New to i COMMON Community
Everyone has a point in their career where they look back to and say “Ah, yes that is when … ” a decision, person or event had a significant impact on their career. That is what COMMON’s New to IBM i (N2i) community is trying to do. We are working to bridge that gap from when you just start out on the platform to when you are years into your career and thriving. I personally have had a lot of those moments and can say that moments like that can mean the difference between two paths, the one you could have taken and the one you ended up going down.
What Is N2i?
N2i is working to help the IBM i community in many ways. So, what defines an N2i member? Well, it’s anyone that is new to the platform, regardless of age or years in the IT industry. You could have 20 years in IT but, that could have been on the Microsoft platform and now you are just learning about IBM i. We are here to help you transition onto this platform. We work with students just starting out, or those that have a few years on the platform but still need a helping hand. The group as a whole is very open and we are here to be a help to anyone who needs it. If you know of anyone who needs help, send them our way! Or if you yourself need some ideas on how to attract and retain the new developers you have hired, come to one of our events and have a chat with us.
N2i Series and Sessions
We offer help in many ways here at N2i. We have our monthly meetings but will now hold two a month instead of one! The first meeting in the month will be part of our “Getting Started” series that will have a guest speaker and a planned topic and the second will be our networking session. The “Getting Started” series focuses on basic information on different areas of IBM i. If you have a suggestion for a topic/speaker you would like to see, please reach out to anyone on the N2i committee or a member of the COMMON staff and we will see what we can do. The networking session is open room; anyone can bring topics or questions that are bothering them, and usually someone will either have the answer or know who to contact to get that question answered. The networking session is a great opportunity to network with your peers and get a chance to build lifelong connections. Both of these sessions anyone and everyone can attend and we welcome any questions/comments/concerns you might have as you come across challenges in your careers. We hope to be a resource to you.
Announcing the N2i Mentorship Program
Which leads to our next big exciting announcement. We are kicking off a mentorship program! Anyone that is looking for a mentor can sign up on our website and we will help guide you to a mentor based on your skillset and what area you need help in. Our hope is that with this mentorship program, navigating the waters of your new IBM i career will be a little less daunting. Mentorship really makes a difference to a person’s career, which is turn, makes a big difference in a person’s life. I have spoken a lot about that over the years. If anyone is wondering if they need a mentor, just trust me and do it. If anyone is thinking about being a mentor, take the time out if you can and be one. You never know what impact you will make on someone life or what kind of impact they will make on yours.
Check out all of these announcements and anything else we have coming up on our N2i website. I hope to see everyone at our next N2i event.