: Phil’s guest on today’s show is Kristina Balaam. Currently she is working as a security intelligence engineer for Lookout, which specializes in mobile security. Kristina’s main role there is to reverse engineer malware. In the preceding years Kristina has worked for Shopify, Resolution and DropDot in a range of application development roles. She is currently studying for an MSc. in Information Security Engineering. KEY TAKEAWAYS: (1.03) – So, Kristina, can you expand on that brief introduction and tell us a little bit more about yourself? Kristina explains that her days are mostly spent searching out malicious apps on Android and iOS, which she then reverse engineers. At times, she is also involved in tracing them back to malicious actors and trying to work out what their motivation is and classifying malware for the industry. (1.46) – Phil asks her what happens to the information she is collating. Kristina explains that Lookout is an endpoint security company. This means that they focus on post perimeter security. So, most of what they uncover is shared with application developers, with the aim of enabling them to build secure applications. In addition, her findings are used to continually improve Lookout’s range of security products, which includes Lookout for Work and the Lookout client option. (2.51)  – Can you please share a unique career tip with the I.T. career audience? Kristina shares something that she discovered fairly late in her career. When she started out, she did not understand just how vital being visible was when it comes to career progression. Blogging, speaking at conferences and social media are all great ways to share what you are passionate about. When you share in these ways the chances of your landing work in a field that really interests you are greatly improved. (3.53) Phil asks her how important social media has been for her in terms of engagement and whether there has been a particular platform that she benefits from more than the others. Surprisingly, Kristina is finding Instagram to be an effective social media platform. The IT community is surprisingly active there. Lots of people are sharing caption photos for their latest blog posts, so it is a great way of getting noticed. (4.38) – Can you tell us about your worst career moment?  Kristina’s worst IT moment happened during her final year at university. Her plan was to be a game developer. So, she was thrilled when she, along with her fellow students, she was given the chance to develop a short game and present it to the board of Ubisoft. The students were split into teams and given six weeks to build their games using Unreal Engine. Unfortunately, one week before the presentation, two members of her team members dropped out. Worse, it turned out that they had not done much while they had been around. Most of the tasks they had been assigned were nowhere near being completed. The remaining members of the team had to pull 3 or 4 all-nighters to try to catch things up, so that they had something to present. In the end, Kristina’s team had a game to present. But, two minutes into their presentation the game failed and they could not get it started again. For Kristina this was devastating. Basically, all of their hard work had been for nothing. (6.56) – What did you learn from that experience? At the time, Kristina thought she had blown any chance of getting hired and that her dream of becoming a game developer was in tatters. In reality this was not the case. Every member of her team ended up being offered jobs by that company, something which taught her not to dramatize this type of situation. It turned out that their failed presentation was not the big deal they all thought it was. There were no long-term negative consequences for them. It also taught her the importance of being prepared for things to go wrong. She explains that she is not suggesting that people should be pessimistic, rather that they be realistic about what can go wrong and try to be prepared for those eventualities. (8.35) – Phil asks Kristina what her best career moment was. Kristina says that landing the job that she has now has definitely been a highlight. From the moment she got involved with security work, Kristina knew that she wanted to become a malware researcher. But, she knew that landing a role like that was a long way off because she did not have the relevant qualifications. However, she worked hard to fill the skill gap. She read as much as she could about malware research. When she decided to take her masters, she made sure that she looked at courses that were strongly related to malware research. The net result is that she landed her dream role far sooner than she expected despite the fact that she had relatively little experience. (10.53) – Can you tell us what excites you about the future of the IT industry and careers? For Kristina the fact that you can do any type of work you want is exciting. It is relatively easy to change disciplines and get involved in something new. There is so much variety with new technologies coming along all of the time, so finding something you like and are good at is not hard. (12.01) – Are there any areas that are particularly inspiring to you, at the moment? Kristina is very interested in the way that malware authors adapt their approach to keep pace with what people like her. Naturally, she wants to keep people safe, but she also finds working in this semi-combative environment to be exciting. There is always something new and interesting to uncover in the world of malware research. For example, someone has recently developed malware that does not launch until it detects that the device owner is on the move. This is a new and innovative way of getting around traditional malware detection techniques. (13.20) – What drew you to a career in IT, Kristina? As a child, Kristina really enjoyed playing video games and was never far from her computer. When she was about 9 she began to learn HTML and JavaScript simply because she wanted to customize a website called Neopets. That was when she fell in love with coding. (14.02) – What is the best career advice you have ever received? Kristina said her dad told her not to be afraid to network. That piece of advice has proved to be invaluable throughout her career. Although, like Phil, to begin with, when her confidence levels were not high, she found networking to be very hard to do. (14.20) – If you were to begin your IT career again, right now, what would you do? Kristina said she would jump right into information security. (14.17) – What are you currently focusing on in your career? Right now, Kristina is doing all she can to grow her skills. She also wants to speak at more conferences and publish some new research. (15.11) – What is the number one non-technical skill that has helped you the most in your IT career? Kristina has found her ability to communicate effectively to be invaluable.  It helps here to manage potentially difficult social situations within teams and organizations. (15.48) – Phil asks Kristina to share a final piece of career advice with the audience. Kristina’s advice is not to be afraid to jump into an area that interests you. The industry is evolving so quickly that it really does not matter much if you do not have lots of experience. Everyone is continuously learning anyway, so you are not going to be the only one who is working to acquire new skills. Usually, you will get a warm welcome from those already working in the field. They want people to share their passion, so are normally only too happy to help you to learn and grow. BEST MOMENTS: (10.35) KRISTINA – "It took a lot of focus and dedication and work, but it ended up being really rewarding." (11.47) KRISTINA – "There really is something for everyone and anyone with an interest in computers, software or technology in general." (14.13) KRISTINA – "Do not be afraid to network, networking can actually be incredibly valuable." (16.00) KRISTINA – "Do not be afraid to jump into something that interests you, even if you don't feel like you have very much experience in it." CONTACT KRISTINA: Twitter: https://twitter.com/KristinaElise LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kebalaam/ Website: http://www.about.me/kristinaelise

