Spiceworks - 2014 Top Career Advice From IT Pros - Free Ebook

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2014 Top Career Advice from IT Pros
INTRODUCTION
Want a raise? A little respect? Some peace of mind? Youre a pro, no doubt about it. But if theres one career tip your peers keep coming back to, its this: The learning never stops. Just like those users who keep losing their passwords over and over again its going to keep happening... forever. So in the spirit of packing your brain full of as many petabytes of data as it can take, Spiceworks hand-picked some crowdsourced career tips straight from the mouths of real tech experts. Whether youre looking to upgrade your position, get certified, raise the career bar, master new skills (and maybe even the Zen of IT maintenance), discover some resource goldmines, or just learn the art of being social Spiceworks has ya covered. These career-saving (and enhancing) tips are brought to you by seasoned IT pros, savvy marketers... and even a few Spiceworks employees who might know a thing or two about tech. You can also check out the amazing projects in their IT portfolios for more expert insights and then create your own. Learn how to stay relevant in a world thats changing faster than an SSD reboot. Ready to get busy boosting your IT career? Read on!
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TIP 01
Promotion, anyone?
I think that in order to get promoted in todays environment you need to demonstrate you can do the work.
So, ask for additional responsibility and tackle larger projects. Once you demonstrate you can be a senior systems administrator, for example, you can make your own case for promotion. At that point you have a track record of being able to do the job and this will assuage any management fears that you might not be cut out for that position.
Scott Roberts (jhuscott) IT Manager, Baltimore, MD Scotts IT Portfolio
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TIP 02
Got skillz?
Focus on adding to your IT knowledge yearly. I try to focus on a different skill or area of focus quarterly to add up to one new skill each year.
And to echo others be nice to your users. They may create ridiculous issues, and ask crazy questions, but without your users, you dont have a job. They are your customers, and no matter how great of an IT pro you are, if youre surly all the time, your employer will find someone else who has similar IT skills, but better people skills.
Katie Drucker (Katie) Social Media & Community Manager, Columbia, SC Katies IT Portfolio
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TIP 03
Tales from the script...

Learn to do sysadmin work from the command line and scripting. Many of the new technologies being deployed simply dont have powerful GUIs designed for them anymore.
Eli Etherton (Eli @ elitehcomputerguy.com) Eli the Computer Guy, Baltimore, MD Elis IT Portfolio
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TIP 04
Polish up your resume.

The best advice I can provide for IT pros to advance their career in 2014? First and foremost, have a strong resume that includes a portfolio if possible.
Expand this with an interactive portfolio online that concisely shows off all of your different skills, and be sure to explain, in a nutshell, what sets it apart. Be aware that the non-tech savvy (including HR people!) may not understand what theyre looking at, at first glance. Be a go getter today more than ever. The economy is tough nowadays and employers are being hit hard, so you really need to show off how you can bring a positive ROI to your company. If you dont already have one, start a blog online, and write about your solutions to different tough problems you encounter at work. With social media such a big part of the world nowadays, employers are attracted to bringing on board rock stars online celebrities who bring with them a following, have the ability to create buzz, and are able to summarize for their employers where the industry is headed and how to move forward. Read full quote
Dani Horowitz (Dani at DaniWeb.com) Business Manager, Bayside, NY Danis IT Portfolio
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TIP 05
Know thy cloud.

The cloud is growing at an amazing speed, and more and more organizations recognize the immense benefits of cloud computing.
Thus, the best way IT pros can advance their career is to learn about new cloud technologies. This is the area where the most exciting and the best paid jobs will be created in the years to come.
Michael Pietroforte (Michael @ 4sysops.com) Owner at 4sysops.com Munich, Germany
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TIP 06
Nice guys always win.

Always be nice. This industry is full of jerks. Dont be one of them.
If you are nicer than average there are many benefits: Everyone will want to work with you thus you can work as a team and divide the work among everyone instead of doing it yourself. Managers will bend over backwards to keep you there (in small ways and sometimes in big ways). Youll have a better relationship with users and theyll be more willing to listen to you when you have to tell them bad news. Being nice doesnt mean always saying yes. Have the discipline to say no when you have to... but always be ready to suggest alternatives that will help them get what they want some other way.
Thomas Limoncelli (YesThatTom) IT Consultant (at Google) Bloomfield, NJ
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TIP 07
The Golden Rule.

