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Newsletter – 29 April 2009 – Porsches, Gurus and Family Secrets
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Hi,
Today I’ll talk about gurus and let you in to a few family secrets. But first –
what’s this about Porsches?
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Joke of the week – Porsches
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As you can imagine, in today’s UK there are lots of jokes flying around about
Londoners, bankers, Porsches etc.
I quite like this one:
A Londoner parks his brand new Porsche in front of the office to show it off to
his colleagues.
As he's getting out of the car, a lorry comes speeding along too close to the
kerb and takes off the door before zooming off.
More than a little distraught, the Londoner grabs his mobile and calls the
police.
Five minutes later, the police arrive. Before the policeman has a chance to ask
any questions, the man starts screaming hysterically:
'My Porsche, my beautiful silver Porsche is ruined. No matter how long it's at
the panel beaters it'll simply never be the same again!'
After the man finally finishes his rant, the policeman shakes his head in
disgust.
'I can't believe how materialistic you bloody Londoners are,' he says. 'You lot
are so focused on your possessions that you don't notice anything else in your
life.'
'How can you say such a thing at a time like this?' sobs the Porsche owner.
The policeman replies, 'Didn't you realise that your right arm was torn off when
the truck hit you.'
The Londoner looks down in horror. '****ING HELL!' he
screams.............'Where's my Rolex????...'
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Gurus
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People can rightly get suspicious of gurus who tell them how to better their
lives.
I get lots of this every week in my emails.
So, you might well ask me “what special knowledge do you have to be able to
predict a good high paying job for me?
And what do you know that all these employers and agencies don’t know?”
A fair question! Let me tell you a bit about myself and how I have evolved this
method.
I’ve been in the IT industry for a long time, over 30 years in fact.
I got in at the time when no-one knew much about computers.
At the tender age of 20, languishing in a low paid, going nowhere clerical job
in a factory, I had one of my better thoughts.
I thought what I needed was a portable skill that I could get into without
spending years of my life at college – I also had no money.
I looked at the money that computer programmers were earning and it blew my
mind, so I started to look at job ads.
Oddly I noticed an ad for a “trainee computer programmer”.
This is something you don’t see any more. Now they expect you to have been
trained already somehow.
Although I knew nothing about programming – in fact I had never seen a computer
in my life – I applied for the job and to my surprise got an interview.
Almost the first question was “what do you know about computers”?
“Nothing” I said, and seeing the look on his face I added “well you ARE looking
for a trainee”
To cut a long story short, I was given an aptitude test at which I scored well.
I also had a friend who worked at that company who gave me a good reference, so
to my great surprise I got the job.
After one years probation I was made up to a full programmers pay, and at the
tender age of 21 was delighted to be earning more than middle aged accountants
or my local bank manager, for doing something I actually enjoyed.
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But that was a long time ago!
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It was, and sometimes it seems a very long time.
I know that it would be difficult to do it today in the same way. I was lucky to
get in at the ground floor.
One thing that hasn’t changed much though is that it is still a mysterious
industry to get into.
Nobody wants to train you, and everyone expects you to walk in an expert.
Most people think you spend 3 or 4 years getting college degrees and then walk
into a job.
That is mostly not true. Only a small percentage of people get into IT by that
path.
For most people the paths are much more diverse.
I have been intrigued over the years to observe what kind of people are in IT;
how they got in; whether they have prospered or not.
During that time I have been able to help a lot of people both get into IT and
move up the ladder – mentoring if you like.
The real test for me came some years ago when my two sons, neither of whom had
achieved very much at high school, decided they didn’t want to go to college but
instead wanted to work in IT.
This situation forced me to consider all my vague thoughts and mentoring
experience and to formulate a strategy to help them into well paid IT jobs.
This strategy formed the basis for Jack’s Guides’ 7-point plan.
Next week I’ll tell you how the strategy worked, what happened to them and how
you can apply the same strategy for yourself or your friends or family.
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These topics are discussed at length in our e-book “Jack’s Guide to Lots More
Money”
available at
http://www.jacksguides.com/itjobs.html
If you are ready to make the leap into a much better paid job or contract,
and be perfectly positioned as the recession eases, see our website at
www.jacksguides.com
Previous newsletters.
In response to several requests, we have published many of our older
newsletters.
You can find them at
http://www.jacksguides.com/news.html
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This newsletter is published by Kevin Ramsey for Jack's Guides.
Copyright (c) 2001 - 2009, all rights reserved.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted without the
express written consent of the publisher or contributing editors and or writers.
DISCLAIMER: We disclaim any liability for the use of Any contributed information
contained herein.
I hope you've enjoyed this issue of our newsletter.
Please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions or requests. (
kevin@jacksguides.com )
Enjoy and prosper in your chosen career.
Till the next issue.
Kevin Ramsey
Founder of Jack's Guides