A yearly review is generally more for them to give you feedback so you really don’t have to ask questions if you don’t want to. If you’ve been doing a decent job you have nothing to be anxious about. But here are some questions you could consider asking:
What do you consider my strengths? Is there anything I can improve on?
I would like to develop my skills in xyz, are there any opportunities in the company for me to do that? Or do you have recommendations for how I could do that outside of the company?
What are the career path options after level tech 2?
Am I meeting your expectations for where I should be at the current point in my career?
What direction do you see the company/our team moving in in the next few years? How could I help us align with that?
Try to secure a firm schedule for your L2, and what conditions need to met-to achieve it, . Not because you are especially ambitious, just because you want to keep growing into your job.
Demonstrate a wider interest in a) your department (what is the current state of tools, processes, what are the pain points) b) the wider company (how is the company performing, does your dept have a good reputation within it)
Tell him you think you are in a good place to grow both technically and as a person and as long as that remains true, you are happy and loyal.
When you are running the place, don’t forget your friends 😉
I am interested in literally everything. I wanna learn more server stuff and phone systems especially. I am last in line to learn phones though. I do a lot of basic stuff with most of the things you’ve listed, though. I’m currently trying to fix the backups on a client’s server and I’m actually making progress on my own.
So you want to advance to a higher level and have a broad interests?
You failed some MS cert exam?
You have a review coming up?
Broad interests. Don’t miss the forest for the trees. Learn core concepts and things that are useful in many contexts rather than specifics. This is where a lot of newbies go wrong. E.g. don’t learn about AD, learn LDAP and AD, OpenLDAP, DS389, will all come much easier. In most roles some basic programming with Python will come in handy. Once you learn to write code in one language, learning others comes a lot faster. Some worthwhile things to have a foundational grasp of: PKI and how it is used by SSH and TLS, a high level understanding of common network protocols. Peruse IETF RFCs for that. E.g. if you know how say DNS works, you can manage it using any DNS server software. Ditto http and web servers. You will need to learn configuration management SW and monitoring SW. I prefer salt stack and zabbix. There are many good choices.
Seriously learn PKI and TLS. I can recommend some good sources. TLS is used by pretty much everything to secure connections. Backup server to agent, browser to web server, AV to server, you name it.
Open Source is your friend, learn a bit about big projects. E.g. say you get good with backups and want to work for your favorite product vendor. That fancy backup appliance or cloud service is probably running Linux or FreeBSD on the metal and using something like Tomcat for the WebUI.
Learn a bit about licensing models. You will have to deal with it no matter what path you choose.
I wouldn’t try to impress your supervisor. Chances are, they’ll see through it. They may or may not care about their employees. Assume they don’t. Don’t assume the worst either. You can almost always trust interests. Their job in an MSP environment is to make sure contractual requirements are met and clients are happy. Focus on where your interests are aligned. Happy clients mean less headaches for you and your boss. I would let them lead the conversation, but focus on that aspect. If a lot of clients use X thing, mention that to your boss that you want to learn more about X thing as it will help you close tickets faster.
I have my yearly review coming up and I have no idea what kind of questions to ask. I’m drawing a total blank.
You could ask a question demonstrating you’re thinking about how your actions influence the success of the company. Such as:
“What technologies or certifications are our customers asking for now or in the near future? If I could obtain some, that could increase my bill rate to because of that higher level of expertise.”
It comes off as an altruistic question, but knowing that answer, obtaining that skill makes you a more valuable worker in your industry irrespective of who is your employer. Especially closer to the beginning of your career the most valuable investments you can make are in yourself. This means skills, credentials, or tools. Have the ability to do things that your other peers can’t.
We moved from Texas to Minnesota in February when I was 6.
There were huge snow banks and while the movers were loading our stuff into the new house, the neighborhood kids were watching from behind the snow banks, all bundled up in snowsuits, hats, scarves, etc.
I, very logically thought they were snow monsters watching us…
Weird including Internet Historian after the Hbomberguy video. Wouldn’t care so much but I found Historian’s statement on it pretty gross. Doesn’t seem to take the plagerism very seriously.
Air crash reconstruction using flight simulator. No fluff, no unnecessary dramatization, no bullshit. Has been going due years and years with the exact same formula.
