Career advice desperatly needed

lantech

I need some career advice badly. My current job is so bad that I almost walked out tonight. If I had walked out I would have just put my badge, the phone and keys on the desk and left without telling anyone. No one would probably have known I walked out for hours possibly until the end of my shift when the next person came in. I work 12 hour night shifts in an independent data center and I'm the only one here at night.

My job has gotten so bad that sometimes I get migraines just thinking about coming into work. The bosses don't care about anyone here. I know that's nothing new but I've been chewed out for calling in sick and have even had to come into work when I could barely get out of bed.

I've put my resume in for a few jobs that I've found but have gotten no responses. I really do feel like that when an employer sees my resume they see my current employer and say forget it, if he works there he can't be any good. I left my last position with a major bank because it was a contract job and there was a hiring freeze in place with no end in site and I was getting married. Not many people were being hired there. So I took this job and I'm very sorry I did. I was really hoping that it would be better and that there would be room for future advancement into a network engineering role but it looks like that will never happen.

My ultimate goal would be to become a network engineer. But short term goal is to just get out of this crummy job and into a better one. I have been working on my CCNA and recently passed the CCENT. I know it doesn't really get you anywhere but it's been the first step. I do have my A+ and MCSE on NT 4.0 for what those two certifications are worth which I know isn't much. I'm not sure if it would be more beneficial to study for the second test to get my CCNA or update my Microsoft certifications.

Just not sure which way to go at this point and could use some direction. I'll post my resume for both advice on what to do and for a resume critique as well.

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance.

Resume 1.doc

kgb

Personally, I don't think someone should ever just walk out of a job without already having one lined up unless they have their finances in place to support it. However, I've never had a job that gave me migraines though.

It really comes down to what is best for you. No stranger on these forums is going to be able to tell you that.

12hr shifts are rough. I worked 6-7days a week for many years (in the past) and when you work a lot it's hard to find the energy to improve yourself outside of work.

What I would do: Find the type of job I want to do, dig deep and learn/study/school, whatever it takes to make it happen. I personally think it's that simple. Want something...go get it. However, health issues make that hard, but what else can you do? Play the hand that was dealt to you (some through the dealer and some/or a lot is due to our own choices).

Will it be easy? Odds are nope, not at all.

lordy

lantech wrote: »

My ultimate goal would be to become a network engineer. --snip-- I'm not sure if it would be more beneficial to study for the second test to get my CCNA or update my Microsoft certifications.

It's obvious. Go for CCNA.

I would recommend having a professional look at your resume and cover letter. There are a lot of pitfalls there that you want to avoid and that will be money well spent.

drkat

OP,

let's focus more on your experience rather than the certifications you have. Is your resume built for experience?

Brain_Power

You would be surprised at how many jobs have MCSE listed as preferred cert, which you have! Start contacting recruiters and sending out a blizzard of resumes. Do not quit till you get the next job. No telling when that will start. Get a linkedin account and start networking. Think your next move while working to keep your mind off your boss and current job.

matt333

continue with your CCNA the CCENT like you said doesn't hold much weight. networking job really want to see that you have your CCNA at least.
having said that, your resume is a little plain. I've worked at 3 jobs mostly internships (1yr+) so far and i feel ive been pretty successful when it was time to move on.
Try **
added summaries for each position + any big project you've worked on
reduce the amount of pages you have by remove unnecessary bullets
look for a cool looking template and copy it -- i cant say that it helps your resume from a employer stand point, but i think it at least grabs some attention and maybe you'll have more success

Good luck

Drovor

Hang in there! Personally, even if the job is horrible I would still be professional and give adequate notice. There was one person at my job who gave a 1 day notice and the lead told me that he would not consider him in the future. Don't burn your bridges! I am in a similar position and am ready to leave as soon as possible. For my situation I decided to enroll at WGU to get my B.S while hopefully finding another position along the way. The one advantage I have is that I usually have a good amount of downtime so I am not in full out job seeking mode.

Based on your goals I would continue to study for CCNA over anything else. Also take a look at this thread, it is interesting to see how valuable CCNA can be.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/general-certification/69594-certifications-have-brought-you-most-success.html

lunchbox67

Never walk out on a job like that ... never.

Beyond that you know you want to leave ... so stop letting it get to you. YOU and only you allow that to happen. Change your attitude while you are there. Look at it as a place to get some hands on learning. Let the crap roll off your back ... in one ear out the other. Do your job the best YOU can because you are doing it for YOU.

What is the worse thing that can happen ... you get fired. Sounds like, for you, that would be a step up. At least you would be able to collect unemployment for a bit.

And there are many jobs out there in AZ. Fix your resume and start getting it in front of people.

