I recently moved to a metropolitan area from a town of about 35 thousand. My main goal is to finish WGU, but I feel that I should also build up work experience at the same time. My IT experience consists of babysitting a computer lab at a community college. There are a lot of opportunities compared to where I last lived so I feel fortunate to even have the opportunity to even apply. Luckily, I am in a position where I do not need to send off a million applications to every single IT job and have been selective in my search.
I do not have a lot of IT experience so people have been telling me to just apply at Best Buy for Geek Squad or take whatever I can get. While I have no problem with starting out on the bench and working for a lower wage, I am a bit older and want experience that is meaningful or will be a path that will help me reach my goals quicker in what I want to do in the future. Which is.. Well, I could see myself as a system administrator or network engineer but preferably something with penetration testing, network/computer security and or reverse malware engineering or even working in a NOC is my end game. Way to make up my mind, right?
Over the past few months, I applied for two non-traditional internships and I have heard back from both parties within the past few days.
One opportunity is with a popular web company that ranks in the top 100 US websites according to Alexa. I was preliminary offered and or asked if I was interested in a normal position (instead of an internship) at 35 hours a week. Duties include helping with QA, site maintenance and other associated IT duties around the office. I would be exposed to Linux and other open source technologies and be a part of an amazing team of individuals. Work would basically be a fun environment and comes with an instant social life as the company tends to do a lot of activities outside of work.
I believe I would learn a lot here and they would provide mentors and the place sounds fairly laid back. No dress code, time cards, etc –kind of place. The company is small and the atmosphere is considered a startup even though it has been around for ten years. I do not know how much the pay would be just yet but my guess is $10 an hour but possibly a few dollars more. Total commute time would be 1 hour a day. This has been my top choice since day 1 honestly but it did take awhile for a response after two interviews. I applied for a second opportunity that came up….
The second opportunity is for an internship with a competitive local exchange carrier as a network engineer on a VoIP team. It is smaller but still services over 1 million customers. Now I think the title is fancy for what the job duties really include but I am not certain: updating diagrams in Visio and a lot of communication between engineers and writing notes from meetings. Additional duties include hypothesis testing (QA) of phones and making sure calls work and also alarm/capacity monitoring. He explained it as a triple hat role with the primary focus on network diagrams in Visio. The interview lasted for two hours and I felt out of my league but held my own. The manager was nice but very serious, extremely detail oriented, and made it clear that this was a kind of sink or swim position and he expects a lot of output.
I know Visio is easy to learn but my networking experience is nil and I most of my knowledge in regards to networking is from the A+. I have a high thirst for knowledge and do plan on studying for my CCNA next year. He did say they were looking for someone with raw potential and I was quizzed on a lot of basics and had to draw and explain the best that I could the OSI model, and other basics.
I’m far more nervous about this job and if I can perform up to expectations of the manager. The opportunity sounds fantastic and could put me on a fast track for a network engineer position – I was told maybe even within the company but he said that was a big maybe/if. Equipment the company utilizes ranges from Juniper/Cisco to Acme Packet Sequencers and a bunch of other hardware I have never heard of. However, the manager did make it clear that I am unlikely to get any lab time or real hands on with equipment. Commute would be 1 hour and 30 minutes a day – the commute would suck but I would do it. I would be stuck doing the commute for at least 10 months. Hours range from 20-30 a week at $10 an hour firm after I had tried to negotiate a higher wage due to the commute. Nothing is final yet, I was told another candidate is in the running for this position as well.
The thing is, I just heard back from the web company yesterday. And I heard from the Telecom the day before which is waiting for me to provide them some documentation. I am leaning towards the web company because I feel that it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to work at this specific company and also there are not that many web based companies in my area that utilize Linux and other open source technologies at a massive scale; however, it is not every day that one might have the opportunity to work for a telecom either.
I am extremely grateful. Many members on these forums have helped me out a lot with their own experiences - it is a great source for not only knowledge but motivation. I want others to know if you are just starting out sometimes with a little extra leg work and dedication I believe you can find something that you want to do. I found these two opportunities because I knew about the companies in my area. They did not have these jobs advertised on indeed or dice and I also reached out to the web company on my own. Sometimes you have to make an opportunity happen and in both cases I had no contacts with either company. I’m just so happy, if all goes well and I secure one or the other, both I feel would provide awesome growth potential!
