255: Share What You Know and Be Willing to Have Your Views Challenged with Bret Fisher

Phil’s guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Bret Fisher. Bret is a freelance DevOps and Docker consultant, Udemy Instructor, trainer, speaker, and Open Source volunteer. He teaches courses on Docker and Container technology and often does live training workshops.

He’s also a volunteer Docker Captain and has been blogging about tech for more than 15 years.

In this episode, Phil and Bret Fisher discuss the importance of holding strong opinions on things that are fact-based. While still listening, with an open mind, to what others have to say on the matter and not being afraid to change your view when appropriate.

They also discuss how to effectively use even short online courses to greatly improve your career prospects. Bret also shares why employers now want to employ people who are willing and able to help others.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

(4.43) TOP CAREER TIP

Here Bret talks about the importance of having “strong opinions that are weakly held”. It is important to know why you hold the opinions you do, but you also have to be prepared to discuss other possibilities. Even change your opinions should someone make a strong argument that proves you need to do so.

This approach ensures you become a decisive person who is also able to move with the time and use other people ́s ideas to improve things

(9.36) WORST CAREER MOMENT

Bret ́s worst moment happened when, for a blog he was working on, he forgot to tick the AWS auto-scale box. So, when one of their posts went viral and was number one on the Reddit homepage, the site went down. As a result, they missed out on a ton of traffic. It was fixed within an hour, but it was an awful mistake to make.

In the podcast, Bret explained how he changed the way he works to make sure it could not happen again.

(13.32) CAREER HIGHLIGHT

Bret describes what he is doing now as being his career highlight. In particular, being able to reach and help a huge audience through his courses and how that has helped to turn him into a popular public speaker.

In this section, Bret explains how he keeps everything fresh. As well as how he keeps up with the changing needs of his audience.

(17.21) THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T

Bret and Phil discuss how the implementation of tech automation is changing the job market. As well as how people who work in the IT field can take advantage of this by seeking out and learning new stuff.

Bret also discusses how you can use low-cost training to change direction and boost your career. Sometimes you only have to spend the equivalent of a few days taking a course and implementing what you learn to equip yourself to land a fantastic new job.

(23.26) THE REVEAL

What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – Bret always liked computers, so it was a great fit for him.

What’s the best career advice you received? – Share everything you can. Be a fountain of knowledge for your colleagues.

What’s the worst career advice you received? – Go get a college degree to get your promotion.

What would you do if you started your career now? – Bret would still bootstrap and learn everything from the ground up.

What are your current career objectives? – Currently, Bret is focusing on how to use automation, metrics, and infrastructure as code as an effective way to manage change.

What’s your number one non-technical skill? – Being comfortable standing up in front of a group of people and talking about something.

How do you keep your own career energized? – Helping others is what keeps Bret ́s career energized.

What do you do away from technology? – Bret enjoys spending time with his wife cycling, going to the beach, and exploring local eateries.

(28.51) FINAL CAREER TIP

Regardless of where you are on your career path, stop and think about what skills you are going to need. Then address any deficit you find.

Also, do everything you can to help others and share what you know. The people who are willing and able to do this are now seen as important assets by most employers.

BEST MOMENTS

(6.57) – Bret - “Hold strong, fact-based, opinions. But also listen to what others think and be prepared to change your stance, when appropriate.”

(13.19) – Bret - “Learn how to use Q&A processes to prevent human errors from causing problems and improve workflow.”

(17.40) – Bret - “Seek out new stuff. When you do you will always be able to find new opportunities.”

(19.20) – Bret - “Take advantage of training online. It is cheap. Yet, provided you follow through, it can change your career.”

(23.46) – Bret - “Share everything you can. Be a fountain of knowledge for your colleagues.”

(29.51) – Bret - “Your value is now directly tied to how much you can share and help others.”

ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS

Phil Burgess is a...