How do you know what you don't know?

[CPS-Stimmers]

Hi All,

 

As the cryptic name suggests I'm wondering how much I don't know. And how much i have to learn.

Obviously learning is never ending BUT, scouting around online there are so many terms and things that I have no idea about and have found myself creating lists of names and terms to research later.

 

How have you all dealt with this?

What are some of the most important things that you've learnt, that you didn't even know existed until it appeared?

[HPlum78]

Known knowns, known unknows and unknown unknowns, that's how life is even more so when you do IT! as for what you need to learn well i am guessing that you are a fair few years younger than me and have not had any thoughts about where you are going to be/ want to be. So the question is are you going to become an SME or are you going to continue on spreading yourself across a broad spectrum of IT? then you can start to answer the question of what should I spend time learning. One thing i will say is PowerShell will not be a bad investment...

[TechMonkey]

First, don't panic about it. One of the best pieces of advice from my first IT boss was that there is so much IT knowledge that you can't know it all and anyone that says they do is lying, so don't engage with them.

 

Secondly unless you enjoy it don't go chasing knowledge just because you feel you should know it. By this I mean don't try researching everything because you feel your job expects you to, you will just set yourself up for failure, burn out or just get annoyed at yourself.

 

Finally ensure you have the skills you need to research, the skills you need now and then keep an eye on what you may need. This is part of your overall planning, whether you are the IT manager or just starting out. Where is your network going and where do you want to go? No point learning AI tech and buzzwords if you don't like the look of that area and your school has no need for it. Maybe set yourself some research time, an hour a week say, booked as a meeting where you just engage in a project or research something that is necessary.

 

What you are doing is good. Keep a document of things that catch your eye that may be useful or you want to look at more. Then you just have to make the judgement on if it is worth pursuing further.

 

Most importantly if you are sticking with Windows systems, as HPlum78 says, learn Powershell.

[CPS-Stimmers]

First, don't panic about it. One of the best pieces of advice from my first IT boss was that there is so much IT knowledge that you can't know it all and anyone that says they do is lying, so don't engage with them.

 

Secondly unless you enjoy it don't go chasing knowledge just because you feel you should know it. By this I mean don't try researching everything because you feel your job expects you to, you will just set yourself up for failure, burn out or just get annoyed at yourself.

Maybe set yourself some research time, an hour a week say, booked as a meeting where you just engage in a project or research something that is necessary.

What you are doing is good. Keep a document of things that catch your eye that may be useful or you want to look at more. Then you just have to make the judgement on if it is worth pursuing further.

Most importantly if you are sticking with Windows systems, as HPlum78 says, learn Powershell.

Powershell is noted thank you! I have copied several scripts and basically been a 'script kiddie' not really knowing how it does what it does but i do need to learn more.

 

You've given me a good relief and good advice, I'll try to take it slow and steady instead of throwing myself in the deep end

 

Thanks!

[mavhc]

Learn the basics, how a computer works, how ethernet works, how ip works, how tcp/udp works. The basics apply to everything.

[jthompson]

I find that just keeping an eye on what others are discussing here on EduGeek is as good an indication as any as to where IT has moved onto in the real world and where I should be looking to next. I find that for me, it's not so much about keeping pace with the cutting edge as much as staying reasonably current along a tried and trusted path, and not finding that I've taken the school down a bit of a dead end.

 

Spend time researching how to keep the stuff that you already have secure and dependable.