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[2032.52 --> 2038.34] And I imagine landing any entry-level role would be quite difficult without any prior experience.
[2038.82 --> 2040.90] Any sage advice would be greatly appreciated.
[2041.30 --> 2043.16] Keep up the good work, guys, and get well soon, Chris.
[2043.40 --> 2044.06] Thanks, Lawrence.
[2044.44 --> 2045.36] Well, thank you, Lawrence.
[2045.42 --> 2047.08] I am feeling much, much better now.
[2047.12 --> 2049.90] I'd say I'm like 95% better.
[2050.26 --> 2054.16] This is a great question and it's something that you are not alone in struggling with
[2054.16 --> 2060.94] because you get to this point where you've got a lot of hands-on lab time where you've built things and tried things
[2060.94 --> 2065.40] or maybe you've deployed something in the cloud, but you don't necessarily have work experience
[2065.40 --> 2067.20] and you want to take it to that next step.
[2067.38 --> 2073.00] That can be situational, but I will say one area that I looked at when I was hiring is
[2073.00 --> 2076.86] I would ask people if they have participated in any projects on GitHub
[2076.86 --> 2082.78] because it's just all your commits, all your work, everything's documented right there
[2082.78 --> 2086.10] and it can be an example of a work ethic.
[2086.20 --> 2088.26] It can be an example of you participating in a community,
[2088.34 --> 2092.08] even if it's not necessarily specific to the job you're applying for.
[2092.52 --> 2097.64] I mean, my own personal story, I was working in retail at the Apple store for a while
[2097.64 --> 2101.30] and I just ended up getting interested in Linux in my spare time.
[2101.80 --> 2106.46] And then I was lucky enough to be able to go and do a computer science master's degree for a year
[2106.46 --> 2109.94] and that was kind of a deep dive into programming and databases
[2109.94 --> 2115.24] and all sorts of other really difficult stuff that was honestly way beyond me.
[2115.60 --> 2117.86] And it's way beyond what I do in my day job now.
[2118.46 --> 2125.18] My advice would be, such as it is anyway, find an area that you find interesting enough
[2125.18 --> 2128.32] to self-study on, whether that's infrastructure, whether that's development,
[2129.12 --> 2133.44] whether that's testing, whatever it might be, and just do it.
[2134.02 --> 2137.00] You know, find a project that, you know, solve a real problem
[2137.00 --> 2139.66] and find a project around your house that needs automating,
[2139.76 --> 2141.20] if it's infrastructure, for example.
[2142.14 --> 2147.02] Or, you know, if it's development, find a problem that nobody else has solved
[2147.02 --> 2149.76] or find a problem that's been solved you think you could solve better
[2149.76 --> 2152.04] and just nibble away at it yourself.
[2152.04 --> 2157.18] And I'm not a huge believer in certifications per se.
[2157.46 --> 2161.84] I get free certifications through Red Hat, which is a lucky perk of the job,
[2161.92 --> 2163.28] but I've only done a handful.
[2163.28 --> 2168.94] And it's because I just don't necessarily think that simply by having those letters next to my name,
[2168.94 --> 2173.44] it means that I actually know an awful lot more than the next person.
[2175.14 --> 2175.58] Yeah.
[2175.78 --> 2179.48] It means that I learned the answers to that specific test on that day in history,
[2180.00 --> 2181.68] five years ago, maybe.
[2181.98 --> 2182.52] I don't know.
[2182.68 --> 2187.98] It's useful in some ways because it gets your foot in the door with employers to say,
[2187.98 --> 2193.22] yes, I've done XYZ, but in other ways, I'm much more interested in hiring somebody
[2193.22 --> 2201.08] who is able to speak passionately about a specific area and can demonstrate some open source work.
[2201.78 --> 2203.48] So you almost just, I think you almost just hit it there too.
[2203.54 --> 2206.08] Like, I wonder if it isn't a passion thing.
