First attempt at IT job coming up
A little background on myself....I just turned 26 and quickly realized in the last few years that my career/degree choice was not and will not get me where I want to be. I have always been interested in the more knowledge based jobs and consider learning a hobby rather than a task. I graduated with a BS in Business Management and that has taken me nowhere and I soon realized that. I must mention that I had no idea what I wanted to do and that is why I decided on a Business degree. If I could go back...I would have gotten a bachelor in MIS and a minor in CS. All of my friends in the more knowledge based jobs, ranging from people who have no degree to people who have STEM degrees, are doing significantly better in their career than myself, in pay and job title. They aren't really doing anything too special, it is just that they had an idea of what they wanted to do when they were 18, when they started college, and stuck on that path.
On to the job....my parents friend is a Senior Technical Engineer for a hardware based cyber-security company. My mom gave me his number and we spoke about what I needed to learn to get in an interview. Please understand that even though I know this guy his exact words to me were "if you can't pass the tech screen, you aren't ready to work here". He gave me all the material I need to know and I went to work right away self-studying. For the past 5 months I have studied for about 4-6 hours a day learning windows OS (a deeper understanding) also Server 2008 R2 (Not necessary for the job but I know it is a basic IT set of skills), Linux (I put Kali Linux and Ubuntu on Virtual Box), Networking and Security, Python (not necessary), and SQL. He called from the company to do the tech screen and I got 16/20 correct. 5 port numbers, 5 windows command line, 5 Linux command line, 1 SQL command, and 4 Cisco commands. He said not to worry about the Cisco commands as he has never had to do them since he has worked there. Anyways, I feel he was impressed of my knowledge and dedication. To put a cherry on top, the qualifications state that they prefer the candidate to have the Security + but it is not required....so what did I do? I studied my butt off for 2 months straight and passed. He was very impressed when I sent him an email that I passed.
Anyways, he sent me an email about a week ago letting me know when the face to face will be. He admits that he wants to hire me but the decision is not ultimately up to him which is kind of discerning considering he would be my direct supervisor if I did get the job. He also admitted that out of the 4 candidates, I do not have as much "formal" experience as the other candidates but I am also willing to take less money then they are (If I am judging right, from his email, it sounded like the other candidates did not have the Security + Cert). A site note is that this position, at the lowest wage in the range, still pays $11K more than my previous job. I am extremely driven and I am not just looking for a paycheck, I am looking for a place where I can learn and develop skills.
Just wanted to share my experience for someone who is in a similar situation or is looking to get into another career.
Thanks.
