EP008: Small Goat Farm to Massive Server Farms with Storied Developer, Author, Blogger, and Speaker Strata Chalup.

2018-03-13 Preston Kilburn 45:00 1 Comment

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Ep-008-Strata-Chalup-Author-Blogger-Superstar-and-Speaker

Today on this episode of Angle Free IT I got together with Strata Chalup, who is a Developer, Author, Blogger, and Speaker from many conferences, including the LISA conference. Strata has been an influential person in my career because of her framework on troubleshooting. I got it from a friend who saw her speech at LISA and have gone over it many times with people. If you’re interested, I have a link to it below the show notes. We touch on Interview Strategies, Solopreneuring, and Strata’s dynamic career pivots.

01:00: Intro with Strata.
04:30: When to go solo consulting versus employee.
06:00: How to skill build by learning frameworks.
07:45: Strata’s how to troubleshoot presentation and what impact it had on Preston’s career. Logic vs knowledge.
10:30: Diversity and inclusion – today versus yesterday – and what still needs to change. Talk about Pillar 1 as well.
16:30: Imposter sydrome and battling it.
19:45: Joining IT when you’re not fresh out of school.
21:00: ‘Just’ is not just a phrase. It’s a nightmare.
23:00: Conduit – the race to the bottom price and how it affects Tech. Your job is to find out what is going “to be tires” in a few years and stay away from that.
24:30: Mentorship discussions, talk about Pillar 6.
27:00: Building a brand via values.
29:00: Things to avoid when looking to interview – ‘You should be able to explain a technical answer on a subway if you have one stop’.
31:00: Thoughts on pivots, and how Strata has accomplished pivots. PM-ing vs hands on.
34:30: Guest turnover – things Strata Loves: Arduino, and Adafruit. Also – super cool book Vehicles

You can find the latest book Strata Co-Authored Here.

Later on, we talked about Arduino programming – and I found a great starter set for people interested here. For small Arduino parts, I love the Colorado company Spark Fun, which can be found at http://www.sparkfun.com.

As well, we touched on a cool robotics book from MIT that Strata was talking about can be found here.

EP007: Jeff Bowdin – Director, Dad of Daughters, and Dynamo of the 80%.

2018-03-09 Preston Kilburn 59:05 0 Comments

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In episode 007 of the Angle Free IT podcast, I sat down to get a lesson in priorities and reality from IT Director Jeff Bowden. Jeff is very saged with his experience in technology and we met online in a few forums in which we both help people out with career questions. We talked about a lot of things, but my highlights were diversity and inclusion, Prioritization and the 80% rule that Jeff runs his shop with. I know that I am better for having met Jeff and having gained some of his wisdom, and I am sure you will be too.

00:00 Intro

03:00 Cyclical nature in computing.

07:00 How remote skills are key.

10:00 Degree vs No Degree thoughts.

13:00 Skills Jeff sees as declining and losing their relevance.

22:00 Customer Service is what we end up doing.

29:00 Interview skills for noobs.

31:00 how to clarify your priorities.

38:00 Branching out to determine who the important people in the company are – get outside of technology (mention workplace poker).

40:30 Who some of the most important people in the company are – it’s not who you think it is.

43:30 How Jeff finds mentorship.

47:00 Pivoting and making the jump with both feet.

50:30 The 80% rule explained. Balance and Prioiritzation.

53:00 Jeff gives Preston an unexpected huge compliment.

That cool website Jeff Mentioned is HERE.

EP006: UX Design with disruptor and trainer Tiffany Eaton – Why does UX even matter?

2018-03-06 Preston Kilburn 42:00 3 Comments

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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:

http://skl.sh/2nal9ZT (Tiffany’s class on UX research)

http://tiffanyeaton.com/asian-sterotype-story-game (Tiffany’s stereotype story game)

https://medium.com/@tiffanyeaton (Tiffany’s Medium account)

http://tiffanyeaton.com (Tiffany’s website)

Podcast Automation Stuff – V1.0 – The upshot

2018-03-05 Preston Kilburn 0 Comments

I create and program the things, and then I work on automation.