GUEST BIO: Brian Okken is a lead software engineer for Rohde & Schwarz.  He is also the author of “Python Testing with pytest” from Pragmatic, host of the “Test & Code” Podcast and Co-host of the “Python Bytes” Podcast and has spoken at PNSQC and PyCon US. EPISODE DESCRIPTION: My guest on today’s show is Brian Okken. He is currently the lead software engineer for Rohde & Schwarz. His background is in R&D, testing and measurement. When it comes to programming languages, he is something of a Python expert. Brian is the author of “Python Testing with pytest” and the host of the very popular “Test & Code” podcast, he also co-hosts “Python Bytes”. Brian is passionate about sharing his knowledge. So, he teaches and regularly speaks publicly at conferences like PyCon and PNSQC. KEY TAKEAWAYS: (1.00) – So Brian, can you expand on that brief introduction and tell us a little bit more about yourself? Brian explains that he still describes himself as a software engineer. But, in reality, for the past 10 to 15 years, he has been mostly involved with automated testing. (1.21) – How did you get into automated testing? Brian explains that it was not a planned transition. It was a requirement within the test equipment industry. Those that work in that field spend a lot of time carrying out automated and regression testing on the code and instruments.  (2.10) – Can you please share a unique career tip with the I.T. career audience? Brian’s key piece of advice is to align yourself with the goals of whoever you are working for. He also advises developers to know their value and understand what it is that they contribute to the companies they work for. Once you know that, you are in a position to make sure that you more than cover the cost of your salary. Periodically asking yourself – If this was my money, would I be happy to continue to pay my salary? is a good habit to get into. (3.21) – Can you tell us about your worst career moment? And what you learned from that experience. Brian explains that one of the things he enjoys doing is honing processes, so that he can streamline the work, as much as possible. On one project he realized that if he could automate the byte and the register settings from an FPGA to the software he would save the team a lot of time and hassle. So, he set about working out how to do this. However, he did not tell anyone, including his manager, that he had taken on this extra task. Unfortunately, he got sucked in and ended up spending too much time on this side project. Naturally, his output fell, which made it look like he was not contributing to the team, as he should. Naturally, his manager was not happy. He felt that Brian was not doing the work he had been asked to do. On the other hand, Brian was disappointed and frustrated because nobody seemed to appreciate the importance of what he was trying to achieve. All in all it ended up being quite a negative situation. Brian’s advice is not to forget about process improvement completely, because t is important. But, he said that once it starts to take up more than 10% of your time, you need to let your manager knows what you are trying to achieve and how much time it is taking up.  (5.11) – Phil asks Brian what his best career moment was. The highlight of Brian’s career, so far, has been his involvement in pytest and publishing his book. It was really cool getting it published. But, Brian also found that writing the book honed and deepened his skills. (5.24) – So, has that been beneficial for your career? Brian agrees that it has. While writing the book he found himself consulting and working with the core contributors. The writing process made him network more. (6.58) – Can you tell us what excites you about the future of the IT industry and career? Brian says there are so many things that excite him that it is hard to pick one thing. But, it is probably the way in which the industry is changing how it is teaching the next generation of engineers. (7.43) – Is there a particular area that interests you, technologies you feel have a real future? Brian thinks the way in which schools are finding ways to teach programming at an earlier age is exciting. However, Brian would like to see the question - How do you know it will work and continue to work? being asked and answered more in educational settings. Developers need to have a better understanding of how things work to be able to design and build more robust applications and systems.  (8.44) Phil comments that, in the UK, that is certainly still an issue. Many of the degree courses leave the subject of testing right to the end of the course and the subject is rarely covered in much depth. (9.33) – What first attracted you to a career in IT, Brian? As a child, Brian had a combination games system. It had built-in games but you could also type in some simple programs to create new games like Lunar Lander. Of course, it did not work right away, so you had to figure out where you had gone wrong. When he got it working, he went back and tweaked it, for example by trying to increase acceleration. That is when he got the programming bug. It was an experience that stayed with him. He entered college as a fine art major, but switched to computer science at university. (10.50) Phil asks Brian to clarify why he made the decision to switch. Brian explains that there was a financial element to doing so. He realized that he would have less difficulty in paying back his student loan if he were able to find work in the IT field. (11.10 ) – What is the best career advice you have ever received? Brian uncovered a great piece of career advice while reading a book called Team Geek: A Software Developer's Guide to Working Well with Others. After reading that book, Brian understood that he needed to be spending at least 80% of his time creating value for the company he was working for. (12.02) – If you were to begin your IT career again, right now, what would you do? Brian says that he would not dismiss the idea of a career in web design and building, which is what he did when he first started out. He learned HTML and how to work with Perl, but veered away from building sites. At the time, he just assumed that most websites would end up being auto-built. Today, he understands that he may have missed out a bit as a result of that decision. So, now, he is learning PHP and getting into building the Python version of websites. (13.14 ) – What are you currently focusing on in your career? Right now, Brian is focusing on broadening his reach. He likes to teach and has got a lot to share with the community. (13.46) – OK, but do you have any thoughts on writing and conference speaking? Brian, says yes. He loves speaking, despite the fact he still finds doing it at conferences terrifying. But, he is a bit of a homebody and very much a family person, so he is not that keen on travelling. Despite this, he thinks he will end up travelling and speaking more in the near future. (14.25) – What is the number one non-technical skill that has helped you the most in your IT career? Brian says that is listening to people and being able to empathize with them. Phil agrees with this. He has noticed that many of us are too busy thinking about what we are going to say to be able to really listen to the other person. Brian says it is all too easy not to listen properly. He knows it is something he still needs to work on, something he discovered while listening to his own podcasts. He picked up on the fact that sometimes he was asking questions that his interviewee had already answered, which was a sure sign that he was not listening properly. (15.19) – Phil asks Brian to share a final piece of career advice with the audience. Brian says he wants to encourage people to teach. The act of writing things down or trying to explain them to someone else makes everything clearer in your own mind. Plus, it ensures that you get feedback from others, which enables you to recognize when you are wrong and learn from it. He is particularly keen to see more IT professionals writing personal blogs. BEST MOMENTS: (2.34 ) BRIAN – "Align yourself with the goals of whoever you're working for." (2.46 ) BRIAN – “Always try to be more valuable than the sticker price of your salary. " (5.49 ) BRIAN – "The process of writing the book made me an expert. " (14.30) BRIAN – "Learn how to listen to people. Really listen to their answers and empathize." ( 15.51) PHIL – "I think getting your message out there and telling people what you do and what you've learned is valuable " CONTACT BRIAN: Twitter: https://twitter.com/brianokken @brianokken LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/okken Blog: https://pythontesting.net/ Book: https://amzn.to/2QnzvUv Podcast: https://pythonbytes.fm/ Podcast: https://testandcode.com/

