Month: April 2018

EP015: Mini Coaching with Willie Moore – WGU degree options

One thing we do a LOT around Angle Free IT and online on forums is giving advice.  It’s kinda my ‘thing’ because I couldn’t find a non-anonymous way to get tech career advice online.  At the same time, people want and have asked for personalized coaching sessions to get them pointed in the right direction.  I wanted to let you listen in on one of the first mini-coaching sessions we did a few months ago with a longtime friend and listener Willie Moore.  It focuses on WGU degree options for technology folks.  I think you’ll enjoy it, especially if you’re on the fence about WGU, or what degree options you are looking into.

02:00 Intro.

05:00 ISA degree vs Networking degree.

12:00 Why WGU worked for me.

16:00 Willie discussing which ones worked.

20:00 Doing vs Telling and why they’re different things.

30:00 Programming skills and why they’re key in the future.

EP014: Neil Moore 8X CCIE, CCDE, RHCE and all the other E’s on InterOp being what makes his career (and yours too).

Yes, this interview is with THE Neil Moore – the guy who is tied with only one other human on the planet for having every Expert level cert from Cisco – All CCIE’s and the CCDE.  I first found out about Neil through a YouTube channel he had when he was at HP doing some interop stuff with their switches.  The funny thing is, THAT EXACT CONCEPT is how Neil Views his success.  Listen in on this amazing interview, there is so much wisdom in it!

00:00 Neil Moore – Who he is started with the computer lab at Panamerican University, and a Highschool job doing PC stuff.
07:00 Refinement of the CCIE study process – from the guy who has them all.
09:00 INE and IP expert (RIP IPX [the training company and the protocol!])
13:00 Combining technologies as a superpower.
17:00 It’s not about the money for Neil. It’s about something he’s passionate about AND something he likes to do.
21:00 Making sure your training process isn’t too old, and not boxing yourself in to learning methods.
24:00 Unbidden, it’s Pillar 6!
25:00 Certs are structured learning – and Neil’s take.
28:00 Software has become like sampling songs – learning everything that you think is cool tends to pop up again and again.
30:00 Choosing a technology based on what you LIKE – so that you keep interest
32:30 Code RGV and how Neil Gives back to the next wave of tech workers
34:30 Mentoring – You can’t get off the couch and run a marathon. You have to train yourself up – Neil times zero to hero in 18 months. Pillar 1 and Pillar 6 aplenty.
41:00 Social media and showcasing your work.
44:30 Neil on moving in front of automation and commonality.
48:00 What Neil’s doing now -> Technology hop vs job hopping.
52:00 The importance of knowing people inside your company or outside who can think about a problem with you.
54:30 Neil Moore’s dedicated learning time – 1 to 2 hours per day, 7 days a week.
59:00 Min/Maxing your study time and time boxing stuff that is frustrating.

Find Neil online at LinkedIn (HERE), and on Twitter (HERE).

More can be found about Neil’s methodology about CCIE study on the How To Network blog entry (HERE).

 

EP013: Cisco NetDevOps Evangelist Hank Preston on smart people learning new things (even when it’s scary).

 

I never do quite know when I will stumble across someone who I think “I must have this person on my podcast”.  A Cisco Network Automation webinar was one such place, when I met Hank Preston, the NetDevOps Evangelist for Cisco Networks.  He had a HUGE amount of great knowledge to share with us on this episode.  Tackling Pillar 4, Explaining Automation, and talking about why people screw themselves up by not listening.

00:00 Intro for Hank Preston.
10:00 Network Programmability Basics Course (here)
15:00 What is CI/CD and Network Pipelining
17:30 Network Configuration Pipeline
24:00 MEETUP!
29:00 Deep Learning vs Wide Learning – Don’t look for unicorns.
31:00 Developer.cisco.com discussions.
36:00 Discussion on certs and their value.
41:00 SE Jobs and how listening and not snap judgment is the key.
50:00 Everyone’s favorite buzzword – IoT.

You can find Hank online at @hfpreston and @ciscodevnet. He also gives killer webinars about using programmability to automate your network.