Career Downloads Titelbild

Career Downloads

Career Downloads

Von: Career Downloads
Jetzt kostenlos hören, ohne Abo

Über diesen Titel

 Manuel Martinez hosts the Career Downloads podcast where he interviews a different guest each episode to learn about their individual and diverse backgrounds, job history, and techniques they use to manage their career. So plug in and download the knowledge.Copyright © 2024 by Career Downloads All Rights Reserved. Erfolg im Beruf Ökonomie
Folgen
  • From Air Force to Cloud Engineer with Jordan McConnell | Ep068

    From Air Force to Cloud Engineer with Jordan McConnell | Ep068
    May 5 2026
    Episode Information Show NotesWhat does it look like to build a tech career when no one hands you anything?Jordan McConnell ran network operations at Langley Air Force Base with a top-secret clearance, supporting 100,000 people across 15 bases. When he left active duty, the civilian job market didn’t care about any of that. So he took help desk calls getting yelled at, rebuilt from the bottom, and funded every step of his own career development without waiting for an employer to do it for him. That journey eventually landed him at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas – where HR wrote a solutions architect role specifically for him – and later at New American Funding as a Cloud Engineer doing FinOps work he discovered at a dinner and taught himself on his own time and his own dime.This conversation also goes somewhere most tech career podcasts don’t. Jordan has lived with Crohn’s disease for 17 years, had multiple major surgeries, and still shows up every day. He talks honestly about how chronic illness shapes the way he works, why it became a source of fuel rather than a reason to stop, and what he wants other people living with invisible illness to know.WHAT JORDAN DOES NOW:Jordan is a Cloud Engineer at New American Funding, a nationally recognized mortgage lender based in Southern California. He holds FinOps Practitioner and FOCUS Analyst certifications along with several Microsoft Azure credentials, and he pitched a cost-savings plan to the company’s CISO within 90 to 120 days of joining.KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS CONVERSATION:Self-fund your career when no one else willJordan bought his own certifications and paid out of pocket to attend FinOps X in San Diego. New American Funding hired him because he showed up with six months of self-directed learning they hadn’t asked for.Closed mouths don’t get fedHe told the managing director of a Las Vegas news station that his childhood dream was to be a weatherman. His 11-year-old son got a full behind-the-scenes tour. He told a CISO at an executive dinner he was always looking for opportunity. That conversation eventually became a job offer.Ego is not your amigoAfter being laid off from MGM Resorts, Jordan posted publicly on LinkedIn asking for help finding a job. A month later he had one. Humility opened the door his resume hadn’t.People don’t earn your respect, they lose itJordan starts every relationship with trust and respect given. He keeps his baseline consistent, treats the CEO and the janitor the same way, and lets people’s behavior over time tell him who belongs in his circle.It’s easy to do hard things when you’re always doing hard thingsLiving with Crohn’s disease for 17 years has meant daily symptoms and multiple major surgeries. Jordan describes it as fuel – when you’re always uncomfortable, doing uncomfortable things gets easier.TOPICS COVERED:• Discovering FinOps through a dinner conversation and pivoting on the spot• Self-funding certifications and attending a national conference out of pocket• “Closed mouths don’t get fed” – how speaking up created real opportunity• Air Force career: top-secret clearance, Langley AFB, supporting 100,000 people• Going from Staff Sergeant to help desk calls getting cursed at• Day 91 of a 90-day contract: badge stopped working, week before Christmas• Getting 5 Azure certifications in 12 months without waiting for permission• Being the only engineer at a table full of CISOs and CTOs• The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas: becoming the first solutions architect• Living with Crohn’s disease for 17 years and choosing not to use it as a crutch• Building your inner circle through discernment and honest feedback• Character vs. reputation: you don’t control one, but you control the otherWHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR:• Tech professionals who are self-funding their own career development and want to know it pays off• Veterans transitioning from military to civilian tech roles who feel like they’re starting over• Anyone living with a chronic illness or...
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    1 Std. und 11 Min.
  • From Trade School to Cybersecurity Sales Engineer with Juan Mazo | Ep067

