Career Opportunities
The High-Tech Career Handbook
| Career Opportunities The High-Tech Career Handbook |
| A weekly ComputorEdge Column by Douglas E. Welch |
| 2004 Archive
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December 31, 2004 For the love of it all Working at what you love can be an amazing experience. It can bring a sense of fulfillment and joy that rivals the best experiences of your life. There can be a dark side, though, in getting every thing you want. Some cases involve subtle pressure to work harder, longer, faster, something nearly everyone feels. In others, though, pressure can turn into requirement, suggestions into orders, and your love for your work can be used against you. Listen on your computer,
iPod or other MP3 player December 29, 2004 From the archives... Stop! 3 Things to Stop Doing Today It can be very difficult to see the forest for the trees when you are involved in a day-to-day battle to maintain and develop your high-tech career. Layoffs abound. Project work is drying up. The computer industry is in turmoil. Who has time to worry about the rest of the world when you are just trying to keep your boss happy or your clients off your back? In truth, you need to make the time to constantly evaluate your position in your career and do those things that need to be done to insure that you are moving forward in your career and your life. As a way to jolt you into thinking more about your career and less about your current job, here are 3 things you need to stop doing today. Listen on your computer,
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December 24, 2004 From the archives... Take advantage of the holidays As you probably know, most companies tend to slow down around the holiday season, unless, of course, they are in a business directly related to holiday retail or events. We look forward to this slower pace as we wind down to the end of the year, but you might want to take a different approach this time. While the holidays may not be the best time to look for a new job (See Holiday Recharge, December 1998), you can turn these slow times to your advantage. Listen on your computer,
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December 22, 2004 From the archives... Simply Right Stretching yourself, both professionally and personally, can be a bit painful. It can also yield some of the best improvements in your life. Just like you may be sore the day after starting a new exercise routine, your ego and intellect might emerge a little bruised, but your body will be better for the effort. Listen on your computer,
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December 17, 2004 Sales is everything Yes, that’s right, “sales” is everything. Business experts like Tom Peters preach it, industry pundits carry on the charge, even I know this is true, but taking it to heart and integrating this thought into my business is a troublesome task. I bemoan the past when…was it ever true?... there were sales people and everyone else. If you worked in development, technical support or any other aspect of business, you didn’t have to think about sales. It was something that the “Sales guys” did. This would be my dream world, but dreams don’t put food on the table. Listen on your computer,
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December 14, 2004 From the archives... One by one Stretching yourself, both professionally and personally, can be a bit painful. It can also yield some of the best improvements in your life. Just like you may be sore the day after starting a new exercise routine, your ego and intellect might emerge a little bruised, but your body will be better for the effort. Listen on your computer,
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December 10, 2004 Getting By Have you ever had a day when you didn’t want to get out of bed and face your work? Good. I’m glad it isn’t just me. Jobs and careers can have their ups and downs, but sometimes it can feel like life is ganging up on you. I describe it as having a reverse “Midas touch.” Instead of gold, all I get is mud. Thank goodness, I know these times are transient. Everything is cyclical and even these days will pass. This can be an important mindset to keep. Otherwise, you might ditch your high-tech career for something less stressful, like work as an airline pilot or auto crash dummy. Listen on your computer,
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December 7, 2004 From the archives... Stretching Stretching yourself, both professionally and personally, can be a bit painful. It can also yield some of the best improvements in your life. Just like you may be sore the day after starting a new exercise routine, your ego and intellect might emerge a little bruised, but your body will be better for the effort. Listen on your computer,
iPod or other MP3 player
December 5, 2004 Will Simpson is an amateur photographer with a wonderful eye and a wonderful way of talking about photography. I am a regular subscriber to his Podcast, where he presents several photos and then talks about the thoughts and techniques behind their creation. It is a wonderful way to start the day, his gentle voice leading you through beautiful scenes. Additionally, Will highlighted me as one of his favorite Podcasts in today's show, along with one of my favorites, Jim Kloss and Esther Golton over at Whole Wheat Radio. I want to thank Will for his kind words about Career Opportunities: The High-Tech Career Handbook and wish him much continued success with his photography and Podcast. Check out the photos and the Podcast
