5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Tech Career

[@tutoriaLinux]

What advice would you give yourself if you could go back to the beginning of your tech career? (and what kind of role are you in now?)

[@kristiyanivanov7414]

I'd give myself the advice to start earlier than I did. It's not too late that I'm starting now, I'm still young and my life is ahead of me, but it would be ideal if I did that 3/4 years ago. The things are not that hard, there are tons of information on the internet and not using it is a crime. x)

[@Pro_Husky]

I want to reiterate and expand upon the topic of knowing where you want to be in the future. As a Sr. Engineer for a medical company, I've managed to pigeonhole myself into a pure tech job. My late-career goal is IT Management. Jr. Exec, C-Suite, etc. I began to work diligently on building up my managerial skills, from getting an IT Management degree to my PMP and so on. However, I was good at what I did in the "hands-on" IT world, and took the easy path of promotions down that chain. Here I am now, wanting to make that jump into the managerial field, but would end up taking a %50 pay cut, if I'm lucky to start at the near bottom of the IT Management ladder and climb back up. My lifestyle won't support that large of a pay cut, at least not yet. Now I'm stuck, working to become 100% debt-free ((To include mortgages)), so I can take that pay cut to pursue my goals and dreams. Had I known then, what I know now: Don't take the easiest path. A promotion isn't necessarily a good thing. If you know where you want to be, make sure to stay on the path and not get sidetracked.

[@cjmurray7892]

@@kristiyanivanov7414 how old are you?

[@kristiyanivanov7414]

@@cjmurray7892 too old

[@cjmurray7892]

@@kristiyanivanov7414 I’m 21, feel like I’m starting kind of late

[@whatsmyname9742]

1. Soft skills: be socially sound 2. T shaped skill set: know something of everything and everything of something. 3. Health priority: eat healthy and exercise 4. Lifestyle Design: grow in every direction initially but decide what lifestyle you want subsequently. 5. Behave like Pro: be good to the team, be good at craft take work seriously

[@scorpio_1312]

I'd advise my younger self, NEVER reboot a server on a Friday afternoon.

[@JoeDpalma9]

🤣

[@ogunwusimoni7548]

😂

[@hilalmohammed3309]

😂😂

[@sidjadon9152]

Lol😂

[@momkat7017]

I just started in IT after retiring from the Air Force with no IT background over a year ago. Everything you said is true and appreciate you sharing your wisdom. After finishing a 5 month Cybersecurity Skillbridge inter, I landed a decent job as a Cyber Network Defense Analyst. However, while still waiting on my clearance, I’m hold a temp position as a Jira Administrator. Working on broadening my ‘T’ skills and keeping it professional. Good luck to all of you!

[@DavidThorarinsson]

If you are good at what you do, you will get overrun with work and expectations will be high. Learn to set timelines to manage expectations and learn to ask for help if you are overwhelmed. And if things are not coming across to the party assigning work, learn to say no.

[@richard1113]

Very solid advice! I agree with all your points. The one that most resonates, or that is the most funny really is #3. When I started working at a major software company years ago I weighed 30 pounds lighter than I am today. I gained those 30 pounds in the first couple years sitting at my desk all day. Always pay attention to your health. It's literally more important than ANYTHING else.

[@vagifgafar2946]

most of devs in our team eat Mcdonalds or Burger King crap... really odd, never understood, they do get enough for good food !

[@mrsalesman85]

Thank you for this video. As I'm mid 30's, for me, there is no "too late" or "you are not effective anymore". After 2 years in the sector I've already chosen the DevOps/sysadmin path and especially Linux. Videos like this is giving me more eagerness for learn and I definitely am happy that I'm where I have to be and directed where I want to go! Thanks again and stay safe!

[@earthling_parth]

Just starting my career right out of my Masters as a Systems Administrator but looking to get a SRE/DevOps role soon. Your videos have been a tremendous help into that direction. Thank you, and appreciate this advisory kind of videos in addition to your tech videos.

[@PunmasterSTP]

Hey I just came across your comment and was curious. How has your career been going?

