Who Should Read This Book?

This is not a "technical" book. Although this book certainly contains techniques and methods, it's really about personal and professional growth. It is directed at IT professionalsboth those who are just entering the field ("the newbies") and seasoned veterans who want to advance their career.

No certifications are available to guide you on many of the topics covered in this toolkit. To a large degree, they are adopted into a total working skill set that is more nebulous in nature. Configuring a specific brand of router to perform a function or writing a program to achieve a particular end is often more easily defined. That's why I have framed the book as a toolkit.

I want you to see the techniques as one more set of skills to adopt in your overall career development program. They are skills, just as your particular technical skills that you will use daily over the course of your career. Similar to the way you adopt new technical skills, use the toolkit to help define those soft skills that you must learn and put to use. The result will be a more well-rounded and complete professional skill set.