Presentation I gave at Career Day 2013 at the English International School of Padua

1. Using Information Technology to
Turn Your Passion Into Your Career
Steve Muench

2. Using IT to Find
and Feed
Your Passion
How I Pursued
My Passions
Computer
Industry Careers

3. file:///C:/Users/smue
nch/Downloads/steve
-jobs.png
The only way to
be truly satisfied
is to do what you
believe is great
work.

4. file:///C:/Users/smue
nch/Downloads/steve
-jobs.png
The only way to
be truly satisfied
is to do what you
believe is great
work.
And the only way
to do great work
is to love what
you do.

5. Find Your Passion
Become an
Expert
Find Relevant
Experience
Make It Happen

7. Make Time to
Educate Yourself
on Your Passion
Manage Time
Wisely
Use Available
Tools to Save Time

9. workflowy.com

10. powersearchingwithgoogle.com

17. google.com/alerts

18. feedly.com

19. khanacademy.org

20. udacity.com

21. coursera.org

22. bit.ly/sankalpblog

23. Using IT to Find
and Feed
Your Passion
How I Pursued
My Passions
Computer
Industry Careers

24. 1976 (8 Years Old)
• Did the payroll for my father's company
– Using a program that he wrote
• Started learning to program myself

25. 1978 – 1983 (Elem/Middle School)
• Played a lot of games
• Started writing more complicated programs

26. 1984 – 1986 (High School)
• Taught computers to elementary school kids
• Taught programming at summer camp for kids
• Did first paid programming jobs

27. 1986 – 1989 (University)
• Worked on campus in computer lab
• Worked off campus writing business apps

28. My University Studies
• Mathematics
– My dream was to be a high-school math teacher
• Rhetoric
• Italian Literature
• Computers Continued to Be My Passion
– Earned Money Doing Math Tutoring
– Helping People Use Computers
– Doing Computer Programming

29. 1990 – Present

30. 1990 – Present

31. 1990 – Present

32. 1990 – Present

33. Using IT to Find
and Feed
Your Passion
How I Pursued
My Passions
Computer
Industry Careers

37. Software: Packaged Products
• Music & Video
– iTunes, Windows Media Player
• Personal Productivity
– Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)
• Email
– Outlook, Thunderbird
• Web Browser
– Internet Explorer, Firefox
• Games, Learning

38. Software: Web Applications
• Facebook
– Keep in touch with friends around the world
• Amazon.com
– Buy books, movies, electronics, etc.
• EBay
– Buy or sell virtually anything to anyone
• Expedia.com
– Buy plane tickets, rent a car, etc.
• Wolfram Alpha
– Answer any question you can think of

39. Programmers Plan Every Click!

40. Oracle Software Inside Many Web Apps
Oracle
Database
Oracle
Application
Server
Oracle
Application
Development
Tools
Live Application on the Web
Application
Development

41. Packaged Applications

42. Roles in Software Development
Requirements
Gathering
Design
&
Prototyping
Development
Testing
Documentation
Usability
Testing
Technical
Support
Product
Evangelism

43. Other Roles in Software
Consulting Sales
Training Sales Consulting

44. IT Opportunities Large and Small
• Large Software Companies
– Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, SAP, Apple
• Software Consulting Companies
• Gaming & Education Software
• Any Company with Internet Applications
– Amazon.com, Google, Ebay, Facebook, …
• Almost Every Company Has Internal IT Dept
– Custom Applications for Internal Use

45. What Skills Do IT Employers Value?
• Problem Solving
• Creative Thinking
• Concrete Results
• Team Player
• Great Communications Ability
• Any Concrete Job Experience Always Helps!
– Even if it was something you didn't get paid for…

46. file:///C:/Users/smue
nch/Downloads/steve
-jobs.png
Everybody in this
country should
learn how to
program a
computer
because it
teaches you how
to think.

47. Break down a task
into parts
Clearly explain
the steps
Learn to
troubleshoot
problems

48. code.org

49. codeacademy.com

51. Using IT to Find
and Feed
Your Passion
How I Pursued
My Passions
Computer
Industry Careers
Questions ?