Lori Barfield, RaiseMe
Some of the most talented people we work with come into the IT profession orthogonally, after starting out in different fields at the beginning of their careers. Also, seasoned engineers who have always been in IT often find themselves in a rut after a few years, and want to shift to a different industry vertical. Making the move into management or out of management are similar challenges. These are all re-born candidates, and they are uniquely qualified to handle some of the hardest jobs in IT. Yet, they all face the same challenge: How to get picked for their dream role if they are coming from a different background. First they have to do battle with the notoriously cookie-cutter hiring guidelines in the IT Industry.
Based on a successful non-profit career development program in Southern California, this talk addresses the big challenges with making IT engineering dreams come true:
- Which certifications and training programs are the most respected
- What you should and shouldn't do with your resume
- What types of roles and employers you should target
- How to help recruiters help you
- Sample language for hiring managers trying to justify a special placement
- How LUGs and Conferences help
Lori Barfield, RaiseMe
Lori joined her first Internet startup as a senior UNIX system administrator. When that company went public, she was hooked, and helping smaller firms prevail against well established rivals has been her passion ever since. She is currently COO at VerticalSysadmin and a chair at the SCaLE and ShellCon conferences in Southern California. In 2017 she developed RaiseMe, a unique career development effort for nonprofits, which has successfully helped people obtain their first engineering roles in the information security industry.
Lori is a mother of five and enjoys the occasional escape to the woods with her husband.
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author = {Lori Barfield},
title = {Reborn in {IT}},
year = {2018},
address = {Nashville, TN},
publisher = {USENIX Association},
month = oct
}