[AusNOG] Starting green at 23. What does the industry want from me?

[Rory Jones]

Hey guys, been reading the list quietly for a while now, so I profusely apologies for being off-topic, given the highly professional and formal qualities of this mailing list. An admin may request a stop if necessary, but I would appreciate any and all feedback.

I am 23 years old, based in Brisbane (but willing to move, have deliberately kept my life in boxes to somewhat more readily facilitate this), and I am looking for a start anywhere in IT or Telco.

Basically I’ve been trying to start my career in IT for quite a long time now, way too long, really. I eventually got fed up (after about 5 years), and decided to pursue a path of throwing tools and swear words at cars with a friend. That went on for a year or two, until I ran out of “startup funds” (if you could call them that - really just my inheritance), and it grew more and more apparent that we had very different ways of working, with my philosophy of taking a step back for 10 or 15 minutes to research something and do it right the first time, versus his… pretty much the direct opposite. Anyway, I digress.

After learning a few things about myself - namely how other people mentioned that I’m a stunningly quick learner - having gone from being scared to do oil changes, to full on engine replacements and nuts and bolts rebuilds in about 9 months - I’m being thrust back into the IT/Telco market, which is really where I’ve wanted to be all along, especially the latter, given why I’m posting here.

I’m posting to ask how I can make myself more employable, given it seems impossible for me to penetrate the HR firewall, and no one seems to want to tell me why. I have a suspicion it’s because I can’t do interviews well, at all. I tend to be a nervous wreck in them, however this has never reflected in my work experience at all. I am decent at chats though. I can *show* you what I know, where I excel, where I fall down, and where my interests seem to lie. But formal interviews… just never got the hang of it, despite having quite a few now.

Everyone I ask, seems to have a different answer. I’m pretty sure I need to study and/or find a way in the door *somewhere*, even if it’s plugging cables into a rack or cleaning the toilets or something. I have studied a generic networking diploma with a CCNA, virtual machines, basic security and wireless all tacked onto the sides of it. I really, really enjoyed the networking side of things especially, with an odd penchant for wireless but the caveat of “I am really bad at maths and theory”, but I am not sure where to go from there. It’s really hard to gauge what the industry wants, where it’s heading, and what is wanted or expected of people who wish to remain successful in it, much less make a start at all.

I even had a work experience gig a while ago where I was assisting in installing access points into an apartment building. I enjoyed that. But where my real passions are, is in datacenters. I absolutely freakin’ love datacanters. I love the idea of designing, building, running and maintaining them. I love the idea of managing power, cooling and building requirements, as an outsider looking in through a mouldy old window, it all seems like a balancing act. I like that sort of thing. I love infrastructure in general, I think what PIPE Networks, AARNet and all the rest do is bloody cool, and I long for a career doing that. I long for a career working in a NOC. But I have not a clue on how to get there.

I was even approached a few years ago, if I had a licence and could move to Sydney, I would have a traineeship in designing and building datacenters all over the world. I was heartbroken that I couldn’t accept it, because I didn’t have a licence or a car at the time. I’ve got those now, but too little, too late. I’m still heartbroken, that job would have been a dream come true.

But now I’m in a somewhat… better(?) position. I have my own car. I can and will move to any funny sounding name with a postcode in this vast country tomorrow, if it resulted in work. Still, I’m stuck with the same old things. I’ve tweaked my resume and cover letter over and over again, trying to make it the best it can be. I’m looking for new things to study - right now highly considering RHCSA or some form of PluralSight qualification - unless anyone here can recommend something more network-y and telco-y based that is industry relevant, I would start studying that the second I received a reply pointing it out.

This email has gone on a bit, so I shall leave it at here for now. But I’m just not sure where to go next. I would love to have a start right in telco, networks or datacenters, but it seems like I have to make my start elsewhere, even if it’s something like a level 1 helpdesk support, which I would still be happy as Larry if I got, but it would be a literal dream come true for the aforementioned flavours of IT.

Sorry again for the walls of text, and sorry again for being off-topic. I hope I don’t clog up too many inboxes!

Many thanks in advance, all,
Rory