David Sheeks

In my last post I mentioned that I am working toward my next degree.  In 2011, I graduated with a Bachelors degree in Network Security & Electronics, and an Associates in Technology.  Now, I am setting my sights even higher, and working toward a Masters of Business Administration. Because of the success of our business in the last two years, I have been able to leave the workforce, and my wife has been able to leave her job as well as we continue to work full-time in our store.  This success has given her the opportunity to be the first person in her family to go to college, and she has set quite a lofty goal: to become an occupational therapist.  An OT degree requires spending six years in a highly competitive degree program, and only those with the highest of grades succeed.  She is doing wonderfully, however, and expects to graduate with honors once all is said and done. Recently, we discussed the possibility of me returning to school as well.  I...

It's been awhile since I've posted, so I thought it prudent to update everyone on what I've been up to in the past few years.  When I last left this blog, I was working for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  Now, as 2016 begins, I am well into the next phase of my career.  My position as a Network Specialist gave me a great deal of experience working in a fast paced, challenging IT environment.  It also helped to spotlight a very important fact: that something was missing. While I enjoy working in the IT industry, I quickly discovered that I loved working with the people I interacted with much more than the hardware and software that they needed help with.  As I progressed in my career, I realized that my greatest skills were in how I interacted with those around me.  I began working a few years back on a small hobby project--an e-commerce store called Scooter's Bricks.  I would buy used and new LEGO collections and sets (yes, that's right--the little pl...

Facebook has never been one to play nicely with its users' security.  Since its inception it has been notorious for changes and "feature" additions that ran contrary to the chosen security settings of its users.  While you may have your Facebook virtually locked down, every new feature carries the risk of displaying more of your information to the public--until you find and eliminate said new feature, at least. The newest unexpected change is in your Facebook personal email settings.  Instead of your normal default email address showing in your contact information page, Facebook apparently wants your "@facebook.com" email address to show instead.  While many readers may be asking, "Wait, I have a Facebook email address?" the folks over at Facebook have been pushing the idea of getting you away from your gmail, hotmail and other addresses and trying to get their users on the Facebook email service instead. For the overwhelming majority of folks ...

A few months back I was in a public library when I heard two young adults talking as they sat near one of the public computers.  "What's your password again?" the first person asked.  "starburst123," she replied.  "It's what I use for everything." While I had no intention of using this sensitive information I had just overheard, there are many unscrupulous users who would have a heyday with such information.  In a digital world, one's entire life is online--your bank account, your personal history, your conversations and emails--all of it protected by that small string of characters that is your password. Users are being told to make their passwords unique, long, and complex.  The harder it is to guess, the safer you supposedly are.  But a unique string of letters isn't enough--we're now being told to put as many symbols and special characters in our passwords as possible.  Instead of a password like "ilikecomputers,"  you...

Okay, so you've made your interview checklist, you've sorted through the fake job scams out there, you've met with a recruiter to help you search, and now you've finally found someone who may want to hire you.  Congratulations!  Now comes the part that very few people like: the interview . But don't worry! This is not the time to be alarmed; it is instead a chance for you to really strengthen yourself in the job market.  An interview isn't just your chance to convince someone to hire you--instead it's a chance for you and a potential employer to learn about each other and determine if you are the best fit for each other. In a lot of ways it's like a relationship.  Many of us may remember trying to impress the popular person in school in hopes that we could convince them that we were "worthy" enough to date.  It was a status thing--trying to seem "cool" enough to get to hang out with someone you thought was of a higher social statu...

This week's article will focus on the job search--specifically creative ways to increase your chances of being noticed, getting the interview, and ultimately--getting the job you want.  Today I will focus on using recruiting firms to maximize your chance of getting an interview. Many people miss out on extremely good opportunities because they bypass recruiters entirely, or have no idea what they are.  Simply put, a recruiter is a representative who acts on your behalf to help you find a job.  He or she is someone who has made a career of placing people in positions that are perfect for them, and they are very good at what they do. Finding a recruiter is easy.  When you search the online job ads, you may see something like this: "Widget Assembler - 123 Staffing."  In this case, the fictional "123 Staffing" company is a recruiter.  They do not own the widget shop, but instead find employees to work for that shop.  The widget shop then pays the staff...

I must admit, I completely laughed when the iPad came out.  An enormous iPhone without the ability to make phone calls.  But when I sat down and used one for the first time, I thought, "Wow! An enormous iPhone, without a required cellular plan!"  Of course the iPhone is a little different from its iPhone counterpart (mostly as far as its technical specs), but essentially they are the same--running a similar operating system and capable of running the same applications. But is this necessarily a bad thing?  I use an iPhone myself, and I enjoy the versatility of being able to download and use applications with extreme convenience.  I don't have to boot up, wait for things to load, and so on.  It's just there, waiting for me to use whatever application I need in my work to get the job done. Tablets are essentially the same.  Both the Apple-branded and Android-based tablets run similar versions (and in Android's case, often the SAME version) of the smar...