One of the funniest, my wife majored in British literature in college. She’s read all major works, reads Shakespeare for fun, and can read and speaks middle English. I worked and traveled to England a few times a year and had lived there in my early 20s, before we met.
For our fifth anniversary I took her to England. It was her first time ever leaving the US. In fact the first time she left the southern US.
We’re standing at the curb at Gatwick waiting for a cab and there are two guys behind us talking. My wife leans over and whispers, “what language are they speaking?”
I just started laughing, and explained they were speaking English, they are just Scottish. All that book learning and studying of the language couldn’t prepare her for the Scottish accent.
If your manager is a good manager, then nothing that comes up in your review should be a surprise. Talk about a plan to get to the next level. Nothing will ever be guaranteed, but if you work together on a plan and have milestones to meet then you’ll have a better chance of getting a raise and promotion. Obviously, not every review cycle can include a raise or promotion, so be reasonable.
A good review has what are called SMART goals. They should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. If your manager fails to give you goals that meet that criteria, then chances are you aren’t both working toward the same thing. Be open to criticism, because you probably won’t be doing everything well. Make sure you’re having regular one-on-ones with your manager, or whoever gauges your progress. If you’re early in your career, I would recommend every week, or every two weeks at most. This way you have regular feedback. Make sure you take notes.
Climate Town, Adam Something, Not Just Bikes, Contra Points, Hbomberguy, World War Two, The Great War, The Linux Experiment, CivDiv, The Thought Emporium, and there are some others that currently escape my mind.
I also have GioPizzi and Yotobi but their videos are in Italian.
I was also wondering if it would be possible to make it illegal to have had an abortion. The analogy that comes to mind is that cannabis is legal in California, but if you fly back to Texas and still have it in your system, I think you can be busted because there’s specific laws against testing positive (iirc). I’ve never heard of anyone getting charged for coming home high from California, so I have no idea whether it would pass a challenge.
The US constitution forbids states from creating ex post facto crimes, and the jurisdiction of state laws does not extend into other states. Texas cannot make it a crime to have an abortion in California, nor to have previously had an abortion in California.
Texas may be able to make it a crime to leave Texas for the purpose of having an abortion. That would make creating any evidence of the reason for travel, or providing explanations to authorities dangerous.
I just want to make sure I understand your answer. I’m going back to the cannabis example to make sure I’m clear in terms of what I’m saying and understanding.
Texas cannot make it illegal to smoke pot in California. We are on the same page there. Texas can however make it illegal to have drugs in your system while in Texas. If you get back from CA and test positive in Texas, I believe you can be charged for having drugs in your system. For instance, you will probably go back to jail if you test positive while on parole. I don’t want the parole thing to confuse the issue - the point is that smoking in CA is not what’s illegal. Being in TX with drugs in your system can be.
This isn’t ex post facto because the law against having terminated your pregnancy would have existed before the patient traveled.
What I’m thinking about specifically is the concern many people have about things like menstrual tracking apps being used by law enforcement to determine if someone was pregnant and now is not. To my reasoning, that means that the concern is ipso facto the termination.
And I agree on keeping any conversations about it in a manner that a prosecutor would be unable to use them to show motivation for travel. I mentioned that when o was asking whether it would be a reasonable defense if/when someone were to be charged (pretending that it doesn’t get overturned).
Texas can however make it illegal to have drugs in your system while in Texas
I’m not sure that’s actually a crime in Texas (please link a law if you know of one), and using it as evidence of prior drug possession is legally iffy as this Ohio case shows. In your example of consuming cannabis in California before traveling to Texas, it would be an even more difficult case for Texas prosecutors.
I don’t want the parole thing to confuse the issue
It does though; parole can include restrictions like “pass random drug tests”, “don’t drink alcohol”, etc… that can’t be imposed on people without a prior criminal conviction. It’s probably best to leave parole out of the discussion entirely.
the concern is ipso facto the termination.
When it comes to an abortion outside the state, the laws I’m aware of concern travel for the purpose of abortion. An alternate purpose for the travel could be useful as a defense, but that’s best delivered by one’s lawyer after charges are filed.
Weeks later, Ken Paxton, the notoriously embattled Texas AG who has been under investigation for corruption for years, announced intent to prosecute Texans who have abortions out of the state, regardless of the obvious conflicts with federal law.
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