My advice is: always follow The Golden Rule.
Treat your customers, your coworkers, your employer, your employees and everyone else you encounter as you want to be treated yourself. This is the best long term strategy you can have.
Ivan Nekrasov (Ivan@Dell) Spiceworks Partner Nashville, TN
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TIP 08
The road ahead...

We all have a vision of what makes us truly happy. Working in IT can, a lot of times, seem so reactive that its too easy to sit with heads down and just get lost in the job.
Putting out fires, answering user questions, or kicking off planning the next CTO-driven initiative causes us to forget the vision and succumb to the daily grind. Each of us has a sense of our professional goals and we know when a direction doesnt feel right. As an IT person right now, the next 3-5 years will be interesting. Cloud adoption is moving at such a fantastic pace we all deserve a chance to take a breath and plan for our professional career. Do you have a sense of what your job will look like in 5 years? I believe part of any job is to partially focus on reaching professional goals. Part of that is to ensure technical knowledge is obtained to accomplish daily tasks, but there should also be defined guidelines to ensure that goals are reached.
Rod Trent (Rod Trent at Windows IT Pro) Community Manager of Windows IT Pro, owner of myITforum.com Middletown, Ohio
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TIP 09
I T for the win.

Maybe this is less advice than it is an endorsement of IT as a career. Its a great foundation to build your career on. The technical, business, social and interaction skills you learn can take you far.
Heres a little known fact about me my second job out of college and my first job at a start-up was as a sysadmin. It was a 20 person company building next generation software for the CAD / CAM industry. My job was to keep 20 Apollo Workstations (a competitor to Sun in the 80s) up and running. That company folded, but that experience got me a job at Apollo, which brought me to NeXT, which helped me start my first company Motive where I met the three other founders of Spiceworks. And the rest, as they say, is history. And you thought Spiceworks being about Everything IT was just an accident :-).
Scott Abel (Scott) President & CEO at Spiceworks, Inc. Austin, TX
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TIP 10
Be water, my friend. -Bruce Lee

Listen to this small snippet from Bruce Lee and then integrate this philosophy into your IT career. We all know how fast IT can change. Being like this will help you flow with any changes, whether they are fast or slow or aggressive or unpredictable.
Jeff Grettler (Jeff Grettler) IT Operations Manager at Spiceworks, Inc., Austin, TX Jeffs IT Portfolio
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TIP 11
Look at the big brain on [you]!

Learn, educate yourself! To be successful in IT you need to do more than just get training.
Certs are also valuable and I do have them. They help you get launched and learn more about a wider range of subjects than you normally come into contact with in your day job. This helps build the width of your knowledge. But most of all, be open minded and look outside of your current responsibilities. Become an excellent generalist before you specialize. Have a T-shaped skill set. Go wide generally and deep in your current specialties. Move out of your comfort zone every now and then and tackle a difficult problem or area. Do not stop learning, its a journey. Go out into the world, both figuratively speaking and literally. Learn from talking to your peers, partners, vendors, consultants who all bring their points of view to the table. Participating in a community and outside of your jobs responsibilities also builds your communication skills, both in discussions and while presenting. Read full quote
Didier Van Hoye (workinghardinit) Blogger (Working Hard In IT), Microsoft MVP Gent, Belgium
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TIP 12
So whatcha want?
In your job search, know what you want. Take time to think about what is most important to you in your next opportunity.
Too many people jump to the next job without really analyzing what they really want and end up in a place that is not right for them. Ask yourself things like...whats my passion, do I like structure or chaos, do I like big or small companies and why, do I like a narrow role or spinning lots of plates, what makes me crazy about my job, why do I like to go into work everyday? Just answering a few of these questions for yourself can help set you in the right direction when you are searching for a new role or when you get another recruiter phone call. Youll know what sounds right for you and what doesnt.
Jennifer Cantu (Jen C) Director of Talent & Culture at Spiceworks, Inc. Austin, TX
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TIP 13
Quick Top 10.

