👨🏾💻 Tech Talk Gems: IT Certifications & Automation
What’s up, good people!
Suffice it to say that the January’s podcast convos were full of gems💎
I’m talking straight knowledge that will be especially helpful to those of you who may just be starting out or are ready to get to the next level in your tech journey.
This month we were talking about IT CERTIFICATIONS 📜🏅and AUTOMATING YOURSELF OUT OF A ROLE 🤖 (in a good way, I promise!).
No matter where you are on tech trail—systems engineering, software engineering, cloud engineering, sysadmin, devops, etc.—this is for you.
Gems from Season 2, Episode 7 (TTH Podcast)
Mentee Question: Bobby, which IT certifications did you get? And which ones would you get if you had a chance to start over?
Glad you asked. Some of you may not know this, but I didn’t go the traditional school/college 🎓 route. My break into the industry was done with certifications, and that’s why I strongly recommend them to my mentees and anyone interested in tech.
Here’s my list of ⭐BobbyD-approved⭐ IT certifications for leveling up:
👨🏾💻CompTIA A+ Certification: Coming in first on the list with the highest recommendation is the A+ cert. This was the first certification yours truly got back in 2001. It’s a foundational, entry-level certification that will teach you about computers from the bottom up.
👨🏾💻CompTIA Network+: This is another one I secured early in the game and that set me up for a lot of success in the industry. Again, entry-level and foundational.
👨🏾💻CompTIA Linux+: Entry-level, foundational, and another one I have under my belt. This cert opened up the opportunity for me to ascend in my skillset and eventually work at Twitter. Highly recommended.
👨🏾💻SAP Certification: World-renowed certification that is used by a lot of Fortune 500 companies.
👨🏾💻RedHat Certification: Consider the RedHat Certified Engineer (RHCE) certification. This right here, this certification right here! When I got this certification, doors were flying open! It takes the crown 👑 for leveling up.
👨🏾💻VMware Certification
The goal is to open up your skillset. Don’t stop with this list. I recommend going after certifications that others seem to be less interested in or not want to pursue. Find an untouched niche, get certified in it, and pave your path forward.
Trust me, this route is a lot easier (and in a lot of ways, more profitable) than going after a 2- or 4-year degree. Nothing against those who do! But you can validate your ability to be an engineer or admin or whatever other role with a certification or two.
Leave a comment and let us know what certification(s) you’re pursuing or thinking about getting to level up!
Gems from Season 2, Episode 8 (TTH Podcast)
Mentee Question: Bobby, what were some of the things you worked on during your time at Twitter?
Ahhh, the obligatory reflection on my years as a Twitter engineer.
No complaints!
So, I’m a big proponent for the concept and practice of automating yourself out of a job. And before you get your connections crossed, hear me out!
I’m not saying it in the sense of creating systems that will take over your role entirely and result in you being laid off. Far from it. I’m talking about using automation to free up your time so you can be more productive in other areas.
Storytime:
Your boy worked at Twitter for a decade, and in that time I made my way up to Staff engineer (high-level engineer) managing large infrastructures around the world.
One of the best parts of my job was having the freedom to invent some pretty cool software, one of which was called AUTOBIRD.
In a nutshell, AutoBird was about automating the process of getting the tens of thousands of computers in our data center geared up to serve production traffic—this included automating the boot process, operating system installation, and making sure everything was ready to go. All within 1.5 hours. It was me and a team of seven other engineers responsible for creating this software, and believe me when I tell you it was one of the best projects I worked on while at Twitter.
It automated me out of having to handle the tedious task of prepping computers.
(For the whole story, check out S2E8 of #TheTechHustle Podcast 🎙️💎, streaming on all platforms. )
But, I’m telling you this to explain the power of automation, and how in the right context, it can be your best friend.
I recommend learning a programming language that will help you create systems and software that take some of the load off your plate so you have more time to level up.
Python: This one is easy to adopt and learn, and it’s one that I find works best for most tech candidates. It’s a very phonic language, meaning the way you read it is the way it works. It has a ton of libraries and frameworks that will make building automation a breeze.
Java: An interpreting programming language. Great for front-end dev. Foundational.
GoLang: Produced by Google. Lower level language, but strongly recommended.
Rust: Next-level programming language. A compiled language you can use to write code that runs even faster. Modern version of C and C++.
Life Lesson: It’s easy to think that automation will take over your role and replace you. I get it. I’ve heard the horror stories too. But in actuality, it makes you more adaptable, giving you the space to work on other things instead of the same thing for years. That then gives you more room to scale and grow in your tech career.
Shameless Plug: #TheTechHustle has a GitHub repository where you can learn Python. Get a basic understanding of how Python works and where it fits in, in the world of programming languages.