347: Focus On The Value That You Can Deliver with Marcus Olson
Release Date: 08/22/2022
357: Being a Developer Advocate at ServiceNow with Chuck Tomasi
IT Career Energizer
Chuck Tomasi is a Developer Advocate at ServiceNow. He loves to share what he has learned with the developer community through blogs, videos, live streams, podcasts and books. Top 3 Career Tips 1. The best time to make mistakes is early in your career. 2. You need to learn how to deal with senior management. 3. Invest in building and developing relationships. Subscribe to the IT Career Energizer newsletter to receive actionable advice, exclusive content, early access offers and discounts – Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts ...
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356: You Need to Think Like Your Boss with Zhuoyue Wang
IT Career Energizer
Zhuoyue Wang is a senior software engineer on the space management team at Oracle. He’s the team lead for memory management in the database kernel. Top 3 Career Tips 1. Identify your strengths and interests. Find your unique position within the industry. Distinguish yourself from others. Enable people to remember you because of your characteristics and expertise. 2. Think like your boss. Find out what they care about. Understand their perspectives and try to anticipate their needs. 3. It’s important to leverage your strengths but don’t overlook your...
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355: You Need to Develop a Strong Work Ethic with Opemipo Disu
IT Career Energizer
Opemipo Disu is an 18-year-old Developer Advocate, keynote speaker who has been featured in several publications. He aims to empower 500,000 developers through his keynote talks and tutorials, and has already spoken at 100+ tech conferences. Top 3 Career Tips 1. Develop a strong work ethic. By doing so you will get noticed and make sure that people are aware of your achievements. This includes helping other people which you can do by contributing to communities. 2. Don’t give up on your passion. 3. When looking for a job, leverage your network connections....
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354: How to Keep Doing the Fun Stuff with Michael Frew
IT Career Energizer
Michael Frew is a technology veteran with 20+ years of experience. He now acquires 6 and 7 figure software and SaaS companies that generate him a 7-figure pre-tax annual income. Top 3 Career Tips 1. There is always the opportunity to acquire a business rather than start a new business. You can acquire an existing business from an entrepreneur when they’re looking to move onto the next thing. In 2024 many entrepreneurs are looking to start businesses around artificial intelligence and selling off businesses they currently own. 2. Remember that the long-term goal is to...
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353: Why Hard Work Isn’t Enough for a Successful Career in Tech with Dr. Kyle Elliott
IT Career Energizer
Dr. Kyle Elliott is confidant to many of the biggest names in Silicon Valley. He is a tech career coach, interview coach and job search expert. Kyle's Top 3 Career Tips 1. Consistency is important. You need to put in the hard work. Spend time putting in effort and don’t look for a quick trick or shortcut to success. Be strategic and intentional on what you work on. 2. Life begins outside your comfort zone. 3. Find mentors both within and beyond tech who can support you along your career journey, serve as your sounding board and provide you with guidance and...
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352: Be Bold, Be Brave and Go with Your Heart with Al Kingsley
IT Career Energizer
Al Kingsley has almost 30 years’ experience in educational technology and digital safeguarding, with a passion for education. He’s the CEO of EdTech company, NetSupport, and an EdTech author. Al's Top 3 Career Tips 1. You are born with two eyes, two ears and one mouth. You should use them in appropriate proportions. You don’t need to be the first person to speak to prove your worth. Listen to others, assimilate their views and then share an insight. 2. Stand your ground. If you’ve listened and absorbed and you genuinely believe that something is right don’t be...
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351: Educate Develop Innovate and Inspire with Caroline Bedford
IT Career Energizer
In this week’s show, Phil talks to Caroline Bedford, the founder and creator of Digital Minds, an award-winning innovation programme. Her forte is embedding design thinking, future-focused skills and a creative mindset within traditional roles in the insurance and corporate tech worlds. Using her 30+ years of technology and specialty insurance experience, she brings to life discovery, ideation, innovation and cultural change within insurance organisations. She focuses her passion on developing career longevity and digital confidence across all ages and levels. And capability and curiosity...
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350: You Should Always Negotiate Your Salary Offer with Brandon Bramley
IT Career Energizer
In this week’s show, Phil talks to Brandon Bramley, the founder of The Salary Negotiator. Brandon provides professional job offer and salary negotiation coaching to help IT professionals navigate the job offer negotiation process confidently and earn higher compensation. He’s coached clients through hundreds of salary negotiations with companies ranging in size from small businesses and startups to some of the largest global corporations such as Google, Meta, Apple, and Microsoft. And he has a background in strategic negotiations, having worked in professional negotiation roles for...