1. Dont get a I know everything better complex. 2. Improve your social skills -> this will make a lot of things easier in your life.
3. The I in IT is more important than the T. And the best place to get I is from people. 4. There are two types of IT companies: business-centric and technology-centric. If you like to geek out, avoid business-centric companies, and the other way around. 5. Grow a sense of humour to survive the stressful situations that you will encounter when something might not go as planned. 6. Be open and flexible, i.e., learn to implement what you may not know rather than being boxed into learning and implementing what you know. This will stand you in good stead and give you a broad background as you grow in your career. 7. While you are in college do a search for the job you will be seeking when you graduate, and do a gap assessment amongst the experience, projects, technology, and certifications you will need to land the job. 8. Be focused on what cluster you want to specialize in.
Maxime Trottier (Devolutions) Spiceworks Partner Lavaltrie, Quebec, Canada
IT is far too big to be a generalist. Read full quote
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TIP 14
Know your bottom line.

Build an expansive network of contacts first and foremost. Chances are you have many of the skills you need if youre looking to advance your career, you may just need a resume booster or two with a few certifications.
If you have the right contacts and the resume to back it up, you should be able to obtain the position youre looking for with a reasonable amount of effort. Learn the following and get certified: Virtualization (Hyper-V, ESXi VCP5, Oracle VM Certified Implementation Specialist, etc). Networking, Network Security (CCNA, CCNA Security, JNCIA-Junos for the Juniper folks, JNCIS-SEC, etc). Windows or Linux Servers (Linux+, RHCSA for Red Hat folks, RHCE, MCSA for Microsoft folks, MCSE, etc) As much as I dont like working on servers outside of work, it helps to set up a hardware lab at home to build out new environments to test out and learn new products.
Ralph E. McNabb III (rmcnabb) Microsoft Engineer, Southfield, MI Ralphs IT Portfolio
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TIP 15
Be resourceful.
You cannot know everything. If you do then you are worth more than your company can afford. Use your resources such as the Spiceworks Community, Google, Experts Exchange, etc.
Karl Ross (Karl8674) Systems Engineer Bradford, PA
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TIP 16
Raise the bar...

So you want a raise huh? Do you think you deserve it? Can the company afford it? Last year I answered yes to all three, asked for a 15% raise, and low and behold got over an 18% raise.
How did you do this? you ask Well, quite simple if you prepare and present. Start with your job description - what do you do, what are your responsibilities, and what are you expected to do (i.e: On Call, weekends, etc). Next, do a self evaluation and be honest. Do you show up on time, do you get your tasks done correctly and on time, do you go the extra mile or do you just do what is required? You need to be really honest with yourself on this one. If you fudge, your whole presentation will fail. Include in this where you succeded and where you have failed, and what you intend to do to prevent the failure(s) in the future. Now go and talk with the money folks. This would be the controller, or bookkeeper, possibly the CIO, or maybe the owner. THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO ASK FOR A RAISE. You are looking for information on how the company is doing...financially. Did they give bonuses? Was it a profitable year? What are the projections for next year?
Read full quote Paul Chiodo (pchiodo) IT Manager, Cuba, MO Pauls IT Portfolio
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TIP 17
Greener pastures...
Get a new job! or Hold up your boss for more money!
Many people dont progress because they dont look for new opportunities or ask for more money. Better titles and better pay means you can command even better titles and even better pay. If you are not content with where you are now, talk to your boss about what it will take to improve your situation. If not, start looking for a new opportunity that will either provide you with a better situation or is a sideways move to prepare you for a better situation. If you are willing to work hard and do a great job, why not work hard to have a great job?
Erik Nordman (Erik) Director of IT, Hollis, NH Eriks IT Portfolio
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TIP 18
Happy little accidents.

