Meet the Trainer: Bob Salmans
Bob Salmans is the kind of trainer who makes you feel like you’re learning IT from an old friend. He turns what could be intimidating security topics into something simple and easy to understand.
His journey into IT began in the Navy, where a chance assignment to a network engineering role sparked his career. With over 20 years of IT experience and seven years as a trainer, he brings a wealth of knowledge to his teaching. Since joining CBT Nuggets as a trainer in 2020, Bob has created courses on popular certifications from Cisco, F5, Microsoft, and (ISC)².
When he’s not working on new IT training, you’ll find him tending the fire on his BBQ smoker or camping by the river in Kentucky. Let’s get to know Bob and see why he’s such an easy guy to like—and learn from.
What attracted you to technology? What inspired you to pursue a career in IT? Out of high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I joined the Navy and traveled. That’s where I began my journey in technology. Once I separated, I continued on the IT path and never looked back.
What motivated you to become a trainer? Teaching has always come naturally to me. I spent several years at a Managed Service Provider as the lead engineer, training the engineering team. After getting burned out on on-call and weekend projects, I started looking for something different but still in IT. That’s when I found the opportunity to create online training content.
The best part about being a trainer is… Being able to share knowledge with others and see them succeed. Many people believe IT is too difficult for them to succeed, but it’s not. I love putting complex problems into simple solutions and showing people it’s really not that complicated.
Are there any tools or features you are particularly excited about teaching? Microsoft has released some really cool cloud-based security and compliance tools like the Defender series, Purview, and Priva. They also have great conditional access policies that can really lock down your Microsoft environments.
What is your general advice about learning IT? Keep it simple. Period. Don’t overcomplicate things.
How has your approach to creating training evolved over the years? At first, I tried to cover everything under the sun about a topic. Then I realized there’s a lot of “fluff” and “nice to know” things in a certification course. Now, I focus on driving the main points home. If you grasp the basics, you can figure out a lot of other things as you go.
What do you hope your learners take away from your courses beyond just technical knowledge? I want learners to know that everything is "figureoutable." You just need to break it down into its simplest components and go from there.
Random fact about Bob: I love to cook. I call it my culinary therapy! The kitchen is my zen zone.
What's something learners should know about you? I’m actually a pretty quiet person, and most people think I’m shy. But when the camera goes on and the mic is hot, I transform into Bob the Trainer—and who knows what could happen!
Start Training with Bob Salmans:
F5 BIG-IP LTM Specialist: Architect, Set up, Deploy (Exam 301a)
Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ-500)
Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals (SC-900)
Connect with Bob on LinkedIn!
If you’re ready to learn with Bob, he’s got plenty of new content lined up. He’s been busy building courses on Microsoft SC certifications and F5 BIG-IP, and he just wrapped up the Cisco CCST Networking course. Up next, he’ll be diving into the Checkpoint Security Administrator certification.
With Bob as your guide, you’ll quickly discover that no challenge in your IT career is too daunting when you have the right mindset.
delivered to your inbox.
By submitting this form you agree to receive marketing emails from CBT Nuggets and that you have read, understood and are able to consent to our privacy policy.