Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Pre-Employed and Staying Current

I have often wondered as a Project Manager in the IT world and pre-employed. How does one stay current on the technologies as they evolve and you are not in the game, on the side lines or pre-employed. As you know if you are not in the game your funds are limited. What I have done is I started instructing future PMPs for that extremely challenging exam now this addresses the project management discipline. For the technology disciplines I have found a number of avenues to to stay current; free workshops (thanks to a few good friends) offered by companies through lunch and learns funded by their marketing groups (hey it’s a free lunch and all the ice tea one can drink and desserts good desserts). During these lunches I meet the end-users and network for that next opportunity while also meeting some senior Managers of major organizations. On-line; I have found myself downloading - White Papers from institutions and companies that are rolling out new technology and I also research old technology. Since, as we all know end of life for some products and technology will not be coming very soon due to the economic climate and cut backs in spending. But one must keep up with the enhancements and work around(s) that are out there and being completed by the hour and daily while being pre-employed.