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December 3, 2004 Criticism There is a little that can be so useful, or so damaging, as criticism. When given correctly, justly and without malice, it can be the building block of a better career. Dealt out cruelly, meanly and with venom, it can stunt the progress of even the best person. A great career depends on understanding criticism, both how to deliver it and how to receive it. Listen on your computer,
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November 30 , 2004 From the archives... Announcements While it may not seem that way at times, you all have lives outside of your career. In fact, there are events in your lives that often impact your ability to do your work. When these events intersect with your work life, it can be extremely stressful. You might be worrying about losing your job or you might be feeling guilty for disappointing your boss or co-workers.. Regardless, everyone requires time away from work to handle these large steps in their lives and you should never have to worry about taking the time for yourself when you need it. Listen on your computer,
iPod or other MP3 player November 26 , 2004 Avoidance I try to do everything I can for my clients, hooking up the occasional DVD player or troubleshooting phone line problems, even if it goes beyond the typical work I am there to do. That said, there are a couple of items I will not touch, if possible. The first is dealing with technical support assistance via phone and the other is providing, or managing, hardware service for the client. Over the years, I have realized that either one of these tasks is liable to drive me screaming into the night. Even worse, when you get involved in these situations, your client might begin to see you as part of the problem instead of part of the solution. Listen on your computer,
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November 23 , 2004 From the archives... Trust In the current environment, you maybe disinclined to trust many things you once thought true, but trust is exactly what your clients, your managers and your peers are looking for right now. The most successful high-tech careerist will always be the one that generates a feeling of trust in all their dealings. If people believe, for any reason, that they cannot trust you, your career will most assuredly stall. Listen on your computer,
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November 19 , 2004 Beginning, middle and end Every high-tech worker has different skills, different talents and different desires. Sometimes we try to cram ourselves into a particular job without much thought towards our own needs. We do this for a number of reasons. Maybe you are simply out of work, or your family and friends think the job is a great opportunity or you just want to make more money. While these reasons might enter into your job decisions, there are more fundamental issues to consider. You need to find out where you fit in the structure of projects and business...the beginning, middle or end. Listen on your computer,
iPod or other MP3 player November 17 , 2004 From the archives... It's ok to leave A high-tech career is not an easy path. It is fraught with pitfalls and a somewhat dubious record for great success. You can find yourself struggling with bad technology, bad people and bad companies. Worse still, you can find yourself struggling with your own thoughts, hopes and dreams. Despite my immersion in high-tech for almost 20 years now, I would be the first one to tell you, it is ok to give up. It is ok to walk away from a high-tech career. It is ok to find something more meaningful, more rewarding and, hopefully, more lucrative. Listen on your computer,
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November 12 , 2004 Reaching for the stars As I write, Spaceship One has won the X Prize, traveling to non-orbital space twice within two weeks. As I watched the news coverage, my thoughts went beyond the immediate accomplishment and onto the lesson that we can all take away from this successful mission. A clearly defined goal could be the most important part of any high-tech career. Without it, we can become timid, only proceeding slowly and incrementally instead of striving to do our very best. If you don’t have some compelling goals in your life and your career, you should sit down, today, and do some concentrated thinking. Listen on your computer,
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November 10 , 2004 From the archives... It's All Personal Regardless of what type of high-tech job you may have, you will eventually have to deal with an important career question – your final career goal. High-tech workers start in all different areas, programming, support, networking, but as your career progresses you will be moved closer and closer to some eventual decision. Do you follow a management track? Do you want to continue in a hands-on technical role? You might even decide to move outside the typical corporate environment and work for yourself. Regardless of the choice, you will either make these decisions for yourself or someone will make them for you. This is why it is so important to look towards the "end game" of your career, even if you are years, if not decades, away. Listen on your computer,
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November 5 , 2004 A "Doing Day" Over the past several weeks I have been writing a lot about thinking…thinking about your purpose, your future and your goals. While thinking is certainly important, all of your good ideas might just go to waste if you don’t combine that thinking with a little bit of doing. Your thinking has probably generated a host of to-do items and ideas for larger projects. Now is the time put some of those ideas into motion. Listen on your computer,