The trajectory of most people in technology, especially those who are especially adept at moving up in the world includes automation. It should come as no surprise to those of you who listen to my podcast, that I love my podcast, but that I HATE wasting time. Automation and streamlining things are what comes first to my brain when I started working on my podcast.

When I first started to prep my podcast, I was a bit naive:

Yeah… About that… No – I was wrong.

I thought I would give you a peek behind the scenes of what I’m finding out is a straight up friggin’ pipeline for a podcast.

So, Imma CI/CD this thing and here is where I’m going to display my findings.

But Why?

One thing you’ll hear me say throughout my blog and podcast is “I can make more money, but I can’t make more time“. Because I travel a lot for work, I absolutely disdain wasting my time on the weekends doing what I feel like is busywork. And, can I share something with you: I have about 2% passion for post-prep on audio and social media. But I don’t want the podcast to suck, and I want to have my guests reach and inspire a greater audience. Fortunately, I’ve done so many audio things off and on, as well as a ton of Adobe products. So I have the ingrained skills to figure out how to do stuff, and then the iterative skills to do them faster.

So, without further adieu, let me share my work-in-progress of a flow map of how I’m starting to get everything arranged. The automation flows are as follows:

Guest Inquiry (only semi-automated at this point)
Guest booking automation.
Recording automation.
Post Prep Audio Automation.
Post Prep Graphic Automation.
Episode Posting (can’t really be automated on the blog … yet)
Promote via laptop.
Promote via mobile (Instagram, Vero, other methods that require mobile only uploads).

EP005: From EVE to TAM, Rick Chan on how Networking Has Been Key in His Tech Career.

2018-03-02 Preston Kilburn 37:50 0 Comments

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Rick and I connected over a subreddit we both tend to hang out in – /r/ITCareerQuestions. As the owner of the most popular 5 posts, he clearly has a lot of wisdom to share. We talk about leveraging networking from even seemingly trivial things like online games to build your network. Networking is a HUGE part of Rick’s success – and it came from a source that may seem unconventional. We then went on to talk the evolution of the data center and what we think will be important skills-wise in a few years.

04:00: How Rick sees getting ahead – Networking With Humans. Even EVE Online can get you jobs – Rick’s proof.

12:00: Interview skills discussions.

24:00: Not boxing yourself in.

27:00: Career progression and figuring out – the journey is the destination.

30:00: We talk Hyperconvergence.

35:00: Talking CBT training.

40:00: Rick’s money is where his mouth is – Gaming wise! Check this out:

42:00: The ‘pick a practice’ quiz that Rick wrote.

We had a great time chatting, and I hope to meet him in person sometime – maybe I’ll shoot up to Calgary to ski!

You can find Rick on LinkedIn.

You can check out Rick’s quiz Right Here.

EP004: Career Blogger Mike McRitchie on telling your story in an Interview

2018-02-26 Preston Kilburn 49:19 0 Comments

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Today, we sit down with Career Blogger Mike McRitchie. Mike McRitchie works with people who’ve progressed in their technical or managerial career but who are feeling stuck.

He performs a “Career Checkup” where he helps them uncover their accomplishments, unique gifts and cool stories, and then performs a “Brand Alignment” – translating that into a résumé and LinkedIn profile that gets noticed.

00:00 Intro.

07:00 Skills discussions and where to build skills.

10:00 Networking Discussions in tech.

11:30 Preston ask the degree question.

18:30 Mike talks about pivoting into a new career, and how he’s helped people to do this.

21:00 The question that torpedo’s people in tech interviews ‘Tell Me About Yourself’- without bragging.

29:00 Pillar 6 – Being the dumbest person in the room, whenever possible.

30:30 (Loosely Paraphrased) You do you man… you do you.

37:00 Talking introversion and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.

40:30 Two passionate side gigger’s talk side gig.

44:00 How Mike helps people market themselves.

To find Mike McRitchie on the web:

1: Go here for Mike McRitchie‘s resume and LinkedIn profile writing services.

2: You can also get Mike‘s free report about the One Thing you need on your resume that you otherwise risk NOT getting called for an interview.

EP003: Luke Misgen About Interviewing with a Director and future-proofing your career.

