My Whirwind of a Year/Things I learned in 2016

mzx380

Things I Learned in 2016

I've been in IT for over 12 years or rather IT has been in me, but I've never been in it. Personal computer ownership exploded while I was in High School and when it came time for me to go to college, I thought that my love of technology would translate into a steady paycheck for the rest of my working life. When I graduated from college, the job market for IT was in bad shape, and I did not receive my first tech job for close to a year. When I finally did get a job, it was low paying and entry level but was super convenient, so I developed a sense of apathy. A few years later, I got married, and that spurred me to get another job which was able to teach me more. After a while, the work situation there became convenient, and apathy struck yet again.

For many years, I used to have some BS idea that other people had the luck of progressing in their career while I kept trudging along with no upward movement all while not scheduling the time to upskill outside of my job function. Oddly enough, I thought I better than my job and boldly thought that I'd quit but never actually did. It turns out I wouldn't even get the chance because my company got rid of me exactly one year ago today.

On day 1 I was stunned and despondent. On day 2 I began applying elsewhere thinking I will be employed again in a matter of weeks. After two months and barely a response to my applications, I finally got the message that I needed to start taking my career seriously because if I didn't, no one else would. I laid out a track for myself to improve and after toiling day and night for four more months finally landed another job. What I did to get to this point will sound like common sense to a lot of you, but I'm listing what I have learned regardless.


1) Don't look back at the past
The mistakes you made in your career are in the past, focusing on what you didn't do will only be a waste of time and cause you unnecessary grief so concentrate on the future.

2) Tweak your resume/LinkedIn every day
Even its something as simple as punctuation or one word, at least you are looking at it and will remind you to add new skills and experiences as they are acquired.

3) If you fail to plan, you plan to fail
Make a high-level outline of where you want to be in your career and then a detailed plan of how to get there. Once you do that, make sure to hold yourself accountable to it otherwise what would be the point.

4) Plan when your distractions will be
It sounds like a contradiction, but you should plan your pleasures. Life can't be all about upskilling so make sure to pick one guilty pleasure you can't be without and let that be your only distraction.

5) School? Sorry but you have to do it!
Hate to break it to you but you will NEED to go to grad school if you do not have a wealth of experience in your desired field. There is simply too much competition, and you need every last advantage to set your resume apart from the pack. You don't NEED to go to an ivy or elite school because a lot of the real world doesn't care much where you go just as long as you have a graduate degree (it helps, though).

6) If you want to find a job when you don't have one, pride goes out the window
When I was without a job, I laid low at first and didn't want to meet anyone for fear of them finding out about my shameful predicament. In this day in age, you will need to swallow your pride and let everyone you think can help know with the hopes that they may know someone who could refer you.

7) Be thankful for your support system
It will be uncomfortable for your loved ones when you are going through the unemployment process so be kind to those who prop you up even though you don't feel like you should be grateful for much.

8 ) There are no timetables of when you should do what anymore
In today's job market, you could be junior to someone who is younger than you. Don't use a dated metric about where you should be at a certain point of your life because things have radically changed in the last fifty years. Also, if you are a younger guy and happen to be in a Sr. position, don't needlessly be a jerk to people older than you because one day that could be you in that situation.

9) Talk to people, particularly those who are where you're at
I joined this site to speak with people with first-hand knowledge of the career I want to have so stop thinking you are the smartest guy in the room and come hat in hand to ask others questions and you could end up with some dynamite answers.

10) Don't count the days, make the days count
If you're like me and had a sudden awakening in realizing that you need to upgrade yourself, then you know that the process will be long and hard. Best to just keep your head down and get yourself into a routine to avoid feeling daunted about how big the mountain you have to climb is. Circle a date on your calendar and look back at that date a year from now to measure your progress

11) Don't get disheartened when there are setbacks
There will be setbacks on your journey but don't give up otherwise you could be right back in the situation that got you where you don't want to be.

12) Improving yourself in any way will NEVER hurt your chances in landing a job
Many people view certifications as a piece of paper with a diminishing return on investment. However, in this day in age, a minimal return is better to spend your $ on that than on something that would be of no value to a prospective employer.

I think I got that all out of my system. I certainly hope that it will be helpful to someone.
If anyone reads this and has any questions, feel free to let me know, and I'll be happy to help in any way I can.
Thanks

NetworkNewb

mzx380 wrote: »

What I did to get to this point will sound like common sense to a lot of you but I'm listing what I have learned anyway.

.
Common sense is easily understood by most, but don't feel like it is followed through by a lot.

Thanks for the read and glad everything is working out for the best for you!

mzx380

Thanks NetworkNewb
Yeah, it was hard fought to this point and the new job is better than my old one in just about every way so I'm grateful for that. I just want everyone and anyone to benefit from this experience so they won't go through the same bought of unemployment that I did.

coffeeluvr

Congratulations and thanks for sharing!

mzx380

Thanks coffeeluvr
Love the name btw

dome625

I can relate. I went through exactly the same thing, but instead of a layoff my location in 2011 was acquired by another company and I became the sole "IT person" in a group that didn't understand technology. Originally I interviewed for server administrator roles after providing primarily desktop support and hands on for server and networking equipment. I was turned down if I was ever contacted with no explanation and continued to blame my situation.
Eventually I figured out my complacency was the issue in my prior role and got on the ball and learned ALOT of things within 2 years to attempt to play catch up to what a true server admin did day-to-day. I decided to go into IT audit to learn more about the business and why they made decisions the way they did and now 5 years later I never went into server administration and am in an IT Audit/GRC role...I'm still learning

Thanks for sharing. Your post is helping me to let go of blaming myself for what happened and not giving myself credit for what I've done since then.

TechGromit

I'll add one. Don't wait till your ship hits an Iceberg and sinks before start to think about maybe getting some life boats. Work on getting your life boats before disaster strikes. Certifications make for great life boats, they get you past the dreaded HR filter so you can get an interview and talk to someone that knows something about IT.

Things are going great till they are not. Don't wait till there not before learning a new skill or getting another certification.

gespenstern

Thanks for your story, very inspiring. Better late than never anyways.

Dakinggamer87

Great story and good tips thanks for sharing!!

Blessings for you ahead on the journey press forward and onward

mzx380

Thank you everyone for your kind words and motivations. For those of you who are where I want to be, thank you for the motivation. For those who are reading this and want to get started, don't get disheartened about how long it will take. Power through and DON"T GIVE UP!!!!!

greg9891

Keep pushing man. I am on a similar path and am pushing Ahead. Through Grace keep up the hard work!

mzx380

greg9891 wrote: »

Keep pushing man. I am on a similar path and am pushing Ahead. Through Grace keep up the hard work!

Thanks greg9891
appreciate it

powerfool

This all good stuff here. I went through this back in the early 2000s. I started in IT straight out of high school (graduated high school a year early, too) and thought things were great. I had a decent job for someone without experience and no higher ed and excellent benefits. I tried going to school and made excuses for why it was hard. Two years into the job, I found myself in the recession and things looked bleak. I found a job that paid the bills but I hated and was a few steps back. I didn't do much and found myself back looking for a job again about a year later and finally reached the point where I needed to do a lot to get where I wanted to be. So, I spent the next year getting my MCSE as I figured that would be the quickest thing that I could do that would provide some decent value and that worked out; I found a new job that let me grow and allowed me to go to school. I worked hard for four years and grew my career and completed my BS.

I have found myself getting complacent here and there and have broken out of it much more quickly than in the past. I did an MS and got plenty of other certifications, along the way.

Another thing that I did for many years was that I always made sure I had some other opportunity in the pipeline. I never wanted to be caught flat-footed again. So, I had 3-4 serious opportunities per year and turned them down, inevitably, because the entire package was not better than what I had. However, had it become necessary, I could have gotten into a new job much more readily than had I in the past. Another positive, it keeps your interviewing skills sharp, which is always good. These sorts of skills are not just good for interviews, but they also make you a better presenter... which is probably the best thing I got from school; when I finally got to my capstone courses, I had presentations to do every week in each of the two courses. It made me good at improvising when necessary and much more efficient at finding the easiest paths to preparation.

mzx380

powerfool wrote: »

This all good stuff here. I went through this back in the early 2000s. I started in IT straight out of high school (graduated high school a year early, too) and thought things were great. I had a decent job for someone without experience and no higher ed and excellent benefits. I tried going to school and made excuses for why it was hard. Two years into the job, I found myself in the recession and things looked bleak. I found a job that paid the bills but I hated and was a few steps back. I didn't do much and found myself back looking for a job again about a year later and finally reached the point where I needed to do a lot to get where I wanted to be. So, I spent the next year getting my MCSE as I figured that would be the quickest thing that I could do that would provide some decent value and that worked out; I found a new job that let me grow and allowed me to go to school. I worked hard for four years and grew my career and completed my BS.

I have found myself getting complacent here and there and have broken out of it much more quickly than in the past. I did an MS and got plenty of other certifications, along the way.

Another thing that I did for many years was that I always made sure I had some other opportunity in the pipeline. I never wanted to be caught flat-footed again. So, I had 3-4 serious opportunities per year and turned them down, inevitably, because the entire package was not better than what I had. However, had it become necessary, I could have gotten into a new job much more readily than had I in the past. Another positive, it keeps your interviewing skills sharp, which is always good. These sorts of skills are not just good for interviews, but they also make you a better presenter... which is probably the best thing I got from school; when I finally got to my capstone courses, I had presentations to do every week in each of the two courses. It made me good at improvising when necessary and much more efficient at finding the easiest paths to preparation.

Powerfool
Thank you very much for providing this tip, I will be sure to try and use

mzx380

Reading a lot of threads started by new members. Figured I'd just relay my .02 to offer some of what I've experienced.

TechGromit

Competition is certainly tougher today. Back when I had my first computer position in the early 1990's, my company would advertise openings for computer jobs and NO ONE would apply. For around two years there was a real shortage of people entering the computer field. Today, even entry level help desk positions have a lot of competition.

mzx380

TechGromit wrote: »

Competition is certainly tougher today. Back when I had my first computer position in the early 1990's, my company would advertise openings for computer jobs and NO ONE would apply. For around two years there was a real shortage of people entering the computer field. Today, even entry level help desk positions have a lot of competition.

Totally agree with you Techgromit
As someone who has been searching in the job market from this year, I can tell you that there are a ton of people looking for work, many of whom are very qualified. You always have to level up to not only search for the job you want, but to make sure you can secure a job like the one you already have.

dontstop

This is some really great advice and has really hit home personally. All the best in the upcoming year and many thanks for sharing your personal story.

mzx380

dontstop wrote: »

This is some really great advice and has really hit home personally. All the best in the upcoming year and many thanks for sharing your personal story.

Thank you for your kind words dontstop
I just hope I can be of help to others so they can avoid some of my mistakes.

mzx380

Year is almost over, thank goodness

TheFORCE

Well done man, we all have had these moments. Don't settle, enjoy the journey and step forward by paying it forward. Good words here. I think I'll use your saying of " if you fail to plan, you plan to fail" very true. Where in NY are you located?

mzx380

TheFORCE wrote: »

Well done man, we all have had these moments. Don't settle, enjoy the journey and step forward by paying it forward. Good words here. I think I'll use your saying of " if you fail to plan, you plan to fail" very true. Where in NY are you located?

Thanks TheFORCE. Glad to see there are so many people on this board who can relate to my experience, that's the reason I posted it. I work in Manhattan, but I'm based in Queens. Why, are you in the area?

TheFORCE

TheForce is all around us

mzx380

Hopefully, this will apply after midnight tonight
You enter the new year and feel like you want to make a change in your stagnant career and do some late night googling for IT jobs or IT certifications and come across this site. You read the many posts about the talented people on here who are kicking @$$ and the people who want to be like them. You then become a member and make a conscious effort to change your life.

Do yourself a favor; when you get to March, and you feel like it's too difficult, and you want to quit
Remember why you started!

Happy new year everyone

McxRisley

I know the feeling, when I got my bachelors I struggled to find a job. It me over a year to get my first real job in IT, and it was this job(that I came to hate) that motivated me to expand my knowledge and break into infosec. I worked at my first job for 8 months before I got wind of a DoD/Navy contracting company that was hiring, all I had to do was pass the security + and also get an OS cert of any kind. I did both of those things in 5 weeks and left my shitty job for the best job I have ever had and that I still have. Since then I have acquired 2 more certs and am currently working my way through Offensive Security's PWK course so that I can achieve the OSCP. My advice for anyone that is in an area where there is a lot of competition for jobs is do something to set yourself apart from the crowd. Learn a new skill or get more certs.

RogueAdmin

...
2) Tweak your resume/LinkedIn every day
...

Good thoughts.

That item #2, can be much expanded. It is not just tweaking the LinkedIn profile, but working on your summary, your 30 second elevator speech, your longer 1-2 minute verbal description, and a few typical interview questions (strengths, weakness, where to be in 5 years, etc).

Succinctly, it comes down to: "Why should we hire you?"

mzx380

RogueAdmin wrote: »

Good thoughts.

That item #2, can be much expanded. It is not just tweaking the LinkedIn profile, but working on your summary, your 30 second elevator speech, your longer 1-2 minute verbal description, and a few typical interview questions (strengths, weakness, where to be in 5 years, etc).

Succinctly, it comes down to: "Why should we hire you?"

RogueAdmin

That is a very good point, elevator pitches are good summations of what makes you a qualified candidate for a position. The 1-2 minute "tell me about yourself" allows you to elaborate on that pitch. The more polished that is, the more prepared you look and preparedness is definitely a trait that employers look for!

shimasensei

Thank you for the great life advice! Wishing you the best in all your endeavors, current and future.

mzx380

shimasensei wrote: »

Thank you for the great life advice! Wishing you the best in all your endeavors, current and future.

Thank you shimasensei
I really appreciate it!!!!