In my quest to find a job doing what I love I have come across some bumps but, who hasn’t. No one said that this road was going to be straight and narrow nor did I expect it to be. But I have to forge on. Now, having the willingness to stick to a problem is key but a person (me!) could spend months driving up and down the same block over and over again looking for a house that in a different town. This means we need new direction. Looking at the certifcate that I was studying for I thought “why not take a practice test to gauge where I am at?”. So to udemy I went searching for a practice test, I had thought “I have been studying, this should be a piece of cake”. Truthfully I had been studying on and off since the dream job blog from about a month ago. So I had seen the information prior “Couldn’t be that bad” I thought.
A little background on the test prior to moving on. So, the exam is 40-60 questions and is about an hour long. The most important part is that you need to score an 80 or Higher to pass! (if you are reading this and thinking that he’s wrong. You are kinda right, on Microsofts website they say closer to 70%, for this instance I am going off the practice exams on udemy) So naturally off the rip I thought 65-75%, nothing crazy.
A pause to pay respects to one of the dumbest ideas I think I have ever had.
Alrighty then so, what was it what did I score? I had gotten a 47 out of 100. We are about to go on an extremely long walk to illustrate a point that might not even make sense to you so just hang in there. After looking at the test grade I smiled and chuckled a bit. I was happy. This was exactly what I need to get back in gear. After graduating in March and applying and reaching out and writing every week. It all felt like the same to me, just plugging away, grinding at the same stone over and over again. Even goals that I had set seemed pointless. However, becoming a technical consultant at my dream company Microsoft moved the needle on the gauge. The wheels started to turn, I felt like I was in school again. A little off balance but motivated to learn. I would study in what felt like a vacuum, zero checks and balances. So to me it felt like I was on fire. If I was playing Halo I would have a killionaire (if ya know, ya know … ya know?). But lurking around the corner was reality and his gravity hammer. Taking this test gave me some balance, much needed I might add. I know that this isn’t a revelation to anyone, that someone who is new at something thinks that there great at it but, it really nice to see a practical example of what Dunning and Kruger were talking about! So now what? Failing this test not only game me more balance in my thinking but, a bucket of motivation. This Failure game me a reason to pick up the gloves and get back in the ring.
This is the first time professionally in my life, when a failure is working in my favor. I am not sure if I am too old to pout or just old enough to be excited about this! If you are trying to learn something difficult and your crushing it, take a deep breath and try it out. I promise you, you will still be crushing it in the end!
Thanks, Mike
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