2018-02-23 Preston Kilburn 54:26 0 Comments

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Today we sit down with Luke Misgen, Director of Technology at zTrip, a part of Veolia. If you’ve been on a bus, cab, or train – you’ve probably been in a Veolia vehicle. We talk about innovation with users “Uber-resistant” to change (you’ll get my terrible pun when you listen…) and also leveraging your way up the career ladder.

00:30: We meet Luke Misgen, Director of Technology at zTrip.

08:00: People Skills vs. Just having a degree.

12:30: Meetups, and bypassing the HR ‘filter’ by knowing people.

15:30: Interview Pro-Tips.

27:00: How Siloing is helpful and hurtful, and what happens when you try and break it consciously.

40:00: We talk farming and Pillar-1.

EP002: Nicolas Cole On Why Your Digital Brand Is More Important Than A Resume.

2018-02-21 Preston Kilburn 50:16 1 Comment

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Here in Episode 002, We talk to Nicolas Cole, Founder of Digital Press and top Quora writer about building your brand online, and killing your resume. Definitely a great listen – even if you’re not in IT. You can find the show on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, RSS, and on my blog at https://AngleFreeIT.com

00:00: Intro

03:00: Nicolas Cole’s origin story and how gaming shaped his career.

05:00: Why people know who Cole is who he is – ‘I Am The Brand’.

07:45: What the hell is ‘building your brand’?

10:00: Anyone can start this.

11:15: “Everyday”.

14:15: Quora is brilliant for building your brand.

19:30: Sometimes, taking an opportunity is better than waiting for someone to tell you to do so.

24:00: Cole shares about how people don’t prep for interviews, and why you’ve already failed if you do this.

28:00: Cole reminds me to have compassion for people.

30:30: Talking about finding a mentor, demonstrating you want to, and burning ships.

38:00: Why providing solutions vs spotting problems gets you a job.

42:00: “For the Horde” vs my boring ass Paladin.

You can find Nicolas Cole at his website, Digital Press, Right Here (https://www.digitalpress.com/) and personal blog at (https://nicolascole.com).

You can also find the article that made me say “I gotta talk to this guy” here:(https://www.inc.com/nicolas-cole/resumes-are-dying-heres-what-you-need-instead.html)

Feel free to reach out to Cole if you know some C-Suite person who needs some help with media!

Episode 001: Lifelong Learning with Julian Rodriguez 5x CCIE, CCDE and Master of Alphabet Soup.

2018-02-21 Preston Kilburn 57:47 0 Comments

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In this Episode, I talk with Julian Rodriguez, a friend from many years back. We talk through his expanding arsenal of certifications, currently including 5 CCIE’s, a CCDE, VCIX-NV, CISSP, Masters Degree, Undergrad and many others. I circle back through our decade of knowing each other, and I get to fanboy a little bit.

00:00: Intro.

02:00: Julian’s Origin Story.

06:00: Julian’s Main Philosophy.

08:00: Julian Answer ‘WHY’.

17:00: Dealing with Failure (a lot).

28:30: H1B Immigration rough ride.

33:00: An edge for those wanting to immigrate.

36:00: When to Pivot.

41:00: Julian proves he’s a consultant and gives me ‘It depends’.

47:00: When Julian studies/time philosophy.

51:00: What’s next, and programming skills.

54:00: Pillar 6 showing up in Study Groups.

Episode 000: What drives an ultra-high-performer in tech?

2018-02-16 Preston Kilburn 22:24 0 Comments

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Welcome to The Angle Free IT podcast.

Hey, I’m glad you’re here! In this Episode, we explore all of the ins and outs of having a position within Tech throughout all different types of industries. The focus of what we do is “How is it that some people get so much further ahead in their careers, and how do I do that too?”. In this episode I explore the following:

00:00 : My motivation for starting the show.

05:20 : My Hypothesis.

08:45 : I’d Love your feedback.

10:00 : I’m ruining your misconceptions, but giving you the power to build them better.

11:30 : What ‘Angle Free’ means to me.

16:00 : Do what I do, not what I DID.

21:00 : You are Awesome – thanks!

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I create and program the things, and then I work on automation.

Yeah… About that… No – I was wrong.

But Why?

Welcome to The Angle Free IT podcast.