Mistakes shape you into the worker/person you become and are. Some of my best opportunities and successful projects/ implementations have resulted after I failed terribly.
Kacia Steiner (Kacia (QuickCert)) Marketing Manager Portland, OR
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TIP 19
Master IT.
IT is moving away from break/fix. IT nowadays is about system deployment, adoption and utilization.
How many systems do you have in your environment that users are only scratching the surface of? The next great way to grow your IT career, is find that system in your organization and master it. Then figure out new ways the system can help the users and the business make money. That is where the value in IT is going forward.
Chris Davis (Chris7262) Systems Implementation Specialist, St. Louis, MO Chris IT Portfolio
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TIP 20
Learn some humility.

Ive stayed miles ahead of the pack by the way I treat my internal customers and clients. Long gone are the days of the antisocial, pocket-protected, server-room recluse, stereotypical nerd.
Any monkey can learn technical skills. You need to bring your soft skills to the table these days as well. IT needs humble, hard-working members who fully understand that If everyone knows what I know, then they wouldnt be paying me to do what they pay me to do.
Lee Burns (Atillion) IT Manager Bend, OR
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TIP 21
Document your day.

Keep a record of all that youve worked on as you cross it off your project list.
That way you have something to show your boss at review time. And if he/she isnt impressed then you can use the list to update your resume. Read these two books that have done the most for my IT career: The Practice of System and Network Administration, and Getting Things Done.
Nicholas Tolstoshev (Nic) Former Spiceworks Community Manager Austin, TX
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TIP 22
Be unafraid. Be very unafraid.

Never be afraid of emerging technologies. Dont be the department of NO, but rather, how can this technology be used to make my (or other peoples) work easier?
Always network with other people in your industry. Doing this will keep you abreast of different solutions and opinions of how technology is used. Yours is not the only environment different environments require different solutions, but sometimes theres ideas out there that can help you enhance your environment. When working with someone, always follow up with them, even if nothing is going on. Never leave your customer in the dark.
Rob Dunn (robdunn) Network/Systems Administrator, Rockford, IL Robs IT Portfolio
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TIP 23
Simply put...
Label and document everything. Keep it simple. Spiceworks is your friend. Learn new skills, and keep learning! Remember customer service... talk to users on the phone with a smile, (yea hard sometimes). You are serving them! Streamline workflow, look for ways to improve processes. Back up everything! Be a team player.
Alexia Andrew (Gadget Gal) Help Desk Tech Plainview, TX
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TIP 24
Manage your peeps.

If you really want to go farther, learn to manage people better.
Nearly 100 years ago a fellow by the name of Dale Carnegie mentioned that around 15% of your success at work is technical, the other 85% is getting along with others. Supervision and management, the real skills of getting results via others is the MOST valuable skill you can learn in 2014, not just for yourself but for you department and for your organization. Help others achieve results they had no idea they could, so they can grow, get along at work, set realistic but stretch goals and surpass them. These are things great managers do everyday. They make a huge difference in organizational performance. So stop taking certification, techie, hardware, software courses and learn how to coach, mentor and lead.
Randy Ansems (RAnsems) IT Director, Halifax, Canada Randys IT Portfolio
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TIP 25
Soft skills for hard results.

