Okay so, I started coming here for help with my Network+. I wanted to take the N10-005, but while I was studying, it changed to the N10-006 which was a whole different beast. This cert took me forever to get because of that change, also it was my first. I did not want to fail that test. Took about 9 months. Then I immediately went to study for the CCNA, and that also took me a while (fear of failing, common occurance here). Then I got the Boson exam simulator and that put the fear of something unholy in me, and I put the test off until I was Ace-ing the Boson test. Turns out the Boson is amazing because I flewwww through the CCNA because of it.
That puts me in August 2016, I went to Thailand the week after the test. Took a break, and went to start with AWS. My goals changed from networking to the cloud, because of just the trend of IT. During my study for AWS, I got a job interview just from adding the CCNA to my resume.
I know everyone here says to apply to specific jobs, and tailor make each cover letter to that job, and only apply for a handful of jobs at a time. Personally, my experience at at the time was just desktop support at a college in with certs. Not exactly in high demand there, so I applied to everything, and waited to see what stuck. I was making in the low teens per hour, but the benefits were amaaaazzziiiing. I had to deal with the low pay because I needed 2 knee surgeries as well as other time off for physical therapy, etc, etc. Trade off.
I got a call from a contracting company sometime in October for an interview at a very very very very big company. The rate was $25 an hour, which was gold compared to what I was making. When I was in the lobby I saw someone older than me also interviewing. I kind of got worried because of how big this company is, they would require everyone have tons of experience, or so I thought.
I told them I had the CCNA, and I have a lot of interest in the cloud. The gist of the interview was: "yeaaaaaaaaah, we don't do that here." I essentially bombed the interview, because what I wanted to do, they didn't offer. What they had to offer was all entirely in house software made for them. I did manage to ask a few questions about the ability to move up in the company, and asked how the work environment was between everyone because that is important to me etc. My recruiter called me after the interview and asked how it went, I was honest and told him that I don't think they were very interested in me. He said he spoke to the interviewer, and he said the same about me (since I had cisco experience, and AWS interest).
Interviewer set up a 2nd phone call with me, asked me what my favorite things to do at work was. I was absolutely stumped with that answer as since I do desktop support, and was very over qualified for it, it all seemed like monkey work to me. I told him I liked upgrading labs because I can do a lot of work fast or some stupid answer.
I was biking to work the next day and got a phone call, I got off my bike to answer. Turns out I was offered the job. Hooray! So I, in November 2016 started the job making $25 an hour, with no benefits, but OT pay. The OT was pretty constant, and I had it every single week unless there was a holiday, and I would have an unpaid day off.
I worked from November to July making that rate, and in June, LOTS of OT opened up. I was doing 50-60 hours every single week because someone quit, from a parallel department. My contract was up at the very beginning of August. The same recruiter that hired me, sent me the job posting for the person that left the job. Turns out it was for $30/hr. I used that as leverage to ask for a raise, because I was doing my job, AND the fill in job, for $25 an hour. I immediately got the raise to $30/hr. From August on, the OT was still high and I was making more than I ever was, multiples of what I was making at the college.
Cue last week, my boss calls me into a meeting on Friday evening after my last bit of duty was done. I thought I was in for some bad news because as a contractor, you know I could be fired at any moment. And they always fire people on Fridays, apparently. Anyway...
He asks me all vaguely and cryptically, how do I like working there? How am I getting along? (It's been almost a year). Then he mentions that there has been a full time position possibly opening up, and it would make the most sense to hire in house (because as I said, it was all entirely in-house software used). He tells me not to feel pressured, and if I declined, my contracting job would still be there, with the OT. The full time position would not have any OT.
$30/hr without OT is 64k a year. I was on pace to hit the mid 70s, maybe 80s. He said I would be making more with the OT, but just a bit more. I was hoping the offer of the salary would be in the 70s. I would be disappointed if it was something only like 60-65 with benefits. He didn't have exact numbers to offer at the moment.
He calls me yesterday, with official numbers.
$75k/yr salary. Eligible for 10% bonus. Eligible for merit increase (which I believe goes towards the base rate). 401k matching. Stock Options. 3 weeks vacation. Medical, vision, dental benefits.
Keep in mind, I have not used much CCNA knowledge here (outside of general network troubleshooting. This is down, ping it, etc). But just having that got me the interview. Don't trust anyone here that says "Certs mean nothing, it's all experience" -- but when it comes down to it, if you don't have an experience, certs show a base level knowledge. That is GOLD for someone just starting out, or trying to get out of the beginner roles.
So in November 2016 I was making terrible pay, and throughout tons of just burying my head in the books, studying, working hard, not complaining, and a LOT of luck -- I officially have a career.
