“Ignite Your Career”: Help is on the Way

Pictured on the right is a photo I took in New York City almost nine years ago to the day. While taking an elevator in the hotel where I was staying, I noticed a little indicator above the rows of buttons for floors – a circular bit of plastic with the words HELP IS ON THE WAY inscribed. Presumably, if there was some kind of failure and passengers were trapped in the elevator, someone in a control room would flip a switch and that little “help is on the way” indicator would light up to let them know that someone knew of their predicament and was doing something about it. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of it, knowing that I’d use it someday.

The financial crunch we’re in has given many people that “trapped in an elevator feeling”. We’re all worried about the state of the economy and our jobs. Many of us know someone who got laid off: a friend of mine got laid off in the middle of a quick IM chat with me, and I found myself suddenly unemployed a few months ago when the startup I was working for had to cut its burn rate. Where’s the “help is on the way” light when we really need it?

Ignite Your Career is our way of sending help. One of your best hedges against the current uncertainty is to arm yourself with the information you need to sharpen your skills and refine your career plan, and that’s what Ignite Your Career is all about. It’s a video webcast series that you can watch free of charge and from the comfort of your own computer, featuring expert speakers on skill- and career-building topics aimed at programmers, IT pros and architects.

The first series of hour-long Ignite Your Career webcasts will start on Tuesday March 3rd and for the following five Tuesdays. This series will be aimed at technical professionals -- here’s what we’ll cover:

Another series will start in May, and it’ll be aimed at architects.

With Ignite Your Career, help is on the way. All you have to do is sign up to watch the webcasts – do it now!