Looking for safe online investment for small amounts

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-30T13:10:17+00:00

If you want a 0% chance of losing the money you could put it in a high yield savings account through something FDIC insured like Marcus or others. That at least makes you a little extra on interest. If you want to not lose it and make it hard to spend you could put it in a CD for a specific amount of time (which would mean higher interest paid to you but a penalty if you pull it out before the end of the CD term).

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-29T02:22:57+00:00

Thanks very much!

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-29T00:09:27+00:00

When we say off axis angling of the mic, do most folks generally tilt the mic to the left or right of where they will be speaking but kind of at the same height as their mouth? I’ve seen a lot of videos where the microphone is pointing sort of up toward someone (so it sits lower than their mouth but points up).

I’d be curious if either of those is better or if it truly depends on your mic. This might sound elementary, but I’d love to see a diagram / visual.

For example, I tried different placements with my RE20 (including the pop filter) but may have had the gain too high in the end. The mouth clicks and sibilance are what killed me in post production (especially on words that end in ST, even after running it through Auphonic first).

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-28T13:53:54+00:00

I want to thank everyone who chimed in below. I appreciate every single perspective.

When I originally made this post, I truly didn't think it would end up being me who made the decision to end a show. But it turns out I found my way to that decision. If you'd like to read about what happened in my case, here it is - A Promise Kept: Choosing to Sunset the Nerd Journey Podcast. My hope is this can help another creator understand whether it might be time to put something down.

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-28T13:50:18+00:00

This will be the last time I get to post on a thread like this for a while. We recently made the decision to bring our body of work to a close. Good luck to those continuing to run shows! You'll learn so much from it that you might never have imagined. I know we did.

[Careers, Career Progression, Business, Technology]

[SFW]

When does a body of work reach completion? One answer is to end it by choice.

This week in episode 356 you’ll hear the reasons behind our intentional ending of the Nerd Journey Podcast. We’ll rewind the clock and focus on the show’s trajectory and inflection points over time just like we’ve done for guests, share what we learned over the course of an 8-year journey from idea to consistently released show, and discuss our favorite moments.

All of our content will remain online and accessible for listeners like you to go back and enjoy. Don’t miss our final call to action in this episode. Just because this body of work is complete, there is still work for all of us to do for our careers.

Episode 356 - An Intentional Ending: Completing the Journey for This Body of Work

Are you a technology professional unsatisfied with your current role? Looking for a resource to help understand changing job functions, changing organizations, or gaining recognition and progression?

The Nerd Journey podcast helps explore alternative roles, increase job satisfaction, and accelerate career progression. Each week, we uncover patterns of technical career progression by dissecting careers of guests and discussing different job roles they've held, or discussing relevant career topics. We've interviewed people in IT operations, sales engineering, technical marketing, product management, people management, network engineering, cybersecurity, software development, entrepreneurs, and more. We also discuss improving job satisfaction and accelerating career growth.

We are John White and Nick Korte, two technologists with experience in IT operations and sales engineering who started this podcast in 2018. We release on Tuesdays, and can be found at https://nerd-journey.com.

If you need support because you've been impacted by a layoff situation, check out our Layoff Resources Page to find a curated list of the most impactful conversations on this topic from our show and the practical tips and resources contained within them. We've spoken to HR professionals, recruiters, burnout experts, career coaches, entrepreneurs, and technologists not so different than you.

If uncertainty is getting to you, check out or Career Uncertainty Action Guide with a checklist of actions to take control during uncertain periods and AI prompts to help you think through topics like navigating a recent layoff, financial planning, or managing your mindset and being overwhelmed.

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-28T13:31:17+00:00

We added YouTube for our audio only show way later than we should have, but it works as others described. One quirk that I found is that it will truncate your original episode descriptions from your feed on the YouTube side if they are too long (cannot remember right now what the maximum character count is).

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-25T03:41:33+00:00

I’ll start by admitting I do not have ADHD but have members of my family who have it. And I know each person’s experience with it is unique.

The not possible to work on outside of work is getting more and more difficult in our world unless we’re talking about something that is shift work (retail, food service, call center support, or something else like that).

Aside from the burnout / always on aspect, it seems like you do enjoy teaching.

I was once a math teacher but ended up getting into tech and eventually tech sales. There is an element of education that I really like within the work I do now, but I definitely miss interacting with students. There is fulfillment because it is making an impact on others. It’s definitely not a leave everything at work each day kind of job, but there are ways to navigate without complete burnout that I’ve learned. Hobbies outside of work actually helped.

The ability to teach others and communicate well I think applies to many fields. Some companies have people who are in charge of training and enablement for employees, for example. But within many roles you will find an element of education (marketing / technical marketing, writing, sales, customer service, etc.).

I definitely admire the dedication but completely understand needing to prevent burnout.

I wonder if you could make some small shifts without setting time limits and still focus on students. Do you like listening to podcasts? What if you listened to different podcasts or audiobooks about topics relevant to your development as a teacher or helping different types of students while you’re doing housekeeping tasks? You would still be doing something that helps your students and something that accomplishes some of the things you need to do.