[@viktorshutov]

I aged 42 living my mid-age-crysis dying my dead-end job crying at evenings beside beds of my sleeping kids - am so grateful for this your video, for all your channel, for the light you show me.

[@tutoriaLinux]

Hang in there buddy - you can switch jobs and career tracks; there is a huge demand for linux/programming/tech skills. Keep learning and applying to new jobs!

[@Jamailmusic]

I can't even explain that amount of value in this video. This is new information I haven't heard yet! I'm gonna watch this 5 times.

[@pathemamike]

Hey hey. Awesome video. I’m a senior software engineer in the motorsports industry, I love the advice in this video, especially about being professional and intentional. After my first job, all my other opportunities have been recruited - meaning I didn’t apply. My network (social and IRL) played into this as well as how I presented and represented myself. The only thing I’d add, is that while tech is a lucrative industry, it’s insanely important for ones mental health to work in tech in an industry they find appeals to them in some way. I worked in a few different industries before motorsports and, while they allowed me to learn and grow in amazing ways, ultimately led to me leaving because I didn’t find intrinsic motivation in the work because it didn’t resonate with me as a person. Tech will always offer extrinsic motivators (pay, cool office/hardware perks, general good bene packages), so it’s up to us to make sure we are intrinsically motivated by our industry and work environment.

[@Tomtimmm]

Can you mentor me ,please

[@ronaldronald8819]

That is some real solid advice. At 55 years i now what you talk about.

[@nauticaorangewatchbg9923]

As a junior DevOps engineer your videos are making my life easier. I have a knowledge overload at the moment, i came from level 1 support agent environment to hard core IT where i have to learn bunch of stuff and it kinda makes this new role a bit hard but im very happy that i can finally do something that is important in my life. Would be great if you can make a video for brand new DevOps kids who came to this role with very few things to know about this culture. Thank man, you are doing great job!

[@armahmood3734]

Thanks, great advice for everyone whether new or a seasoned professional! My 2 cents "Don't be so hard that anybody can be broken & Don't be so soft that anybody can be squeezed"

[@MassiveTrackHunter]

Best bit of advice: Loss of health by sitting in a chair a lot. Yep, confirmed. Left the Construction industry 10yrs ago. Entered IT, 60 pounds lighter than today. Lifting that same sheet of 5/8 drywall for work around the house, highlights my need for more exercise!!! Working on cars as a hobby is helpful, but not enough.

[@samkachar]

If that happened from 20 to 30 that's bad. But as you get to 40 50 etc...10 years is a decade bro

[@MassiveTrackHunter]

@@samkachar got tired of it. Dropped 50 pounds over the last several months. Feeling soooo much better. Now I just eat about half as much during the work day, and slightly less quantity at dinners. It was hard to start, but easier once the results became noticeable.

[@samkachar]

@@MassiveTrackHunter good for you man. I'm pushing around 220 which is fairly heavy for me. I to started walking doing pushups and arm curls 3 times a week. Wfh is hard on the body if you don't take care of it

[@MassiveTrackHunter]

@@samkachar thanks man. IT is great, but that chair has to be offset somehow. XD

[@samkachar]

@@MassiveTrackHunter are u fighting the chair or time?

[@JBlongz]

Great advice! Making major shifts in my 30s toward the tech I took for granted.

[@frankprit3320]

you are so right about maintaining your health. if i get up in the morning and workout for an hour , my cognitive functions are so much better. it completely changes my day.

[@creativegravedigger7289]

my problem was English, I loved Tech stuff since the beggining, but my language skills letted me down back then. but now I'm good, since I found people like you.

[@2422930]

You are the best man 👍

[@Max-ew8cg]

Yesterday the best thing in my life happend. Im 16 years old and yesterday i found out that my tech career is starting in mid september! yay

[@tutoriaLinux]

Congratulations!

[@Max-ew8cg]

@@tutoriaLinux thanks

[@musaibsamari7422]

Thank you for sharing these wonderful things with us. Much love!

[@GrandpasPlace]

Id tell my self that no amount of soft skills will make up for bad management. When you get a bad manager it is just a sign to look for a new job as things will go downhill from there.

