I started working in IT while in the military (1972) where I
first trained in
electronics for a general background because back then
we would actually
troubleshoot using an oscilloscope, down to a faulty
component e.g. a transistor
and then solder a replacement onto the circuit board.
If you made it through the electronics portion, which
about fifty percent of my
class washed out, then you would proceed to the second
phase where you were
trained on a specific type of equipment. My advanced
training was as a “Digital
Subscriber Terminal Equipment Repairman”.
A CPU was about the size of a refrigerator and we used
punched paper tape or
cards to input data (Top secret encrypted messages) to be
sent via satellite from
Vietnam to the Pentagon for instance.
Jump ahead a few years and now I am a civilian doing a
ten year gig as a tech
working in a typesetting business where we used various
Compugraphic machines
to set the type for some high brow publications like “The
Journal Of American
History” and “American Math Monthly”. Again it was paper
tape input and galleys
were produced on a film strip that would be cut up and
pasted along with headlines
and graphics to produce a finished page to be sent to the
printers.
Then Apple, Aldus and Adobe had a better idea which
over a period of years
changed the Typographical trade entirely and killed the
shop that I worked for. I
hated Apple understandably.
Over the next fifteen years I operated my own business
which had nothing to do
with computers but it paid the bills and I liked the work
which was providing
maintenance services to commercial property owners.
At some point during the mid-nineties I needed to
provide my two children with a
computer and internet so despite my feelings about Apple
I went ahead and
purchased a Performa because DOS and Win95 did not
favorably impress me.
I started to play around with the computer because
someone had to be able to
repair things when problems arose. I was absolutely
enthralled with the little
machine and used it in my business to do bookkeeping
and to explore the world
wide web.
As the millennium drew to a close my wife became very ill
and a move from
Wisconsin to Arizona was in order for her health. So I just
walked away from my
business and moved to the desert.
While in Arizona things conspired against me and I ended
up taking a job with a
local Internet service working the help desk. This was
pretty weird because I didn’t
really know anything about Windows or the technology
behind the Internet like
TCP/IP but I managed to keep my fellow employees from
finding out my short
comings by listening to their conversations with the
customers and figuring things
out on the fly.
I actually was pretty good at troubleshooting connection
problems over the phone
and my clients loved me for my patience and ability to
work through a situation to
a successful conclusion while maintaining a cheerful
disposition and joking around
while franticly trying to figure out what had happened to
their dial up connection
over some of the worst POTS lines in the country.
Stick with me we’re almost there. So after five years in AZ
with three on the help
desk my wife passed away from the illness that had
plagued her, asthma. Not
having any reason to stay in AZ I moved back to WI where
I found work with
another Internet service provider working the help desk
again.
Somewhat less than a year had passed and I could see
that I was not going
anywhere with this company so I applied for a posted
position with the local school
district. I wasn’t hired for that position but about a year
later I was hired when they
posted the same position that I applied for previously and
this time I got the nod.
I have been with the school district for about three years
now. I am the guy who
actually goes out and deals with the clients (teachers) and
puts his hands on the
equipment. I support the many thousands of students,
teachers and administrators
throughout the twenty schools in the district, pretty much
on my own.
We have a few programmers, a server admin, a network
admin, a software guru and
a secretary who keeps track of everything from phone
calls, to e-mail, to my job
tickets in helpdesk. I am the hardware guy who keeps the
nearly 5000 computers
and well over three hundred printers going, usually
without any help from the
others. I do have a few interns that work for the summer
with me to clean, upgrade
and image the computers so that they are all set for the
coming school year.
After working for about eighteen months on my own, with
little to no training,
having had three evaluations that I would describe as very
good – excellent, I was
informed that the reason that I am not eligible for a raise
is because I do not
possess the required certifications. All salaries are based
on education and
certifications.
I took this entry level job at twelve ($12.00) dollars per
hour thinking that through
my displayed proficiency, work ethic, experience,
knowledge, skills and abilities I
would be recognized as a valued asset to the district and
promotions and salary
raises would follow.
What a joke! My five years in the military doesn’t count
for anything. My ten years
working in publishing or typography doesn’t count for
anything because that
technology has died like the dinosaurs. My five years
doing helpdesk doesn’t
command any respect although it got me in the door.
So I bit the bullet and went out to get those certifications
that are related to what
my job functions are so that I can earn more than a
teenage working the weekends
at one of the local fast food, “Have it your way!” burger
joints.
Remember that after my initial training in the military, I
am pretty much self taught
in everything else. I am proficient in Mac OS 7-10.5 as
well as Windows 95 through
XP operating systems or workstations including Apple’s
office products and MS
Office including 2003 but not 2007 or Vista so much. So
parts of the exams I am
able to ace but other parts I may only know very little on
the subject because it
wasn’t in the scope of what I was doing in my job.
Bottom line, I went for and passed A+ Enterprise this past
July, in my first attempt.
The end of September I passed Network+ first try even
though I have never actually
worked as a network tech. I am certified by Apple as well,
even though I have never
worked for an “Authorized Apple Service Provider.”
Here is the punch line. Next month I will be terminated
because the school district
can not afford the $12.00 per hour that I am being paid
and I will not be hired
back because the financial situation is so bleak for the
next few years placing the
district millions in debt.
So now I ask you: what is the best course for me to take
from here? How do I ever put this in a resume and have it
display in a positive light? How will I over come the age
thing? Should I get Linux+ or Security+ or really put my
brain to the test and go for something like CCNA, CCIP or
whatever? What do you suggest?
I apologize for the long rant. Your thoughts are
appreciated.
