307: Never Underestimate Yourself and Be Thoughtful About Your Career Path with Don Jones

<p>In this week’s show, Phil talks to Don Jones, who has worked in the IT industry since the 1990s, and in that time has been everything from a software developer to a network engineer.</p> <p>He’s written dozens of IT books, and now focuses on helping technologists become the owners of their careers.</p> <p>Don discusses why you should never underestimate your value. He also talks about why we must be thoughtful about our careers, and guide them selfishly in order to create our own unique path in the world.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>KEY TAKEAWAYS:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>TOP CAREER TIP</strong></p> <p>Never underestimate yourself, and do not under-sell yourself. Don’t let what you see influence your entire opinion about something.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>WORST CAREER MOMENT</strong></p> <p>Don projected his negative perspective onto an employer with which he was having difficulty. He left but found a worse experience. But it taught him not to run away from things, rather run towards better opportunities.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>CAREER HIGHLIGHT</strong></p> <p>Don has now found his ideal career position – a company that encourages growth and development at every turn.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T</strong></p> <p>Don is eternally excited by the sheer explosion of growth directions – the unlimited potential of fields within IT and how they can change the world at such pace.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>THE REVEAL</strong></p> <p><strong>What first attracted you to a career in I.T.?</strong> – Don has always been in love with science fiction, the future, and computers</p> <p><strong>What’s the best career advice you received?</strong> – You don’t have to respond to every email!</p> <p><strong>What’s the worst career advice you received?</strong> – That we must be very good at mathematics in order to work with computers.</p> <p><strong>What would you do if you started your career now?</strong> – Don would focus heavily on software development at the beginning.</p> <p><strong>What are your c