[@janglestick]

heres another tip : dont say youre making progress on a project over the weekend when you havent even tested if you have the password to download the proper assets : )

[@ryanrawas3743]

Hey Dude, great videos, thanks for putting this series together. I'd say I wish I read the following books 10 years ago. Influence and Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini. The Like Switch by FBI agent Jack Schafer. Dale Carnegie's books, one called How to Win Friends and Influence People. A few more books include: What EveryBODY is Saying, The Truth Detector, Atomic Habits, The Coaching Habit, Principles by Ray Dalio, Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are (The MIT Press), The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, Getting Through to People, and Limitless by Jim Kwik. If you know of any books that really helped you in the soft skills place please let me know. Thanks!

[@santroproin6969]

So.much awaited video finally came. You are the motivation David

[@tutoriaLinux]

More to come!

[@santroproin6969]

@@tutoriaLinux eagerly waiting

[@Flankymanga]

My biggest tip as a developer would be: Find a mentor either in your organisation or on the internet to help you with best practices and tips how to work on yourself and where to improve...

[@Mattijjah85]

Generally, I would say that finding a mentor, in every speciality, it's a one of the best advices - it helps a lot, especially, that you learn tips and best practices, but also have "your private wingman" in the company.

[@doomie21]

Number 6: balance work-life style. It's good to have a good career, high salary and maybe absorbing a lot of time don't forget you have friends, family, girlfiend/wife, having some fun, pets, need sleep ect ect.

[@kofiwebb3151]

Dave, I love the health tip. Excellent advice. And if I were do go back in my career I would definately chase skills. We tend to chase money instead of skills.

[@spyrex3988]

omg the amount of useful advice i got i will literally these in my head

[@domtorque]

During my placement year, I gained 7kg... Point #3 is so true, with experience, I shall master the balance!

[@Hashxrr]

Great well rounded advice! I reallly want to transition from a Datacenter Engineer which I have been doing for 6 years to a Pre-Sales Engineer so thank you

[@judywire]

Wonderful advise, thanks Dave! I have watched 5 of the 79 videos. You are a fabulous teacher.

[@togo2211]

I would say just softskills deserves another video :)

[@dominikseljan3043]

For sure!

[@aakashPotter]

Wow, those answer so many career questions that have been lingering in my mind for so long. Thanks !!

[@lorenzojavier_av]

Thanks for the advice. Seems widely applicable.

[@ProductBasement]

I'm a network engineer for Cisco. I wish I had known that working for a startup is overrated. I worked for companies with fewer than 10 people for several years, and I was the only tech guy in both cases, so I didn't have anyone to learn from. When I got my first corporate job, it really opened my eyes to the possibilities, not to mention it paid way better. Doing your own thing with no feedback from anyone is a recipe for wasted effort and reenforcing bad habits

[@EvanSmoak]

Great video. Let's see more content!

[@kajd100]

Thanks for continuing to make these videos

[@flakkanon]

No.5 is very important to understand early in our careers.

[@Iyanu_Hiyanz]

thank you for this!

[@dominikseljan3043]

Great video! I really hope we get to see more topics like this.

[@jimmybindra]

ha ha ...very good video Todd ...it quite seems like it was me talking 😅😅 ...couldn't agree more.

[@vincent_hall]

Nice video, thanks. Interesting, Many say that one should develop 2 or more skills deeply: Pi-shaped or comb. These skills need to work together, not random skills. You mentioned soft skills, maybe if you're really good at talking to people and listening, i.e. Sales, then couple that with a technical skill like DL and you'll probably do better than someone with only okay people skills and DL. This is my belief too. Belief: something I believe based on evidence and good theory. I've been in Data Science/ML for about 7 years over 8 years, 1 year coaching data scientists.

[@DarwinKazulu]

thanks dave about your advices.

[@kirangurung596]

Absolutely loved it. Thank you very much.

[@PunmasterSTP]

Thanks for sharing a lot of great insights!

[@Hideot0]

Thank you for your insights!