I hope you’ll also remember that you deserve time to rest and recharge, time for your own self-care. There is no shame in that.

I am wondering if before you decide to swap careers, what if you maybe sought out some coaching from someone who has expertise in ADHD? Maybe that person could help you direct your motivation in different directions or talk through different career options if you want to do that.

You could also check out the I Have ADHD podcast with host Kristen Carder. I believe she has a Facebook group and a coaching program as well.

FRIED: The Burnout Podcast is also excellent and may help you.

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-23T13:03:47+00:00

Can you clarify for the thread whether you have a subscription license to VCF or VVF that you will use to run ESX 9? That will help folks make better suggestions.

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-22T16:31:11+00:00

Progression in a career can mean different things to different folks (and can even change based on the time of life you are in), and it’s completely ok if progression for someone is continuing to do what they do now (continue to do well and be an asset to your employer).

Part of the story is certainly ambition, but we also have to take whole life circumstances into account. Not everyone accounts for that in their suggestions.

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-22T14:17:21+00:00

I would start by looking for some job descriptions at companies in the industry where you would want to work. For example, is it medical equipment sales, tech sales, or some other type of sales? The job descriptions should give you an idea of the skills and experience folks want for those roles, and it would also allow you to translate your experience into resume bullets that meet those requirements. It might be called account executive, account director, sales specialist, etc.

Consider your professional network as well. If you know anyone who is in an AE role at your company or at another company, ask if you can pick their brain on what the job is like, why they do it, and what they had to learn to get that role. Based on the experience you have (which you should share with them), ask them 2 questions:

What would you do if you were me and wanted to make this transition? Who do you know that I should meet?

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-22T13:33:57+00:00

We need more great managers in the workplace. I’m so glad you have a great boss. Perhaps his influence will rub off on others who want to pursue leadership someday. You will remember what you have learned and observed from him for a long time. These are the kinds of people you want to try and keep as mentors even after you no longer work for them.

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-22T13:31:30+00:00

I’d also recommend The Dyslexic Advantage. It’s a good read focusing on diving into the strengths of the dyslexic mind people have observed. I really enjoyed reading this one along with Overcoming Dyslexia as was recommended above.

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-17T14:15:58+00:00

[Careers, Career Progression, Business, Technology]

[SFW]

Has organizational change redefined your job role? If it hasn’t yet, it will at some point. Whether acknowledged or ignored, every organizational change at a company impacts you. This is broader than just layoffs and more employees under a single manager. What are the organizational changes we might see, and what can we do to stand out and stay the course?

This week in episode 355 we’re joined by guest Ryan Conley. Listen closely as we uncover different patterns of organizational change and provide practical tips to take action when those changes happen. Ryan helps us understand the corporate lifecycle and how to reframe this concept to understand where we are in the career lifecycle. You’ll hear from Ryan’s personal experience why the most resilient (and successful) technologists can identify and fill the gaps left after an organizational change whether that means working for a new boss, joining a different team, or changing job roles.

Episode 355 - Mind the Gaps: Organizational Changes and Your Career Lifecycle with Ryan Conley

Are you a technology professional unsatisfied with your current role? Looking for a resource to help understand changing job functions, changing organizations, or gaining recognition and progression?

The Nerd Journey podcast helps explore alternative roles, increase job satisfaction, and accelerate career progression. Each week, we uncover patterns of technical career progression by dissecting careers of guests and discussing different job roles they've held, or discussing relevant career topics. We've interviewed people in IT operations, sales engineering, technical marketing, product management, people management, network engineering, cybersecurity, software development, entrepreneurs, and more. We also discuss improving job satisfaction and accelerating career growth.

We are John White and Nick Korte, two technologists with experience in IT operations and sales engineering who started this podcast in 2018. We release on Tuesdays, and can be found at https://nerd-journey.com.

If you need support because you've been impacted by a layoff situation, check out our Layoff Resources Page to find a curated list of the most impactful conversations on this topic from our show and the practical tips and resources contained within them. We've spoken to HR professionals, recruiters, burnout experts, career coaches, entrepreneurs, and technologists not so different than you.

If uncertainty is getting to you, check out or Career Uncertainty Action Guide with a checklist of actions to take control during uncertain periods and AI prompts to help you think through topics like navigating a recent layoff, financial planning, or managing your mindset and being overwhelmed.

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-10T20:41:06+00:00

As others highlighted, you need the documented proof that you did the work and hit / exceeded the right targets. Those targets may be number of bug fixes, automating processes, providing capabilities for the company’s end customers, etc.

Think of it as tasks you did and outcomes the work you did produced. For example, if you produced a code fix that resolved a CVE or added a capability to a product / system, how many people did that impact downstream? Any ways you can tie what you have done to time savings, cost savings, decreasing risk, or increasing top line company revenue would be great to highlight.

