Still have a job: Trying to BRING IT w/ P90X *and* w/ job skills...
September 4, 2010 I've been in Information Technology (IT) for 24 years. Every place I've worked through the years has gone through phases of expansion / contraction / mergers / sometimes collapse. In school one of my instructors told us that whenever we started a new technology, we should take a manual home every night (before the days of online documentation) and be sure to read all of the manuals cover to cover; he said that was the way to get on the road to being an 'expert' in whatever that technology was. I've followed that advice and it has paid off.
This past week I saw a number of colleagues get laid off. I was among the very fortunate ones to keep a position. My challenge now is to continue to keep my skills current and valuable.
I'm trying to use my fitness quest as a parallel for what I need to do on the tech side. The P90X program has been great, and it has become a habit over the past (almost) 6 months to do intense workouts on a very regular basis. And it has been yielding results. I was already reasonably healthy, but I'm getting stronger, feeling better, slowly adding muscle and losing fat.
And so the goal now is to do the same thing on the tech side. I'm current on certifications in IBM Lotus Notes/Domino development (where I spend much of my work life), so next up is upgrading my Java cert. Gosh, my Java cert is from version 1.2 (about 7 years ago?). And after that I'll probably get cranking on a C#.NET cert, since my last Microsoft cert was for VB6 (pre-.NET days!).
Lots of folks diss the certs as meaningless. I find tech certifications extremely useful for ME, since following the study guides helps me to fill in holes in my knowledge, and if I were to find myself need to look for work, the certs help get a resume past HR filters and indicate at least a basic degree of competency.
Oh, and I enjoy the discipline of spending time on a regular basis working toward a goal. Just like P90X :)
Fitness
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