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349: Invest In Communication and Be An Optimist with James Malley
IT Career Energizer
In this week’s show, Phil talks to James Malley, the CEO and Co-Founder of Paccurate. He has been working in the logistics tech space since 2009 and has helped create a variety of enterprise shipping technology. He spearheaded the design of an award-winning multi-carrier TMS (Transportation Management Software) and since 2015, he’s been evangelizing the use of AI to achieve cost-efficient and environmentally sustainable packing. James talks about the importance of investing in communication to make the innovation process easier. He also discusses the value of optimism and trying to see the...
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348: Build Your Skill Set and Have Patience with Luke Switkowski
IT Career Energizer
In this week’s show, Phil talks to Luke Switkowski, the CEO and cofounder of Kognitiv, a company that provides Workday consultancy and professional services. He has been working with Workday for more than a decade and developed an on-demand services model supporting Workday clients. Luke talks about why skill sets are at the heart of every IT career. He also discusses the value of patience when it comes to unhappiness in your career path. KEY TAKEAWAYS: TOP CAREER TIP To build a career, you have to build a skill set. It takes patience and time, but everything is predicated upon...
info_outlineIn this week’s show, Phil talks to Marcus Olson, who discovered his love of technology by disassembling and reassembling computers salvaged from a shuttered Black & Decker office. He also taught himself Basic so that he could create his own, simple text-based games.
He is now the CEO and Founder of Pliancy, a technology-enabled professional services company that helps growing start-ups scale their corporate IT.
Marcus talks about why we should always focus upon the driving value behind the companies we work for. He also discusses the value of being prepared and showing up entirely, so that opportunities can be taken.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
TOP CAREER TIP
Focus on what the value is that you drive for the companies in which you work. Often, people fall into the trap of loving their product because they love it for themselves instead of identifying the need it can serve.
WORST CAREER MOMENT
Marcus took a job at the government that paid okay, but the prospects were dull, and it did not allow him to follow the pursuits that interested him.
CAREER HIGHLIGHT
After leaving a company, many of Marcus’ clients followed him, who advised him to begin his own consulting firm, which was the ignition beneath his second chapter in life.
THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T
The IT departments are slowly driving the success of companies in general, and so are slowly becoming more and more integral to conversations about growth and direction.
THE REVEAL
What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – After receiving a computer as a gift, Marcus realized the potential of taking something apart and putting it together again.
What’s the best career advice you received? – Be authentic.
What’s the worst career advice you received? – Don’t take risks!
What would you do if you started your career now? – Figure out how to get a job at a technical organization a lot earlier.
What are your current career objectives? – Focusing on the progression of others.
What’s your number one non-technical skill? – Communication.
How do you keep your own career energized? – Keep being uncomfortable and putting yourself out there
What do you do away from technology? – Spending time with dogs, architecture, design, art and other creative outlets.
FINAL CAREER TIP
If you show up with your whole self and you’re passionate about what you do, then opportunities will present themselves and you’ll be in great shape to take advantage.
BEST MOMENTS
(8:27) – Marcus – “Ultimately, technology needs to serve a goal”
(15:06) – Marcus - “If you do what you love, the money will follow. If you do it long enough, more money will follow”
(20:07) – Marcus – “We’re seeing a shift, year over year, of the importance of the IT department in helping drive success for companies”
(26:02)– Marcus – “Do it for an exceptionally long time and be authentic while you’re doing it”
ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS
Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organizations to design, develop, and implement software solutions. Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers. And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.
CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS
Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_PhilBurgess
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess
Instagram: https://instagram.com/_philburgess
Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact
Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast’s website, https://itcareerenergizer.com
Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer
ABOUT THE GUEST – MARCUS OLSON
Marcus Olson discovered his love of technology by disassembling and reassembling computers salvaged from a shuttered Black & Decker office. He also taught himself Basic so that he could create his own, simple text-based games.
He is now the CEO and Founder of Pliancy, a technology-enabled professional services company that helps growing start-ups scale their corporate IT.
CONTACT THE GUEST – MARCUS OLSON
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pliancy_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusolson/
Website: http://www.pliancy.com/