GUEST BIO: Asim Hussain is a developer, trainer, published author and conference speaker. He has worked for companies including the European Space Agency, Google and others. In January, he became Microsoft’s EMEA Lead for Regional Developer Advocacy. Asim is also Director of CodeCraft TV, providing online content, courses and training on JavaScript, Angular and general Web Development. EPISODE DESCRIPTION: Phil’s guest on today’s show is Asim Hussain. He is a well-known conference speaker, mentor and author, who has been working in the industry for nearly 20 years. Asim started his career working for the European Space Agency. Over the years, he has worked across many different industries using a range of languages including C++, Java, Python and JavaScript. Today, he is Microsoft’s EMEA Lead for Regional Developer Advocacy. KEY TAKEAWAYS: ­­(1.05) – So Asim, can you expand on that brief introduction and tell us a little bit more about yourself? Asim explains that he has been working in the IT industry for about 19 years. Over that time, he has worked in many different sectors, using a range of languages. Right now, he is the lead developer advocate for the EMEA region, at Microsoft. This is a recent promotion that he is both excited and nervous about. Asim explains that his new role enables him to continue with his teaching and educational work. This is a passion of his, which led to the creation of CodeCraft.tv. He began teaching online about 4 years ago, when he released about 6 courses that mainly covered working with JavaScript. He is part way through open-sourcing them. Asim is now a big believer in open source education. It brings benefits to the teacher as well as the students. (3.11) – So, why did you go into advocacy and development courses? Asim explained he got the bug when he was listening to a podcast in the car. While listening to it the speaker said something that was totally wrong about a subject Asim knew a lot about. Naturally, this frustrated him, but also motivated Asim to get out there and share his knowledge. That day, the idea for his first course was born. (4.28) – Phil asks Asim to share a unique IT career tip. Asim says that it is very important to be public about what you are doing. From the very start of your IT journey, share what you are learning and your experiences. Asim believes that if, for the past 19 years, he had consistently written a blog article per week his blog would now be more valuable than his house. When you look at someone who is well-known and respected in the industry, you will usually find out that they have been blogging, for many years. For the first year, you will be writing in a vacuum, so will get very little value from doing it. But, if you persist it will become an invaluable asset. Fairly quickly, it will start to grow at a very fast rate. (5.57) – Phil asks Asim to share his worst career moment with the audience and explain what he learned from that situation. The biggest mistake Asim made was when he was working in the finance industry. At that time,  he had a dual role. He was responsible for developing new systems, but, also had to keep the existing one running smoothly. To do this, he had two terminals open, one for development, the other for the production server. He would multitask. Running tests on new software on one terminal, while monitoring and maintaining the live system on the other. For the most part, this approach worked really well. However, one day, it led to near disaster. At the time, he smoked, so would regularly pop out for a cigarette. One day, he did exactly that. Before he left the office, he typed make into what he thought was his development terminal and left. Unfortunately, Asim had typed make into the wrong terminal. So, he had inadvertently started a job on the production server. That process consumed 100% of the CPU’s power and left the traders unable to do their job. Worse than that, it was just as the markets were about to close. For the bank’s trader’s this was a disaster. Closing is always a crazy busy and critical time of the day. They were unable to close their trades. Potentially, the company could have lost tens of thousands because of Asim’s simple mistake. Fortunately, the opposite happened. The trades they had been unable to close ended up making the bank money. Naturally, that episode reminded Asim of the need to be careful, at all times. (8.16) – Phil asks Asim what his best career moment has been, so far. For Asim, his biggest successes have come along recently. For example, getting involved in public speaking has been a highlight. This has led to so many other good things for Asim, including the chance to join Microsoft, in a role that he really enjoys. Writing his first book has also been a highlight. He released it for free, which was nerve-racking, especially when you consider that it took him 3 months to write. However, giving it away turned out to be a great approach. It really got him noticed and led to even more speaking opportunities. Asim says that releasing his book for free has been his biggest career win, to date. He really enjoys people coming up to him and thanking him for not charging for his book. In particular those from a developing country who tell him they could not have afforded to learn what he taught in that book any other way. (11.34) – Can you tell us what excites you about the future of the IT industry and careers? The pace of change is both exciting and terrifying. On the one hand, you are constantly worried about being relevant. But, at the same time the possibilities this fast-paced change brings is exciting. Asim started with C++, moved onto Java, then Python. Today, he is using mostly JavaScript. There is plenty of variety when you work in IT. Right now, the intersection between machine learning and JavaScript is a particularly interesting field. There are enough different roles and challenges to keep you occupied for the rest of your career. With the added benefit that if you were to do something else, you would very likely still be able to use your machine learning JavaScript interface knowledge. (13.54) – What drew you to a career in IT, Asim? For Asim, it all started when he was a child. His sister studied computer science, so he started playing with her computer. At first, he just played the game. But, soon completed it and got bored. So, he put the BASIC tape in, read the manual, and started programming. As children, Asim and his brother set up a web agency. So, it was only natural for him to pick an IT-related degree subject. (16.06) – What is the best career advice you have been given? Asim says that is probably – admit your mistakes, something that he learned at the European Space Agency. When something goes wrong in space, that is it, you have potentially just wasted a couple of billion dollars. So, for the space industry, it is vital that people admit when they have made a mistake and do so straight away. It means that the problem can be sorted out before it is too late. It is important to own up to problems, as well as mistakes. The moment you do that, the solution starts to become apparent. Asim went on to say that he trusts people who admit their mistakes more than he does those who say they never make them. Usually, they are either hiding them, or are simply not doing enough, just playing it safe. (17.30) – If you were to start your IT career again, now, what would you do? Asim explains when he was younger; he followed the money, when he should have been paying attention to his brand. Today, he would work first on developing and improving his personal brand. That stays with you and benefits you forever, unlike the money which you usually end up wasting anyway. (18.14) – Phil asks Asim what career objectives he is currently focusing on. Right now, his new role at Microsoft is Asim’s main focus. His plan is to help to drive some thought leadership into the advocacy space. In particular, he wants to build genuinely strong connections between