Eric Kraus

education

SharePoint Saturday (Fall 2012)

SharePoint Saturday returns to Minnesota the first Saturday in November.

Join SharePoint architects, developers and information workers for our next ‘SharePoint Saturday’ event. SharePoint Saturday is an educational, informative and lively day filled with sessions from respected SharePoint professionals and MVPs. We cover a wide variety of SharePoint topics with sessions for Information Workers, IT Pros and Developers. We also offer a SharePoint 101 track and hands-on labs! SharePoint Saturday is FREE, open to the public and is your local chance to immerse yourself in SharePoint!

There will once again be 8 concurrent sessions running in order to offer more content than ever before. Stop by the event site to see the schedule, sessions, and speakers.

The Hands-On lab sessions are returning, as well as the Intro to SharePoint track targeted to people wanting to understand what SharePoint is, how to be successful with the SharePoint platform, how together requirements and understanding ROI.

Date: November 3rd, 2012
Time: 8:15 AM – 4:30 PM
Cost: FREE

Normandale Community College
9700 France Avenue South
Bloomington, MN 55431

registernow

A Career in Technology

I’m taking a break from geeky technology today to write about a great experience I recently had.  Last week, I had the opportunity to assist in hosting 100 high school girls at our Microsoft Technology Center for the 2012 Microsoft DigiGirlz Day.

The day was packed with great information on Microsoft products/services, tips for professional networking and preparing for a career in technology.  I also had the pleasure of participating in a “speed networking” event which allowed the attendees to practice rapid-fire networking with a stranger.  I was very impressed by the enthusiasm and passion many girls had towards technology-related careers.

I wanted to tackle the two most popular questions I was asked that day with a couple responses here.

 

“What should I study for a career in _______?”

Well, for starters, I’m not a career advisor, nor have I ever played one on TV.  As a disclaimer, nothing will beat meeting with a professional guidance or career counselor to talk about your unique situation.

With that said, my biggest feedback to students looking for advice on their education is to studying general disciplines that will carry over multiple jobs or even careers.  For instance, business, communications, etc.  There are several statistics that claim the average worker will change jobs 10 times in their career.  Also, knowing that there are fewer jobs today than in past years, it’s important to spend time distinguishing yourself from your peers.  Two graduates in the same program will have similar qualifications – why should someone hire you over another candidate?

Versatile Qualifications.  It is very important to learn relevant skills for your career.  In addition, differentiating yourself and adding transferrable skills will give you the longest return on your education investment.  A minor in business or communications can add depth and versatility to your qualifications.

Internships/Experience.  Do as many internships, job shadows and informational interviews as you can.  Seriously.  Not only do they add real-world experience, but it is a perfect way to build your network.  People getting jobs today are doing this.  If the company you intern or meet with isn’t hiring, at least ask to leave a resume behind and maintain a relationship.

Stay Connected.  Build your network.  If nothing else, take someone out for coffee every couple of months.  If you don’t know what to talk about, ask them questions about their job.  It will get easier as you go.  It may be surprising, but companies often create jobs just because they want someone to work with them.  Always strive to leave that lasting impression.

“Where can I go to learn more about Microsoft technology?”

Here’s a list of resources for students to explore.

Student Hub: http://www.microsoft.com/student/en-us/Connect/default.aspx#fbid=wPyV0bbZ4Cl
Student Newsletter:  https://register.msftstudent.com/signup.aspx
DreamSpark: https://www.dreamspark.com/
Microsoft Careers/College: http://careers.microsoft.com/careers/en/us/collegehome.aspx
Microsoft Students to Business:  http://www.microsoft.com/studentstobusiness/home/default.aspx

More information on DigiGirlz:  http://www.microsoft.com/about/diversity/en/us/programs/digigirlz/default.aspx

Chronozoom

ChronoZoom is an open-source community project dedicated to visualizing the history of everything. Big History is the attempt to understand, in a unified, interdisciplinary way, the history of cosmos, Earth, life, and humanity. By using Big History as the story line, ChronoZoom seeks to bridge the gap between the humanities and sciences an enable all this information to be easily understandable and navigable.

Check it out!  http://www.chronozoomproject.org/

Examples

Check out a time when there was no “time”

ChronoZoom_main

 

Earth and the Solar System is actually such a small window in history

ChronoZoom_EarthSolarSystem

 

Learn about a time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth

ChronoZoom_dinosaur

 

See the how the United States’ history relative to the universe.

ChronoZoom_US