I have been a long time lurker on this website and it has helped me many times, so I thought I'd give back by sharing a positive story that hopefully will inspire some of you. Sorry if this is super long.
I'm roughly 2 years seasoned into my current IT role of Service Desk Lead, soon to be transitioning into a Systems Admin role hopefully in the next 6 months . It's great now but wasn't always that way to start. Let's start from the beginning.
Mid 2011 my position as a reporting analyst doing basic SQL stuff was being eliminated and they gave me about a 3 months lead time (they liked me enough to give me time to find another job). So I told myself, ok I have 3 months to find a job. I wanted to break into the IT field considering I was enrolled at the local university finishing up my Bachelor's degree in IT.
The goal: Have a job before I get my degree.
The problem: No one was willing to hire a newbie with zero experience, even for the entry level positions. Isn't the point of an entry level position so a newbie can acquire some skills?
Anyway, A friend of mine got me an interview at her company, it was the perfect job (10 min commute, great benefits, room for advancement). I met with the IT director and he loved me... I nailed the interview BUT, he needed someone with experience for a level 2 helpdesk role. Since my current job was eliminating my position they gave me some major leeway with days off, so I gave the IT director (whom I had just interviewed with) an offer he could not refuse. I offered to intern for free to get some experience. The company didn't have an IT intern position but they created one for me. This was my opportunity to learn, so I rolled up my sleeves and did all the work the other techs and system admins didn't want to do, just for the purpose of learning. Luckily, one of the system admins became somewhat of a mentor for me and happily assisted me whenever I was stumped on something.
A month before my job was set to be eliminated the IT director offered me a position as a level 1 technician since they were not happy with the current level 1 tech and wanted to hire me instead. So I went from making $15/hr as a reporting analyst to $19.50 hourly (They initially wanted to hire me at $18, but I negotiated to $19.50... I knew my worth even for being 2 months new). 6 months later, once I graduated with my degree, I got a raise to $44k yearly. On my 1 year annual eval in late 2011 they bumped me to $50k. I was determined to learn all that I could and be the best I could be in my position... so i bought an annual subscription to CBT nuggets and began building a virtual lab at home.
Fast forward a year later to late 2013, a new IT director, a newly created CIO position with a new CIO and a new SharePoint implementation company-wide under my belt (I learned how to implement SharePoint including writing workflows on CBT Nuggets). My annual eval was all 5's, all C level execs know who I am, including the CEO and I just received the employee of the year award complete with a $500 check, oh and I got bumped to $58k.
I put in the
HARD leg work of starting from an intern to the sky is the limit as my company is growing. Granted I still have a ways to go, but as long as you are motivated and willing to work hard, anything is achievable. Be proactive in your professional development and never get comfortable, keep challenging yourself to do more and be better. If you are not no one else will be for you.
I am expecting an increase to mid 60's next eval in 2014 and I know they will give it to me because I am indispensable to the company, but only through putting my ducks in a row am I able to achieve this.