[@MoeletjiSemenya]

The tips are on point. I'm early in my career so I'm sure all of them will come in handy. Thanks for sharing. Two things I had known is learn to ask for help and learn about work-life balance.

[@benaiahmoturi8480]

I'm a new member. I'm tied between providing for my family and getting into tech. Any advice that can help me multitask the two?

[@ProductBasement]

I wish someone had told me about the Windows Subsystem for Linux! It would have made everyday life as well as passing the LPIC-1 certification so much easier!

[@paulsccna2964]

Skill Number 0 should be, have a circle of tech-friends, that will provide references, and even hire you, simply because they like you.

[@alfredofuentes3423]

This is a great advice, please listen.

[@JJY888]

Education doesn't mean you are going to know how to do the job; it is going to take work experience and doing your own projects on the side to be effective in this industry. It especially doesn't mean you are entitled to a tech job. My bosses just tried to hire a security guy with a BootCamp Cyber Security degree from a major tech state university (cheaper labor), and the poor guy couldn't do anything. They let him finish his contract but told him in advance he wouldn't be made permanent. This is coming from a guy with a degree.

[@karthibalaji3817]

How have you been?. It's really been a long time.

[@tutoriaLinux]

Good, thanks! Finally moved into a new apartment and have a new filming studio with SO MUCH MORE SPACE than the old one. I'm really excited.

[@NullaNulla]

Specialise not jack of all master of none. Don't bother with a gaming computer and full setup it takes your mind off the ball, just stick with a laptop then surface when they're released. Forget the Google Apps beta they'll just shaft everyone!! ALWAYS test your backups on a regular basis, especially when they're tape backups. Don't throw out the huge UPS' we got cheap because we couldn't afford the batteries at the time, think ahead. SOO many more things.

[@arlandmv4053]

what do you mean with "Forget the Google Apps beta they'll just shaft everyone!!"? do you mean in the google cloud plataform?

[@NullaNulla]

@@arlandmv4053 IIRC I was slinging mud at Google over the shit hand they dealt beta testers for their Google Apps Cloud Platform.

[@FraserMenzies]

I'd say, dont waste your time in trying to bring people round to your ideas if its not necessary. A lot of the time people will only see that your ideas are good after they have been mostly implemented and the benefits are obvious. Instead of wasting time trying to persuade people to an idea, just assume the idea is fine and either it will sink quickly or people will see the benefit and will want to contribute.

[@danielkrajnik3817]

what is "mental energy"? were you able to move objects with your mind before joining tech

[@tutoriaLinux]

Some kinds of work make your muscles tired...other kinds make your brain tired.

[@scottsmyth3154]

great vid thanks

[@siasecurityprogramming7007]

thank you

[@torma1985]

I work with people with autism. I am now retraining in Linux. I want to work in IT. I have good interpersonal skills. All I need is the knowledge now :) I started a basic Linux course on Udemy. Any advice would be appreciated ;)

[@bearflagcalifornia1028]

Love the video

[@ElreyRayo]

Gracias! Great advice, read daily, learn Wi-Fi

[@fishingangler4315]

I would have told myself not to take the job at Pomeroy IT Solutions because I'll be miserable.

[@DudeSkinnyTall]

Exactly

[@joel9909]

Thanks boss!!

[@benchiro7581]

soft skills are very important

[@dmtaylor1233]

My advice to my younger self: get a good understanding of general IT but be REALLY good at something valuable. If your boss says "hey just do this ONE thing for me and later you can write all the code you want!" Quit and get a job in the skill you are focusing on being good at. It will always be another "just one more thing" and then you'll become a jack of so many skills you wont know enough about anything and no longer be hirable and won't be able to set it right (because now you have 30 years experience and the skill level of a college intern). And for God sakes, no matter what it takes, quit SMOKING cigarettes while you're young!

[@mochuck2438]

I really enjoy your channel, great knowledge. I just have a question..... I am a Linux Systems Admin, I did not finish college but I am pursuing certification. In your opinion what's the best route? Should I take certifications first to build on my skills or go for a degree?