developers, across the world. Asim also wants to change the emotional response people have towards Microsoft. On a personal level, he wants to achieve these things by using more empathy and authentic connections. His aim is to come up with something that is truly innovative. (19.40) – What is the number one non-technical skill that has helped you the most in your IT career? Asim says being able to explain things to others has helped him throughout his career. Being able to put himself in other people’s shoes and understand how they work helps him to find the right language and mediums to use when sorting out bugs or developing something new. Good communication skills help you with many different aspects of your career. For example, when you have to make a presentation, perhaps to sell a new product, it is not hard to find the right language. Learning to think through somebody else’s eyes is very beneficial. The more you do it, the easier it gets. (21.45) – Phil asks Asim to share a final piece of career advice. When it comes to your career, do not over think things. It is all too easy to become overwhelmed by the fact there are so many different paths you can take. Don’t let that happen, just pick one and do that. If you find you don’t like it, that is not a problem, you can easily change direction. BEST MOMENTS: (4.56) Asim – "Be very, very public about what it is that you do." (5.21) Asim – "If I was writing a blog article a week, when I was 20, I think my blog would be worth more than my house today." (10.32) Asim – "Releasing that book for free, and out in the open was, I would say, the biggest win." (11.53) Asim – "What's exciting about this field is also terrifying about this field, which is that everything changes all the time." (13.04) Asim – "The intersection between machine learning and JavaScript is a very interesting field." (17.00) Asim – "Admit your mistakes, own up to problems. Once you own up to them, you own up to the solution as well." (18.05) Asim – "Always pick your personal brand, because that is worth a lot more to you, and it will stay with you." CONTACT ASIM: Twitter: https://twitter.com/jawache LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jawache/ Website: https://codecraft.tv  

GUEST BIO: Charlie Gerard is a Software Developer at ThoughtWorks in Sydney.  She is passionate about Creative Technologies, Creative Coding, Hardware and the Internet of Things. Charlie is also a mentor at General Assembly, building projects using Arduino and other devices and writes tutorials to share what she has learned. EPISODE DESCRIPTION: Phil’s guest on today’s show is Charlie Gerard. For the past few years, Charlie has been working to provide all kinds of companies with better software. She is also a mentor at the General Assembly. There, she provides support to both amateur and professional developers. In her spare time, she experiments and collaborates with others to try out new concepts, often using Arduino. Right now, she is diving deep into their VR browser and uncovering the possibilities it brings. KEY TAKEAWAYS: (0.45) – So Charlie, can you expand on that brief introduction and tell us a little bit more about yourself? Charlie explains that by day she works as a software developer building websites and applications. But, at night she likes to explore technology. So, she spends much of his free time building prototypes with Arduino and is currently experimenting with their VR browser. Basically, she is interested in anything that is going on within the IT industry. (1.42) – How long have you been doing this? Charlie explains that she has been a developer for about four and a half years. Before that, she worked in marketing as a project manager. (1.58) – Phil asks Charlie for a unique IT career tip. Charlie said she was once told not to let people know that you are good at something you do not really want to do. If you do, there is a real danger that you will be stuck doing tasks that you really don’t enjoy. For example, she once made the mistake of letting people know she is good at CSS. Now, people tend to ask her to complete that part of a project. But, that is the last thing she wants. She already has a good level of competency with CSS. So, she really wants to be doing other things, so that she can grow as a developer and progress her career. (3.16) – Phil says that reminds him of learning to say no. Charlie agrees that is important too. (3.42) – Charlie is asked to share his worst career moment by Phil. Years ago, she was due to give her first conference speech. So, she worked hard to clear her desk, the night before the big day. She did that so that she would have a little time to get herself ready for her important event. So, when she woke up to find 20 fresh tasks waiting on her board, her heart sank. Her initial reaction was that she had no choice but to deal with them. However, instead she decided not to do so. Instead, she checked that none of the tasks was urgent and left them sitting there undone, for half a day.   Doing this ended up empowering her. Fairly soon, after this incident, she told the company she worked for that her 70+ hours workload was not reasonable. It was this situation that taught her that sometimes you have to say no. She realized that furthering her career and making time for her life was important, as well. (5.54) – Phil asks Charlie what her best career moment was. Charlie says that it was delivering her first conference speech. Speaking at a conference was an especially big achievement for Charlie, because she is a very shy person. So, giving a speech in front of so many people was something she never expected to be able to do. (6.50) – Is it something that you would recommend that other people try? Charlie’s response is, yes. The challenge of speaking publically teaches you a lot about yourself. It is scary to get on stage, but, also exciting. Once you are up there you forget your fear. Even if things are not perfect the audience usually stays with you. They want you to succeed, so they are always supportive. Public speaking is something that Charlie intends to do more of. She has learned a lot from her first conference speech, including skills that she is finding helpful in the workplace. Plus, public speaking is really good for anyone’s personal brand. (8.17) – Can you tell us what excites you about the future of the IT industry and careers? The wealth of possibilities that new technology offers us excites Charlie the most. In particular, machine learning, it will simplify the interaction between humans and computers. In time, it will be the technology adapting to the human being, rather than the other way around. Eventually, there will be virtually no learning curve. (8.56) – Are there any particular technologies that you are finding interesting? Charlie says that the field of neurotechnology is one that fascinates her. Currently, she is at the very early stages of learning about this technology and that she is sharing what she learns as she goes. For this technology, the possibilities are huge. Phil agrees, and says that with so much new technology being available it is impossible for us to know where it is going to take us. (9.35) – What drew you to a career in IT? Charlie explains that her journey started when she was working as a project manager. After a while, she wanted to be able to help her development team. To begin with, she planned just to learn how to upload some of the work her team did. But, once she started coding she realized that this skill would enable here to bring any idea to life. Charlie now understood the power of coding, so wanted to learn more. (10.10) – What is the best career advice you have ever received? A friend of Charlie’s once told her to remember that “If you don’t do it, somebody else will.” Over time, she has used that advice on several occasions. She finds that thinking like that pushes her to just get on and tackle things, even if she feels slightly scared. (10.59) – If you were to start your IT career again, now, what would you do? Charlie started her IT training and career by attending boot camps. There she learned how to solve problems and do so quickly. But, she missed out on learning the fundamentals. As a result, she still does not know how everything works, which is frustrating. (11.39) – Phil asks Charlie what she is currently focusing