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November 3 , 2004 From the archives... End Game Regardless of what type of high-tech job you may have, you will eventually have to deal with an important career question – your final career goal. High-tech workers start in all different areas, programming, support, networking, but as your career progresses you will be moved closer and closer to some eventual decision. Do you follow a management track? Do you want to continue in a hands-on technical role? You might even decide to move outside the typical corporate environment and work for yourself. Regardless of the choice, you will either make these decisions for yourself or someone will make them for you. This is why it is so important to look towards the "end game" of your career, even if you are years, if not decades, away. Listen on your computer,
iPod or other MP3 player October 29, 2004 Off the edge Anyone, no matter what their age, can find themselves in the depths of a rut. It can start out slowly. Going to the same restaurants, using the same software, listening to the same music. The next thing you know, there you are, in a rut. As I’m finding, getting older can make it even easier to get into a rut. There are days when I simply don’t want to face the trials and tribulations of daily life. I just want to do something familiar. Of course, a few days later, I wake up feeling bored…and boring…and not really knowing why. Even though I know the importance of finding new challenges, new passions and new input, I have to actively reach out and engage the world in order to find them. Listen on your computer,
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October 27, 2004 From the archives... Career Choices Throughout my years writing this column I have often heard from readers who were contemplating changing to a high-tech career. The fast growth of Internet-related companies led some to believe that high-tech was the career "promised land." As we have all seen, though, high-tech jobs are no guarantee of future career success. In fact, so many people have sought out work in high-tech that we are now experiencing a glut of workers in some areas while jobs requiring specialized knowledge remain open for months. If you are looking to work in high-tech, either as a first career or a career change, you would be wise to consider the reality of the market and where you might find a fit. Listen on your computer,
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October 22, 2004 Getting Serious Part 3 Over the past two weeks I have talked about the thinking that goes into maintaining client relationships. This week I turn to the practical ideas that I use to maintain my client relationships and build my career. These methods can be used as they are or adapted for your own use. The biggest benefit you will gain, though, is in the thinking they provoke and the action that comes from that thinking. Listen on your computer,
iPod or other MP3 player October 19, 2004 From the archives... A little crazy I hear it all the time; “You must be crazy to turn down that job.” “Take a month’s vacation, are you crazy?” “You would be crazy to quit your job now!” The truth is, a little craziness is something to be cultivated, not quashed. If you don’t have a little craziness in you, you are in danger of locking yourself into a life and career of staid boredom. Is that what you really want? Listen on your computer,
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October 17, 2004 Welcome Message added I just added a "Welcome to the Career-Op Podcast!" to the feed. New subscribers will receive this message automatically in their first download.
October 15, 2004 Getting Serious Part 2 Last week I started a discussion of “getting serious” in your relationships with clients. Today, I will talk about maintaining these relationships for the benefit of both you and your clients. If there is any secret to high-tech career success, this might be it. Listen on your computer,
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October 8, 2004 Getting Serious Part 1 Over the past several months I have had both a desire and a need to focus intently on my freelance consulting business. Lately, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the nature of my work. What am I trying to accomplish, both for my clients and myself? How am I going to go about accomplishing those goals? Like everyone, I can get caught up in the rush of daily life, jumping from task to task without focusing on the big picture. Sometimes I need to be reminded to take a few minutes to think about what I am doing to insure that I am still headed in the right direction. It is time to “get serious” about your work and your career. Listen on your computer,
iPod or other MP3 player From the archives... In the mood There comes a time in every high-tech career when important decisions need to be made. Unfortunately, you are often forced to make these decisions at exactly the wrong time. When you are looking for work, unexpectedly downsized or just unhappy with your current job you aren’t in the right place to make decisions that might effect the rest of your career, if not the rest of your life. Listen on your computer,