Document, label, and document some more. Then make Projects on Spiceworks. And for god sake, keep up with your certifications!
But one of the best IT tips for 2014: LEARN SOFT SKILLS. Nobody likes to receive an email in capital letters. Heck, it may even infuriate you. Your users (because thats why were ALL here, for the users) dont like or need to be treated like an idiot because they didnt know to turn it off and on. Be nice! Were all human. Im paraphrasing Tom Limoncelli here when I say this, but you should see it as such a compliment that someone comes to you, when they know absolutely nothing about something. They dont go to a library, to the Internet, to a guru, or to a fortune teller. They come to you, because youre their best resource. You ARE the library, the Internet, and a guru to them. Sometimes even a fortune teller (I see a forgotten password in your future...). So take it as a compliment, slow down, maybe teach them a thing or two. They may even surprise you and (successfully) try to fix it themselves one day.
Justin Dale (JustinCredible) IT Coordinator, Edmonton, AB, Canada Justins IT Portfolio
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TIP 26
Kindergarten lessons...
Share! When we were in Kindergarten we were taught to share; we should continue this practice. It will benefit you greatly. Hoarding knowledge just makes the world more difficult.
1. Be friendly, even to your enemies. You may just win them over. Data is important, and critical. Treat it like your life. It may just save yours (from an irate boss). 2. Dont be afraid to try something, but make a backup first (preferably in two or more different locations)! 3. Immerse yourself in tech. Every possible moment, try something different (MS Windows RT?). You will probably be working on it sooner or later. More than likely the boss 10 year-old will have one. 4. Set up a server at home with a hypervisor on it. Play around with all the servers you have room to store. 5. Take time for a break, and get outta that chair. 6. Make a list of preventative maintenance tasks to do / check on. It may just save your Super Smoked Applewood BACON someday. Read full quote
Josh Hymer (Gadget) Network/Systems Administrator, Bruceville-Eddy, TX Joshs IT Portfolio
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TIP 27
Document your day (the sequel).

For me these days, if something is worth doing, it is worth documenting.
Documentation this one cannot be over emphasized. I can recall countless times going into an environment where there was no documentation and spending ungodly amounts of time trying to figure something out. For me these days, if something is worth doing, it is worth documenting. Never stop learning EVER. It can be as simple as reading a technical book, installing Linux, install Active Directory at home or just learning any technology you are not familiar with. My home test environment was a key learning tool for me as it allowed me to install, make changes, implement new technology, etc. without affecting real users. My wife and kids may disagree now group policies locking down computers, firewall preventing access to certain sites, etc. Set realistic goals short term and long term. Short term take an IT certification every 6 months to stay current. Long term set a progressive career path like - Help Desk > Desktop Support > Network Administrator > Network Engineer > Network Manager > Director of IT > VP of IT > CIO. Read full quote
Bruce Gilbert (InkMaster) Chief Technology Officer, Ft. Worth,Tx Bruces IT Portfolio
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TIP 28
Hello, my name is...

Mingle. Networking is the best way to advance or change your career.
Even in this web centric tablet wifi world of ours its personal relationships that make the real difference. Go to professional gatherings, trade shows, even lunch with coworkers and friends, and make new or strengthen friendships. A human will be much more likely to refer you to a job than a server.
Michael Fasman (michael fasman) Digital Media Producer San Francisco, CA
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TIP 29
Some micro-tips.
Improve your people skills! Even though most of our focus is on implementing and maintaining technology systems, we all still need to interface with users (people).
Go virtual -- even small networks are going with virtual servers. If you do not know VMware or Hyper-V you soon will not be able to work on any LAN! Get to know PowerShell v3 - for better or worse, more and more Windows server management is done with cmdlets and scripting.
Tim Loga (Tim Loga) IT Director, Mount Prospect, IL Tims IT Portfolio
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TIP 30
Ring! Ring! Ring!

Best advice, which has helped me in every profession Ive worked in: Answer the phone and return calls quickly.
Once people know that you do this, they become helpers and clients. They know if you dont answer the phone you are either not there and you will call back at your first opportunity or you are neck deep in someone elses problem and you will get neck deep in their problem as soon as you can. With a reputation for that, no one is going to believe anyone who says you have been ignoring them.
Dan Hatt (danhatt) Network/Systems Administrator, Los Angeles, CA Dans IT Portfolio
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TIP 31
A.B.L: Always Be Learning.

Always Be Learning! - Seems straightforward but never rest on your laurels, especially in IT.
Dont forget to treat your co-workers like your customers. When it comes to technology, they dont always know what you know, or what you think they should know. (And its good they dont, thats called job security!) Always Be Patient! - Its often the hardest thing to have and the quickest thing to run out. Work at it and dont let that happen.
Tim Brandt (DrakeCroft) IT Manager, St. Paul, MN Tims IT Portfolio
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TIP 32
Use your words.

