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Welcome to episode 11 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_), two VMware Solution Engineers who are hoping to bring you the IT career advice that we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode, we discuss and professional networking and revisit the topic of training.

Original Recording Date: 2018-07-17

Topics

1:05 We launched!

More contact information

http://blog.thenetworknerd.com/2018/07/17/two-nerds-on-a-journey/

Nerd Journey Official Home Page

http://facebook.com/NerdJourneyPodcast

Should we be on Instagram?

3:55 10 More Questions to Ask at the End of an Interview to Stand Out

• 10 (More) Questions to Ask at the End of an Interview to Stand Out
  https://jobs.washingtonpost.com/article/10-more-questions-to-ask-at-the-end-of-an-interview-to-stand-out/
• What Qualities Would A Person Need To Succeed In This Position?
• Can You Give Me An Example Of What I Would Be Working On If I Started Tomorrow?
  • Find out the information
  • Force the person you’re asking to imagine you in the position
• Why Is This Position Currently Open?
  • Did the person get developed up?
  • Are they having problems keeping people in the position?
• Can You Tell Me About The People I Would Be Working With Most Closely?
  • Demonstrate concern about teamwork
  • Find out about the team
  • Figure out if their culture fits your needs
• What Challenges Are you Facing As A Company/Division Right Now?
  • Can the person articulate the team’s role within the company, not just the division or business unit?
  • Do they not know? Not care? Know but can’t articulate? Knows, Cares, and can Articulate?
• How Often Do You Expect The Responsibilities For This Position To Change?
  • Speaks to stability in job description
  • Refinement: how often has it changed in the past?
• Do You Expect To Make Additional Hires Over The Course Of The Next Few Months?
  • Is the department growing?
  • Just started? If so, what’s the path to success?
  • Or they’re super stable and you’re the rare hire
  • If the company is growing, is the department also growing?
• Ideally, When Do You Need Someone In Place?
  • You should already know the answer when you get to the hiring manager
  • When did they identify the need? How long did it take to get funded? When do they want someone to start?
  • Either earlier or later
• Where Do You See The Company Headed In The Near Future? Are There Any Major Changes On The Horizon?
  • Maybe have an idea heading into the question. Ask with your research as a context.
  • For smaller businesses, maybe research and ask about industry trends
  • Would John ask about chances of a near-future transaction?
• Why Did You Decide To Work Here?
  • What they like
  • What keeps them there
• Listener Feedback – What was your best question to a manager?

20:45 Does working in IT give you a hero complex?

• https://www.wework.com/creator/work-life-balance/hero-complex
• General jobs which might lead to a hero complex
• Behind the scenes: John’s hero complex in launching the podcast
• John references Smart Kid Syndrome
  • The Secret to Raising Smart Kids (Scientific American)
  • https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids1/
  • Being invested in appearing smart and looking good
  • Shy away from things you’re not already good at
• Nick – Spider Man
  • “My gift, my curse”
  • Addicted to putting out fires, fixing the problem, being recognized, promotion, selection for big projects
  • Oops, you can neglect self-care
• https://www.quora.com/What-causes-a-person-to-have-a-hero-complex
  • Attention seeking
  • Increased happiness and self-worth
    • Good if they feel good and move on, bad if they over-extend themselves, don’t engage in self-care, get addicted to praise
    • Constantly raising the bar of achievement too high
  • Once needed rescue and didn’t get it
  • Once rescued and it made an impact
  • Approval seeking
  • Glory craving
  • Pushed into by family/past dynamic
  • Developed a need to be needed
• John definitely was susceptible to taking on too much
  • Better now at knowing how busy he is
  • Better at saying no
  • Better at being honest with actual availability
• Difficulty saying no?
  • Looking like you can’t solve the problem
  • Desire to be the caregiver
  • Concern about the perceptual change that saying, “No,” brings
• We Don’t Need Another Hero by Tina Turner
  • • Does the world need a John and Nick Karaoke duets podcast?
    • The answer is no, but you can tweet us your answer @NerdJourney