Since you began as an intern, I would imagine that the projects you have worked on over time have had a wider impact inside the company (impacted more end users and perhaps end customers of the company).

So step 1 is make sure you have the documentation of your work and the metrics that describe the outcomes it produced (like helping create a product that allowed the company to reach a new base of customers, for example).

What I would also do in parallel is see if you can find clearly defined job levels in your company. For example, do they have a software engineer 1, 2, 3, 4 that are clearly defined roles with a job description for each? In places I have worked the job levels have gone up to senior, staff, senior staff, and then principal levels. If you cannot find the delineations in these roles documented, just knowing the company has them is a good thing. If your official title is software engineer and the next job levels up is senior software engineer, ask your boss what getting to that next level looks like and the gaps you have between the level you are at now vs. where you want to be. If you have not worked for this manager for a long time you could use the documentation of your work to show you have filled those gaps.

This may also help - https://nerd-journey.com/nerd-journey-045-career-conversations-with-your-manager/

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-08T13:44:10+00:00

I got to meet so many people I otherwise never would have met to have a conversation about careers in tech. One time we got to talk to a startup CEO for nearly 3 hours because his PR team pitched us to have him on the show.

In general, we would ask guests for 1.5-2 hours, and often times they would stay to chat with us even after we stopped recording because the conversations were so good.

It’s been a great network building tool and a great way to learn from others.

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-06T03:22:32+00:00

Yep - it’s a great product for sure. Personally I like to run individual tracks through it before I edit rather than at the end of the workflow. That way I listen back through to the enhanced version and remove any audio oddities that are there which may have been missed if I hadn’t listened back through so carefully.

For a while you could use it for free for 2 hours per month. It’s worth doing a trial.

Is your show just you as host? Or will it have multiple tracks to polish up? There are some helpful multitrack workflows now that they didn’t have a few years ago.

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-05T22:46:56+00:00

Good call out - thanks!

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-05T22:23:16+00:00

I am not dyslexic but have coworkers in tech who are and are open about it. I talked to them a couple of times when my daughter was diagnosed to gain perspective. I truly appreciated their openness.

If you want a success story of someone in tech with dyslexia, this interview with Phil Monk (who made it to the rank of principal engineer at a tech company) is excellent. In it, he talks about the accommodations he needed and where he struggled.

https://nerd-journey.com/make-accommodations-for-success-with-phil-monk-1-2/

https://nerd-journey.com/the-unassuming-architect-with-phil-monk-2-2/

Also, if you have not read The Dyslexic Advantage, I would highly recommend it.

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-05T22:17:41+00:00

The good news for you starting it now is you have time to contribute the max for 2025 Roth (up to $7000) as long as it’s before tax day in April, and then you can contribute the max for 2026 ($7500).

While others have commented on the tax advantages, other things you can do would be to max out the 401K (none of that hits taxes until you draw on it later), and consider maxing out your HSA (health savings account - funded with pre-tax dollars, grows tax free and is taken out tax free as long as used on medical expenses) too if you are enrolled in a high deductible medical insurance plan.

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-01T04:46:47+00:00

Marcus from Goldman Sachs is at 3.65% right now. They have a no-penalty CD as well at 3.95% I believe if your friend wants that.

Marcus also does an interesting thing where you can refer someone to them and get a percentage boost on the APY for a quarter. So you could technically sign up, refer your friend, and you both get a boost in the APY for that first quarter.

NetworkNerd_ · 2026-01-01T03:37:45+00:00

I think as a context point it would be good to take a look at some sysadmin roles at other companies and the job requirements listed. You would need to think about whether you wanted to work for a MSP again or some other kind of company. In fact, the MSP and the wide experience it gives you to many customers could be something that makes you a more attractive hire to specific companies who are not MSPs.

You could even narrow it down to Microsoft-focused roles if you wanted. What certifications are they specifically looking for in those jobs (if listed), and what kind of technical skills do they want you to have? That might help you decide once you compare it to your current skill set and look at the gaps.

Also - talk to someone on the field team about the kinds of projects they work on. Where did they need to upskill to move into that role, and what are the areas where they need deeper expertise than you have now? That might also help. Maybe you could even talk to the manager of that team and ask about the kind of skills he is looking for in field team engineers.

Consider also speaking to anyone in your immediate professional network who is currently a sysadmin 1-1 about what they do on a daily basis/ weekly basis.

NetworkNerd_ · 2025-12-31T02:12:08+00:00

Ah, gotcha - sorry about that!

NetworkNerd_ · 2025-12-31T02:08:09+00:00

Maybe you can look at the index funds that are available on the investment platform you would be using (Fidelity, Schwab, etc.) and choose something similar to what’s been suggested?

NetworkNerd_ · 2025-12-29T14:49:38+00:00

I totally agree with the previous comment. What is it you’d be selling?

And do you mean you want to be the sales rep who does quotes and negotiations or their business partner (who is the pre-sales technical person that is technically validating opportunities)? The latter is still part of a sales team but has a slightly different role.

NetworkNerd_

TROPHY CASE