[BLOG] Tech Support 360
A year and a half ago I made a blog about "giving up" on Tech support and switching to "bar tending" as a career choice. At that point in time it was my most logical choice of action. I figured "hey we're in a recession everyone wants to get drunk".
Unbeknown to me "bar tending" is one of the only careers where age is a factor and not in a good way either. In 99% of careers the younger you are the easier it'll be for you to get a job. Sadly bartending is not a normal career. I spent a good 9 months of hitting the streets every day applying for jobs only to be overshadowed by other "applicants" that are 30 years my senior. Go figure...
It truely sucked. To be soo close to achieving what I was striving for only to be turned away because of my age. It happened for a reason though.
I knew working with computers was my calling when one of my first jobs was working for a call center specializing in virus removal. Making more money then I knew what to do with when I wasn't even old enough to drink.
I tried denying it for years.
"Working with computers is cool and comes easy but I want more of a challenge"
Well guess what? Bartending was my challenge. It made me realize that forcing myself into a career for the sole purpose of avoiding another wasn't the best idea. It made me grow as a person and maybe that's what it was meant for.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and makes you appreciate the simpler things in life. The simpler things in life, in my case, is working with computers.
After about six months or so of research and the relentless job searching I came to the realization that NOW is the time for me to advance myself in the career I have avoided for oh so long.
I started looking at different universities (UWO, York etc...) and colleges (both government funded and private community) for a program I knew I could finish and not get bored of. Did want to sign up for a BA/BS computer science course? Did I want to learn programing? Did I want to learn advanced registry techniques (computer forensics)? Did I want to physically work with computers?
I knew three things.....
1) I didn't want to learn programing (at least not yet)
2) I couldn't really apply to top level universities and be guaranteed acceptance since I dropped out of high-school to take that lucrative call center job (I got my equivalent late 2009)
3) Just getting specialized certificates were only valuable to certain individuals and could be completely ignored by others with no repercussions.
It took me awhile to find a college that met my requirements but I would not be disappointed. I ended up picking a community college, not just anyone though, the oldest one in North America and if you've been around since 1885 there is obviously something you're doing right.
The course I picked offers everything I'm looking for. A mostly hardware based course with some emphasis on theory. MCDST, A+ and Network+ as well as a recognized college diploma. This is my calling, I am finally ready to admit it and with this leverage it'll finally give me perfect requirements and advanced standing for a degree in computer science down the road if I decide to persue it.
I can't really explain the joy I feel after conquering this barrier in my life. I can genuinely say that for one of the first times in my life I'm excited to learn. Not to mention the searching I've done on some big companies (HP, Microsoft..) as well as some smaller ones as well. Did you know that 90% of regional police forces hire qualified IT grads for civilian jobs on the force paying similar rates to that of HP and Microsoft? Something I wasn't expecting to find in my research....
The desperation larger companies have to hired qualified individuals ESPECIALLY ones who are willing to relocate is almost mind boggling. So much so in fact they will fully pay for relocation expenses, this could sometimes mean up to $10,000 or more.
Some of the job locations I came across that I'll be qualified for when March comes around are "Markam, Ontario" "South Adelaide, Australia" "Tokyo, Japan" "Cyberjaya, Malaysia" and "San José, Costa Rica" just to name a few.
Things are finally starting to turn around and if you get anything from reading this. Don't ignore your calling. If you're good at something, go and do it. Don't look for a challenge just because it's challenging...
Until next time Icrontic...
MrTRiot signing off...
Unbeknown to me "bar tending" is one of the only careers where age is a factor and not in a good way either. In 99% of careers the younger you are the easier it'll be for you to get a job. Sadly bartending is not a normal career. I spent a good 9 months of hitting the streets every day applying for jobs only to be overshadowed by other "applicants" that are 30 years my senior. Go figure...
It truely sucked. To be soo close to achieving what I was striving for only to be turned away because of my age. It happened for a reason though.
I knew working with computers was my calling when one of my first jobs was working for a call center specializing in virus removal. Making more money then I knew what to do with when I wasn't even old enough to drink.
I tried denying it for years.
"Working with computers is cool and comes easy but I want more of a challenge"
Well guess what? Bartending was my challenge. It made me realize that forcing myself into a career for the sole purpose of avoiding another wasn't the best idea. It made me grow as a person and maybe that's what it was meant for.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and makes you appreciate the simpler things in life. The simpler things in life, in my case, is working with computers.
After about six months or so of research and the relentless job searching I came to the realization that NOW is the time for me to advance myself in the career I have avoided for oh so long.
I started looking at different universities (UWO, York etc...) and colleges (both government funded and private community) for a program I knew I could finish and not get bored of. Did want to sign up for a BA/BS computer science course? Did I want to learn programing? Did I want to learn advanced registry techniques (computer forensics)? Did I want to physically work with computers?
I knew three things.....
1) I didn't want to learn programing (at least not yet)
2) I couldn't really apply to top level universities and be guaranteed acceptance since I dropped out of high-school to take that lucrative call center job (I got my equivalent late 2009)
3) Just getting specialized certificates were only valuable to certain individuals and could be completely ignored by others with no repercussions.
It took me awhile to find a college that met my requirements but I would not be disappointed. I ended up picking a community college, not just anyone though, the oldest one in North America and if you've been around since 1885 there is obviously something you're doing right.
The course I picked offers everything I'm looking for. A mostly hardware based course with some emphasis on theory. MCDST, A+ and Network+ as well as a recognized college diploma. This is my calling, I am finally ready to admit it and with this leverage it'll finally give me perfect requirements and advanced standing for a degree in computer science down the road if I decide to persue it.
I can't really explain the joy I feel after conquering this barrier in my life. I can genuinely say that for one of the first times in my life I'm excited to learn. Not to mention the searching I've done on some big companies (HP, Microsoft..) as well as some smaller ones as well. Did you know that 90% of regional police forces hire qualified IT grads for civilian jobs on the force paying similar rates to that of HP and Microsoft? Something I wasn't expecting to find in my research....
The desperation larger companies have to hired qualified individuals ESPECIALLY ones who are willing to relocate is almost mind boggling. So much so in fact they will fully pay for relocation expenses, this could sometimes mean up to $10,000 or more.
Some of the job locations I came across that I'll be qualified for when March comes around are "Markam, Ontario" "South Adelaide, Australia" "Tokyo, Japan" "Cyberjaya, Malaysia" and "San José, Costa Rica" just to name a few.
Things are finally starting to turn around and if you get anything from reading this. Don't ignore your calling. If you're good at something, go and do it. Don't look for a challenge just because it's challenging...
Until next time Icrontic...
MrTRiot signing off...
0
Comments
It sucks...but at least I didn't pay $10k for a useless piece of paper.