My job story

c0d3_w0lf

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.

Tesl

Congratulations, always nice hearing positive stories from optimistic people :]

ladiesman217

i love reading success stories like yours...it motivates me. merry christmas and happy new year!

JDMurray

c0d3_w0lf wrote:

Experience + certs = really good marketability.

(Experience + Certs + Education + Who you know) * Luck = really good career opportunity

Mishra

JDMurray wrote:

c0d3_w0lf wrote:

Experience + certs = really good marketability.

(Experience + Certs + Education + Who you know) * Luck = really good career opportunity

lol for a minute I thought you posted this

"(Experience + Certs + Education + Who knows) * Luck = really good career opportunity

jarjar

JDMurray said "( Experience + Certs + Education + Who you know) * Luck = really good career opportunity"

--> Leave it to a computer person to be able to sum up in one straight-forward equation what a guidance counselor couldn't say in 4 years (5 for some of us...)!
You my friend have just earned yourself 27 Grace Points (to be redeemed at death).

JDMurray

jarjar wrote:

JDMurray said "( Experience + Certs + Education + Who you know) * Luck = really good career opportunity"

Hey, is it too late for me to submit this to the TechExams.net t-shirt slogan contest?
I need to give c0d3_w0lf partial credit too.

c0d3_w0lf

(Experience + Certs + Education + Who you know) * Luck = really good career opportunity

lol, y'know, I think you're on to something there. Proof I'm a geek:

That could also be written as

Luck(Experience + Certs + Education + Who you know) = really good career

Hmm. Would that mean that Experience + Certs + Education + Who you know = really good career / Luck? hmm...and to go further, would that mean that Experience is really just a really good career divided by luck, minus your certifications, your education, and who you know?

.....

Too much time on my hands, perhaps? :P[/quote]

Poison Reverse

c0d3_w0lf wrote:

(Experience + Certs + Education + Who you know) * Luck = really good career opportunity

lol, y'know, I think you're on to something there. Proof I'm a geek:

That could also be written as

Luck(Experience + Certs + Education + Who you know) = really good career

Hmm. Would that mean that Experience + Certs + Education + Who you know = really good career / Luck? hmm...and to go further, would that mean that Experience is really just a really good career divided by luck, minus your certifications, your education, and who you know?

.....

Too much time on my hands, perhaps? :P

[/quote]

NERD ALERT !
lol

sir_creamy_

c0d3_w0lf wrote:

would that mean that Experience is really just a really good career divided by luck, minus your certifications, your education, and who you know?

Well, no, because the variables certs, education, and who you know are dependent on each other.

A + B + C + D = E/F does not imply A = E/F

But, forget I said anything. Life is too short for math.

Crunchyhippo

Congrats on your success. You're on your way up, it looks like.

In this case, with no experience and no certs - you won the lottery. However, I would say that someone always wins the lottery somewhere. But generally speaking if you had a cert(s) and no experience, you'd be looking for a job for a long time unless you knew someone in-the-know or simply lucked out.

Experience is king, after all. Certs are the serfs.