on in her IT career. Right now, Charlie wants to grow her technical knowledge. She plans to switch from working mainly on the front end to doing some back end work. Ideally, Charlie wants to understand how an entire system works and fits together. (12.24) – What is the number one non-technical skill that has helped you the most in your IT career? Charlie says that is definitely communication. As a consultant, she spends a lot of time talking to clients. So, she has to be able to help them understand why certain things are not possible. However, she believes that being a good communicator is an essential skill for everyone. After all, everything we do is achieved through teamwork, so good communication is extremely important. (13.12) – Phil asks Charlie to share a final piece of career advice. Charlie says that it is important to be able to network. Becoming a good networker ensures that you gain an understanding of what others are working on. It also enables you to uncover new technologies that are of interest to you and sometimes spot opportunities. Plus, networking helps to build your personal brand. BEST MOMENTS: (2.24) CHARLIE – “Never let people know you're good at something you don't want to do.” (7.05) CHARLIE – “You're scared to be on stage. But once you're there, the excitement of sharing what you know, takes over.” (10.00) CHARLIE – “Once I started coding, I got really interested in being able to bring any idea to life.” (10.32) CHARLIE – “If you don’t do it, somebody else will.” (13.08) CHARLIE – “Everything we build is through teamwork. So, good communication is essential.” CONTACT CHARLIE: Twitter: https://twitter.com/devdevcharlie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliegerard/ Website: charliegerard.github.io

GUEST BIO: Scott Tolinski is a Senior Web Developer for Team Detroit and formerly a web applications developer for The University of Michigan. Additionally Scott is a freelance web designer and developer, and provides private training and consultancy on various web topics.  Scott is also co-creator of Level Up Tutorials, providing free training to developers looking to learn something new. EPISODE DESCRIPTION: Scott Tolinski is Phil’s guest on today’s I.T. Career Energizer podcast. He is a former Team Detroit developer who also worked for The University of Michigan as an applications developer. For several years he was a Senior Developer with Q LTD. Today, Scott runs his own web development teaching company. In 2012, he started Level Up Tutorials alongside Ben Schaaf. Today, Scott runs the business and has turned it into the go-to learning resource for developers. KEY TAKEAWAYS: (1.09) – So Scott, can you expand on that brief introduction and tell us a little bit more about yourself? Scott starts out by explaining that he actually left Team Detroit, a while ago, but has not yet updated his website to reflect that fact. He is now working full time on Level Up Tutorials. That means recording, editing, producing and coding between 20 and 25 videos per month. As well as, updating and maintaining the actual website. Scott describes his website as being - a magazine for coding tutorials. Scott also produces a twice weekly web development podcast called Syntax, with Wes Bos. They approach the subject of web development from the point of view of teachers. The podcasts offer effective web development lessons in a format that is easy for everyone to access and use anywhere. (2.34) – Phil asks Scott for a unique IT career tip. Scott’s advice is to never be afraid of new opportunities. It was his dad that made him realize the benefits of trying something new and fresh. His dad had taken advantage of each new opportunity and been very successful. So, Scott decided to do the same, even if a new opportunity seems scary, he will usually say yes and dive in. Most of the time, this approach pays off. On the rare occasion that it doesn’t, Scott quickly faces up to his mistake and moves on to something else. Leaving his job to become a full-time entrepreneur was scary, challenging and quite stressful. But, Scott does not regret a minute of it and would do the same again. (4.29) – Phil agrees that you should never let fear of the unknown stop you from making a change. He quoted Richard Branson who said – “Work hard, take your chances, and seize opportunities when they present themselves. Don't give in to the fear and self-doubt and instead find ways to make it happen. Those who are bold have a higher chance of being rewarded," (5.03) – Scott says that is exactly what he does. If it is a big thing, he just says yes. Later, he figures everything out. But, he points out that if it is not a big thing, you need to say no. If you do not, those little opportunities just end up getting in your way. (5.17) – At this point, Scott is asked to share his worst career moment. Scott explained that he once had the perfect job. Everything was great, the company, the work and the people he was working with, he loved it. But, he got tempted and took another job. Basically, because it was a little bit more big time and, of course, there was a pay bump. He soon realized that the grass was not greener in his new role. The projects were bad and the designers not as experienced. Plus, they were using outdated techniques and the management team did not really care much about the work. Often, Scott was getting his part of the project completed months ahead of schedule. Yet, when that happened, the management team didn’t give him any meaningful work to fill in the gap. However, this situation was not all bad. Scott legitimately ended up with a lot of free time on his hands. So, he was able to learn a lot of new things. He learned Backbone, Angular and Ember. After six months, he was able to take all of that knowledge and land a really sweet gig. (7.57) – What else did you learn from that experience? Scott said that it gave him a different perspective on work in general. It made him think about the type of people he wanted to work with and the kinds of projects he wanted to be involved in. That experience taught him not to just settle. Instead, he searches out exciting projects and ensures that he will be working with a good team. (8.56) – Phil asks Scott what his best career moment was. Scott says that it was probably quitting his job and working for himself. He feels particularly good about being able to provide for his family off the back of something that he created. Interestingly, it was not his intention to earn his living from his tutorial work. At first, he just posted his work to YouTube. It came as a big surprise to learn that he could translate that into a business that paid enough for him to be able to take care of his family. Not being a born entrepreneur means that, for Scott, learning to run his own company was a steep learning curve. But, he is, understandably, proud of what he has achieved with Level Up Tutorials. (10.59) – Can you tell us what excites you about the future of the IT industry and careers, in particular? Scott finds the fact that it is so much easier to deliver the functionality that users really want to be exciting. In the past, adding something like live chat to a website would have been challenging and time-consuming. Today, it is easy and it can all be done really quickly. This frees you up to be more creative and opens up a world of possibilities for the client and their customers. Scott is excited by the fact that things will continue to evolve and get easier. (13.00) - Phil says that he is also excited about this. The ease with which web development can be done, these days, makes it possible to deliver truly appropriate solutions and do so quickly. (13.16) – Scott goes on to highlight the ease with which you can create efficient sites. For example, using React, you can now build blisteringly fast static sites. This is particularly important for people who live in parts of the world that have a slow internet connection. (14.08) – What drew you to a career in IT? Scott first got interested in IT when he wanted to add a flash intro to his band’s website. He fell in love with the problem-solving process and realized it was a great outlet for his flair for design. (14.47) – What is the best career advice you have been given? Scott says it is probably the advice he mentioned at the start of the show – take every