Welcome to episode 44 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_), two VMware Solution Engineers who are hoping to bring you the IT career advice that we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we discuss the one year anniversary of our podcast launch, a review of topics we have covered, and where we plan to go from here.
Original Recording Date: 06-01-2019
Topics – The First Anniversary Review
1:33 – One Year Since Launch!
Did you notice the change to the intro?Reflecting on the launchJohn tells the story of how the podcast came to fruition and how it morphed into having a career-centric focus.This was an attempt to give advice and speak to some of the things we heard others in the industry saying about the need to progress but feeling like they have reached a dead end.Until we stepped out of IT operations, neither of us understood all career path options for those in IT operations.As John says, when you start doing something, you will definitely be bad at it. We decided to just start podcasting. Listen to how many episodes we needed for practice before releasing.Can you find the episode Nick mentioned having "release candidate" mentioned in the intro?The opening has evolved from its humble beginnings. John discusses specific changes and the reasons for them.Fun FactsThe Nerd Journey logo was created by Nick’s wife. What two cities form the skyline in our logo? Tweet us the answer for a chance to be on the show!The intro and transition music was created by John’s wife (who happens to be a musician).In the beginning, we had some concerns.Could we sustain a weekly cadence?John went to local podcast meetup groups for ideas on this. Would it have been best to release a season at a time?Many of our ideas were the result of life experience and continuing to doing the podcast regularly.13:56 Episode Retrospectives
Our most popular episodes by topicInterview topics seemed to resonate with listeners.The generalist / specialist episode Episode 26 caused a lot of interaction on social media.We’re not always sure how episodes will be received by our audience.Managing current job career focused tasksEpisode 28 – Asking for more MoneyEpisode 12 – Effective 1-on-1s with Your ManagerEpisode 5 – Sales Skills for ITEpisode 20 – Reasons to Quit, Area of Destiny, and finding Your Area of DestinyPodcasts we recorded in the same roomEpisode 25 – Adapting to a New ManagerCheck out our Nerd Journey Coffee Experiment video from John’s trip to Texas.Episode 29 – Internal ConferencesFavorite momentsNickJohn’s "how to dress for an interview" rant in Episode 9Episode 10 and the birth of the journeyman mindsetBonus 1 and John’s admission of not meeting Rebecca FitzhughEpisode 40 and the best plug for the John White School of Mentoring to dateEpisode 17 and the Barry White intro stingerInteresting to record podcasts at home, in Vegas, in Oklahoma, and while on vacationFavorite EpisodesInterviewing Tom Delicati in Episode 13 and Episode 14Jimmy Tassin’s experiences in the Minecraft community and relatable experience in Episode 35Nick’s number 1 pick – Episode 25 on adapting to a new managerJohnNumber 1 pick – Episode 13 about Tom Delicati’s sniper approachFavorite EpisodesNick’s job growth from Episode 1 to Episode 10 to Episode 21 and Episode 22Joseph Griffith’s study habits from Episode 18aEpisode 19 on process over outcomesListen to the story of how this specific topic came to fruition.In general, the community touch points have transformed his experience of the VMware community and beyond.The experience at VMworld 2018 was very different than in previous years for John. He was very intentional about the people he spent time with at the show.The basics we covered on job search, interview, and the hiring processConnecting with other podcastersEpisode 27 – Ramzi MarjabaEpisode 39 and Episode 40 – Paul Woodward, Jr.Episode 42 and Episode 43 – Ethan BanksEpisode 32 and Episode 33 – Tony ReevesInterviewsThe first 12 episodes were just us talking.Preparation for recording was very different when guests were involved.33:15 – Lessons Learned
NickCarrying a topic on the air is more challenging than he thought. Preparation is required, and it can’t be all improvisation.Being on the podcast has been like taking a master’s program in the evenings.Nick is always on the lookout to promote the podcast to different groups and in different circles.John (#shallowjohn)Organization and preparation really does help. The vast majority of our time is spent coming up with the ideas (brainstorming) and then developing a structure around it.The idea that we could do this on the fly was squashed.Being accountable to someone else was helpful to keep things on track.The process and practice of interviewing people is different than John thought it would be.The nitty gritty of producing a podcast (engineering, editing, etc.) was new to us.There is an endless hole of audio engineering one could pursue, but we went for "good enough."38:33 – Proposed Topic Report Card
Potential future topics we mentioned in previous episodes…did we cover them?Preparing for your next roleThis one is pretty constant throughout the episodes.Getting into bloggingEpisode 8 on raising your impact radiusWe have not done anything specific to how to start a blog, but maybe we could in the future?Strategies for using PTONot yet covered but mentioned in Episode 4Developing the people under youNot yet covered but mentioned in Episode 5Pros and cons of working through lunchNot yet covered but mentioned in Episode 6John said he would renew his VCPMentioned in Episode 7His VCP is now valid again per VMware’s new certification policy. John is looking more at the design track as a possible future path (i.e. VCAP).Goal of having a professional networkMentioned in Episode 8Covered in Episode 7?Why the change from Systems Engineer to Solution Engineer?Not yet covered but mentioned in Episode 9Review of Amanda Blevins’ career talk from VMworld 2018Not yet covered but mentioned in Bonus 1Idea – review this session on the podcast and have Amanda on as a follow upAvoiding IT burnoutMentioned in Bonus 1Episode 3 on work / life balanceBonus 1 – see link to vmunderground talk on thisInteresting idea – bring on a mental health professional?What should a typical 1-1 consist of, and how should it change based on company culture, proximity, etc.?Mentioned in Episode 10Covered in Episode 12Asking managers challenging / interesting interview questionsMentioned in Episode 11We addressed it to some extent in the same episode, but perhaps we should do a follow up with more depth on this.On-air mock 1-1 with direct managerNot yet covered but mentioned in Episode 12This one is challenging to do, but we are open to ideas on how to make it relevant.46:48 – A Glimpse of the Future
Future topics we plan to coverTop delivery pizzasSee Bonus 2 for more on this.Management as a career pathLooking to get additional perspective on this from multiple peopleDecision to move from individual contributor to being a managerStrategy for using PTOThings we hope to do betterConducting interviewsWork on asking focused questions instead of wandering off topicMay require studying others and how they handle itChasing the squirrels brought out some very interesting content we didn’t expectInterviewee prepWhen we ask someone to come on an episode, we need to clearly communicate the thesis of our podcast and the general listening audience.
*Ask potential guests to give options on some of our most popular topics
Resume writing, interviewing (early / late process), 1-1 manager meetings, asking for more money or a promotion, etc.People who have asked us to be on the podcastWe need to help them with their idea for a show through the lens of our thesis.It’s on us to help the guests structure their thoughts.We’re open to having people share their stories.If we approach you about being on the podcast, don’t be nervous. It’s just a conference call with John and me.If you have a podcast topic but don’t want to be on the show, please let us know!Listener number goalsShould we look to grow from over 100 downloads on the most popular episodes to 1000?Our hope is that the content is relevant and helpful to listeners.Check out Nick’s one year reflection post for more insight on what the past year co-hosting a podcast has been like.Check out John’s one year reflection post for his additional thoughts on the origins and evolution of the podcast.Contact us if you need help on the journey.
