Enterprise to Startup: The GitHub Recruitment Path
The I.T. XP
After 17 years at a large utility company managing decade-long waterfall projects, Don Freeman made a radical pivot into the fast-paced world of Web3 startups—without ever applying for the job. In this episode of The IT XP, Don shares how his contributions to the Ethereum Foundation's web3.py library caught SonarX's attention and led to a complete career transformation. We explore the stark contrast between enterprise and startup life, from 10-year projects to 10-day sprints, and why Don believes your GitHub commits might be worth more than your next certification. This isn't about...
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Why 94% of Gen Z Won't Become Your Boss
The I.T. XP
A 2025 Deloitte survey of 23,000 workers across 44 countries found only 6% of Gen Z aspire to senior leadership. Chuck—upper-middle management for over a decade—unpacks the real math behind the 94% rejection rate, shares war stories on emotional labor, and previews next week's dive into AI replacing managers entirely. Homework: map your role to IC vs. management paths and share what you find.
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Microsoft Ignite 2025 Observations
The I.T. XP
Chuck breaks down his first-ever Microsoft Ignite experience in San Francisco—from navigating the massive Moscone Center venue to cutting through the "Copilot everything" sales pitch. If you've wondered whether mega-conferences like Ignite are worth the hype (and the $400+/night hotel bill), this episode delivers the unfiltered reality check. What You'll Get: Conference logistics reality: 20,000 attendees, government ID checkpoints, buses to Chase Center for the keynote, and the eternal search for the Marriott Marquis session rooms Talk quality assessment: Why "advanced" sessions felt...
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AWS US-East-1 Goes Down — Why DNS Still Rules the Internet
The I.T. XP
When Amazon Web Services’ US-East-1 region went dark in October 2025, half the internet felt it. In this episode of The IT XP, Chuck breaks down what really happened — from the DNS and DynamoDB race condition that triggered the AWS outage to the cascading effects across global systems. He explains the technical side of DNS at scale in plain language, then connects it to bigger lessons for IT professionals: why multi-cloud strategies matter, how infrastructure teams can partner better with the business, and what aging technologists must do to stay relevant in the era of AI. Whether you...
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Back to Basics
The I.T. XP
The I.T. XP Returns: Navigating IT Careers in 2025—AI, Layoffs, and Staying Relevant After a six-month hiatus, The I.T. XP podcast is back with unfiltered insights for IT professionals navigating today's rapidly changing tech landscape. Chuck returns to the audio format to tackle the biggest challenges facing sysadmins, IT engineers, and technology managers in 2025. What You'll Learn in This Episode: In this no-nonsense discussion, Chuck addresses the realities IT professionals face today: ongoing tech layoffs, AI transformation pressure from leadership, constant organizational...
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Season 11 Starts today!!!
The I.T. XP
We're kicking off Season 11 with an homage to legacy media where we read reddit questions and answer them live!
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Fail.con 2024
The I.T. XP
The Crowdstrike Falcon issue was an eye opener for a lot of IT organizations on the readiness of their BCP or DR plans. This isn't the first time we've seen this, but it's been a while where such a large outage has been seen across a number of different industries. I discuss how you can leverage this as an opportunity for you to be more visible within your organization and finding opportunities to get ahead in your career. Crowdstrike PIR: What is a post incident review:
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Mastering My WGU Management & Leadership Master’s in 6 Months!
The I.T. XP
Strap in as I take you back to my adventure at Western Governors University, where I crushed my Master of Science in Management and Leadership in one term (six months). Riding on the wisdom from a pivotal Reddit thread and armed with the solid gold insights from the Purdue OWL, I'm here to lay it all out bare: the good, the bad, and the brutally honest truths about speeding through WGU's competency based learning program. In this episode, I'm not just reminiscing about my academic grind during those intense months; I'm breaking down the strategies that could help you blaze through your own...
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Multi-Cloud Learning: Paid Platforms
The I.T. XP
In this episode I discuss two paid platforms for your multi-cloud learning. These platforms I have leveraged in my own journey and I stand behind them. I know times are tough, but for those looking for a paid option to learn the various cloud platforms, these two may interest you. A Cloud Guru: Adrian Cantrill's Learning Platform (AWS and Azure only):
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Your Multi-Cloud Learning Journey
The I.T. XP
The cloud started off with well intentions of bringing more products to market faster, but it has turned into a competing race on how to optimize costs while deploying products at break neck speeds. I talked about how you can begin your multi-cloud journey because it is no longer a one provider show. Most organizations have gone multi-cloud and others are following suit. This show aims to help guide you on how you should approach learning all the clouds; well at least AWS, Azure, and GCP. Pardon the rant earlier in the episode. I started using a new service called Riverside.fm (Not sponsored)...
info_outlineUpdate on where I am in my job search. Talk about the resources I am using and where I have failed. Let's also talk about the future of this journey.