If you’re a technology professional, you likely take pride in your mastery of intricate and complicated systems, software, and hardware. And as you invest time and effort to acquire skills and expertise, your technical savvy becomes part of your identity.

But as your career advances, you may find yourself spending less time on nerd knobs and more time on issues such as strategy, management, or communications. And sometimes your career might take you in interesting, if less technical, directions than you’d anticipated.

On today’s Datanauts episode, we talk about how to cope with moving into less technical roles, how to balance keeping your technical knowledge sharp against the new demands of your role, whether you should continue to pursue certifications, and how to embrace and excel in the different competencies that your new work requires.

Our guest is Tom Hollingsworth, a CCIE and network engineer who’s now an organizer at Tech Field Day, which connects IT vendors and tech bloggers for presentations and discussions. He’ll share his experiences as he’s transitioned from an in-the-weeds engineer to helping build a technology events and media company. You can read his blog at Networking Nerd and follow his Twitter alter-ego CCIE Coffee.

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