[Cialug] Volunteerism and stepping up a career

Fri Apr 29 09:08:33 CDT 2011

I’ll second this suggestion.  My son’s participating in this program and the 
advisors are local computer professionals or past students that are 
attending DMACC’s computer/network tech program.  Experts are always welcome 
to teach and advise.  They also *always* need equipment to break/fix/play 
with.

-- d.sloan

From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org [mailto:cialug-bounces at cialug.org] On Behalf 
Of j.bengtson at mchsi.com
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 8:15 PM
To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
Subject: Re: [Cialug] Volunteerism and stepping up a career

Here's another good way to volunteer, and pad your resume at the same time. 
Each year ISU hosts a high school cyberdefense/robotics/game design 
competition...it's called IT-Olympics 
(http://www.it-adventures.org/itolympics.html), and it starts tomorrow. 
There are teams from high schools all over Iowa participating, and none of 
these high schools (that I know of) teach programming or network design and 
security.  These kids either learn it on their own, or get help from 
volunteers in the IT community.  Even if you don't know anything about 
securing a network, you probably know more than these kids do.  Grab a book 
or go online, learn what you need, and find a high school that needs a 
mentor.

----- Original Message -----
From: Josh More
To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
Sent: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:43:18 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Re: [Cialug] Volunteerism and stepping up a career

I did not mean to focus specifically on grave sites... more to point out 
that if an employer is talking to two candidates with little experience and 
the question "what do you do in your spare time" arises, it could come down 
to three candidates:

1) I like to play video games and watch TV.
2) I run a Linux network at home, including a custom DVR server.
3) I built a website to track the graves of American soldiers since the 
Department of Defense was unable to do so and their families deserve to know 
where their loved ones lay.

Who do you think is going to get the job?

The point here is to find a way to practice your skills in public.  We could 
all criticize the technology behind the website.  I personally dislike the 
style chosen.  However, all of those criticisms are outweighed by the fact 
that this kid saw a problem and solved it, publicly.  He didn't over analyze 
or get stuck trying to decide what to do.  He did it.

If you want a job in technology and you're in the "need experience to get 
experience" trap, this right here is how you get out of it.

Josh More | Senior Security Consultant - CISSP, GIAC-GSLC Gold, GIAC-GCIH
Alliance Technologies | www.AllianceTechnologies.net
400 Locust St., Suite 840 | Des Moines, IA 50309
515.245.7701 | 888.387.5670 x7701

Blog: Don't just blame the bad guys, it's your fault too
http://www.alliancetechnologies.net/blogs/morej

How are we doing? Let us know here:
http://www.alliancetechnologies.net/forms/alliance-technologies-feedback-survey

________________________________________
From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org [cialug-bounces at cialug.org] on behalf of 
Scott Prader [sprader at iastate.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 19:33
To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
Subject: Re: [Cialug] Volunteerism and stepping up a career

Getting anything converted from an old style to a digital style is
always full of challenges.  People might think "well anyone can pop a
VHS tape into a converter and make a DVD", but it's not always that
simple, there are plenty of things that can go wrong when using an
off-the-shelf system like that.  You need to have access to the tools
and software that allow you to make the proper modifications in the
meantime in order to produced a polished product.  After all, who
wants to press 'play' on a digital recording and watch the blurry snow
that might be at the beginning and/or end of some tapes?

But maybe it's not cemeteries that we should be focusing on, since
much of that seems to have been done already:
http://iowagravestones.org but they do accept photos, so perhaps there
are still some gaps to be filled and other pathways to be found.

-Scott

On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 9:58 AM, Josh More
wrote:
> Several times each year, the topic comes up within the group of "how do I
> get a career doing _____"?  We always give the same advice: work hard,
> study, volunteer your time if you can't find an entry level position. 
> What
> we've generally not done is give concrete examples of what that means.  So
> here is one that I just ran across:
>
> http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-arlington-graves-20110427,0,1623607.story?page=1
>
> I'm not interested in having a discussion about the politics surrounding 
> the
> issue.  Instead, I want those of you who talk about wanting something 
> better
> career-wise to look at what this kid did.  He found a problem, found a
> solution and devoted a significant portion of his life towards fixing it.
> He lucked out in getting the media coverage, but either way, he created a
> significant career point for himself out of nothing.
>
> This is what we mean when we say "find a project".
>
>
>
> Josh More | Senior Security Consultant - CISSP, GIAC-GSLC Gold, GIAC-GCIH
> Alliance Technologies | www.AllianceTechnologies.net
> 400 Locust St., Suite 840 | Des Moines, IA 50309
> 515.245.7701 | 888.387.5670 x7701
>
> Blog: Don't just blame the bad guys, it's your fault too
> http://www.alliancetechnologies.net/blogs/morej
>
> How are we doing? Let us know here:
> http://www.alliancetechnologies.net/forms/alliance-technologies-feedback-survey
>
> _______________________________________________
> Cialug mailing list
> Cialug at cialug.org
> http://cialug.org/mailman/listinfo/cialug
>
>

--
Scott Prader
Undergraduate Electrical Engineer
CARC, SSCL
sprader at iastate.edu
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