[2206.12 --> 2212.16] Like he isn't tearing into a problem and becoming the most knowledgeable person
[2212.16 --> 2217.44] about that problem in the world, thus discovering a community, their problems,
[2217.52 --> 2221.48] and providing a solution, and then getting employment through those networking connections.
[2222.06 --> 2225.38] Instead, it almost feels like, Lawrence, the biggest problem you're trying to solve is employment.
[2225.62 --> 2226.42] And I get that.
[2226.86 --> 2231.30] But getting a job is not an ends of means itself.
[2231.50 --> 2234.50] It's like just part of it.
[2234.66 --> 2237.98] Like the job should be reflective of what you're really passionate about.
[2237.98 --> 2241.44] And it's a tricky thing because I think, I realize you got to get a job.
[2241.52 --> 2241.96] You got to get money.
[2242.06 --> 2242.56] You got to get paid.
[2242.96 --> 2245.16] But it feels like you kind of put the cart before the horse.
[2245.18 --> 2246.58] Like you're kind of trying different stuff.
[2246.72 --> 2247.86] You're excited about a lot of it.
[2248.06 --> 2249.40] You know you want to work in this area.
[2249.50 --> 2250.76] I see this all the time.
[2251.00 --> 2252.08] But you don't have a specialty.
[2252.22 --> 2252.98] You don't have a focus.
[2253.06 --> 2254.08] You don't necessarily have a passion.
[2254.52 --> 2257.20] And if you do, well, then that's your obvious answer.
[2257.26 --> 2258.78] And that's what you should probably be going after.
[2259.26 --> 2261.48] I'd recommend that you give Coda Radio a listen as well.
[2261.74 --> 2264.48] Mike and Chris talk about this kind of stuff all the time.
[2264.48 --> 2266.28] I mean, it's a bit more small business focused.
[2266.28 --> 2269.40] But sometimes they talk about, you know, how to get into the industry and that kind of thing.
[2269.68 --> 2270.30] Yeah, thank you.
[2270.34 --> 2271.64] That's probably a good tip.
[2271.78 --> 2271.98] All right.
[2272.02 --> 2276.28] So Brad writes in, who wants to know about our thoughts on tap business cards.
[2276.40 --> 2278.12] So, you know, some are tied to websites.
[2278.24 --> 2279.26] Some are tied to apps.
[2279.60 --> 2282.28] I was curious if this is something you guys have used or consider.
[2282.60 --> 2284.68] I want to be more environmentally conscious.
[2285.10 --> 2287.60] And most business cards, they just get thrown away.
[2287.96 --> 2292.48] I wonder, though, how much telemetry is gathered by these card companies and what they'll do with it.
[2293.02 --> 2293.76] Regards, Brad.
[2293.76 --> 2296.28] Have you seen these digital credit cards?
[2296.82 --> 2297.82] There's app versions.
[2297.92 --> 2298.90] There's physical versions.
[2299.42 --> 2300.76] Some of them are NFC-based.
[2300.88 --> 2302.52] Some of them are something else.
[2303.58 --> 2304.54] Seems open to abuse.
[2304.78 --> 2305.06] Yeah.
[2305.60 --> 2309.68] But saying that, I've had a contactless debit card in my pocket for five or six years.
[2309.74 --> 2312.08] And it's only been cloned once.
[2312.68 --> 2314.64] Theoretically, I like this idea, right?
[2314.70 --> 2317.76] I prefer not having another piece of paper.
[2317.76 --> 2326.78] And if I get a business card that I actually care about, I almost inevitably end up scanning it with my phone or some contact application.
[2327.28 --> 2328.92] But I did do some digging around.
[2329.20 --> 2330.84] There are projects out there.
[2330.86 --> 2336.96] In fact, one that's been going around this week that lets you build your own business card out of your own parts.
[2336.96 --> 2338.60] And then you run Linux on the thing.
[2338.60 --> 2343.74] And I guess you could be a little more secure in that.
[2344.46 --> 2347.68] Honestly, I don't think this is ever going to take off.