JoJo Ramos

BLUF: before you freelance on the side, read your employment agreement. Here's how I got my side gig squared away at a defense contractor

BLUF: I now build and maintain a booking site for a local gym on nights and weekends, legally, with my employer's written OK. It took three weeks of paperwork. Here's the checklist, because a lot of you career changers are about to do the same thing and some of you will skip step 1. 1. Read your employment agreement. All of it. Look for three things: an "outside employment" or "conflict of interest" clause, an IP…

BLUF: 20 years a Chief, 1 week a junior. What my first week as a developer actually taught me

BLUF: My first week as a junior developer at 42 was humbling, a little embarrassing, and the best career decision I ever made. A year and change later, here's what I wish someone had told me. Long post, grab coffee. Background for the new folks. Born in Olongapo, joined the US Navy at 18, retired as an IT Chief after twenty years. I ran networks on ships, I ran sailors, I ran a division. Then I did a 16-week…