iPod or other MP3 player October 6, 2004 Listening to today's editon (10-6-2004) of Adam Curry's Daily Source Code (MP3 here), Career Opportunities: The High-Tech Career Handbook and I got a good mention. He even played a clip from the latest column. You can find the mention at about 21 minutes into the show. I often get asked, “How can you stand to deal with computer problems, day in and day out?” My clients know how frustrated they can feel when their computers aren’t working well and can only imagine their frustration in dealing with the dozens of computers I see on a weekly basis. They sometimes wonder aloud how I can deal with the seeming futility of it all. How I spend my time putting computers back together, only to have them fall apart again. Usually I brush this off as individual differences. People have different aptitudes and tolerances for work. Something they find enjoyable might drive me to distraction. There is a kernel of truth in what they say, though, and every high-tech careerist needs to address the issue at some time in their career. Listen on your computer,
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Keep it to yourself - from the archives February 23, 2001 Despite the fact that companies are trying to become more like a family and less like a cold corporation, it is always best to remember that there are certain aspects of your life that you shouldn’t share with your co-workers or your managers. The stories you tell now may come back to haunt your career in the future. [Continued] Listen on your computer,
iPod or other MP3 player September 2004 Once I graduated from college, it was an easy decision to not return. Since I wasn’t programming-inclined, there wasn’t much to be gained from getting a Masters or Doctorate in Computer Science. Instead, I went off and joined the big world of business and have arrived at where I am today. This is not to say, though, that I have stopped learning. Instead I have spent my years learning about topics that interested me, developing my own personalized advanced degree. While it may not hold the cache of a MA or Ph.D, it certainly has helped to develop a decent career and an interesting life. Listen on your computer,
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Freelancing
Now - from the archives In the old days, a newly minted high-tech worker had a clearly defined road to follow for their career. They would take an entry-level job at some large corporation, do all the menial labor they could stand and either get promoted or take whatever they learned to some other company. Repeat this as necessary, until the person found a niche where they could settle in for the long haul. In today’s workplace, though, I would like to offer an alternative. One that I think might better serve the high-tech careerist and the people for whom they work. Wouldn’t it be better to try out other avenues if employment and other career paths before locking yourself into something that may not serve you well? I have come to believe that starting everyone off in a typical corporate job may do more damage than good. Listen
on your computer, iPod or other MP3 player Work in a high-tech career long enough and you will find yourself telling clients that something “cannot (easily) be done.” Each and every piece of software and hardware that you touch will have one quirk, fault, or missing feature that will make your life…interesting. Over the years, this can lead to some deeply probing questions about your own skills and abilities. Let me be the first to say that you are not your tools and their failures are not yours. Their failures can reflect on you, though, so it is important to manage them, and your client’s expectations carefully. As many of you know, working as a full-time employee can have many benefits, but just as many drawbacks. The bond of loyalty that once held employer and employee together continues to deteriorate and the situation only grows worse. Perhaps it is time to reconsider the concept of employment and what it means to be an employee. Instead of constantly reaching for the brass ring of “employment”, high-tech workers might find better career opportunities awaiting them on the freelance side of the equation. While a recent lawsuit against Google may have brought the news to the forefront, age discrimination in the workplace is one of the more troublesome issues facing high-tech careerists today. Much like television, advertising and film, high-tech companies have begun worshipping at the altar of youth, both in the focus of their business and the makeup of their staff. While young staffers certainly bring interesting thoughts to the table, the older members of your staff have an important role to play, too. Without them, you might doom your younger staffers to a reputation of past failures instead of using your “elders” experience to lead your company to new heights of innovation. August 2004 Unlike some high-tech workers I have met, computers and technology are not the sole focus of my life. I have many varied interests, some computer-related, others not. In fact, at any one time I may have many different projects vying for my attention. This often leads those me around to comment, “You seem to do so much!” While it may be true that I am “doing” a lot, I often find myself wondering if I am doing “enough” of the right things to improve my high-tech career and my life. High-tech workers have a responsibility to question security flaws We all know about the numerous security holes of Microsoft Windows and its associated programs, such as Internet Explorer. We all know inherently that relying on any one company or technology leaves us vulnerable to large scale attacks. Still many of us, as high-tech workers and consultants, continue to use and promote these products in our work. At what point does our reluctance to change turn into culpability?. If we know these products to be flawed, why aren't we searching for better alternatives? Are we really doing the best work for our clients or are we simply trying to make it easier on ourselves? If there is any secret to a successful high-tech career, it could be the ability