[@tutoriaLinux]

Depends on where you are and what the companies in your local market want. Practical skills (plus 1 or 2 certs that take you a month to study for) will almost always be good enough to get your foot in the door somewhere. The path I always recommend is learning everything you can for the job role you want, practicing as much as you can, and continuously applying to junior positions to see where you need to improve.

[@abhijitpaul7683]

I feel a bit nervous now. I took soft eng major as I thought -> it needs very little social skills. But turns out i am wrong >__

[@The_Bri_Cli]

T-Shape - what exactly should sit at the top of the T? Any examples?

[@davidjeters]

Is there any chance that you could do some videos on EMACS?

[@tutoriaLinux]

I do love (and use, after an 8-year hiatus) emacs -- although I'm not sure I'm enough of an expert to make videos on it yet. Will consider it, though!

[@davidjeters]

@@tutoriaLinux Well you are a good presenter and I have really enjoyed your other Linux tutorials. I have watched other emacs youtube videos and the presenters appeared to be highly knowledgeable, although the presentation left something to be desired. Thanks for making all of these videos.

[@Ranji116]

Nice suggestions sir. Please Suggest me what nd of skill set one could have to get management support.

[@Nathanwithz]

Thank you for the awesome videos. What would your advice be to a new grad about to start looking for jobs given the current situation with hiring freezes? Being on my own in two weeks was already daunting, but now, standing out on an application will be even more difficult.

[@idirimmoune7359]

Practice Paractice Practice !!

[@girija_prasanna2650]

Thanks bro

[@LeVoyageurConscientise]

Is linux junior system administrator a job that is usually done remotely?

[@tutoriaLinux]

Junior positions are usually not remote, because they often involves some user interaction and a fair bit of in-person mentorship. Now with work-from-home becoming the norm, who knows?

[@GermanFafian]

Tip 1- Stay away from freelancing as much as possible.

[@abhiabhi-xp9on]

Why?

[@balloney2175]

300$ an hour you said? very encouraging! that is 624,000$ a year for 52 working weeks!

[@tutoriaLinux]

Definitely above average but achievable. Some consultants definitely charge that much (they don't work 52 weeks of 40 hours, though). You can also have a reasonable chance of achieving 600k after ~10ish years by working at a large tech company and having enough stock options/grants stacked up after a few years that your total yearly comp (NOT base salary!) is around 500k/year. Software sales is another way of achieving this kind of income. Not common, but definitely not rare.

[@DarkXagami]

I'd advise my younger self to not procrastinate and that you should've been learning this stuff during the same time you were pursuing your degree. Now you have your degree with no basic Linux sills.

[@sne4ky647]

read the clean coder book.

[@NOgo54]

Learn how to read minds most important skill ever.

[@TheZakarumite]

especially mind control... boss: stay tonight here employee: i am not the person you are looking for...*hand movement*

[@rafau99]

kinda off topic and it doesn't look much like it (looks like just not enough sleep) but black spots around eyes suggest liver issues - it's not that visible on you but just sayin

[@GaintArrow]

Do you have telegram group

[@dominusgloriae]

Social skills are as important as hard skills. You can be really good at programming but If you fail at communication, you won't be able to grow professionally

[@recursive_bit]

A person who is a master at technical work isn't qualified to start a business that does said technical work. (in case your wondering I did pull it off... just don't be a know it all)

[@jameshiggs9585]

I wish some one had told me this stuff 20 years ago. then again I probably wouldn't have paid attention.

[@yanasitta]

"Your skills will be secondary" makes me dislike society more. I detest having to engage in games and politics when I just want to do my job, Ugh

[@senfglas214]

So if you want the big bucks dont go sysadmin

[@sporkybutterz]

If you want the big bucks security and cloud is what it looks like. That or be a CIO...aka art of BS. I have yet to meet one with core skills worth a damn

[@cli3335]

get a job in a company that has a career path for you. worst thing is to get stuck in IT and become obsolete.

[@larvieraindough2395]

I like goose

[@Pgarcia468]

The politics are real !!

[@ronaldronald8819]

That is some real solid advice. At 55 years i now what you talk about.