This week we are releasing an updated trailer episode which explains the podcast, our vision, and how you can contact us to continue the conversation.

Original Recording Date: 01-20-2024

Topics – Restating Our Goal and Mission, Our Genesis Story, Show Format and Learning from Guests, How You Can Help

0:00 – Restating Our Goal and Mission

• The goal of Nerd Journey is to help you, the technology professional, accelerate your career progression, increase your job satisfaction, and be more effective in your existing role. We’re over 250 episodes in, and we want to make sure newcomers and existing listeners both know what they can expect from us.
• We’d also like to ask for your feedback to make this a conversation, not a one-way broadcast. Email us at [email protected] or DM us @NerdJourney on Twitter.
• Your hosts are John White, @vJourneyman, and Nick Korte, @NetworkNerd_.
  • You can find detailed show notes for all episodes or search for specific topics or guests at nerd-journey.com.
  • We’re two former IT operations guys who have moved on to pre-sales roles with technology vendors. John even manages a pre-sales team now. Leaving IT Operations inspired us to start this show. We want to bring listeners like you the career advice we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers.

1:14 – Our Genesis Story

• Our goal didn’t start out exactly like what we said above. Nick remembers getting a message from John the weekend before starting his first pre-sales job suggesting they start a podcast together. Initially Nick had no idea what he might talk about on a podcast, but he said yes to doing something like this with a friend and mentor.
• John remembers the conversation well. It took place near the end of 2017 when technology blogging was very prevalent but a solo activity. We were strongly influenced by other collaborative technology podcasts like
  • The Geek Whisperers
  • Virtually Speaking
  • VMware Communities Roundtable Podcast – John had joined as a pre-sales co-host
• We had the motivation to do something, and the initial idea was John’s. The kernel of the idea revolved around Nick joining VMware. Since this was the first large company Nick where Nick had worked, John felt the contrasts between working for small and medium sized businesses compared to working for a large company were things which would benefit others.
  • John had joined VMware just a few years earlier and wasn’t that far removed from working in small business IT. Explaining the contrasts was front of mind for John and one topic.
  • We toyed with discussing technology current events, but that seemed well covered by others.
  • We mined things like the process of applying for a job, constructing a resume, different interviews to expect, and how to prepare for success throughout that process. These were topics familiar to John as he’d been helping people with this one-on-one.
  • This helped us coalesce around the topic of career advancement.

2:58 – Show Format and Learning from Guests

• When we started having guests, we stumbled upon the method of discussing their career history, especially major inflection points. Their stories were different than ours, and they are probably different from yours.
  • We have found the career decisions and lessons from our guests’ stories apply broadly to anyone in the technology field (and beyond).
  • We separate guest interviews into multiple episodes to make the show more consumable.
  • Our show is clean with episodes released weekly on Tuesdays.
• Guest stories often include lessons they have learned, but sometimes it takes talking things out to see patterns. Some examples of patterns we’ve seen are:
  • There’s no typical path into technology jobs (or out of them)
  • Using relatable experience to get a new position
  • Reasons Managers return to being an Individual Contributor
  • The different (or not so different) ways to burn out and how to avoid them. Or how to deal with burnout.
  • The ways to excel at your existing position or become a top candidate for a different one
  • Handling being laid off
  • Improving communication with your manager
• And the above list is just scratching the surface!

4:08 – How You Can Help

• If you like what you’re hearing and want to hear more, please subscribe.
  • Give us a 5 star rating and a review.
  • If you found something helpful, please share the advice and the podcast with a friend!
• If there’s a topic you wish we’d explore or go deeper on, please let us know.
• We’re looking for your feedback!
  • Would it be helpful if we recorded episodes summarizing a specific lesson or pattern that we’ve seen, citing specific guest episodes?
  • We’re also looking for feedback on the type of guests we have on the show.
    • Do you want to see more people in a specific role?
    • Think we’ve missed talking to someone especially interesting?
    • Do you have a career story to share? Let us know.
  • Would it be helpful if we had full transcripts in addition to our show notes?
  • If you send us constructive feedback, we’ll send you stickers as a small token of appreciation (regardless of where you live)!
  • You can contact us by:
    • Sending an e-mail to [email protected]
    • DM us @NerdJourney on Twitter.
    • Contact / connect with John White on LinkedIn
    • Contact / connect with Nick Korte on LinkedIn