good opportunity that is presented to you. He uses his intuition to guide him in terms of what is exciting and finds that listening to his gut is the best way to work out whether to say yes or not. (15.31) – If you were to start your IT career again, now, what would you do? When Scott went to college he had a long list of interests and things he wanted to do. He had a passion for music and was interested in graphic design and becoming a motion graphics artist. It was great to have so many interests. But, it meant that he lacked focus. So, if he were to start his IT career again, he would be sure to focus on just doing that, instead of spreading himself too thinly. (16.35) – Phil asks Scott what he is currently focusing on. Right now, Scott is working on getting better at delegating and communicating. He has a small team which he wants to grow, so that he can work more efficiently. His plan is to become more of a leader and step away a bit from being the developer of the site. (17.26) – What is the number one non-technical skill that has helped you the most in your IT career? For Scott it has been having a student mentality. Being open to learning has enabled Scott to stay ahead of developments. A fact that ensures what he teaches is never out of date. (18.27) – Phil asks Scott to share a final piece of career advice. Scott explains that he did not follow a typical career path into IT. In fact, his first few jobs had nothing to do with the industry. Plus, he does not have a computer science degree. However, he would not let this stop him from working in IT. His parting piece of advice is not to let where you are today hold you back. Become a good student, learn and keep on pushing forwards to secure the job you really want. BEST MOMENTS: (2.55) Scott – “I haven't ever been afraid of new opportunities, when they present themselves.” (5.03) Scott – “If it's a big thing, I almost always say yes, and figure it out later.” (12.20) Scott – “Two years down the line, what kind of experiences am I going to be able to give people that I couldn't give them right now.” (18.01) Scott – “My number one non-technical skill is my ability or drive to want to continue to grow myself and my abilities as a developer.” (18.53) Scott – “Do not let whatever your current situation is hold you back from where you want to be” CONTACT SCOTT: Twitter: https://twitter.com/stolinski LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stolinski/ Website: www.scotttolinski.com

GUEST BIO: Sonia Cuff helps companies to change business processes to successfully adopt new technologies the right way and to achieve great business results.  Sonia has been awarded Most Valuable Professional by Microsoft in multiple categories and is also an online writer, trainer and speaker. EPISODE DESCRIPTION: Phil’s guest on today’s show is Sonia Cuff. Sonia has been working in the IT industry since 1995, in various roles and was awarded the Most Valuable Professional by Microsoft. For many years, Sonia ran her own business which helped all kinds of businesses to adopt new technology. She is a conference speaker, blogger and author. Today, she works for Microsoft as a cloud advocate. KEY TAKEAWAYS: ­­ (1.02) – So Sonia, can you expand on that brief introduction and tell us a little bit more about yourself? Sonia explains that when she got started in IT, she had to learn everything on the job. In those days she was working on Office 365 and productivity and went on to get involved in virtual CIO consulting, as well. Last year, she joined Microsoft and is now one of their Cloud advocates. In that role she is involved in working with IT communities, helping them to figure out how to make their lives easier. Primarily by showing them how to run the stuff they normally do in a hybrid or cloud scenario. It is a role that she really enjoys. (2.28) –Phil asks Sonia to tell the audience more about her developer advocacy work which is a part of this role. Sonia explains that Microsoft has been running an advocacy program for some years now. They have been reaching out to developers regardless of what language they work with. Their approach is to go to wherever people are programming rather than just stick to working with Microsoft user groups. Her team focuses on interacting with these communities and getting feedback. They want to learn what’s tripping developers up and how Microsoft’s products can be improved. This information is then fed directly back to product engineering. It enables them to improve their products. Importantly, it also identifies new products that need to be developed. Developer advocates take feedback and inspiration from numerous sources including conferences, talks and blogs. (4.43) – Phil asks if that role has given her a new perspective on software development. Sonia says that it has and that she is noticing a lot of common threads between different areas. (5.16) – Phil asks Sonia for a unique IT career tip. Sonia comments that the further she has gotten into her career the more she has realized that the simple things are true. For her “always be learning” is the tip that sticks in her mind. She has tried to do exactly that and feels that taking that approach has really paid dividends for her career. Sonia is not a programmer, but does not let that stop her from working to understand as much as possible. Today, she still can’t write code from scratch, but knows enough to be able to look at something like PowerShell script and understand what it does. Even after 20 years, Sonia still finds herself having to learn new things from scratch. But, she feels comfortable with that. In fact, that is why she loves working in the industry. She enjoys being challenged and the fact that she is always being challenged and learning. (7.00) – Sonia is asked to share her worst career moment with the audience. Sonia starts by explaining that she ended up turning her worst career moment into a talk, which she delivered at Microsoft Ignite, Florida, last year. Her worst moment happened when she was spreading herself too thin. She was so stretched that she seriously considered jumping on a plane, leaving the country and not telling anyone where she had gone, including her family. She knows that she is far from the only IT professional to find themselves reaching breaking point emotionally and mentally, like that. Sonia has also realized that talking about this experience is important because it can help the IT community as a whole. (8.15) – Phil asked what she learned from that situation. Sonia explained that, these days, she ensures that she makes her colleagues and manager aware of her workload. In the IT industry, there is a get things done, no matter what it takes culture, which can sometimes be detrimental and put people under too much pressure. She is also careful to make time for important things outside of work. For example, going to the gym or walking the dog. These two activities help her to switch off from tech, clear her head and get the beneficial endorphins flowing. Basically, doing this helps her to get the work-life balance right. Sonia does not believe you can achieve perfect work-life balance every week. But, you do need to strive to do so over the long term. Inevitably, you will find yourself under pressure some weeks. But, you must make sure that does not go on so long that you do not get time to unwind and take care of your personal life. Phil agrees he has found it to be more about integration. He describes it as being about how you fit all of the pieces of your life together and make it work for you. (10.28) – Phil asks Sonia to share her best career moment. Right now, that was getting the chance to give her speech at Microsoft Ignite. When Sonia gave her talk, the response was extremely positive. She had people coming up to her straight afterwards, in the corridor and talking to her on social media. From there, things have really snowballed. She has travelled to Australia, the USA and head office to talk to different groups about mental health in IT. Microsoft’s response to the issue of mental health problems has been very positive. They have taken it on board and are clearly passionate about helping. The fact that so much has come out of giving just one speech is fantastic. Currently, it is Sonia’s career highlight. Landing her dream job at Microsoft is her second