Upskilling has become a crucial aspect of my professional development lately, especially in the rapidly evolving tech industry. The pace of change necessitates everyone, regardless of their position, to have the resources to adapt quickly to new technologies. As industries become increasingly tech-adjacent, professionals find new paths to leverage their domain expertise in technology-related roles. The goal of upskilling isn’t to become an expert overnight but to gain enough knowledge to engage meaningfully with practitioners, developers, operations experts, and software architects.

Technical Skills

Udemy

• Cloud Computing with Amazon Web Services by Karan Brar
• Ultimate AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner [2023] by Stephane Maarek
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect 2020 by Ryan Kroonenburg
• Learn Cloud Computing with AWS by Eduonix Learning Solutions

Linux Foundation

• Introduction to GitOps
• Containers Fundamentals
• Kubernetes Fundamentals
• Service Mesh Fundamentals
• Cloud Native Logging with Fluentd and Fluent Bit
• Monitoring Systems and Services with Prometheus
• Managing Kubernetes Applications with Helm

The Linux Foundation’s courses and membership provide invaluable resources for professional growth. They include discounted access to conferences and updates on open-source software. Their offerings range from introductory Linux courses to advanced Linux Platform Development.

Cisco Networking Academy

• CCNA – Introduction to Networks

Soft Skills Development

While practice is paramount for soft skills, the books I have read and a course that I recently took offer valuable mental models and tactics. As a Customer Success professional, I’ve found these resources particularly useful:

• “Leadership Philosophy Training” by John C. Maxwell
• “Engineering Management for the Rest of Us” by Sarah Drasner
• “The Manager’s Path” by Camille Fournier
• “Conversational Intelligence” by Judith E. Glaser
• “Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age” by Paul Graham
• “Farm Don’t Hunt” by Guy Nirpaz and Fernando Pizarro
• “Customer Success” by Nick Mehta, Lincoln Murphy, Dan Steinman, and Maria Martinez

Future-Focused Reading

To gain perspective on technology’s impact on humanity:

• “The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology” by Ray Kurzweil
• “Designing the Mind: The Principles of Psychitecture” by Ryan A. Bush
• “The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything” by Matthew Ball

This curated list is a starting point for continuous learning in the tech-driven world. It will be regularly updated and easily accessible as a valuable resource for anyone looking to enhance their skills and knowledge.