My job story
After reading through some of the posts in this part of the forums, I decided to share my story to maybe serve as a source of hope for some people.
The biggest thing everyone keeps talking about is experience. Experience + certs = really good marketability. The problem everyone faces is, how do you break into the field to get that experience? One of your best friends can be social networking, and I'll show you why.
When I first got serious about getting a job in IT, I was working at Barnes and Noble. This gave me easy access to a wealth of books on pretty much any IT subject I could want. My roommate is in a band, and I had become very good friends with the other band members (in fact, I now play in that band myself!). One of his bandmates works for a hosting company, and had mentioned every now and then that there were job openings in the NOC at the company. These openings would come and go, and one day I decided it couldn't hurt to try for a position. So, I read up on networking (used Sam's Publishing mostly...TCP/IP in 24 hours, Networking in 24 hours) and put in a resume. My friend put in a good word for me, and much to my surprise I actually got called in for an interview. I did the interview, and after a month of painful waiting, I finally got the call that I had been accepted for the position! With zero experience, and zero official training, I got my first job in the field of networking! Granted, I had to prove that I was capable of doing the work, but once I showed them that I was my foot was in the door!
I guess the moral of the story is, keep your eyes and ears open. You never know when an opportunity will present itself, and the most important thing is to seize it when it does. My pay isn't anything amazing, well below industry standard, but I'm earning something that in the long run will be much more important than a high starting wage. When I finally do get all of the certifications I want, I'll have experience to back them up. Keep working and studying to get the certs, but don't let that stop you from trying to pursue something right now that might get your foot in the door.