best moment. She still gets a buzz from arriving at a Microsoft office and discovering that her blue badge lets her in the door. It thrills her every time. (12.43) – Phil says that he believes that companies like Microsoft now understand that mental health issues are a problem within the industry. They are taking this more seriously. Sonia agrees, but, thinks some firms are still struggling to reach out to employees and ask them what do we need to do to support you? The problem is that these sorts of conversations still have not been normalized. Also, there is still some stigma surrounding the subject. People need to feel that they can share the fact that they have had a bad week and are under stress with their colleagues. Most people do not do this. Mostly because they feel that they will get a black mark against them for admitting that they are struggling. This is why Sonia believes that it is not enough for the company owners and management to change. Individuals need to do so too. The culture has to be changed one person at a time. Everyone has to be supportive and be open about their issues too. (14.33) – Can you tell us what excites you about the future of the IT industry and careers? Sonia really enjoys the fact that things are always changing, even more so than years ago. She feels that the pace of change has accelerated, drastically. This is especially the case when it comes to Cloud platforms. Today, the platform owners are very much in control. As a result, they can change things whenever they want and do so as often as they want. Sonia says that she is looking forward to seeing more self-healing systems. She believes that in the not too distant future AI will remove a lot of the more mundane tasks. (16.31) – What drew you to a career in IT? Sonia’s path into IT was far from typical, it certainly was not planned. One day, she was asked if she wanted to join the IT department. The guy she was seeing at the time was located there at the time. She ended up saying yes, and discovered she had an aptitude for the work, the rest is history. (16.51) – What is the best career advice you have been given? Strangely, the best career advice Sonia has ever been given was “pace yourself”. It is good to be enthusiastic about your work, but you need to make space for the rest of your life too. (17.24) – If you were to start your IT career again, now, what would you do? Sonia jokes that she kind of feels like she is starting her IT career again, because she is learning so much new stuff, at the moment. But, she goes on to say that she would probably focus on PowerShell and automation, if she was brand new to IT. (17.42) – Phil asks Sonia what new objectives she is focusing on. Sonia is currently trying to work out how to have the most positive impact on the IT community. Currently, she is trying to measure whether blogging, engaging in forums, social media or public speaking is best. (18.09) – What is the number one non-technical skill that has helped you the most in your IT career? Sonia feels that being a parent has helped her the most. This is because you have to deal with the fact your kids do not always want to do what you want them to. So, you have to find ways of persuading them. That means taking the time to explain things to them and you have to be able to do so in a way that they can understand. Being a parent hones all kinds of skills that come in handy for your career. (18.42) – Phil asks Sonia to share a final piece of career advice. Sonia says that you should remember that IT is a big industry. There are so many things you could be doing, within the sector. So, there is no need to be afraid to dip your toe into a different area. There is nothing stopping you from experimenting and changing direction, to see what fits. BEST MOMENTS: (5.26) SONIA – “The further on you get down your career; you realize that the simple things are true.” (6.51) SONIA – “You need to get comfortable with the fact there's there will always be things that you don't know. And that's an exciting part of the industry.” (12.47) PHIL – “Mental health is something that's gaining more visibility. And I think companies such as Microsoft presumably are, taking it more seriously” (19.15) SONIA – “Don't be afraid to dip your toe into a slightly different area of tech, even within the infrastructure area. Just see what fits.” CONTACT SONIA: Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoniaCuff LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniacuff/ Website: www.soniacuff.com  

GUEST BIO:           Pamela is an astronomer, writer and science communicator focused on using new media to engage people in learning and doing science.  Her most well-known project is Astronomy Cast, a podcast that she co-hosts with Fraser Cain. She is also part of numerous science programs on Twitch.tv and has made appearances on a variety of television shows including The Universe and Strange Evidence. Dr Gay also combines her astronomy and computer science background to define new approaches to astronomy that engage citizen scientists, and she leads a team chasing the holy grail of using machine learning to map other worlds. EPISODE DESCRIPTION: Phil’s guest on today’s podcast is Dr Pamela Gay.  She is an astronomer, who also has strong IT skills which she uses to solve all kinds of science-related problems. Her focus is on getting as many people involved with and feeling enthusiastic about astronomy. She is a citizen scientist leader, advocate and enabler. Her specialist IT areas include big data management, web design, mass communication and cloud utilization. She is also a science writer and presenter as well as a podcaster, blogger and public speaker. KEY TAKEAWAYS: (1.21) – So Pamela, can you expand on that introduction and tell us a little bit more about yourself? Pamela explains that at the most fundamental level she is someone who loves astronomy and playing on the internet. Basically, she is always seeking out ways to combine those two things. Dr Gay is a member of the first PC generation. The first wave of children for whom access to a computer and the internet was a possibility. She has used a computer all of her life. Her experience of them goes right back to the days of cassette drives. She learned to type at the same time as she was learning to use crayons. Her whole life, she has been discovering new ways to use the internet and has been stealing them and using them in pursuit of astronomy. Today, she has found like-minded people and is working with them to engage as many people as possible in the field. They are finding ways to get people to chat about all kinds of things. For example, getting people to work together to map actual new worlds in player groups, using the freeware application, Discord. (2.44) – Phil asks Pamela whether she set out to combine astronomy with her interest in computers and the internet. Pamela responds by describing it as an “accident”. When she started at Michigan State University she had planned to go into international science policy. Mostly because she was listening too much to people who were telling her she could not be an astrophysicist, basically, because she was a girl. In the end, she switched from taking a humanities major to astrophysics. Her international science policy goal had already led her to attend astronomy classes. While attending them she realised that astronomy was for her, so she switched her major. The fact that she had already taken so many AP classes gave her a bunch of credits. A fact that freed up enough free time for her to be able to take computer science classes as well. That is how she realised she had a natural aptitude for software development. At the time, that meant she had to get involved in the Computer Science (CS) and Computer Engineering (CE) fields to be able to put her talent to use. IT as a career was not yet a standalone thing. Over the years, she has continued to tinker in those two fields, using them to solve problems. For example, programming software to solve the math equations she did not have enough knowledge to complete herself, or to program a telescope to change position without manual intervention. (4.55) – Phil comments that it sounds as if the two passions complement, almost fuel, each other. This is something Pamela agrees with. In fact, she went on to say that is an