Promoted!

Kai123

I was gonna have a big, open-hearted monologue about my journey to my goal that I set out about 6 years ago. I wanted to do this because techexam's has been instrumental on my path to my humble role of...NOC Engineer!

I studied Comptia's while working in retail. I quit the job to work in a tiny phone repair shop, which lasted 3 months before I quit (father-and-son business and full of drama). I spent 6 months unemployed while studying and then 6 months doing an internship (very basic system admin stuff).

At this point I had 3 Comptia's, 6 months experience after the internship ended but still no luck. There was a period of two weeks which alot happened.

Firstly, I gave up. I started applying for retail jobs and thought, I'll try and be a retail manager since at the time it felt like it was the only thing I'd be able to achieve and live my life as someone who tried and failed (and gave up). There was one employer nearby who always had NOC roles up, of which I pretty much harassed the HR assistant about for years about it. I sent an amazing e-mail selling myself for an internship but had to cancel the interview because I was sick of working for free (I was unemployed for almost a year at this point, so in hindsight it would of been a good decision but I was sick of working for free at this point).

I'm pretty sure it was the same day I sent an e-mail saying I had to cancel the internship interview that I received an e-mail that I was accepted to a part-time local college for the CCNA for free. Great! I'll get a job in retail to cover me for the year (it was drawn out but figured it would be fail-proof, and I'd be certified). About a day after this the HR lady of the company I cancelled the internship interview for said they had a position anyway, and if I'd like to go for it.

The interview went amazing. The role was just to take calls (very low volume, and no silly call-centre rules), log tickets and be a buffer to the NOC Engineers. They offered me the role there and then and would accommodate me for taking the part-time CCNA classes.

The role morphed into NOC Engineer-lite (but the title and role stayed the same). Our NOC is 80% troubleshooting 20% monitoring, and the NOC Engineers are to troubleshoot up to the point of making a change, of which they go to T2 to process. I've learnt so much over the year and I'm barely scratching the surface. The first 6 months of the job was feeling like a fraud, finding my feet and being overwhelmed. In the last 6 months, the panic of the phones has gone completely, and covering for NOC shifts while people are on holidays or sick has allowed me to demonstrate that I'm capable of doing the role.

Someone put in their notice, I applied and was offered the role. I start at the end of this month. Its shift based (perfect hours for me) and the bump in pay is insane (for me at least). I really wanted the role even before I really knew what it truly was, but now its happening, and I can start planning for something new.

TL : DR - I got promoted. I tried not to write a wall but it was very cathartic. This forum is amazing, and the attitude developed here will set you apart once your finally doing what you want to do. Just never give up and you will finally get rewarded for your hard work!

kai.

Deathmage

Good luck mate. I completely agree, being a member of this awesome forum is like a certification upon itself.

Just don't tell Johan.