Learn how to be a premier communicator it will come in handy. People in IT have a reputation for not being the best at communicating to non-technical people.
You will go far if you can speak to tech and non-tech people with ease. It is not always easy to do, however it is worth trying and worth the practice. Take advice from people who have been in the industry for a long time as they always have good tidbits to share!
Corrine R. Greenhalgh (Corrine572) Enterprise Support Tech Hadley, MA
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TIP 33
The times, they are a-changin...

The best thing you can do in IT is keep up on upcoming technology and emerging threats. If you are not willing to keep up on newer technology then you will get left behind quick.
Another is to be easily adaptable to change. If you are not willing to change at a moments notice then you are in the wrong field. As a security professional I have been put into multiple scenarios where I have had to change tactics at the drop of a hat. If you cannot change and adapt then you will get extremely stressed out and hate life. The last thing I would say is dont let people tell you that you cant do anything. I have been told by a lot of people that because I am younger than a typical IT security guy that I cant possibly know how to react to a threat or give adequate recommendations for risk mitigation. Dont buy into others opinions of you. You are there to do a job and they do not evaluate your performance your supervisors do. The results of your hard work will show and will not go unappreciated.
William McGuire (wmcguire) IT Security Analyst, Trenton, OH Williams IT Portfolio
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TIP 34
Wear the ware.

Learn VMware or Hyper-V. Learn how to say No to users without sounding like you dont care about what they want (like, Cant we switch from Windows to OS X?, or We should all get iPads!).
If you dont report to the correct boss, check for other signs you need a new employer. The HR manager was my boss. She had no clue or care about IT and would volunteer the IT Department to help out other departments with non-IT tasks. Fortunately, this all changed.
Brian Scheele (Brian Scheele) Manager, Information Technology, Lancaster, PA Brians IT Portfolio
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TIP 35
Youre my BFF.
I think the best advice I could give to any newcomers is be friendly.
Yes I know users can frustrate us all, but they are just people and yes sometimes picky people, but in the end they are just looking for our expertise and we need to present it to them in a way they will understand. I really try hard to make it my niche to be the friendly IT guy, as it gives me more perks than you think!
Justin Drakes (JDrakes) Network/Systems Administrator Meadville, PA
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TIP 36
So long, comfort zone!

The quote my previous boss drilled into my head. If youre not uncomfortable youre not learning. Push yourself and spend time to find a good process of documenting tasks to help you stay organized. Set reminders in Outlook to follow up with vendors and co-workers on projects you are waiting on. They will be impressed with your fail-proof memory.
Seth Cooper (Static) IT Manager, Kansas City, Kansas Seths IT Portfolio
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TIP 37
Know your bottom line.

I always keep track of all of the ways that I have saved my organization money. Whether it is by negotiating better pricing on a product or reviewing existing contracts and services.
By far the most important thing you can do is To Be of Service to others in a professional and joyful way. Be thankful for the awesome job that you get to do each day. I have been working in the IT field for over 14 years and still feel grateful that I figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up!
Dawn Wolf (Dawn7643) IT Director, Sioux Falls, SD Dawns IT Portfolio
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TIP 38
Love your field.

Pick an area of IT that you love doing at home... you will end up doing this sometimes and it makes sense to not be bothered by it.
Read both of Tom Limoncellis books if you dont think you have time to read the big one then you need the small one more than you might think. Both books are a must! Find a supervisor that you can learn leadership skills as well at technical skills from it will help you grow like you cant imagine.
Shayne Kawalilak (SW-Desperado) Network Systems Analyst, Edmonton, Canada Shaynes IT Projects
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TIP 39
Learn to speak CEO/CFO.

OK, so you love learning new stuff and technology is your passion. You can naturally assume that you will advance quickly in your IT career, right? Well, the answer is not quite as simple as that.
You may get that Sys Admin job quickly, but in order to really advance your career, you will eventually need to start working and explaining your projects to non-IT folks. Your CEO/CFO doesnt care how you built your infrastructure, they just care how much it cost and the benefits it can bring to the organization. Being able to convey ideas in terms they can understand is key to promoting IT and your own skillset in your organization. Read full quote
Darren Schoen (Darren for VMWare) Spiceworks Partner, Palo Alto, CA Darrens IT Portfolio
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TIP 40
Follow your passion.

