Success stories!

Okay, this is going to sound like a very self-indulgent post, but here goes.

Around three years ago, I worked selling concrete slabs. Don't get me wrong, I was very good at it. I had a territory that turned over £5.4 million a year and the customers all liked me (it wasn't a nagging kind of sales job!). I wasn't paid commission (not surprising on those turnover figures) and the basic salary wasn't great. I was one of a stream of Skillstrain 'customers' but I have always been determined to make the most out of what was, in hindsight, a large outlay for what you get in return. That is the benefit of hindsight, but it's also another story for another thread

Needless to say, I thought this job was a little dead-endy. The sales manager thought I'd make a great sales manager one day, but she couldn't help but point out incredibly frequently my lack of confidence and self esteem, which has hindered me throughout my life in doing public speaking, presenting, even speaking out in a group (online doesn't count, I tend to be a LOT better at writing than I am at speaking ). Needless to say, her constantly pointing out my shortcomings didn't help them one iota. I'd been looking for a way out for a while, and I saw a career in IT as 'that way out'.

As I said, I already had the A+ under my belt, and got to tinker around a little at helping the IT at my place as the lady who looked after things knew I was enthusiastic, and knew my way around hardware. Then she left, wasn't replaced, and the IT was mainly handled by our parent company which dried up my opportunities to help out.

We kept in contact, and one of our constant jokes was that she would "come back and help me escape". About six months after she left, we exchanged this joke, and she asked me via email if I was serious. I said I was, and she gave me her manager's email addy - they were looking for a trainee first line bod.

I was nervous and tentative about applying. As I said, my confidence wasn't high; why would a law firm want to risk hiring a sales person as their IT tech? Regardless, I couldn't let up the opportunity to see what would happen. According to my uncle, I've always appeared to be a 'death or glory' kind of person...

Anywho, I sent off my CV, and I was absolutely gobsmacked when I was invited to interview. Not only that, but they had no intentions of hiring me for the junior helpdesk role - she thought my history in customer service put me strong enough to interview for the supervisor role.

The big day came, and the first interview was mainly soft-skillsy. They were basically finding out about my personality (the "how would your friends describe you" / "what are your strengths and weaknesses" / why do you want this job" questions). One of the questions was 'are you nervous right now'. I never lie - I said yes, I'm incredibly nervous. They said that was great, I didn't appear nervous, and that's an important trait when everything's breaking and clients need answers . They also pointed out I was obviously nice and a bit meek and quiet - would I cope with loud shouty people. Hmm.

Anywho, I was invited back for second interview, and this time it was more technical. It was with the IT manager and a member of the board. The board person said they knew of my company, and its successful record and progression, so why did I want to leave so I had to think on my feet for that one. The manager went over the infrastructure, I was asked about what the CompTIA A+ was (the manager pretended to never have heard of it) and how it would assist me in 'hitting the ground running' so to speak.

I was kept waiting, I think, 2 weeks after the second interview, but I got the job. And after 6 months successful probation, I became the Helpdesk lead.

So that's my 'success story'. Sure, the A+ and the Network+ (which I obtained around 9 months in to the job) may not have been a required ingredient, but the A+ did come up in my interview. And two and a half years later, I'm second line (well, first to third line really!) and still a supervisor, with bucketloads of confidence (enough to join a bloody committee! lol!) and looking forward to my career and all the sleepless nights that entails.

Oh, and if your manager ever offers you a company Blackberry never, ever, ever accept it

HTH.