Do IT Certifications Still Move Your Career in 2026?
IT certifications still move careers in 2026, but which ones and why has shifted. The catch is a certificate only helps when it maps to a real skill and role.
Tag: Careers
Getting into a field, moving up in it, and the networking that decides both. People who changed direction late, broke in from outside, or taught what they knew once they arrived.
CareersMy Boss Was Incompetent and Untouchable. I Had Eighteen Months Left.
He was not going anywhere and neither was I. Learning to work under somebody like that without absorbing their behavior is a skill, and I learned it because I had to.
CareersI Decided in Thirty Seconds Whether Your Resume Was Worth Reading
Twenty years on the hiring side of the table. I know what hiring managers are thinking because I was one, and the first thirty seconds decides more than anybody admits.
CareersI Asked for a Weekend Off. My Boss Said Fifteen Minutes or You Are Fired.
Not asking permission, just telling him I would be out of range for a weekend. He said if I did not call back within fifteen minutes of a page, I was fired.
Career StoryFrom IT Leader to Storyteller: The Boss Certified Insane and the Gig Economy Playbook | Dissecting Popular IT Nerds, Episode 220
The October 26, 2023 episode: the first disk defragmenter, SCADA still running on VAX/VMS, 1980s phone-card fraud profiling, phone phreaks, the boss with an insanity certificate and the armed-guard firing day, John Shields and Dan Bane, customer-free digital transformation, the…
CareersSixto Bernal on Why Security Is Sales and How to Break Into the Field
Cybersecurity leader Sixto Bernal on treating security as part of sales and building a career on business awareness.
CareersErik Boemanns on Breaking Into Cybersecurity and Networking on LinkedIn
Cybersecurity leader Erik Boemanns on entering the field, networking on LinkedIn, referrals, and interview skills.
Career StoryWriting to Advance Your Career: From VAX Clusters to 54+ Ghostwritten Books | The SynAck FinAck Podcast
The February 14, 2021 interview: 1981 DEC clustering and the first disk defragmenter, SCADA water systems, the Trader Joe’s exit, the $1,000-a-book apprenticeship and same-day $10,000 turnaround, the four-four-three-one technical book tally, the report-in-the-trash CEO, LinkedIn rules from 100+ profiles,…
Career StoryReal Data, Assertiveness, and the Night Trader Joe’s Almost Lost Everything | Consulting Guest Lecture 2019
The September 30, 2019 class session: pivoting clients and billable research, the telemedicine million-dollar lesson, micromanagers and the heart-to-heart Richard once received, money trails and the SEC, the confusion technique, agenda enforcement, feelings-versus-data failure signs, and the consultant who rebuilt…
Author BusinessHow to Monetize Your Writing: Freelancing, Content Mills, and the Hustle | The Exceptional Scribble Show, Episode 249
The February 19, 2019 hour on monetizing writing: ghostwriting demand explained through celebrity books, the gig economy, content mills at a dollar an hour versus one contract worth 75 of them, LinkedIn outreach and reference chains, the it-takes-work phenomenon, the…
CareersHow to Manage a Consulting Project: The Guest Lecture | Professor Makadok’s Yearly Consulting Class
The 2018 session of an annual tradition: a business school consulting class taught from Richard's book, with live answers on vetting consultants, telling a CEO he's wrong without saying so, the time-quality-money triangle, the $10 million Trader Joe's lesson, scope…
Career StoryThe Statement of Work, Clause by Clause: The $10,000 Client Who Vanished | Consulting Guest Lecture 2017
The September 18, 2017 Skype session: both chairs of the consulting table, the client who paid $10,000 and disappeared, specificity plus negative scope in deliverables, client commitments inside the project definition, billable meeting caps, same-day recaps confirmed by everyone, the…