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Your story confirms what I have often thought, life is about connections. My own tumbling into IT with no education was a series of connections. My three main j

by p0d 4y ago

Your story confirms what I have often thought, life is about connections. My own tumbling into IT with no education was a series of connections. My three main jobs over the last thirty years were through my wife's friend husband, a teenage friend from church and a teenage friend from working in a supermarket. I'd had the opportunity to give others a go myself down through the years. I had a nice moment recently when a young guy, now a senior dev, thanked me for giving him the opportunity. I interviewed him for work experience as a favour for a friend. A colleague and I could see during the interview he was a bit special, though he had no idea of this himself. So let's hope for more people like yourself willing to have a go, and more people looking out for others.

pksebben 4y ago
I've committed to the process of passing it on; I did a similar thing for a friend , who's now on that last third of the journey. I've become really interested in the whole concept of an apprenticeship - I think that it could be a great solution for a lot of folks, like it was for me. I intend to do more mentoring, and I'm always on the look out for more mentors. edited to add: What I got from my mentor was almost not at all technical, and he didn't help me find a job when the time came. Mostly, he helped me feel like it was something that could be done (because he said so and had the credentials to be an authority on the matter), and he got me a little unstuck occasionally. If one could just "make up their mind" that it was a doable thing, they could make it happen without the mentorship - but like I said in the post, it's an emotional journey first and community is super important for that. None of us is an island.
- Ntrails 4y ago
  > I've committed to the process of passing it on; I did a similar thing for a friend I've done the exact opposite, I am super lucky in all sorts of ways and the last person I want to help is someone with a similar background to mine. I don't mean this as a criticism, but more a counterpoint. It isn't what you know it is who you know is still true today. I do not think that is a good design.
  - pksebben 4y ago
    what I meant by that was, I had a friend who was hitting Rock bottom and I had him stay with me for a bit while I coached him to learn to code. he's continuing the journey on his own recognizance at the moment. Will it work out? only time will tell. but he's built some really cool shit so far and any team would be lucky to have him as a junior
roflyear 4y ago
Yeah. I am the exception, but once I got into the industry I have gotten luckier due to connections.
pnutjam 4y ago
Counterpoint. I grew up as an Army brat with a lot of siblings so I have few long term older relationships. I worked my way into tech by way of ITT tech and landing a helpdesk job after a couple months of unemployment. It was low pay, but better then the warehouse and data entry jobs I did before (circa 2000). I've changed jobs every 3 or 4 years; going from helpdesk, to PC tech, to Network Analyst, to System Admin, and finally to Linux Administration. I've been doing Linux for the last 10 years. I have landed every job through public job listings. I've maintained some contact with previous colleagues, but never had any real job opportunism pushed my way. I'm sure their good recommendations have helped, and I believe I interview well. Just putting this out there for people who have smaller social networks or feel shut out.
- indigodaddy 4y ago
  Similar. End of 2008. Decided I didn’t want to do back-breaking work anymore. Always loved and used Linux and decided I must be a NOC tech in a datacenter. Got onto SLUG (Tampa) irc, found out about a local hosting company that owned a DC, relentlessly called/harassed the NOC Manager until he let me intern/work for free. Been in tech ever since.

by p0d 4y ago

pksebben 4y ago

I've committed to the process of passing it on; I did a similar thing for a friend , who's now on that last third of the journey. I've become really interested in the whole concept of an apprenticeship - I think that it could be a great solution for a lot of folks, like it was for me. I intend to do more mentoring, and I'm always on the look out for more mentors. edited to add: What I got from my mentor was almost not at all technical, and he didn't help me find a job when the time came. Mostly, he helped me feel like it was something that could be done (because he said so and had the credentials to be an authority on the matter), and he got me a little unstuck occasionally. If one could just "make up their mind" that it was a doable thing, they could make it happen without the mentorship - but like I said in the post, it's an emotional journey first and community is super important for that. None of us is an island.

Ntrails 4y ago
> I've committed to the process of passing it on; I did a similar thing for a friend I've done the exact opposite, I am super lucky in all sorts of ways and the last person I want to help is someone with a similar background to mine. I don't mean this as a criticism, but more a counterpoint. It isn't what you know it is who you know is still true today. I do not think that is a good design.
- pksebben 4y ago
  what I meant by that was, I had a friend who was hitting Rock bottom and I had him stay with me for a bit while I coached him to learn to code. he's continuing the journey on his own recognizance at the moment. Will it work out? only time will tell. but he's built some really cool shit so far and any team would be lucky to have him as a junior

roflyear 4y ago

Yeah. I am the exception, but once I got into the industry I have gotten luckier due to connections.

pnutjam 4y ago

Counterpoint. I grew up as an Army brat with a lot of siblings so I have few long term older relationships. I worked my way into tech by way of ITT tech and landing a helpdesk job after a couple months of unemployment. It was low pay, but better then the warehouse and data entry jobs I did before (circa 2000). I've changed jobs every 3 or 4 years; going from helpdesk, to PC tech, to Network Analyst, to System Admin, and finally to Linux Administration. I've been doing Linux for the last 10 years. I have landed every job through public job listings. I've maintained some contact with previous colleagues, but never had any real job opportunism pushed my way. I'm sure their good recommendations have helped, and I believe I interview well. Just putting this out there for people who have smaller social networks or feel shut out.

indigodaddy 4y ago
Similar. End of 2008. Decided I didn’t want to do back-breaking work anymore. Always loved and used Linux and decided I must be a NOC tech in a datacenter. Got onto SLUG (Tampa) irc, found out about a local hosting company that owned a DC, relentlessly called/harassed the NOC Manager until he let me intern/work for free. Been in tech ever since.