Concerned Water

Yeah, don't quit until you got a job. I'm 100% sure that Arizona has a better IT market then where I'm at, can't tell you how many times interviewers pretended like they wanted to hire me. I'm doing Tier 2 field support for 10 an hour, it can't be as bad I got it.

emerald_octane

Couple of things about your resume :

A) It's WAY too long to send out like this. This is more like a skills bank format where you use this and pick out relevant accomplishments to taylor to the job.
You're taking up alot of space for stuff. Single line accomplishments aren't required and makes the rest look weak. You should concatenate and take up more space. Slim the margins down as well.
C) Your tense is wrong. The stuff in your current job role should be in the present tense. The stuff at your previous jobs should be in the past tense.
D) Education should be listed on one line and then underneath you should have "relevant courses". The way it's hanging out there right now is confusing. Also you probably don't need to list the course numbers because it looks like those might be internal to the school. So instead of taking up four lines, just convert it to :
Relevant Courses: Cisco Networking Basics, Cisco Networking Router Technologies, Cisco Networking Switching and Intermediate Route(ing), Cisco Wide Area Network Technologies. Honestly though I think if you can bulk up your recent most job section with more vendor titles, I think you should move it and the certifications to the bottom. You have sufficient experience where to where the associates and certifications are nice to have check boxes. To display it prominetly at the very top is fodder for new graduates, those with advanced degrees (M.S., PHD) from name schools, or high end certifications (CISSP, CCIE).
E) The other employment section doesn't look good to me. I'd get rid of it completely.
F) For the cable installer portion there's no reason to list "install Cat 5, Cat5e, Cat 6 and Fiber optics" three times. Just say:
"Installed Cat5, Cat5e, Cat 6 and Fiber Optic cabling in office, clean room, and raised floor environments"
G) If I were looking at this for lets say a data center position i'd be like "OH MY GOSH THIS GUY IS A DATA CENTER BEAST" but then i'd see the "MP3 Advisor" position and the 2 month "Computer Technician" stint and honstely wonder why they're there. I'd take them out and just post the relevant experience. They really won't notice a two month gap. If they do they will probably see the progression of experience moreso and ask less questions than if they put them in there.

Hope this helps!

Devilry

emeralds advice is pretty good, follow it.

One question though, what is so bad about the job to you?

techdudehere

I actually loved 12 hour shifts. I made OT on anything over 40 and did 6 12s. If only it weren't a short term contract! 3 12s would be fine also if I could get my 4 off in a block, think of what you can do with all those days off! IT work is usually not physically demanding unless you're decommissioning or deploying hardware, so I would just work sick since you're there alone you won't make anyone else sick. Other than that, if the company stinks find something else, even contract positions and get out of there before you loose your cool. Sometimes a particular company/position is just not for me, you, etc, and it's best just to get out.

lantech

Thanks for the advice emerald. I do appreciate it. Have a couple of questions though.

emerald_octane wrote: »

Couple of things about your resume :

A) It's WAY too long to send out like this. This is more like a skills bank format where you use this and pick out relevant accomplishments to taylor to the job.
You're taking up alot of space for stuff. Single line accomplishments aren't required and makes the rest look weak. You should concatenate and take up more space. Slim the margins down as well.

What would be your suggestions to fix this. I will slim down the margins like you suggested but that is the way I was taught to right a resume. Of course that was a very long time ago and I think it was the preferred format for a resume at the time.

emerald_octane wrote: »

C) Your tense is wrong. The stuff in your current job role should be in the present tense. The stuff at your previous jobs should be in the past tense.

This will be corrected. Thanks. I didn't even notice that.

emerald_octane wrote: »

D) Education should be listed on one line and then underneath you should have "relevant courses". The way it's hanging out there right now is confusing. Also you probably don't need to list the course numbers because it looks like those might be internal to the school. So instead of taking up four lines, just convert it to :
Relevant Courses: Cisco Networking Basics, Cisco Networking Router Technologies, Cisco Networking Switching and Intermediate Route(ing), Cisco Wide Area Network Technologies. Honestly though I think if you can bulk up your recent most job section with more vendor titles, I think you should move it and the certifications to the bottom. You have sufficient experience where to where the associates and certifications are nice to have check boxes. To display it prominetly at the very top is fodder for new graduates, those with advanced degrees (M.S., PHD) from name schools, or high end certifications (CISSP, CCIE).

I will get that done

emerald_octane wrote: »

E) The other employment section doesn't look good to me. I'd get rid of it completely.
F) For the cable installer portion there's no reason to list "install Cat 5, Cat5e, Cat 6 and Fiber optics" three times. Just say:
"Installed Cat5, Cat5e, Cat 6 and Fiber Optic cabling in office, clean room, and raised floor environments"
G) If I were looking at this for lets say a data center position i'd be like "OH MY GOSH THIS GUY IS A DATA CENTER BEAST" but then i'd see the "MP3 Advisor" position and the 2 month "Computer Technician" stint and honstely wonder why they're there. I'd take them out and just post the relevant experience. They really won't notice a two month gap. If they do they will probably see the progression of experience moreso and ask less questions than if they put them in there.