to self-manage your life and your work. If you can manage to get things done even when you feel you have too many bosses, or too few, you are already ahead of many of your peers. If there is any secret to a successful high-tech career, it could be the ability to self-manage your life and your work. If you can manage to get things done even when you feel you have too many bosses, or too few, you are already ahead of many of your peers. July 2004 Here we are in the traditional middle of summer, but I am sure you have already started to see the “Back to School” signs in the stores. It might seem early to be thinking of school, but the coming Fall is the time for considering all the things we have learned and all the things we have yet to learn, regardless of our age. Technology has become an important part of our learning, both in facilitating learning and learning how to use the technology itself. We would all do well to take a few moments to think about the technology around us, and how it helps or hinders us in our daily lives. You might not think that there are many similarities between a high-tech careerist and a medical professional, but over the years I have noticed a few. The most striking one is the fact that we often ignore the advice of doctors and dentists, much like our clients ignore our own recommendations for improving their technology experiences. If you think it is frustrating to have your advice fall on deaf ears, imagine the plight of your doctor. There are ways, though, to help get your message heard, but it takes more than the usual supply of patience. Each new season brings a new initiative here to the Career-Op offices. Summer takes us away from the beautiful outdoors – at least for a little while – and into the wild and wooly world of statistics. Perhaps it was the act of helping my wife with the statistics for her Master’s thesis, but I got a sudden urge to know a little bit more about my clients. There is career gold to be mined in those hills of data, but only if they spur you to new projects and the betterment of your career. Projects are everything in your high-tech career. They drive your work from day-to-day. They help you to build the great stories that will get you better jobs down the road. Some people, like Tom Peters, author of “In Search of Excellence” and David Allen, author of “Getting Things Done” say that you should consider everything you do, every goal you want to accomplish, just another project along with all the others. Unfortunately, projects have a way of self-destructing before they ever get off the ground. There are ways, of protecting yourself against project failure. Some of these, though, require addressing your preconceptions about projects. It happened again – this time to a close friend. After he worked with a computer consultant for several months, the person just disappeared. My friend’s phone calls are not returned and it appears the person who set up his entire office, has fallen off the edge of the Earth – and taken my friend’s passwords with him. As a computer consultant, and a conscientious one at that, it drives me crazy. Sure, I can pick up extra work from grateful computer orphans happy to have someone to help them out. Still, I often have to work long and hard to deal with their issues of abandonment and how it reflects on my work. If you take on the mantle of a computer support person, especially if you are working as a freelancer, you have certain responsibilities to your clients and those consultants that might travel in your wake. Don’t hamper your high-tech career by abandoning your clients whenever the whim strikes you.
June 2004 After 20 years of working in high-tech, there are a few common themes that run through my career. Certainly, one theme is frustration. You can become frustrated with yourself, your skills, your clients and your career. Despite the fact that everyone experiences a certain amount of frustration, most people can have a difficult time dealing with it, including myself. Frustration can distract us from those things that truly matter at the very time when we need to be the most focused. Thankfully, there are a few ways to help work through frustrations of all sorts and get on with your career and your life. Despite the fact that traveling, especially by airplane, is getting more and more troublesome, there are still a lot of people traveling around the US and the world. Whether they are traveling for business or pleasure, those people are probably bringing some type of personal technology with them. Digital cameras, GPS receivers, laptop computers, PDAs and more are finding their way into suitcases these days. This provides an interesting opportunity for high-tech careerists. If people are traveling with this technology, they are going to need help with it. High-tech workers might find that they can still practice their trade while living and working in a tourist town or resort. There is a secret to any high-tech career, and it isn’t in having an expensive computer, fancy software or a great cell phone. In fact, it is something you can’t buy, no matter how rich you are. This secret weapon can only be gained through time and attention. Furthermore, I believe that those high-tech careerists who cannot or will not develop this tool are risking a career of ineffectiveness and unhappiness. What is this secret? Simply this – good colleagues and friends who can back you up in your work and trust you to do the same for them. One of your main goals as a high-tech worker is to insure that the people you help – your freelance clients, in-house staff or fellow high-tech workers – have the tools they need to help themselves. Whether they are dealing with