understatement. In the field of astronomy, all of the data is digital and there are vast quantities of it. So, using software is the only way to make sense of it. As a result, most astronomers try hard to teach themselves programming. Almost inevitably they end up having to hire an undergraduate to get it done. So, Pamela finds her software abilities to be invaluable. Her computer classes thought her the fundamentals and gave her the necessary foundation to be able to continually grow her knowledge. For her programming is now a natural language. Whereas, for those who are self-taught it tends to remain a second language they continually grapple with. (6.29) – Phil asks Pamela for a unique IT career tip. “Be extremely curious.” If you see a way to try something, don’t wait, just do it, especially if it does not cost anything to do. If you wait someone else will figure it out and you will not get any of the credit for that new thing you just worked out how to do. (7.13) – Pamela is asked to share her worst career moment with the audience. She said that was probably when she was interviewing a student for a position on her team. He turned out not to be a suitable candidate. His answers to some of her questions were just awful, laughable, in fact. So much so that Pamela had problems holding things together and staying professional. The thing that made this incident so bad was the fact that Pamela and her team worked in an open office space. There was no properly closed-off room which she could use to conduct the interview. So, the entire staff could hear much of what was being said. For Pamela the whole experience was very awkward and one she would not want to experience again. (9.51) – Phil asks Pamela what her best career moment was. For Pamela this is not a moment as such. It is something that she has learned over time that she feels has helped her and her team the most. Fairly early on, Pamela realized the value of not trying to push everyone into working the same way. She learned to trust her team to do a good job and to be as accommodating as possible. Collaborative working has been the key to her success. Being able to build a diverse, constantly evolving team, composed of individuals with disparate skill sets has been essential. However, the fact that the members of the team are so diverse means that she has had to learn to recognize and take account of their different needs. For example, introverts do their best work alone. They have the skill set to sit down focus and get tedious things done. But, they may want to do this at home or in a closed office so they are not disturbed. Whereas, this would drive an extrovert mad. They need to interact with others. Recognizing this and allowing them the time to go out and mix with people and turn to them into volunteers is good for both them and the project. She is also careful to move with the times, particularly when it comes to communication. Not so long ago the team communicated mainly through Google Hangouts. But, as soon as they realized that most of their volunteers were on Discord, they moved to that application, instead. Pamela is also accommodating when it comes to her staff’s equipment preferences. For example, she will quite happily pay for a gaming chair if a member of her team feels more comfortable using one. (12.36) – Phil commented that it sounds like Pamela is using different tools, depending on the person involved.  Pamela says that is definitely the case. She comments that good people are hard to find. So, when she finds a good team member, she will bend over backwards to make sure that they stay. (13.24) – Pamela what excites you about the future of the IT industry and careers? For Pamela it is the future of AR. She is looking forward to a time when she can wear something small that will turn her office wall into something that is the equivalent of a giant 4k monitor. She wants her workspace tools to be with her at all times. To, at the tap of a button, be able to type on a virtual screen. She is really looking forward to seeing more fluid and comfortable ways of working. (14.46) – Pamela was one of the people who was given Google Glass to wear and test, so Phil asked her why she thought that product had to be shelved. In particular, whether she thought that it was because the technology was just too ahead of its time. Pamela explained that one of the biggest issues with Google Glass was the fact that people did not want to be around wearers. Mostly because they were afraid of their day to day life being recorded of their personal space being invaded. To succeed, future AR devices need to focus on augmenting, adding something to the lives of wearers, rather than capturing what they do in life. The other problem was the tiny screen. It was so small that even something simple like reading a tweet was not easy. Smartwatches are already doing a better job of that. (16.19) – What drew you to a career in IT, Pamela? It was definitely the fact that IT enabled her to easily interact with other people who loved astronomy. She loves the way she has gone from being able to share a page of astronomy jokes online, to being able to use the web to get ordinary people excited about space exploration. Those relatively simple things have enabled us to build up the knowledge we need to do so much more. For example, enable the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to locate a rock on an asteroid, pick it up and bring it back to us. (18.15) – What is the best career advice you have ever received? Pamela said it was – “Keep your friends close, keep your women friends closest.” She has found this to be very good advice. People who are like you, who live similar lives, have more or less the same family responsibilities are the ones who truly understand your struggles. They are your most effective mentors and are the ones that can give you advice that actually works and helps you to get a good work-life balance. (19.48) – If you were to start your IT career again, now, what would you do? Pamela said she would probably sit down with those that had defined machine learning. Instead of trying to learn things from scratch she would focus on interacting with those people who had already figured things out, so that she could realize her vision faster. (20.41) – Phil asks Pamela what career objectives she is currently focusing on. Pamela said that she is trying to learn to be a better manager. In particular, she is trying to empower others more and not get in the way of her team getting things done. She is also fighting the urge to do day to day tasks herself. For example, to recognize that coding is no longer her job and that she has to let someone else do it now that she is the manager. (22.05) – What is the number one non-technical skill that has helped you the most in your IT career? Her best non-IT skill is being able to write in an engaging way, so that people want to read what she writes. To be able to do this, Pamela has had to learn to share her enthusiasm, so that she is more engaging. (22.56) – Phil asks Pamela to share a final piece of career advice with the audience. Pamela says that it is important to be true to yourself. If you are a nerd, don’t be afraid to be open about that. Don’t just talk about the work you are doing on social media. Share your passions as well. Doing so opens up the channels of communication to more people. It can open all sorts of doors for you. For example, one conversation that started out being about Battlestar Galactica ended up leading to a speaking conversation. You never know where things will lead,so be engaging, be human and be approachable. It will really help you to network. BEST MOMENTS: (2.08) PAMELA – “My whole life, I've been seeing cool new interesting ways to use the internet and stealing them ruthlessly in the pursuit of astronomy.”  (6.57) PAMELA – “If you wait, you may not be the one who gets credit for that great new thing that you just figured out how to do.” (12.06) PAMELA – “Communications is best done in the places where people are most comfortable.”  (23.06) PAMELA – “Be true to yourself when you're communicating. If you're a nerd, let your nerd flag fly.”     CONTACT PAMELA: Twitter: https://twitter.com/starstryder @starstryder LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/starstryder/ Website: https://www.starstryder.com/