Very helpful.
Thank you for sharing.

@Minion-Queen said:

@scottalanmiller said:

@Minion-Queen said:

I think we are going to do a good panel discussion. Allow people to ask anything they want but that is about as close to a "general" session as you really can get.

Like my big open room session at SpiceWorld 2013.

Yes! But everyone complained that it wasn't enough time.

Yes, it was way too short for what it was. Because it was lots of different topics rather than just one it could easily have gone longer than the standard time slot.

Everybody gets a work-life balance except for the poor IT guy," said Sergio Galindo, general manager at GFI Software

I'm glad it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I hope they understand and let you reschedule.

@jonezee said:

I've been thinking about getting some Linux experience and developing some expertise. I do have very light experience with it. I've been in the Windows sysadmin field for about 20 years and I'm considered to be a senior engineer I would say. I'm paid pretty well and I'm sure some will say just keep getting better at the Windows world, but I'm tempted by the potential that having Linux expertise might bring to my career. Thoughts anyone?

Linux earns, generally, far more than Windows and my estimate is that the gap will only widen unless you move into DevOps style Windows management and move to pure PowerShell or other code-based tools. Linux is a growing market, growing pay rates and the demand versus available resources just keeps getting bigger.

Thanks for this.. 😊
Now for my friends to read it.. 😏

@scottalanmiller said:

@ajstringham said:

I hope to find an MSP that offers training benefits someday. That'd be heaven for me.

MSPs lack the necessary margins to do that.

A guy can dream!

At least these guys realize how stupid it is and it's only really feasible for the time you are getting venture capital.

Youtube Video

I finally read this article today and found it to be a very good one. I'm definitely a generalist. It seems every time I attend a VMUG event I wonder what it would be like to specialize in just VMWare, just backup and recovery, etc. As a generalist, I get frustrated that I cannot spend more time in certain areas that need attention, and I have so many different interests in terms of something in which I could potentially specialize it becomes difficult to choose just one.

But then I get the fear...what if I pidgeonhole myself? What if the specialized field doesn't have enough variety? What if that's a mistake? As you mention in your article, the more specialized you get, the more difficult it would be to go back to being a generalist.

I think Master Yoda said it best - "Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny...."

@thecreativeone91 said:

Exit interviews are a thing in the HRs handbook that never actually happen in real life.

I've actually seen/heard them happen quite frequently. I'm guessing the only reason I didn't get one before I left that company was because they were trying to keep me, but they cheaped out over $2K so I left.

That is a cool infographic, even if it is in a bit tongue in cheek. I'm stealing it for the Webroot community 🙂

Not sure. I've worked for loads of small, relatively low-tech manufacturing companies in the UK, and they all sounds like the description in the link to various degrees. It is a source of constant frustration to me. Sometimes I think I'm in the wrong industry and would be better off elsewhere. But mostly I love it. I love small manufacturing companies and have made it my life's work to drag them kicking and screaming from the 18th century to the 21st century. And this is now what I do. I could move to another manufacturing company but I'm sure I'll be faced with the same challenges and frustrations.