2015 was a great year for Career Level Up. Ok- it’s been the only year for Career Level Up, but it was very good.

So you don’t have to go back and read every post of 2015, I’ll show you some of the best lessons and most popular content from this year.

Hottest Content

By far, the most popular content of 2015 has been the series chronicling my journey to get VCP certified, with most of it being on the first post. If you’re working on your VMware VCP certification, this series is a must-read and I hope my lessons (and failings) can help you get certified easier.

The piece that showed the next highest interest was the article on advancing from Desktop Support to Systems Administrator. That one really surprised me. If you’re looking to make the leap, check that post out.

The next most popular article dealt with ditching your recruiter- or at least some signs that you need to. There’s this crazy misconception that recruiters are anything but salespeople, but that’s something this post apparently shed some light on. If you’re working with a headhunter or shopping for one, this post might help you see some red flags.

Greatest Difficulty

I’ve been in IT for a few years now- I fought my way into it, and seeing others go through the same things I went through inspired some writing on other platforms, eventually led to this blog. It was created to serve you.

The greatest difficulty I’ve had this year with the blog is actually not post ideas. I have loads of them, mostly pulled from my day-to-day learnings at work. It’s actually finding out how best to serve the audience here.

I’m still learning. I think everyone can agree that they want to give their very best gifts to the world and to serve others well- and that definitely describes me. (Incidentally- if you would be willing to share your IT pains anonymously, I’d love to talk to you to find out how to best do that. Reach out at the end of the post.)

Best Moment

I’ve had a ton of great moments here, but I think the most interesting times were when VMware picked up and retweeted a few of my tweets. Let’s just say that I get huge bursts of visitors when that happens, and that is lots of fun and makes me feel like I’m doing something right. My Twitter is here so you can follow :).

Looking Ahead

For 2016, I’m looking forward to a few really cool things:

• Finally getting my VCP5-DCV certification (in January, planned for 2nd week)
• Creating a free ebook to help get new visitors started in IT
• Creating another ebook to help experienced IT folk get ahead
• Doing some reviews of products that directly relate to IT careers, like practice tests, books, videos and courses, and resume services
• Providing content for other sites and crossposting

And, of course, continuing to provide relevant and original content for you! Here are some topics rolling around in my brain right now:

• College and IT
• Why I don’t use braindumps
• How to move into IT without losing your shirt
• How to find a (new) job in IT
• How to break into IT Security <– this should be BIG

If you have any feedback on anything here or want to see something in particular, please reach out- I’d love to chat with you. If you have questions, I’m sure someone else has them too. I really want to make as big of an impact as possible.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for joining me here, and I look forward to serving you in your IT career even more in 2016! Happy New Year to you!