    From Trade School to Cybersecurity Sales Engineer with Juan Mazo | Ep067
    Apr 21 2026
    Episode Information Show NotesAt age seven, Juan Mazo told his family he would bring his mom’s family to America one day. By 26, he had done it. His mom hasn’t paid rent since 2015. And then he fell into depression.Juan built a tech career that most people would call a success from PC repair out of his aunt’s restaurant in Connecticut to hedge fund IT support in New York, to running the IT department at a clinical trials software company, to spending two years unemployed before landing at Veracode, where he has been a Solutions Architect Sales Engineer for seven years. But the most important parts of his story have less to do with titles and more to do with understanding what work is actually for, how to know what your time costs, and why hitting your goals does not automatically mean you know what comes next.This is a conversation about career development that goes deeper than certifications and job titles. Juan talks about how seven years in application security sales taught him to tie tech work to business outcomes, why he reads and learns constantly but always asks himself what he is actually doing with that knowledge, and what he figured out about his own happiness during two years of reading, failing, and starting over.WHAT JUAN MAZO DOES NOW:Juan is a Solutions Architect Sales Engineer, at a company that scans applications for security vulnerabilities. He works with organizations to understand their security risks, connect security initiatives to business outcomes, and build the case for why secure code protects revenue. He has been there seven years and genuinely loves the work.KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS CONVERSATION:Security Must Connect to RevenueYou cannot go to a business and say you need something because everyone else is doing it. You have to tie it to a revenue outcome, shorter sales cycles, more audits passed, more customers closed. That framing gets initiatives approved.Your Time Has a Dollar Value Per HourJuan learned this early: when he found out his phone calls cost $200 an hour, it changed how he thought about meetings, decisions, and where to spend his energy. He applies the same logic to personal decisions.Failing Businesses Was the Best Education He BoughtHe came out of two years unemployed with $20,000 in debt and businesses that all failed. He compares it to an MBA that cost $400,000 less.Knowledge Without Execution Is Just EntertainmentReading, watching videos, going to conferences none of it builds a skill until you do something with it. The gap between learning and doing is where most people stay stuck.Achieving Your Goals Can Break You If You Haven’t Asked What’s NextWhen the thing you have been working toward since childhood is done, you will not automatically know what to do. Juan hit that wall at 26 and spent two years figuring out what actually makes him happy.TOPICS COVERED:– Building an IT side business as a teenager from a restaurant bulletin board– How a recruiter’s coaching before his first interview shaped how he shows up professionally– White glove IT service at a hedge fund and what that taught him about people skills– Becoming the first sysadmin at a 10-year-old company with no security policies– Writing security policies from a NIST framework for the first time– Learning to qualify sales opportunities and stop wasting everyone’s time– The million-dollar DocuSign that went directly to the CEO and what it cost him– Resistance to cloud in 2015 and resistance to AI now – same pattern, different decade– How he thinks about the cost of a meeting and whether it is worth the combined hourly rate in the room– Reading 26 books in a year at age 26– Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie– The businesses that all failed and what he learned from each one– Achieving his childhood goal of bringing his family to America and falling into depression after– What he needs to be happy: a good internet connection,
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    1 Std. und 20 Min.
  • Thirty Years In Consulting, And Nobody Wrote The Job Description with Kim Snyder | Ep066

    Thirty Years In Consulting, And Nobody Wrote The Job Description with Kim Snyder | Ep066
    Apr 7 2026
    Episode Information Show NotesKim Snyder graduated with three degrees in accounting, MIS, and entrepreneurship. Companies had no idea what to do with her. They weren’t ready for someone who wanted to do all three. So she built the career herself. Over the next 30+ years, Kim went from QA engineer to tech consultant to finance consultant to business owner, coach, and speaker. Her path wasn’t linear. It was strategic in some places and instinctive in others. She learned to read herself early knowing when she was bored, what she was actually good at, and how to ask for what she wanted before someone else decided for her. This conversation covers a lot of ground. How she navigated being a young woman in rooms full of skeptics. How she built a career through relationships she didn’t even call networking. How she still felt like a fraud 20 years in. And how she eventually figured out that holding back isn’t modesty, it’s selfishness. WHAT KIM SNYDER DOES NOW:Kim runs her own business focused on consulting, coaching, and speaking for corporate and small business clients. She also takes contract work in software test lead roles and mentors professionals through organizations like her local project management community and Startup Nevada. KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS CONVERSATION:Know your strengths then say them out loudIn corporate settings, people often stay quiet about what they’re good at. Kim learned that naming it clearly makes it easy for others to give you more of the work you actually want. The title/money/company ruleEvery time you consider a career move, at least one of three things should improve: your title, your compensation, or the company you’re joining. If a lateral move doesn’t improve any of them, it’s not worth making. Build your network before you need itKim’s entire career was fueled by relationships. Not formal networking just staying in touch. She recommends 30 minutes a week, five messages to people in your field. Most of the time, just checking in. Imposter syndrome doesn’t expireKim felt like a fraud walking into client sites 20 years into her career. What broke the cycle was catching herself giving other women the exact advice she wasn’t taking herself. “It’s not about me. It’s about them.”This is how Kim got past shyness in high-pressure client situations and on stage. She stopped thinking about how she was being perceived and focused on what the other person needed. Coaching vs. mentoring know the differenceA mentor guides you over time, often informally. A coach helps you move faster in a specific area and typically charges for it. An advocate inside your company positions you behind the scenes. Kim used all three at different points in her career. TOPICS COVERED:• Three degrees, one career: accounting, MIS, and entrepreneurship• First consulting role and what drove her toward problem-solving work• Being a young woman in tech leading with experience to earn credibility fast• The “title, money, or company” rule for every career transition• Switching from tech consulting to finance consulting over company objections• Using your existing relationships to find your next role• Why she preferred smaller companies that let her do more• Staying close to customers and avoiding the promotion-away-from-the-work trap• Why 80% across multiple things beats 100% on one• Imposter syndrome after two decades in the field• Toastmasters and the path from shy athlete to keynote speaker• Shyness as selfishness – a reframe worth sitting with• Coaching vs. mentoring vs. having an advocate in your corner• Paying for your own conferences and development when your company won’t WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR:• Consultants at any level trying to figure out how to move from tech to business roles• Early-career professionals who aren’t sure how to advocate for themselves• Anyone who has ever felt like a fraud despite years of experience• Women navigating male-dominated technical environments• Professionals thinking about ...
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    1 Std. und 15 Min.
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c
Noch keine Rezensionen vorhanden