common computer problems themselves or calling a technical support line for help, you need to give them the tools they need to insure they don’t create bigger problems than the one they are trying to solve. May 2004 If you are working as an independent high-tech consultant, there may come a time when, due to financial pressures or personal preference, you need to “return to the fold” of a classic corporate job. While the reasons for your return might be varied, there are a few ways to insure that your return is as painless and productive as possible. In your time away, you have surely expanded your education and experience. Both of these can be instrumental in easing your re-entry back into the corporate world. What will hinder you is that nagging feeling of having failed at going it alone. Over the years, I have been content to let my clients use whatever technology made the most sense for their own personal needs. A majority of Windows 3.1 and Mac OS 7.5 users slowly evolved into Win95/98/XP and Mac OS X. Often, my clients were using hardware and software that was woefully out of date, but as long as it worked, I didn’t push them to make a change. That said, times change and people change with them. Now I find myself in a new role with my clients – pulling and pushing them into newer hardware and software so they do not get hopelessly left behind. This role is not an envious one for any high-tech careerist, but it is growing in importance every day. As I move through my high-tech career, a series of rules have developed over time. Sometimes it is a rule for how to go about solving a particular technical problem. Other rules deal with how I work (and play) with those around me. Whatever the focus, though, these rules were not developed at some high-level strategy meeting. They were developed over time, layer by layer, like an oyster develops a pearl. This has many advantages. Instead of being based on some ideal goal and purpose, these rules have developed out of the day-to-day reality of working in a high-tech career. In no particular order, here are the rules that I find myself living with on a daily basis. Your list will certainly be different, but hopefully this will spur you to analyze and create one for yourself. Outsourcing has been much in the news lately. Along with this trend another, more disturbing, one has emerged…companies asking employees to train their own replacements. In the professional equivalent of “digging your own grave,” companies are threatening to withhold severance pay or eligibility for unemployment unless their current (soon to be former) employees transfer their knowledge. I find this to be one of the most repugnant policies I have ever seen. Any company that will do this to their employees deserves to go as bankrupt financially as they are morally. If you are ever faced with such a choice, here are some guidelines to help you through the ugliness. April 2004 Wandering through “The Grove”, a new shopping mall in Los Angeles, I was struck of some similarities between retail sales and your high-tech career. Long gone are the days of the “do everything” department store, hardware store, grocery store. Today, we have reached the logical, if not somewhat absurd, pinnacle of shopping…not just the niche market, but the ultra-niche market. While it may seem only natural to develop as many clients and as much business as possible, you have to be a bit circumspect when combining your professional life with your personal life. I recently observed a situation at my son’s school that points up the dangers of working where you live. While I wasn’t privy to the exact nature of the dispute, it points up some important guidelines to observe when making clients or your friends and neighbors. All work is cyclical. There are the slow times and the fast times. Some weeks you can’t seem to catch up and on others, work is so slow that you think the week may never end. This cycle of feast and famine is especially true for freelance consultants like myself. The busy weeks can overwhelm you and the slow weeks can leave you worried about paying your bills. While work may come and go, dealing with your slow time can have a dramatic effect on your high-tech career. Referrals are the life-blood of anyone working in high-tech, whether a freelance consultant and coach, like myself, or an IT staffer working inside a large corporation. Word of mouth is one of the strongest methods for developing new clients or finding the next job up the corporate ladder. As with most career issues, referrals can be a double-edged sword. Friendships, family and business can suffer when referrals become a contentious issue instead of simply one person, or business, helping another. Despite the complexity of high-tech hardware, software and systems, it is often the simplest issues that cause the most problems. This is true whether you are troubleshooting a computer or trying to figure out what to do with your high-tech career. Too often, complex ideas and systems can divert us when most problems call for a little simple thinking. Before you start tearing things apart, you need to ask a few simple questions. March 2004 The most dreaded word to high-tech workers today is outsourcing. Newspapers, magazines and television programs are filled with stories about high-tech jobs moving overseas, to India and other countries, while high-tech workers in the States remain unemployed. While the effects of outsourcing, both good and bad, are being debated every day, the very nature of your work, and the relative anonymity of high-tech workers, can make it easier to outsource your job. If you want to protect yourself from outsourcing, you need to make sure that management