Making Data Center Careers Accessible for Everyone

Greg Crumpton from Straight Outta Crumpton speaks to many industry leaders, and over the life of his podcast, he’s had plenty on the show. But until now, each guest has made no more than one appearance. That all changed when Carrie Goetz, Principal/CTO at StrategITcom, returned to the program. And what exciting things have Goetz been up to since her last appearance? Add author to her growing list of titles and achievements. Goetz’s book, “Jumpstart Your Career in Data Centers“, is now available for purchase, and Goetz filled Crumpton in on the multitude of things she’s been doing to bolster the role of women in trades such as tech and data centers.

Goetz recognizes the critical skills shortage in the data center and IT industry and knows these sectors are nowhere close to gender parity. She’s on a mission to change that.

“People don’t realize the depth and breadth of this mission-critical industry and all of the supporting industries, and so I thought, well, maybe there’s a book or something I can start sponsoring for some of these coding academies,” Goetz said. “I looked, and there was literally nothing out there. There’s nothing that gives that short snapshot of this is what the industry is; this is what it does. I wanted one that talks about if you want to be involved, this is what a data center is.”

Crumpton and Goetz tackle data center careers throughout the conversation…

● The information and insights contained in Goetz’s book

● The process behind putting Jumpstart Your Career in Data Centers together

● The opportunities for women and veterans to forge a career in trades and tech

“Anybody that served our country deserves a damned good job when they get out,” Goetz said. “Their spouses have a tough time finding jobs because they move around due to deployments. So, I work with them in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to get spouses and veterans employed.”

Carrie Goetz is an author, chief technology officer, international keynote speaker, global technical writer, and podcast host. Her work personifies over 40 years of global experience designing, running, and auditing data centers, IT departments, and intelligent buildings. Amongst her many accolades, Goetz received mention in the Top 25 Women in Mission Critical, 30 Top Most Influential Women in Tech 2021 by CIO Outlook, Top 10 most influential women in technology 2020 by Analytics Insight and was honored as a Network Computing Inspiration Award Finalist in 2020.