Patterns of Iteration: Celebrating Three Hundred Episodes of Career Podcasting

Nerd Journey: Career Advice for the Technology Professional

What can you learn from 300 episodes focused on career progression in technology? This week we’ll remind listeners of our show’s mission and share the origin story of the podcast. Listen closely for the lessons we’ve learned, the patterns we have seen in our discussions and guests, the feedback we want to hear from listeners like you, and some recommended episodes if you want to dive deeper in specific areas.
As part of episode 300 we’re also announcing the recent creation of our layoff resources page that you can find at nerd-journey.com/layoffresources. This is a curated list of our most impactful discussions on layoffs with HR professionals, career coaches, burnout experts, entrepreneurs, and technologists like you. It’s been put together in a specific order to help you process layoff events, get practical tips on moving forward, and learn from the experiences of others.
Original Recording Date: 10-26-2024
Topics – Restating Our Thesis, The Origin Story and Motivations, Lessons Learned, Trends and Patterns, Key Ideas and Books, Progressing as an Individual Contributor, Management as a Career, Looking at the Future
1:01 – Restating Our Thesis
* Welcome to episode 300!
* We wanted to start by restating our thesis for the show, especially for anyone who might be a new listener to the show.
* We (John and Nick) are focused on serving the technology professional with the goal of bringing to light information on career progression and expansion that we did not know when we worked in IT Operations. We’re looking to answer questions like:
* How do I find a new job if I’ve just been laid off?
* How do I get better at my job?
* How do I change job functions within the organization I’m in?
* How can I change organizations / companies?
* How do I gain recognition?
* How do I progress in general in my career?
* What are the different roles that exist under the technology umbrella that I might be qualified to do?
* We’re extracting the patterns from stories of technologists not so different than you. Our guests have either worked in technology or have a unique perspective on the industry or trends within it. Releasing our discussions in multiple parts allows us to go deep into details and extract those patterns of the different ways one could go about accomplishing some of the aforementioned goals.
* We also want to educate listeners on how many roles are possible under the technology umbrella as a whole and how you might be qualified for more jobs than you thought. You’ll hear us discuss relatable experience quite a bit on the show.
3:46 – The Origin Story and Motivations
* Right before Nick started a new job in late 2017 (that John had referred him for), John suggested the two of them start a podcast.
* At first, Nick wasn’t sure what he would say on a podcast, but he said yes.
* John says in the beginning neither of them was clear on what the podcast was about yet.
* Based on his experience at a distributor and a technology vendor after being in IT Operations, John felt there were paths and roles that people did not know about that could result in greater pay. He thought they should publicize it and talk about different ways to accomplish it.
* They also had other ideas like sharing details of the solutions their employer (a technology vendor) was releasing. John remembers recording several episodes on these topics that were never published. Nick recalls some of their first intros using the words “IT news and opinions based on our points of view.”
* John and Nick didn’t think they could make an impact by just talking about the technology and promoting it. Many others were doing it.