knows who you are, exactly what you do for the company – and how well you do it. Waiting for this. Waiting for that. Waiting seems to have become the common refrain in high-tech work these days. Rebuilding a computer from scratch has turned into a 2-3 hour session, where it would have taken only an hour a few years ago. What’s worse, clients are getting fidgety about all this time wasted waiting. Why are they paying you to stare at a screen while a progress bar updates. There are good answers that that question, but finding some solution to “the waiting game” is very important to your high-tech career. I am sure you have heard the expression, “sometimes you need to take the bull by the horns,” and other such euphemisms about taking action. While these sayings are definitely clichés, like all clichés they hold a bit of truth within them. There are times in your high-tech career, when you need to (insert your favorite cliché here) in order to insure that your career keeps moving forward, no matter what issues you might be facing. February 2004 If you work your high-tech magic at the end of a phone line, or deep in the heart of a large corporation, you can easily forget that everything you do is directly important to some other person. Sometimes we hide behind corporate bureaucracy or simple indifference, but the truth is, all high-tech work is personal. All technology is meant to be used by another human being and if you want to be successful in your high-tech career, you must remember this. I would guess that 95% of your work, day in and day out, is spent on problems. This printer won’t print. That program is crashing. IT DOESN’T WORK! While these problems can insure a regular workload for consultants like me, they can also lead us down the road to ruin. At the end of the road lie disgruntled clients, stagnant careers and simple, garden-variety burnout. If you want to keep your high-tech career cruising along, you need to move beyond troubleshooting and start helping your clients do “neat things” with their computers. It is almost impossible to work in a high-tech career today without being deeply involved with Microsoft Windows. Whether you are a developer, a user or a consultant to other users, there a several things you need to do to keep everything working smoothly. Doing so, and maintaining it regularly, is a sure way to improve you own high-tech life, that of your clients and your own high-tech career. For those of you just starting out, here are a few hints to insure that you and your clients are getting the most from your computer everyday. This year my business is undergoing a few changes. In the past, I have had alternate sources of income, which allowed me to limit the amount of consulting work I do. Now, though, I have a need to think about this work more as a primary source of income. In that light, I am gearing up a series of initiatives to present a more business-like manner to my clients and, hopefully, increase my billable hours by a significant amount. Whether you are just starting out, or looking for ways to revitalize an existing business, these tips should serve you well. January 2004 As we begin another year I am starting a project with all of my current clients. I am making a big effort to address some of the smaller high-tech problems that have lingered over the years. Sometimes, in the heat of fighting the big battles, we just don’t have the energy to address the smaller problem, which can often be much more difficult to resolve. Now is the time, though, to finally solve all those nagging issues and make everything work like it should. As your high-tech career matures, you will have less and less desire to climb under desks, pull cable through ceilings and experience the mind-numbing stupor of watching software install. As the years pass, you will want to find new ways of using your knowledge and experience, while still maintaining a quality of life and career. While it might not be easy, here are few thoughts that can guide your journey from technology installer to technology manager.going astray. SimplicityIt is easier to buy a computer today than ever before. For your average user, any computer system they buy will have more power and more software than they will ever need. In fact, the biggest problem most users will face is learning how to use all the power they are given without getting hopelessly confused. This is where you and your high-tech experience come into play. With thousands of people buying new computers, or upgrading their existing systems, every day, they need your expertise to help them from going astray. Over the years I am sure you have experienced the “never-ending project”—a project, program, or issue that never seems to get finished or resolved. These problems linger from year to year and no one ever seems to find a solution. Worse still, the longer they linger the worse they get. People get angrier, recriminations become nastier and the problem becomes even more intractable. If you want to keep your high-tech career on track, you need to face these never-ending issues head on. It won’t be easy, but it can prevent these issues from haunting you and your career from year to year. Despite what some people might think, the New Year is not some magic wand that can wave away all the problems of the last year. Was it only so! Instead, the New Year is simply a demarcation, a line in the sands of time, a pointer that reminds us where we are in our lives. The usual problems will still be there awaiting our attention on January 2nd, but we can use the New Year as a gentle reminder to rededicate ourselves to our families and our careers.
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