Why A Newbie or Career Flipper Should Never Focus on IT Jobs @ FAANG

You may get all excited and motivated, but you will cry tears when your cut with thousands of other people and get an email

It takes so much time and energy studying for IT Certification exams, pursuing college degree’s if you decided to go the college route. Some people do internships, Community Colleges or online certificates that are free like Shea’s Tech School or Cisco Networking Academy (Search for “Shea”). You update your LinkedIn profile and then you start applying to jobs. You spend days or weeks on a resume. You finally get contacted by a recruiter, HR person or other hiring official and then you are excited for interview day!

You smash the interview. Your communications were excellent. You made everyone laugh. You were happy they were happy and then boom. You have your start date.

The big day is here. You start working! Wow…amazing. You may be onsite or remote or hybrid, but at least now you are making some money. The struggle is now easier. Money is popping in bi-weekly to your bank account. Your thinking about what to buy, paying off debt (if your smart), buying a home (I definitely don’t recommend that the first year of any job!) or going on a trip (Yes! See the world).

Then, as time passes…it all comes crushing down. You go to login and you can’t access the network. You can’t login to your email. What in the hell is going on?! You think to yourself. The network must be down. Let me call support…

"We have been directed by your management to disable your account. Please contact your manager. We cannot re-enable your account." - IT Support

You sit back in your chair. What the hell was that. Panic sets in…calling. Texting. What is going on! No response.

Then, you check your personal email.

"We regret to inform you that your position has been terminated..."

Oh…my…F&^&””!!$# goodness! No! Why! What did I do?!

The Reality of IT No One Tells You…

All those YouTube videos glorifying IT and how much money they make and the endless “Day in the Life of A ….” videos don’t show you the pain, tears, anger and possible Go Postal thoughts that go through the head of people who get fired.

This is why you have to be strategic in your approach to what job you take and where you look for work. Maybe being a consultant or an enterprenuer is a better path instead of being a grunt at a desk at home remotely or in the office.

I am a heavy advocate of not applying to any FAANG or giant tech companies and your new to IT or career flipping and you do not have a nest age of bread stashed in your bank account. Look at the sheer amount of these poor souls who fell for the posh sales pitch with all of their intelligence, knowledge, skills, abilities and education only to be cut like a rabid dog and left to fend for themselves.

Discipline is Doing What You Hate to Do, But Doing It Like You Love It - Mike Tyson

No one said you are guaranteed anyting in this world, but you can mitigate your risks by not being foolish. There are hundreds of thousands of companies around the world. The numbers of companies in just the US alone is staggering. Your job search should look at Healthcare, Logistics, Pharmacy, Real Estate, Non-Profits, Restaurant Management companies, Hotel Chains, Federal Government, Law Firms, Gaming Companies, State Government, City Government, Small businesses and Medium sized businesses.

It does not have to be an IT company!

My first IT job was working in the Helpdesk of a small company in an office park in San Diego, California. After there, I landed a job at AGFA Healthcare which was the true catalyst that introduced me to a Datacenter, Solaris, Windows, IT Support and Systems Administration for the 1st time in 2007. I went from about $20,000 USD a year coming out of the military to roughly $200,000 working in Government jobs. Now, there is a battlefield of Healthcare, Non-Profit, Government Contractor and Federal Government employment from 2007 to today, but it just goes to show you. You do not need a job at any of these companies to make it in an IT job!

These companies hire and fire and dump people the way they do because people beg and froth at the mouth for their jobs like their starving.

Hello…(knocking on your forehead)…There are other places to work!

Stop begging and start hustling!

Peace Be Unto You,

-Shea

100% Tuition Free Cybersecurity, Linux and Networking Training: https://school.sheastech.io

Need Paid Training for your Team: https://www.sheastech.io

Screenshot Credit: TrueUp.io (trueup.io/big-tech-hiring)