As 2018 draws near, companies go into hiring mode, and people come and go, which often leaves a lot of open positions. If you qualify to fill one of the more in-demand positions, you can often negotiate a higher salary. My biggest salary jumps have always come in the first quarter of the year. To increase your chances …

Certifications are often lambasted as “worthless pieces of paper” and “experience is more important.” But for some people, certifications are more important than experience. A substitute for experience Newcomers to the IT world face the classic problem: how do you get experience without a job? Sure, you can tinker …

Years ago when I was active on twitter, I made a few passing observations about this strange place called Twitter:

1. “A lot of people follow me for a few days then unfollow me if I don’t follow them back”

There are so many things wrong with this. Following someone just so they’ll follow you back is selfish. It’s pretty …

IT people often intentionally withhold knowledge from those outside of IT. There are different reasons for this — some good and some very bad. One reason IT folks withhold knowledge is that they believe the best way to learn is to teach yourself. After all, that’s how many of them learned. Unlike many others in …

When it comes to security, IT leaders focus so much on preventive action that they don’t plan for contingent action. What would you do if you were hacked and confidential information was stolen? If you can’t confidently answer that right off the top of your head, you’re one breach away from looking for a new job. …

Virtually every business I have ever worked with had one “hero” in its IT organization — that one person who was considered almost indispensable because he had the “keys to the kingdom” and knew things others didn’t. I believe many IT leaders allow such a scenario to persist in their organization because they’re either …