One Year Later
From the day a recruiter reached out. to me to the day that I had the interview. that would lead to a job. offer was 40 days. From the day a recruiter reached out to me to the day I started was just over 16 weeks. It took four months. And a year later— my life has changed. My finances are improving, my education has continued and my skills have been proven and sharpened.
What has changed the most is myself.
I am decisive.
I am determined.
I have learned to let people help me.
I don’t have to do everything myself
I’ve also learned some truisms that are surprisingly consistent:
Don’t assume people know. Tell them. “Of course they know how to play Monopoly” Except they don’t and the lack of understanding disrupts the game play.
The brightest people only shine in the right circumstances. A candle is nothing next to the sun but it might as well be the sun in a dark cave.
Money does not buy happiness… directly. In a world where skills and resources are siloed and not universally available money buys skills and resources. For example, money won’t buy happiness unless happiness is defined as a clean house and money buys housekeeping as a service. See also, working car and car repair; happy tummy and food; and mental health and therapy services.
Overall, my journey into tech is just beginning and has been well worth the cost. Oh, the cost! I haven’t outlined that yet.
Time - translating . To get started I had to translate my existing skillset into language that tech recruiters understood.
Time - upskilling. I added skills to my tool belt. I studied and earned an AWS Solutions Architect certification. This is how I got the interview for my awesome job now. To be clear— I am not an architect! I am analyst which is more of a lift and shift of skill set. When my manager interviewed me they saw that I was a better fit for an analyst role.
Fear of the unknown. Changing careers cost me the fear of the unknown. I had to move forward with the information I had. Sometimes the only information I had was “I' have seen this want this” an that had to be enough.
Money. Literally there was a financial cost for me. I paid for the certifications, I paid to have my resume rewritten, I paid for therapy for years. There are a few free certs and resume writing is a skill that can be learned but I don’t have it and at the time, didn’t have the mental space to get it. I’m forever grateful to Brittany at Rebrand Career Consulting for their input and advice.
Ultimately, my life has changed tremendously and I’m only just beginning.