Write to Achieve Clarity and Stay Ahead by Using Twitter with Scott Jehl

Phil’s guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Scott Jehl. He is a designer and developer working at Filament Group.  He is a tireless advocate of practices that ensure web access for all and is always chipping away at open source projects with his colleagues at Filament.

He is also author of Responsible Responsive Design, co-author of Designing with Progressive Enhancement and a frequent presenter at conferences throughout the world.

 In this episode, Phil and Scott Jehl discuss why you need to follow and engage on Twitter. The benefits of sharing what you know, as you learn it. How to give succinct, yet informative, speeches. Scott and Phil also discuss the challenges the roll-out of superfast networks is going to throw up.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

(3.41) TOP CAREER TIP

Stay active on Twitter. A lot of important stuff starts with conversations on Twitter. So, stay engaged there. Be curious, listen and ask questions.

Share what you know as you learn. It does not matter if others are likely to already know or not. Putting it in writing will benefit you and, usually, many others.

(5.24) WORST CAREER MOMENT

When Scott first got started as a public speaker he had a deeply embarrassing experience. Despite preparing well, he found himself only halfway through his slide deck with just 5 minutes to go.

He tried to bring it all together. But, he still ended up looking pretty bad in front of hundreds of his peers. Scott has now come up with a way of preparing his speeches so that he never overruns. A technique he shares in the podcast.

(7.44) CAREER HIGHLIGHT

Scott and the Filament Group were lucky to be at the forefront of responsive design and working with the Boston Globe. Their readers mainly used IE, which at the time, had no support for media queries and CSS.

Scott was able to write a script to address that complex and difficult issue. It was exciting, challenging and interesting work.

(9.43) THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T

Scott sees it being even easier for I.T professionals to work remotely and flexibly, in the future. So maintaining the right work-life balance will become far easier.

He is really excited to see bigger audiences, throughout the world, gaining access to the web. It is amazing the difference it is making to people’s lives. The emergence of new browser standards and technologies is having a hugely positive impact.

(11.47) THE REVEAL

What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – Scott’s background in graphic design led naturally to a career in I.T.

What’s the best career advice you received? – You can do anything in two weeks. In the podcast, Scott explains how any IT professional can use this advice to achieve more.

What would you do if you started your career now? – Scott says he would take some of the online boot camp tutorials, early on to accelerate his career.

What are your current career objectives? – Right now, Scott is most interested in performance and accessibility. In particular, how devices can parse and evaluate script fast enough.

What’s your number one non-technical skill? – Technical and narrative writing.

How do you keep your own career energized? – Listening to podcasts. They expose him to people working on all aspects of the web.

What do you do away from technology? – Scott likes to spend a lot of time with his family. He also enjoys surfing, hiking and cooking.

(19.34) FINAL CAREER TIP

Share what you learn, write a blog. Doing that has greatly benefitted Scott’s career and that of others.

BEST MOMENTS

(4.18) – Scott - “Be curious, ask questions, share what you know as you learn it.”

(13.11) – Scott - “You can do a heck of a lot in just two weeks, especially with a good team.”

(14.11) – Scott - “Boot camp tutorials are a great way to learn and accelerate your career, especially early on.”

(17.50) – Scott - “Write about what you are working on, it is the best way to get clarity of the problem.”

(18.53) – Scott - “Pay attention to what other people are working on.”

(19.34) – Scott - “Write or blog to share whatever you’ve learned.”

ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS

Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organisations to design, develop and implement software solutions.  Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers.  And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.

CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS

Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/philtechcareer

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess

Facebook: https://facebook.com/philtechcareer

Instagram: https://instagram.com/philtechcareer

Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact

Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast’s website, https://itcareerenergizer.com

Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer

ABOUT THE GUEST – Scott Jehl

Scott Jehl is a designer and developer working at Filament Group.  He is a tireless advocate of practices that ensure web access for all and is always chipping away at open source projects with his colleagues at Filament.

He is also author of Responsible Responsive Design, co-author of Designing with Progressive Enhancement and a frequent presenter at conferences throughout the world.

CONTACT THE GUEST – Scott Jehl

Scott Jehl can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/scottjehl

GitHub: https://github.com/scottjehl

Website: https://scottjehl.com/