Hope this helps!

These will get done as well. Thanks to you and everyone else for the advice. I do appreciate it.

The CCNA certification will take longer than the MS certifications due to lack of experience with Cisco and routers and switches in general. It's not impossible for me to do but just take longer because I want to actually know the material and not just go to some brain **** sight and memorize the questions. As with all certifications I'm sure it would be easier and quicker with experience but I will get it done.

lantech

To everyone said not to just walk out for all the various bad reasons for just leaving like that. That's not something I'll do no matter how hard it is not to just do that. Not that I think I would go back to this company or work for either of my two bosses again. I think I was just needing to vent a little bit and get it off my chest. I know this really isn't the place for that but thanks for listening anyway. I do appreciate it.

NetworkVeteran

lantech wrote: »

If I had walked out I would have just put my badge, the phone and keys on the desk and left without telling anyone. No one would probably have known I walked out for hours possibly until the end of my shift when the next person came in. I work 12 hour night shifts in an independent data center and I'm the only one here at night.

That's unprofessional behavior, and would almost certainly limit you to less desireable jobs.

My job has gotten so bad that sometimes I get migraines just thinking about coming into work.

You either need to work on your psychological toughness or give notice and move on.

The bosses don't care about anyone here.

Your boss isn't your parent nor best friend. Don't expect them to care about you, besides ensuring that you're able to perform your work tasks adequately. Some do. That's a bonus!

I know that's nothing new but I've been chewed out for calling in sick and have even had to come into work when I could barely get out of bed.

Well, that's silly! Set boundaries. What's the worst that could happen--they fire you? "I was fired for calling in sick four times in the past year!" or "I was fired for saying NO to being screamed at!" wouldn't be much of a red flag to future employers. You may even have legal recourse, of course, assuming you were legitimately that sick and a doctor backed it up.

I've put my resume in for a few jobs that I've found but have gotten no responses.

Do you have realistic expectations? Do you have the certifications/skills those jobs are asking for?

My ultimate goal would be to become a network engineer. But short term goal is to just get out of this crummy job and into a better one. I have been working on my CCNA and recently passed the CCENT.

Okay, so an entry-level network engineering position is not a realistic expectation at this point.

Back to my original suggestion--

1. You could focus on improving your psychological shape, while mastering the CCNA material, and then look for an entry-level position that lets you touch networking gear.

2. You could switch jobs--perhaps to a 6-month contract--and then master the CCNA material, and then look for an entry-level position that lets you touch networking gear.

Either way, don't do anything unprofessional when you leave your current job, and don't continue to work in a way that gives you daily migranes.

notaprogrammer

is there upward mobility within your company? I would try to see if you could move up -- maybe things are different?

NetworkVeteran

lantech wrote: »

I want to actually know the material and not just go to some brain **** sight and memorize the questions.

Good call, as that will help you get interviews, but not land and keep jobs.

PS - Your resume needs to be chopped waaaay down. Two pages is absolutely the max.

lantech

I've been working on my resume as time permits between studying, work and home life. Here is what I've come up with so far. The education and certifications being at the bottom looks funny to me. It just doesn't seem to be in the right place to me. I've left the MP3 advisor in because I'm also looking for positions in a NOC environment as well as in another data center. With a NOC I'm sure phone support experience will be a plus.

Any recommendations on a particular format that might be better than what I currently have now.

boredgamelad

Before you work on format, you really need to nail down the content. As others have said, you should drop the number of bullet points (realistically 3-5 for a lengthy/very relevant job and 2-3 for a shorter/less relevant job) and drop the 2 month jobs (honestly, the fact that you have phone experience will not be what an employer remembers when they read about your experience at MP3 company. They'll think "Wow, this guy doesn't stick around long"). Work on the content, ignore the format. When you think you've got the content down pat, then you can worry about the format. Format is important but content is what will get you to the interview.

RouteThisWay

I don't agree with 3-5 for lengthy job. Before I landed this job, I had about 12 for the current one- there is no way I could list all of my responsibilities and accomplishments in 3-5 bullet points. I would have been greatly selling myself short and probably would not have gotten this job due to my very diverse position before.

But I do agree- shorter/less relevant jobs do not get anywhere near the attention unless there is a specific skill you want to highlight.


Also, don't think you have completed your resume and just blast it out. You need to customize and tailor it to each specific job you apply for. Anytime I apply for a job with my resume, I save a copy of it with that companies title- that way if I get a call back, I know which resume I should be looking at.