Be Passionate about What You Do to Successfully Effect Change with Graeme Rocher

Phil's guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Graeme Rocher. He is a co-founder of the Grails framework, the co-author of The Definitive Guide to Grails and Project Lead for the OCI Grails team.   He has worked in the software field for more than 20 years and has expertise in Grails, Groovy, Web Development, Dynamic Languages and the Java Virtual Machine.  He was awarded Oracle's Groundbreaker Award in 2018 and has recently been named a Java Champion.    In this episode, Phil and Graeme Rocher discuss how believing in yourself and becoming a lifelong-learner pushes you to make a real difference through the tech you work on. They also talk about the benefits of being involved in the open-source industry. As well as the future of IT and how you can tap into the latest trends to grow your career.     KEY TAKEAWAYS: (4.39) TOP CAREER TIP You need to be passionate about what you do and be a lifelong learner. Every new technology progresses in a new and interesting way. So, it is worth keeping up with what is going on.   (6.00) WORST CAREER MOMENT For many years, Graeme headed up the Groovy and Grails development team at Pivotal Software. In 2015, he and his team had to find a new home. Fortunately, they found a good one at OCI. But, the actual move was extremely stressful.   It was a worrying time. But, it taught Graeme that open source technologies are important and, therefore, robust. They don't get abandoned in the same way commercial software does. In the podcast, he explains why getting involved in Open Source is a good career move.   (8.14) CAREER HIGHLIGHT Receiving the Groundbreaker award at Oracle Code in recognition of his contributions to Apache Groovy was a big moment for Graeme.   From a technical standpoint, it is building Micronauts.   (9.14) THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T The fact that IT is ever-changing and that the industry is becoming more diverse is exciting. This means there are so many more career paths available.   He is also excited by the possibilities Micronauts opens up. It creates the opportunity to be able to build applications in a much more efficient way. In the podcast, Graeme provides several examples of what he means.     (12.53) THE REVEAL What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – Graeme got into programming through playing games, as a child. He started by working with QuakeC. What's the best career advice you received? – Embrace open source. What's the worst career advice you received? – Don't bother investigating certain technologies. What would you do if you started your career now? – Right now, a lot of the innovation is happening in DevOps. So, there are lots of opportunities in that area. What are your current career objectives? – Progressing Micronauts so it can be used to build more efficient microservices and applications. What's your number one non-technical skill? – Being artistic has made it easier for Graeme to think out of the box and stand out. How do you keep your own career energized? – Pushing boundaries is what keeps Graeme's career energized. What do you do away from technology? – Graeme loves skiing, the beach, paddle boarding and spending time outdoors.   (21.28) FINAL CAREER TIP Keep progressing yourself and do not listen to the naysayers. Believe in yourself, never give up and strive to make a real difference.   BEST MOMENTS (5.01) – Graeme - "Be genuinely passionate about what you do and become a lifelong learner." (8.04) – Phil - "Open source is always going to have a future." (10.55) – Graeme - "The move towards more intelligent Java compilers and ahead of time compilation is going to be a big deal." (15.30) – Graeme - "Expose yourself to new technologies and do so at an early stage." (20.47) – Graeme - "Never accept that the solution is complete, there is always room for improvement." (21.38) – Graeme - "Self-belief is really important. Don't let others put you off."   ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organisations to design, develop and implement software solutions.  Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers.  And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.   CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:   Twitter: https://twitter.com/philtechcareer LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess Facebook: https://facebook.com/philtechcareer Instagram: https://instagram.com/philtechcareer Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact   Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast's website, https://itcareerenergizer.com Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer   ABOUT THE GUEST – Graeme Rocher   Phil's guest on today's show is Graeme Rocher. Co-founder of the Grails framework, the co-author of The Definitive Guide to Grails and Project Lead for the OCI Grails team.   He has worked in the software field for more than 20 years and has expertise in Grails, Groovy, Web Development, Dynamic Languages and the Java Virtual Machine.  He was awarded Oracle's Groundbreaker Award in 2018 and has recently been named a Java Champion.   CONTACT THE GUEST – Graeme Rocher Graeme Rocher can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:   Twitter: https://twitter.com/graemerocher LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/graemerocher/