My advice is make sure this is your passion. You have to love IT to stay in it. As soon as you start hating it youll start hating the users who make you do it and thats a path you dont want to go down.
Martin Pugh (Martin9700) IT pro, Milford, MA Martins IT Portfolio
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TIP 41
Know IT!
Keep learning... whether studying to finish a degree, acquire a certificate, or self-taught... do not get stuck in one type of technology or one way of doing things.
Also, be a yes man (or woman). My predecessor said no a lot. I will always give things a try. Sure, you may not get something to work but the reward of getting all the other things to work that you may have initially thought would not is an amazing feeling. Both of my tips keep you from feeling bored and stuck in your current position.
Christine Wilson (cwils14) Systems Administrator, Warrenton, VA Christines IT Portfolio
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TIP 42
Quick Top 5.
1. Always make only one change at a time when troubleshooting. 2. Documentation, documentation, documentation, and documentation.
3. Never be afraid to ask for help, check newsgroups, peers (Spiceworks!), a two-second question may save you hours of work. 4. No is not an answer -- dont be afraid to try. If it fails or cant work, at least you tried and learned something. 5. If all else fails S.W.A.G. Strategic Wild Ass Guessing . Its bailed me out more than once.
Real Verrier (Cigar-Boy) Network/Systems Administrator, Edmonton, Canada Reals IT Portfolio
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TIP 43
Let em know you did IT.

My 2 cents after 36 years of IT/Tech/Programming: Make sure you are able to let everyone know what you did to fix and to avoid issues. The silent ones get ignored.
Dont be too brash and full of yourself, but by our very nature techies are quiet, get out there and crow when you do good! Make sure when you make system changes that you do them properly, and communicate with everyone in dumbspeak (few and simple words) that your end users can understand. Getting burned once with a great idea that is either flawed or simply not understood can set you back in your career, so make changes carefully and wisely. Get lots of input first, then feedback later to make sure any changes you made were understood and implemented and USED properly. Give them a hammer and they will use it like a screwdriver if they dont understand what the tool does and how to use it properly.
Greg Joiner (Zaphod) Network/Systems Administrator Bushnell, FL
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TIP 44
Goal!
Set some goals and create a plan to achieve them. Be realistic about them.
1. Is there a specific technology that you need/want to learn? Have your goal establish a firm definition for achievement. Get certified in XX by XX/XX/XX date or Have XX technology implemented by XX/XX/XX date. 2. What incremental steps will you need to take to make that happen? Do you need to take classes? Do you need to find them first? List out all of those steps and apply target dates for them.
Valerie Huffman (DarthVal) Technology Manager, Hickory, NC Valeries IT Portfolio
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TIP 45
Be a know-it-all.
Never stop learning. There are a lot of free resources and some that are fairly inexpensive to be able to expand your knowledge of what interests you or what you want to accomplish. There is always going to be something new to learn.
Steven Lipp (SLipp82) Helpdesk Administrator, Cranberry Township, PA Stevens IT Portfolio
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TIP 46
Dream Big.
Follow your passion, dont be afraid to ask for help, and dont give up on your dreams. As long as you keep pushing forward to grow, you will always look back and be grateful for where you are.
John Schuepbach (Shuey) IT Manager, Baltimore, MD Johns IT Portfolio
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TIP 47
Fancy meeting you here...

Join some of your local meetups and groups that are in the interests that you hold. Im part of the Information Systems Security Association, Infragard, my local VMUG (VMware users group), and more but you get the idea. Grow your network of people because you will never know when you might need their help.
Michael Cimino (MCimino) Network/Systems Administrator, Delaware, OH Michaels IT Portfolio
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TIP 48
IT pro
Work on people skills. All too often we are excellent with machines but have a serious failure to connect with the humans that use those machines we service. Poor social skills can block any advancement, no matter how excellent your technical skills are.
Amanda Hagen (Hageam) Recent Computer Science graduate, Norwich, CT Amandas IT Portfolio
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TIP 49
Keep up your mad skills.

