Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:22 — 74.7MB) | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:00 — 57.7MB) | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

Sometimes, actually – let me rephrase that, a lot of times I know I want to talk to a guest but I have no idea what I’ll gain from them – a lot like UX.  What is UX?  User Experience within a piece of software.  It’s something companies spend A LOT of time on, or don’t – and then fail.  In this episode, we are lucky enough to snag a few cycles of brain time with Tiffany Eaton, UX designer, Medium Author, and upcoming grad/disruptor in the UX field.  Tiffany tells us what the main challenges UX attempts to fix, and how the goals of a UX designer flow.  Come join us for this great conversation – especially if you’ve ever used an app – so all of us, really.

3:00: What is UX?
4:00: Tiffany’s Interning experience, and talking about networking to get the first one.
7:00: Real world projects versus constraints within school – the shock of reality.
11:00: ‘Do I Belong’ game
12:00: Tools of the trade
17:45: Interview prep, and deep researching tips for prep from Tiffany
19:00: STAR method (this was new to Preston – it’s a cool method).
https://www.vawizard.org/wiz-pdf/STAR_Method_Interviews.pdf
22:00: Tiffany educates me on why she feels design doesn’t have nearly as many curmudgeonly folks – it’s just their nature of designing new stuff all the time.
24:00: Millennials don’t care about work that doesn’t matter.
26:00: UX market entry tips. Design of everything book. side projects.
29:00: Deep dive into how UX and programmers actually work.
32:30: Tiffany’s mantra of ‘Not holding users accountable because they don’t think like we do’.
34:00: GAMING TIME! Tiffany’s game and arcade experience, and the specific game she is an aficionado about.

If you’d like to find Tiffany online, go find her online at the following locations: