I'm Unemployed Again- Is this cert track doable?

johnIT

I've been fired from most of my IT jobs and I think it's a combination of both working for crappy companies and my lack of skills/not meeting their expectations. I managed to find one stable job for five years, despite graduating with a degree in information systems in 2012 and working in IT ever since.

Here's a little history:

2012- Graduated college with no real IT network or certifications. It took me a year to find any job in IT. I only found out about IT certs in 2017, but held off on taking them b/c I hate tests, thought I would get the exp I wanted in the real world, and had no real idea on which ones to take.

2012-2013- Took various IT gigs that didn't go anywhere. One was PHP internship, one was a shipping/receiving clerk which was also an IT assistant.

2013- took IT assistant role at small furniture company where the manager gave me a shot to modernize their systems and update their computers/website. Once I did that and offered larger projects to streamline their infrastructure they backed off and replaced me with a cousin 9 months later.

2014- Took job at a small startup in Boston where I was QA and technical projects analyst. They hired me for a three month contract and decided not to renew it.

2014-2019- Got a job at a toxic non-profit here in NJ that always cut corners because they had no money and didn't care at all about technology. I was able to do what I wanted for the most part as long as issues were resolved and computers were updated. In those 5 years I (thought I) learned a lot and automated everything and got vendors to take care of the rest, by 2016 I promoted myself to sysadmin but I was getting bored so I tried applying for other jobs to no avail.

2019- took a job at an MSP, yes I heard the horror stories, but figured it wasn't all that bad and that I could make it work. I figured I could restart my career here. I was hired as a level II technician, but they never saw me as a level II and never really gave me a chance to prove myself. They didn't want me to reset servers, and by the end they had me building desks and I heard of talk of cleaning windows before they just fired me. They obviously didn't want me to "learn on the job," and I was fired in two months.

This all has led me to really think about if I want to stay in this career and I do. I want to advance to the next level and I never really had a path laid out to me, but I understand it's not common to have that in this industry. So I'm going to take this period of unemployment and to take some certs while working or not. I have some money saved up, not enough to get all the certs I want, but enough to make some inroads into the infosec/cybersecurity industry which is what I'm really the most interested in at this point. I'd love to be a IT Auditor. So my timeline for the certs are as follows: 

A+ 1001- scheduled for Jan 14. 

A+ 1002- 1 week later

Net+- Mid/End of Feb

Maybe Get Azure Administrator in between these

Sec+- Mid March

I could swap Net and Sec. 

CASP- End of April

I've been studying for the A+ for 8 hours a day, I know it's the easiest one, but I'm not really a great test taker and never studied for anything this hard in school. In this time I'm also on planning on learning some type of programming language, SQL, C+, or python. Since that's always missing on my resume. Probably python because I know powershell a bit. Although I did take a class in C+. 

If all goes well, AWS and Salesforce as well as Redhat will be on the horizon. 

itdept

I guess a lot depends on where you want to go. Do you have a 5 year plan? What areas interest you?
How long can your savings hold up while you study?
I did quite a bit of research into certs to see which held the greatest value and a provided a better wage and I continuously saw CCNA come up. I don't think as many job offers are going to be there because you have CASP as apposed to CCNA.
I would say that studying to get a cert takes a lot more time than you think it might take. I think others would agree 

LordQarlyn

Firstly let me say how much it sucks to be unemployed, especially being fired. That is a pretty ambitious plan, and if you do stick with it, at the very least it would reflect better on you during your unemployment period. However, it seems to lack a focus, you are going for basic certs, then Azure and AWS, which are cloud certs, and mind you, that's a strong field, I see AWS and Azure job postings quite regularly. If you are aiming to be an auditor, I would skip A+ and even Net+ and focus on security certs. At the same time, you need to work on getting employable, so if you are aware of opportunities that require A+ or Net+, then go for those. But pick a path and stay focused on it. When I was laid off, yes, I took A+ and Net+ (which the knowledge from studying the exam was key to getting my next job), but then I stayed on a path to System Admin. Once gainfully and continuously employed, I switched to project and security certs, since I feel IT will eventually be mostly project based and rather than who you worked for, future employers will want to see what projects you accomplished in IT.

Anyway, you know your situation better than any of us, you have to go with your gut and achieve what you can. Just getting certs during your unemployment period can be kudos by some employers.

MitM

I agree with LordQarlyn, it seems to lack a focus.  You mentioned that security is where you are most interested in.  I would skip A+, Net+, as they will provide no ROI.  The material in Net+ is useful, but since you're unemployed, just learn the material, don't spend money on the exam.   I would go with Security+.

What's the motivation for learning AWS or Azure? Are you looking at it from a security perspective, or to maybe be a cloud engineer?

beads

If your going to do certifications be sure to complete and do those that compliment your career goals and aspirations. CompTIA tests are generally used to bolster fresh out of college types with a year or two of experience trying to either move higher into the help desk space or entry level admin work. Are you looking for a bench (A+) or helpdesk position? Are you looking for entry level admin position (Sever+, Security+ or Network+)?

You then move on to Azure administration. Azure is great, particularly if your market is healthcare where Azure really shines bright. If your market doesn't have a great number of Azure work but Google or AWS then pursue one of those. Azure is HITRUST certified and will become the cloud of choice for all things healthcare. Everyone else can use AWS or Google. Know your target market before investing time and money into your certification and more importantly your PERSONAL TRAINING. Certifications that have little to no benefit to you or your career will stand out as being unfocused. Just go online and look at some of the resumes of people trying to break into IT sometime. These resumes and CVs, or long form resumes, are all over the place and make no sense whatsoever.

Certifications on your resume (when applicable) need to tell a story. Much like climbing a career ladder your certifications need to show your career progression and increasing skill level and less scattershot or hopscotch hoping something will trigger a hit.

Feel free to hit me up with a PM for more personal advice and we can discuss.

johnIT

MitM said:

What's the motivation for learning AWS or Azure? Are you looking at it from a security perspective, or to maybe be a cloud engineer?

Essentially to learn some cloud engineering and learn about that type of security. I've touched Azure before and the MSP was a cloud based company so I'm interested in continuing learning about it. 

johnIT

beads said:

If your going to do certifications be sure to complete and do those that compliment your career goals and aspirations. CompTIA tests are generally used to bolster fresh out of college types with a year or two of experience trying to either move higher into the help desk space or entry level admin work. Are you looking for a bench (A+) or helpdesk position? Are you looking for entry level admin position (Sever+, Security+ or Network+)?

You then move on to Azure administration. Azure is great, particularly if your market is healthcare where Azure really shines bright. If your market doesn't have a great number of Azure work but Google or AWS then pursue one of those. Azure is HITRUST certified and will become the cloud of choice for all things healthcare. Everyone else can use AWS or Google. Know your target market before investing time and money into your certification and more importantly your PERSONAL TRAINING. Certifications that have little to no benefit to you or your career will stand out as being unfocused. Just go online and look at some of the resumes of people trying to break into IT sometime. These resumes and CVs, or long form resumes, are all over the place and make no sense whatsoever.

Certifications on your resume (when applicable) need to tell a story. Much like climbing a career ladder your certifications need to show your career progression and increasing skill level and less scattershot or hopscotch hoping something will trigger a hit.

Feel free to hit me up with a PM for more personal advice and we can discuss.

I have a lot of exp in healthcare, I was part of a team that converted the non-profit over from paper to electronic medical records, that HIPAA stuff sparked my interest in auditing, cloud, privacy and infosec and I enjoyed talking with the state auditors and the accounting auditors. I thought they did very interesting work, and then I learned more about IT Auditing and how specialized it can get, but the only IT Auditing they did at the non-profit was ask if we did backups... So I've always wanted to learn more about that and to break in somehow. So I'm really interested in all that. Like I said before, I wanted to use the MSP to restart my career since I know I lack knowledge in certain areas especially when it comes to networking. I don't see myself going down the networking path but I want to fill in the gaps with the early certs. 

bigdogz

@johnIT

Let me be try to be objective and honest in helping you become successful in IT.

Having the A+. Sec+, Network+ would give you some foundational knowledge but it sounds like you may need more experience.

You may not have learned the basics within IT. This could have been where you you worked at the non profit. Having vendors do your job is a way for you to work yourself out of a job.

Secondly working at an MSP is one organization where you bust your backside, but you are a jack of all trades and can have your hands in many domains within IT. You could have learned a great deal there and moved on or up within the organization. Maybe you were losing focus or you just upset the wrong person at the MSP job.

I would also agree that you do lack some focus. Do you want to be in Cloud, Information Security, or an IT Auditor?

If you are a bad test taker, you have to fix this problem. How do you learn best... seeing, hearing, doing?

My point is that you have to learn how the vendors like CompTia want to have the questions answered. The best way to do that is by studying.

If you want to be in the InfoSec industry you have to learn all of the fundamentals and more. You will have to learn programming (which sounds like you have some experience) and tie everything up in your bundle of knowledge to resolve or attack the threat vectors.

Good Luck!

DFTK13

@johnIT

I would definitely skip over the A+, Net+, I had them and they had zero benefit for me in looking for jobs. I know you mentioned interest in IT auditing, I would research that and look for certs that pertain to that, I believe the CISA is one of them. Honestly you’d stand to gain so much more from pursuing a CCNA, azure/aws cert coupled with your degree and  experience you have, the cloud is huge and that’s where a lot of the jobs are going and they’re pretty stable too. This forum has many resources, take a little time to look at the various cert sections 

bigdogz

If you don't have any certifications, having the CompTia credentials will get you into the door beyond those who don't have them. Once you gain the higher end certifications, you can drop the lower ones or just keep them but don't add them to your resume.

DatabaseHead

bigdogz said:

@johnIT

Let me be try to be objective and honest in helping you become successful in IT.

Having the A+. Sec+, Network+ would give you some foundational knowledge but it sounds like you may need more experience.

You may not have learned the basics within IT. This could have been where you you worked at the non profit. Having vendors do your job is a way for you to work yourself out of a job.

Secondly working at an MSP is one organization where you bust your backside, but you are a jack of all trades and can have your hands in many domains within IT. You could have learned a great deal there and moved on or up within the organization. Maybe you were losing focus or you just upset the wrong person at the MSP job.

I would also agree that you do lack some focus. Do you want to be in Cloud, Information Security, or an IT Auditor?

If you are a bad test taker, you have to fix this problem. How do you learn best... seeing, hearing, doing?

My point is that you have to learn how the vendors like CompTia want to have the questions answered. The best way to do that is by studying.

If you want to be in the InfoSec industry you have to learn all of the fundamentals and more. You will have to learn programming (which sounds like you have some experience) and tie everything up in your bundle of knowledge to resolve or attack the threat vectors.

Good Luck!

Good post.

bigdogz

DatabaseHead said:

bigdogz said:

@johnIT

Let me be try to be objective and honest in helping you become successful in IT.

Having the A+. Sec+, Network+ would give you some foundational knowledge but it sounds like you may need more experience.

You may not have learned the basics within IT. This could have been where you you worked at the non profit. Having vendors do your job is a way for you to work yourself out of a job.

Secondly working at an MSP is one organization where you bust your backside, but you are a jack of all trades and can have your hands in many domains within IT. You could have learned a great deal there and moved on or up within the organization. Maybe you were losing focus or you just upset the wrong person at the MSP job.

I would also agree that you do lack some focus. Do you want to be in Cloud, Information Security, or an IT Auditor?

If you are a bad test taker, you have to fix this problem. How do you learn best... seeing, hearing, doing?

My point is that you have to learn how the vendors like CompTia want to have the questions answered. The best way to do that is by studying.

If you want to be in the InfoSec industry you have to learn all of the fundamentals and more. You will have to learn programming (which sounds like you have some experience) and tie everything up in your bundle of knowledge to resolve or attack the threat vectors.

Good Luck!

Good post.

Thanks!

yoba222

Taking a bunch of entry-level training and certs to gain more technical knowledge, I don't know. It seems like you might have put key people off because they were intimidated by you or perhaps because of the attitude you projected at the time. I think focusing on fixing this would be more valuable to a person with 5+ sysadmin-like years of experience, rather than distracting yourself by gaining more technical knowledge (which would probably exacerbate the intimidation/misinterpreted attitude situation).

roninkai

If you want to do security/auditing, I would start with S+, then get some specialized auditing cert (CISA), then maybe CISSP. This path would take you pretty far and offer some job stability. A lot of it comes down to attitude, initiative, and passion. If you don't like what you are doing, that will show. Find what you love doing, then map out a path from there.

MrsWilliams

dragonsden said:

If you want to do security/auditing, I would start with S+, then get some specialized auditing cert (CISA), then maybe CISSP. This path would take you pretty far and offer some job stability. A lot of it comes down to attitude, initiative, and passion. If you don't like what you are doing, that will show. Find what you love doing, then map out a path from there.

Security+ -> CISA -> CISSP

I am not sure I've ever seen that certification track recommended before, ever. 

I am sure the job/degree requirements for CISA and the experience requirements for CISSP also must be taken into consideration.

MSP to CISSP would really turns some heads on whoever reads the resume LOL

MrsWilliams

A+ 1001- scheduled for Jan 14. 

A+ 1002- 1 week later

Net+- Mid/End of Feb

Maybe Get Azure Administrator in between these

Sec+- Mid March

I could swap Net and Sec. 

CASP- End of April

I've been studying for the A+ for 8 hours a day, I know it's the easiest one, but I'm not really a great test taker and never studied for anything this hard in school. In this time I'm also on planning on learning some type of programming language, SQL, C+, or python. Since that's always missing on my resume. Probably python because I know powershell a bit. Although I did take a class in C+. 

If all goes well, AWS and Salesforce as well as Redhat will be on the horizon. 

  

I am not sure if you are sure what path you want to follow.

I am confused.

LonerVamp

I know this isn't your resume or anything, but clearly you had a job for 5 years at one place. Focus in on that one, particularly on the projects you delivered and the big things you learned and moved upwards on. Also, was this dealing with desktops, servers, networking gear, or all of the above? I didn't find it entirely clear if you're a desktop specialist or a sysadmin.

One problem with ma-and-pa or one-off stores and being their IT support person is that you're often considered barely more important than a janitor. A necessary evil to keep the blinky lights blinking, and always probably replaceable by a cousin or other outsourced service. If you find a good one, it's great to move from a place where you're the 1-man-IT-shop to a team in a larger organization. Typically those folks who stay around like that for 5 years know how to solve problems, often with 0 budget, and deal with less-than-ideal conditions can be quite successful when the barriers go away.

And I know this was just a forum post, but I will stress that being negative on your past experiences, at least openly when looking for the next job, is a small yellow flag to other hiring managers. I know it'll be painful, but try to spin that 5-year gig into something positive. Especially if your local area is big enough that no one you talk to likely knows the truth of that environment.

As far as your certs go, I am not sure what the A+ will give you, but having a cert on a resume is sort of a decent enough deal to augment against your experience. Network+ (Sorry, as someone who remembers the original Net+, I won't ever call it that again) is fine and dandy, but probably won't add anything to your resume.

Also as someone with 15+ years in IT and security, I'm not sure why others think you're not being focused. You're being somewhat focused on being general and having a solid, broad foundation. Which actually works pretty well early in a career. So often in security, people suggest you get well-rounded early on...know some networking, know some cloud, know some systems support, know Windows, know some Linux, know how to script or program at a simple level. And be ready to dive down any of those lanes should they open up in front of you. And that's exactly what I see you doing. So, rather than pile onto the focus aspect, I'd say keep up with everything you planned!

If you're serious about going down a security path either now or at least later on once you find a good company and maybe get a foot in the door in the general IT side, then Security+ is your first milestone.

That jump to CASP is pretty serious. I honestly would suggest you take a hard look at adjusting over to your CISSP first. I think getting CASP in that time frame may be a little too aggressive. (Disclosure: I do not have my CASP, but it's looked pretty serious and others have told me it's harder than they had anticipated.)

Azure I would only pursue if you have opportunities in front of you that are asking for Azure. Or maybe after taking up a position that includes Azure. Otherwise, it's hard to anticipate making use of it beforehand, if that makes sense. (That said, getting the knowledge and leaving the cost of the cert aside for now is perfectly fine!) AWS is a slightly different story, since you can replace your data center pretty easily with AWS services, but I wouldn't do much more than learn it for now. Use free resources to learn, use the AWS free tier for a year, put up a project or two (mostly follow along with recent tutorials), and learn.

For programming, first of all SQL isn't a programming language, per se. C+ is a little weird to include these days. Typically people who are not software devs and are not web developers usually look to Python, PowerShell, and Go to do random things. If you wanted to get more serious with development, I'd adjust to C# and .NET.

I wish you luck and fortune as you move up in 2020. Half the battle is just knowing what you want and having a plan to follow to get to your goal(s)!

johnIT

LonerVamp said:

I know this isn't your resume or anything, but clearly you had a job for 5 years at one place. Focus in on that one, particularly on the projects you delivered and the big things you learned and moved upwards on. Also, was this dealing with desktops, servers, networking gear, or all of the above? I didn't find it entirely clear if you're a desktop specialist or a sysadmin.

One problem with ma-and-pa or one-off stores and being their IT support person is that you're often considered barely more important than a janitor. A necessary evil to keep the blinky lights blinking, and always probably replaceable by a cousin or other outsourced service. If you find a good one, it's great to move from a place where you're the 1-man-IT-shop to a team in a larger organization. Typically those folks who stay around like that for 5 years know how to solve problems, often with 0 budget, and deal with less-than-ideal conditions can be quite successful when the barriers go away.

And I know this was just a forum post, but I will stress that being negative on your past experiences, at least openly when looking for the next job, is a small yellow flag to other hiring managers. I know it'll be painful, but try to spin that 5-year gig into something positive. Especially if your local area is big enough that no one you talk to likely knows the truth of that environment.

As far as your certs go, I am not sure what the A+ will give you, but having a cert on a resume is sort of a decent enough deal to augment against your experience. Network+ (Sorry, as someone who remembers the original Net+, I won't ever call it that again) is fine and dandy, but probably won't add anything to your resume.

Also as someone with 15+ years in IT and security, I'm not sure why others think you're not being focused. You're being somewhat focused on being general and having a solid, broad foundation. Which actually works pretty well early in a career. So often in security, people suggest you get well-rounded early on...know some networking, know some cloud, know some systems support, know Windows, know some Linux, know how to script or program at a simple level. And be ready to dive down any of those lanes should they open up in front of you. And that's exactly what I see you doing. So, rather than pile onto the focus aspect, I'd say keep up with everything you planned!

Wow. Thanks for that post. You are the first person to really tell me that I am doing everything right. Even after this recent MSP job loss, my parents think I should do something else, but transiting to something other than say software sales (which I've considered) will take even longer. 

The five year job was at a non-profit. I wore a lot of hats and did a lot for their IT. I always talk about how I changed processes from focusing on more field work to taking everything and focusing on remote support. I generally describe how techs used to have to go out into the field to install programs and updates and how I used available software or freeware to change that. On my resume I list something similar to the following bullet points for that place: 

·      Set up new laptops and desktops
·      Lead technician for EMR rollout, which included training doctors/staff on how to use the new systems, dictation software, and signature pad

·      Actively troubleshooted and diagnosed all support tickets.

·      Monitor tickets and escalated to appropriate staff or managers

·      Administered Kaspersky Security Center 

·      Imaged computers using EaseUs To Do Backup and Acronis Snap Deploy 

·      Administrator for Mobile Device Management of iPhone and Android devices

·      Migrated 13 Windows Servers from Windows Server 2003-2019

·      Upgraded all 500 Computers from Windows XP- Windows 7 – Windows 10

·      Familiarity with Chromebooks and Google Apps administration in a school in environment

·      Hardware inventory and asset tracking of all company equipment using spiceworks

·      Administered Office 365 and Exchange Admin Center 

·      Strong troubleshooting skills with the ability to work independently

Large/good companies or well known brands have never bit at my resume despite frequent rewrites, advice, and networking. I always seem to be missing one or two different things at each job posting whether it be programming, databases, or some type of platform I've never used like salesforce or servicenow. I know I'm qualified for these positions because I get to third round interviews whenever someone does bite. I have a sneaking suspicion that part of the reason why I am easily passed over after interviews is that this has to do with my appearance/voice as I was born with a cleft palate. I'm pretty shy at first and speak softly, but once I get into a company I can interact with everyone like they are my family or friends. I treat everyone equally, but it's hard to show that in first impressions. I've had similar issues while dating. 

 Thank you again for your post.

DFTK13

@johnIT

look, I understand where you’re coming from especially from the superficial judgement and discrimination based on what they consider to be offputting whether it is a disability or physical appearance. I’m deaf and I have no problem getting past HR, but once it gets to the actual IT interviewer that’s where it all falls apart once they realize I’m deaf. Never mind my experience, never mind my ability to answer questions about X technology. I’ve had years of speech therapy and almost sound like a hearing person but I have an accent that has more often than not generated odd looks at me like I have a slight mental deficiency or something. They’ll often wrap it up by a generic HR email after the interview stating it came down to me and one other guy and he had just a little more experience than I did. I really do feel swept under the rug despite that I’m qualified. I really long for the chance to prove myself. But all I can do is keep working and trying. 

Even my current boss and coworkers talk to me differently, not just pronouncing their words and making sure i understand them, but almost in a condescending tone when it comes to critical business discussions or IT functions. Like I’ve already proven to them that I can do it all, and with efficiency and yet they feel the need to repeat themselves 3-4 times even after I’ve verbally acknowledged that I understood what they said. There was one instance that really pissed me off was when my boss introduced me to a new coworker and he proceeded to intentionally start talking really fast to the coworker to where I couldn’t understand him and then turned back to me and said “right? You cant understand me if I talk like that?” Yes I would go to HR, but we have none as it’s a small business. So the only thing I can do is just get more certs and keep applying. 

kaiju

Security:

Sec+ > CISA > CISM

OS certs:

CCNA, or MCSA or Linux+/LPI

Cloud:

Azure, AWS or VMware (there are many viable ways to get the required VMware  training for $200~ $300 instead of $1800~).

johnIT

DFTK13 said:

@johnIT

look, I understand where you’re coming from especially from the superficial judgement and discrimination based on what they consider to be offputting whether it is a disability or physical appearance. I’m deaf and I have no problem getting past HR, but once it gets to the actual IT interviewer that’s where it all falls apart once they realize I’m deaf. Never mind my experience, never mind my ability to answer questions about X technology. I’ve had years of speech therapy and almost sound like a hearing person but I have an accent that has more often than not generated odd looks at me like I have a slight mental deficiency or something. They’ll often wrap it up by a generic HR email after the interview stating it came down to me and one other guy and he had just a little more experience than I did. I really do feel swept under the rug despite that I’m qualified. I really long for the chance to prove myself. But all I can do is keep working and trying. 

Even my current boss and coworkers talk to me differently, not just pronouncing their words and making sure i understand them, but almost in a condescending tone when it comes to critical business discussions or IT functions. Like I’ve already proven to them that I can do it all, and with efficiency and yet they feel the need to repeat themselves 3-4 times even after I’ve verbally acknowledged that I understood what they said. There was one instance that really pissed me off was when my boss introduced me to a new coworker and he proceeded to intentionally start talking really fast to the coworker to where I couldn’t understand him and then turned back to me and said “right? You cant understand me if I talk like that?” Yes I would go to HR, but we have none as it’s a small business. So the only thing I can do is just get more certs and keep applying. 

Wow I go through the same stuff. I used to work at a school that the non-profit ran, and the kids would always ask me why I sound funny. Kids would stare and teachers would have to get them to stop. I also dealt with people underestimating me whether it be in social situations or general work duties. I've never really been given a leadership position, besides for at the non-profit, and people always seem to whisper about stuff they don't think I know about, like drugs, or sex... I am a 30 year old man! My cousins were surprised I was dating people. For the record I would date a deaf girl, if I was attracted to her. Funny how a lot of companies say they are for diversity and are open minded but they really want people who are like them. It doesn't help that I don't like alcohol or coffee or a lot of meme culture that goes on in some companies. And then people wonder why I look so young

Hey at least HR isn't the boss' wife like it was for me at the MSP... 

scasc

Some great advise here - wouldn't want to confuse you here at all. Only thing I would say is that if you ever do want to get into IT Auditing - do you have an idea on what exactly you want to audit? If security for example, you could start off with ISACA's Cyber Security Audit cert which is a great intro to the area. Once done go for CISA and CISSP and if you feel up to the challenge GIAC GSNA. 

Check out also the Institute of Internal Auditor's website (iia). They have some good certs offered through them like CRMA. 

Demand for an auditor will never go - due to regulation, audit committee reporting directly to the board and other external factors. 

bigdogz

@DFTK13

A lot of people think that it can be cured by the implants and just brush it off like a disease.... wrong! Some people cannot afford it is one point.

I think your coworkers/supervisors don't really know how to deal with you being deaf and at the end of the day it's their fault. ASL is a fast and simple language to learn. I did it in 2 weeks.

The bad words were easy and fun to sign!!! LOL

FYI.. your (I love you sign) avatar is a thumb inside and twisted wrist action away from being, well, you know...

I think if they were put in a deaf environment for a day they would understand it. I was and it felt like a different world. I picked it up faster and don't finger spell as much. I still use it from time to time as an interpreter.

DFTK13

@bigdogz

lol, that made me laugh. It’s always refreshing and awesome to know that there are people out there who genuinely want to learn ASL and are aware of the challenges that deafness has. Yeah I’m well past the age for cochlear implants nor can I afford the time lost and recovery from the invasive surgery so you’re right about that. At the end of the day, I just understand that ignorance is really to blame for a lot of the things I’ve been through, and not to hate the person themselves but to simply work harder and keep looking for opportunities. Lol, ah yes...ASL is a fun and incredibly expressive language and my deaf friends do curse in some pretty creative ways for that matter. I only wish there were more who were willing to interpret and help deaf people out like you do.