Tech Connects

Our guest today is Kevin Kelly, Director of Cloud Career Training Programs at Amazon Web Services. Those programs include AWS Academy and AWS re/Start, which collaborate with higher education institutions, non-profits, and government organizations to assist students launch into cloud careers. AWS re/Start is a part of Amazon’s commitment to provide 29 million people around the world with access to free cloud computing skills training by 2025.

As you’re about to hear, Kevin is on a mission to help close the cloud IT skills gap, which is growing year by year despite companies and schools dedicating enormous resources to training. We’re going to cover everything from the cloud as a growth industry, to the kind of knowledge technology professionals need to succeed in the cloud space, to whether certifications can have an impact on your cloud career.

Here are some additional key takeaways from the chat:

First, the cloud remains a growth industry. Whether they realize it or not, an incredible number of workers in virtually every industry rely on the cloud in some way. That’s helping drive the demand for those with cloud skills, and it means those who have cloud skills—and keep them up-to-date—will have lots of professional opportunities far into the future. If you can deploy, test, and maintain projects in the cloud, you’re valuable. 

Second: In order to be an effective cloud professional, it helps to have a working understanding of compute, storage, network, database, and security. From there, things get a bit more complicated. For example, knowing what object storage is and how it operates in the context of the cloud, or immutable storage if you’re building a cloud-based blockchain app of some kind.

Third: Certifications are useful. Pursuing certifications allows you to learn the skills that you’ll need throughout your cloud career. Certifications are also attractive to employers, which is why hiring managers and recruiters will ask you about them when you’re applying for jobs. If you’re just starting out, foundation-level certifications can demonstrate you have a working knowledge of the cloud.

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Steven Brand is the head of employer brand at Mambu, a rapidly growing fintech company. Brand also has tons of fans online, including on LinkedIn, where he regularly posts his thoughts on the evolution of employer branding.  

As a term, ‘employer branding’ has existed since the 90s, and it encompasses the steps an organization can take to position itself as a great place to work. When an organization’s employer branding succeeds, it helps bring in talent that not only has the right skills, but also integrates well into the company’s culture. During our chat, Steven’s going to break down why employer branding can serve as a company’s “secret weapon,” reducing attrition and dissatisfaction, boosting engagement and productivity, and ultimately helping drive an influx of great talent.

The employer brand has the potential to impact the bottom line of an organization. When you hire the right talent, they’re more productive and more likely to stay longer because they're happier. If you’re working in employer branding, it’s important to educate those around you – especially senior leadership – about the very real impact of your work.  

But figuring out the ideal employer branding strategy isn’t something that will happen quickly. It takes time, patience, resources, and buy-in at all levels of the organization. If you’re interested in improving your employer branding, it’s key to foster a culture of experimentation around it: by figuring out what works and what doesn’t, you can eventually develop employer branding channels that work really well for your organization. 

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Manish Narayanaswami is an associate director at Kissflow, which is a builder of no- and low-code platforms that enable business customers to build apps and workflows with a minimum of coding. He’s spent years refining how to use cutting-edge technologies to make things simpler for end-users. 

I wanted to talk to Manish because I’ve been fascinated by no- and low-code tools for a long time. For businesses, no- and low-code presents the tantalizing possibility of allowing employees who don’t have a tech background to quickly spin up the apps and services they need. However, many technologists are also concerned about how no- and low-code workflows could potentially make it more confusing to manage an organization’s tech stack. Let’s listen as Manish and I hash out how these technologies could have a significant impact over the next several years.  

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On this episode of "Tech Connects," we're talking with Sachin Gupta, who is the CEO and co-founder of HackerEarth, a tech hiring platform that also offers a coding assessment platform, help with hackathons, programming tutorials, and more. A former developer himself, he has a lot of insight as HackerEarth’s CEO into current hiring trends, including the skills that technologists need to succeed in this market. We’re going to talk about this current, really interesting moment in tech hiring, and touch on everything from the utility of hackathons to the rise of web3.

HackerEarth's website: https://www.hackerearth.com/

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On our next episode of "Tech Connects," we're speaking with Katrina Collier, who wears many hats: she’s an author, speaker, mentor, and facilitator who specializes in the human side of talent acquisition. Her passion is ensuring that recruiters and companies deliver a great candidate experience. She’s also the author of the “Robot-Proof Recruiter,” the second edition of which rolled out at the end of August; it’s full of useful info about recruiting the right people and crafting the ideal candidate journey.  

We’re going to talk about the Robot Proof Recruiter and a bunch of other interesting stuff, from why transparency and authenticity matter so much in recruiting, to how recruiters can effectively approach the current crunch for tech talent. Here's Katrina's website: https://katrinacollier.com/.

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On this episode of "Tech Connects," our guest is Paul Farnsworth, chief technology officer of DHI Group, the parent company of Dice. We’re going to discuss his path to the CTO position, and the lessons he’s learned that can help you as you’re navigating your own tech career. As you’ll see, those technology professionals interested in a management track—whether that’s CTO or project leader—need to develop both their technical and “soft” skills, and focus on finding opportunities that match their skillset and outlook.  

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