Once Upon A Time.....

Rewind to the year 2004. I was 26 years old and working second shift in a textile factory with no prospect of a better job or a better life. I was living with my girlfriend and our 3 year old daughter at my girlfriend's parents house. Not the ideal situation but it was a good way to save some cash.

Each day at the factory was pretty much the same......work in hot and not so healthy conditions making rolls of fabric. I had recently become a machine operator and but there were no real advancements up from that. One day while at work I decided that I wanted to go to college and make something better of myself. My interest lied in working with computers. I decided to enroll at a local community college and major in the Microcomputer Specialist program.
My short term goal was to work somewhere it IT (Information Technology) with a longer term goal of starting and succeeding in my very own Computer Services business.

Fast forward to 2007. I was still technically enrolled at the community college and had not yet finished my program. Even so, I still went out and attained two of my computer certifications. I received my A+ cert in Dec of 2006 and then got my Network+ cert in March of 2007. I pretty much studied my butt off for the tests involved and passed with flying colors.
The certifications really didn't mean much as I was still lacking the most important thing of all....experience. Shortly after receiving my Network+ cert, I felt like I really needed to get some real hands on work. I emailed every Computer Repair business within 50 miles looking for either an internship, part time job, or even the opportunity to just "hang out" and learn some things. Only a handful of them replied and all basically said the same thing "Sorry we only deal with experienced Technicians."

After that I tried a new technique. I sent out my resume for every entry level computer job I could find. I literally sent out at least 40 resumes in hopes that I could just get something. After about a month of waiting, I heard back from only 2 prospects. The first one was a 2 hour drive. At that point I just needed something. I drove the 2 hours out for my interview and it was disastrous. I arrived late because I couldn't find the place at first. In fact, the building right next store to them, whom I asked for directions, had never even heard of the place. Well I finally found it and went into my interview.
Immediately I was bombarded by some computer geek who just threw questions at me left and right. I got the feeling that his real intent was to make himself look good in front of his manager who was also in the room. Long story short, I pretty much froze up and made myself look like an idiot. It was a long ride home.

A couple days later I was contacted by the second and final company. It was 10 minutes away this time and things went a lot better. The interview started out a bit stale but once I got comfortable things went uphill from there. The next day I got a call and was offered the job. Finally my first real IT job. It was pretty exciting and was a great learning environment.

With the experience of that job and the skills I have learned over the last few years, I finally have gained the confidence to start working towards my dream of my own Computer Services Business.

Game on.....