Career guidance for people building a life in IT infrastructure. Covers the interview questions that actually come up, how to talk about your homelab on a CV without looking like a hobbyist, which certifications are worth paying for versus which are recruiter bait, and how to move from helpdesk to sysadmin to architect without getting stuck. Written from 18 plus years across public sector, consultancy, MSPs, and independent work. The industry changes but the core progression does not. If you want an honest map of what skills to build, what roles to target, and which technology bets to make, this is where we keep it.
Microsoft just moved the goalposts. Again. On March 9th they announced Microsoft 365 E7 — branded “The Frontier Suite” — the first new enterprise tier since E5 launched in 2015. It goes GA on May 1st at £79 per user per month. I’ve spent 18 years watching Microsoft licensing evolve. Every few years the pattern […]
Series Launching 1st May 2026 6 guides taking an AI-generated app from local development to self-hosted production. Docker, CI/CD, private registry, full sovereignty. New articles every 2 days from May 1st. Want to be notified when the series drops? Get notified when new guides drop: No spam. Just a heads-up when each guide goes live.
Vibe to Production | From AI-Generated App to Self-Hosted Deployment Read More »
Series Launching 13th May 2026 6 guides covering Active Directory, PowerShell, Group Policy, DNS/DHCP, and security hardening. New articles every 2 days from May 13th. Want to be notified when the series drops? Get notified when new guides drop: No spam. Just a heads-up when each guide goes live. The Enterprise Reality: Windows Server Is
Windows Fundamentals | Enterprise Sysadmin Skills Series Read More »
Published on 25 February 2026 | Homelab / Career | 10 min read The Question That Started This I’ve been interviewing infrastructure engineers on and off for the best part of a decade. Mostly Azure and AWS roles – cloud architects, platform engineers, DevOps leads. The kind of people who should know how the internet
Why Your Homelab Makes You a Better Cloud Architect Read More »
Advent of Cyber 2025 24 Days of Free Hands-On Security Every year, Advent of Cyber turns December into a daily, bite-sized security challenge. The 2025 edition kicked off yesterday on TryHackMe, and we’re already into topics like the Linux command line and phishing – exactly the kind of fundamentals that power a serious homelab and
TryHackMe – Advent of Cyber 2025 Read More »
You don’t need a tech degree to get into IT. Many of the skills you’ve already built—problem solving, teamwork, adaptability—are exactly what tech employers need. Learn how to identify and showcase them.
Top Transferable Skills That Translate to Tech Read More »
Don’t underestimate the power of a helpdesk role. It’s one of the best ways to get real-world IT experience, build skills fast, and unlock career opportunities—whether you’re just getting started or switching careers.
Why Starting on a Helpdesk Is the Best First Step in Tech Read More »
Just getting started in tech? You don’t need a degree or years of experience to land your first job. Learn how to write a job-winning tech CV using real projects, homelab experience, and the skills you already have.
How to Create an Attention-Grabbing Tech CV Read More »
ReadTheManual is the homelab-to-enterprise translation layer for the Technical Climber. Lab to Leader, Ballet to Combat, real projects mapped to real career value. No gatekeeping, just the guides we wished existed when we were climbing.
Welcome to ReadTheManual: Day One of Something Big Read More »
