239: Create a Career To-do List and Seek Work That is Personally Fulfilling with Anna Murray

<p>Phil’s guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Anna Murray. She is a nationally recognized technology consultant, speaker, and blogger as well as the owner of a successful software development company.  She founded one of the earliest web-development firms, emedia, in 1996 and is a double recipient of the Stevie Award for Women in Business.</p> <p> </p> <p>She also serves as the President of the Board of the International Women’s Writing Guild.</p> <p> </p> <p>In this episode, Phil and Anna Murray discuss the fact that there are a lot of roles within the industry that do not require you to have an engineering background or degree. They speak about practical ways to progress your career on a daily basis.</p> <p> </p> <p>Anna also explains why she has focused on what she wants to get out of her working life, rather than chasing after a specific job title.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>KEY TAKEAWAYS:</strong></p> <p><strong>(3.41) TOP CAREER TIP</strong></p> <p>You need a day-to-day to-do list. But it is very important to have a second one, a career to-do list. Things that you need to do to move your career forward. For example, writing a book, completing a specific training program or landing a certain role.</p> <p> </p> <p>Don´t let your daily to-do list drown out what needs to be done to progress your career. In the podcast, Anna shares several practical ways to do this.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>(6.58) WORST CAREER MOMENT</strong></p> <p>Very early in her career, at a young age, Anna was in charge of a massive project. But she missed something important. An error which cost about $250,000. She was horrified and paralyzed by shame and fear.</p> <p> </p> <p>But, luckily, she had a wise and understanding mentor to help her through. The experience taught her that she, nor anyone else, could be perfect. When there are issues, you need to fix the problem rather than fixing the blame.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>(9.39) CAREER HIGHLIGHT</strong></p> <p>Having her book, The Complete Software Project Manager, p