Author: andrewpallant

Enhance Your Technology Career By Learning To Speak

Have you ever had a customer, co-worker or manager look at you as if you had two heads? When an IT Professional, speaks it is very important that who we speak to understands what we are saying. You cannot sell an idea, explain an issue or develop a project plan if you who you are speaking to does not understand. The use of jargon is the biggest obstacle that IT Professionals face. Continue reading Enhance Your Technology Career By Learning To Speak

Last is King – Back To Basics CSS

CSS is the basics of HTML styling, but I am finding out that somehow it is missed. It’s hard to be a Web Designer without knowing how CSS style sheets work. For those who do not know, CSS is short for Cascading Style Sheets. If you can picture a waterfall, that is basically how CSS works. Continue reading Last is King – Back To Basics CSS

Clean Your Desk and Your Office To Stay Focused

A Clean Desk Is a Clear Mind. How can you be productive with a messy desk? Than answer is you cannot! A messy desk is a major distraction to you. A messy room is even more of a distraction. It inhibits your focus that you are trying to apply to your work. Continue reading Clean Your Desk and Your Office To Stay Focused

We Do Not Know You

I have encountered the phrase “We Do Not Know You” a few times during the job hunting process. Recently I interviewed with a company that used this phrase. I threw everything at them including LinkedIn Recommendations, Contacts, Resume, Cover Letter, Links to Code Samples and screen shots. This was not enough. Continue reading We Do Not Know You

Keeping a Cool Head

Recent events at work caused 3 days of fire fighting to keep systems going. It was a lot of work and was not easy. Stress levels were at an all-time high. While showing the rest of the staff that I was dedicated to fixing the issues, I managed to keep a cool head and work systematically. It’s not easy to keep a cool head, but a lot more problems can occur if you do not. We had one incident when I was in a meeting, a mistake was made that cost me a loss of 2 hours and it could have been prevented by pausing for a second. Continue reading Keeping a Cool Head

Senior should be a Junior for a Day

There are times where a Senior Developer should take a step back and become a Junior Developer.  There are times when a Junior Developer can teach a Senior Developer new skill, thoughts and patterns.  Granted there are a fair number things that Senior Developer can teach a Junior Developer.  In this blog I will discuss why a Senior should become a Junior – for a short time.  Continue reading Senior should be a Junior for a Day

Getting Out Of My Comfort Zone

I have often lived in my own little bubble as most technology-geek-type people do.  I hardly stepped out, stretched myself and joined the world outside.  In the last little while I have had the opportunity to expand my world and I took it.  I was asked to attend a networking function with a friend.  I had probably met a half dozen professionals from various disciplines.  Again this week an opportunity arose where by offering to help pay for a website renewal, I had the opportunity to hide in my bubble and pay with PayPal or go hand deliver the money and meet someone new;  I chose to meet someone new. Continue reading Getting Out Of My Comfort Zone

What I Have Learned

I graduated college in 1996.   This was a great year for me.  I moved home where I was fed and loved by my family.  I worked for a small software company doing Visual Cobol who went bust.  I was a hard worker and never said no to an opportunity.  When the company went bust, I worked at a local concrete factory until I got into a factory automation job.   Now I am where I am and boy did I learn a lot.  Some of what I learned is from making mistakes and some I learned by mentors and leaders in my life. Continue reading What I Have Learned

IT Professional and Communication Skills

It is a well-known fact that Information Technology professionals are often lacking skills in the communication department. Almost every job posting lately had stated you must have good Oral and Written communication skills. This was not me; at least until recent. I was always the guy standing by the punch bowl or snack table with hands in the pockets that said “HEY” as people walked by. IT professionals often confuse colleagues, friends and customers with their acronyms and tech-lingo – I was one of these people. Then I was pulled out to a Toastmasters meeting. Continue reading IT Professional and Communication Skills