The quote my previous boss drilled into my head. If youre not uncomfortable youre not learning.
Keep on top of your current skill set update your qualifications and expand. If interested, look at cloud technology. Learn some form of coding C# is currently highly in demand and will be for some time. For contractors, network and build good relationships with all employers you contract for and always give 110%. Loads of courses out there to refresh yourself. Enjoy what you do if you dont enjoy it, youre in the wrong job!
Pasha Shah (pasha shah) Help Desk Tech London, UK
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TIP 50
Power to the shell.

Id have to say, the best tip I can give to any Windows server administrator is: Learn PowerShell.
Over that last year I have been learning PowerShell the best I can (with the help of the PowerShell group in Spiceworks, I love you guys) It is the easiest and most effective way to manage multiple servers. (I have 104 windows servers that I manage, so PowerShell is the ONLY way to go.) Another tip is to just keep reading, you will learn so much from just reading posts you find on Spiceworks, or researching Google for a new project you would like to complete. I cant stress this enough. And lastly, create yourself a home virtual server. Something with either VMware ESXi (preferred) or Microsoft Hyper-V. Both are really nice Hypervisors for hosting virtual machines. VMware is a bit more feature-rich and mature, but Hyper-V comes with high-availability features built in. ESXi would require a license to enable these features.
Matt Bergeron (Chamele0n) IPTV Administrator, Langley, WA Matts IT Portfolio
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ABOUT THE TIPS

So how exactly did we gather such valuable career advice from IT pros (and marketers) who know? We just started a thread in the Spiceworks Community, and it took on a life of its own! Its crowdsourcing at its most powerful! Whats the Spiceworks Community, you ask? Its where more than 4 million IT pros come to trade tech tips, show off their awesome IT projects and share real-world advice (as well as their love for bacon and zombies!). Plus, experts from tech vendors are there as well -- talkin shop and answering IT questions. Like to be part of the IT revolution?
Join us in the Spiceworks Community!
A VERY SPECIAL THANKS

Not to get too sappy, but everyone here at Spiceworks HQ just wanted to extend our spiciest appreciation: THANK YOU! To every SpiceHead (IT pro), marketer and Spiceworks employee who took the time to share the love with a little career advice: YOU ROCK!. Who knows? maybe your tidbit of wisdom could help someone get a well-deserved raise... or even score a promotion. You did your part, and we salute you. Thanks for keepin IT spicy!
The Spiceworks Team

Who the heck is Spiceworks?
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SPONSORED BY:
PRODUCED BY:
About VMware
VMware is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2013 revenues of $5.21 billion, VMware has more than 500,000 customers and 55,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.
.About Spiceworks Spiceworks is the professional network for IT more than 5 million IT professionals use to connect with one another and over 3,000 technology brands. The company simplifies how IT professionals discover, buy and manage more than $525 billion in technology products and services each year. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Spiceworks is backed by Adams Street Partners, Austin Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Goldman Sachs, Shasta Ventures and Tenaya Capital. For more information visit www.spiceworks.com. Follow Spiceworks on Twitter: twitter.com/spiceworks and connect with Spiceworks on Facebook: www.facebook. com/Spiceworks.
The contents in this publication are a result of primary research performed by Spiceworks. Unless otherwise noted, the entire contents distributed as part of this report are copyrighted by Spiceworks. As such any information made available by any means in this report may not be copied, reproduced, duplicated, published, displayed, transmitted, distributed, given, sold, traded, resold, marketed, offered for sale, modified to create derivative works or otherwise exploited for valuable consideration without prior written consent by Spiceworks. For more information, visit www.spiceworks.com. This report contains information of fact relating to parties other than Spiceworks. Although the information have been obtained from, and are based on sources that Spiceworks believes to be reliable, Spiceworks does not guarantee the accuracy, and any such information might be incomplete or condensed. Any estimates included in this report constitute Spiceworks judgment as of the date of compilation, and are subject to change without notice. This report is for information purposes only. All responsibility for any interpretations or actions based on the information or commentary contained within this report lie solely with the recipient. All rights reserved. 2014.
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