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Step AFK: Practical Advice
for Career Adavancement
@nathenharvey
Introduction
Nathen Harvey
Chef
Food Fight Show
@nathenharvey
@nathenharvey
What do I know about
career advancement?
I'm a hiring manager
I've been hired
I've worked at VisualCV
@nathenharvey
Professional/Career Talks
Track
IT Careers Panel
Backing Into Configuration Management
Professional Topics Panel Discussion
Don't Be That Guy
...and more! @nathenharvey
Who are you?
Hiring manager?
@nathenharvey
Who are you?
Hiring manager?
On-call right now?
@nathenharvey
Who are you?
Hiring manager?
On-call right now?
System Administrator?
@nathenharvey
Who are you?
Hiring manager?
On-call right now?
System Administrator?
Developer?
@nathenharvey
Who are you?
Hiring manager?
On-call right now?
System Administrator?
Developer?
DevOp?
@nathenharvey
Why are you here?
Actively seeking a new job
@nathenharvey
Why are you here?
Actively seeking a new job
Passively seeking a new job
@nathenharvey
Why are you here?
Actively seeking a new job
Passively seeking a new job
Recently stared a new job
@nathenharvey
Warning!
Your boss might not want you to attend
this talk
@nathenharvey
The Best Advice for Career
Advancement
Quit Your Job!
@nathenharvey
I'm not ready to quit...
I love my job, love my team, love the
company I work for.
@nathenharvey
I'm not ready to quit...
I don't like what my company does, but
the technology I work with is great!
@nathenharvey
I'm not ready to quit...
There are lots of things I dislike about my
work environment but the compensation
package is great!
@nathenharvey
I'm not ready to quit...
I'm not "done" here yet. There are still
things I'd like to accomplish
@nathenharvey
I'm not ready to quit...
Do I have the skills required to get a new
job?
DevOps
Cloud
Continuous Delivery
Security
@nathenharvey
Do what you love
Why do you go to work?
What your company does matters.
What your team does matters.
What you do matters.
@nathenharvey
Your next job starts with
you!
You have to figure out
what you want to do
the kind of company you want to be a
part of
the type of team you want to work with
@nathenharvey
So now that you've sorted
that...
How do you find your dream job?
Step away from the keyboard
Step out of your comfort zone
Step out of the echo chamber
@nathenharvey
Conferences
Take a day or three off
Hear the echo of new voices and ideas
@nathenharvey
Podcasts
Shorten your commute
Listen to new voices and ideas
@nathenharvey
Blogs
Write a blog
Know your audience
Read blogs
@nathenharvey
Twitter
Use a client
Set-up searches on hashtags
Don't try to read every tweet in your
timeline
Someone gets noisy, stop following him or
her
@nathenharvey
Contribute to Open Source
If you've never done so, make it a goal
Start small
It can be addictive!
@nathenharvey
Meetup Groups
Find people near you with similar
interests
Networking is hard and I'm shy
Ask a question
Give a presentation
@nathenharvey
Take a vacation
"I'm on vacation! I won't be checking email, voicemail, or even
opening my laptop again until May 4th."
@nathenharvey
Road Trip!
Visit another company in your area
See how their teams operate
Share how your team operates
Invite them to visit you
@nathenharvey
Exchange Program
Engineer Exchange
Operations Exchange
@nathenharvey
Exchange Program (funny
story)
Operations Exchange + Twitter Hashtag
@nathenharvey
Exchange Program (funny
story)
Operations Exchange + Twitter Hashtag
#opsexchange
@nathenharvey
Exchange Program
Within your company
With another company
@nathenharvey
Wait a minute...
We're operations, I can't give an outsider
root access!
How do I know the employee will return?
@nathenharvey
Always be interviewing!
You should go on a job interview every
12-18 months at a minimum!
@nathenharvey
Tools used to get hired
Resume
Recruiters
Phone Screen
Interview
@nathenharvey
Resume
You will NOT be hired because of your
resume!
Goal of a resume: Get an interview
@nathenharvey
Recruiters
Who does the recruiter work for?
Contingency Recruiters
Retained Recruiters
@nathenharvey
Job Boards
Spray and pray
Longevity
@nathenharvey
Social Media
LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter
@nathenharvey
Phone Screen
Goal: get an interview
Who's on the other end of the line?
@nathenharvey
The Interview
Remote interviews
In person interviews
Meet at least one person face-to-face
@nathenharvey
You are responsible...
For your learning
For your development
For your career
For your teammates
For lots of important things!
@nathenharvey
...but you're not alone!
Find a mentor
Lean on your peers
Mentor someone
Give back
@nathenharvey
A quick story
Hi, just got rejection from [REDACTED] for the SA position. I'm a
little curious why - wanted to reach out to see if you had any insight.
Thanks.
@nathenharvey
A quick story
Hey, I just wanted to thank you again for reaching out to
[REDACTED]. I start in a couple of weeks... :)
@nathenharvey
This only works in a good
market!
Continuing your education
Meeting your peers
Working with other organizations
Participating in the community
@nathenharvey
Yes, we're hiring
But this is not a pitch for you to come
work for us
http://getchef.com/careers
http://getchef.com/jobboard
@nathenharvey
Thanks!
I'm not quitting my job today, but maybe
you should
What questions can I answer for you?
@nathenharvey
@nathenharvey