How I Got My First Job In Tech
A blessing I am forever grateful for is knowing at a very young age that I wanted to work with computers for a living. At age 9 a natural curiosity encouraged me to teach myself how to type, by age 12 I coded my first web page. By the time I was 16 in 1999, I was dying to break into the tech industry, but didn’t know how.
Luckily, I had met my friend Ben in elementary school through our mutual computer security interests. At 16 he got a job as a programmer and systems administrator at a local ISP (Internet Service Provider) called “Planet Systems Networks”. Ben told I should apply and talked to his manager who told me to come down and apply. So I worked hard to get my first resume ever in the right shape, then I printed it out, dressed up and went down there. When I spoke to the manager he told me I seemed like a smart kid, but he was concerned if I knew enough technically to do the job. He asked if I could get my A+ certification to demonstrate my knowledge. In retrospect I understand he was trying to determine if I was credible and if I had the aptitude to do the job, after all I was 16.
At that time I had no idea what an A+ certification was. I did some research and found that it would take about $500 for test costs and study materials. I didn’t have the money, but after telling my father that, he thankfully offered to loan me the $500 and I am forever grateful.
I returned back proudly after a few weeks with my A+, except when I arrived a new manager greeted me. The old one had been fired. The new one interviewed me and hired me on the spot right in the interview. I later told him I had got my A+ and I was surprised he had no idea that I was now certified. The moral of the story is persistence pays off when you are trying to break into an industry. Don’t give up on your dream, keep banging on doors and coming back until someone decides to give you a chance.
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