Wow, I haven't made a post on here in a long time! I feel bad about it because I love the community. That said, since my life is more stable and I am sure of where I want to go next, I want to document my progress and hopefully make new friends on here.
I'll catch you up
Believe it or not, the post I made about a company trying to use AI to interview me got me my job!
After so many job applications on Dice, LinkedIn, Indeed, etc, I decided to go back to the drawing board and evaluate what wasn't working. I posted about my frustrations on Facebook and someone messaged me who was a Senior Recruiter to give me advice. I remade my resume: used a simpler template, utilized AI to help me with recreating my bullet points ( Gemini is much better than Chat GPT in that regard in my experience), used that as a base resume, then when I read job descriptions, I tweaked the resume , pressed Save As for a separate file of the modified resume, then I applied directly through company websites-- even sites with the dreaded WorkDay.
I applied to 47 companies in one week and 8 of them called me back.
For each interview, I looked at their company website, studied it, then went to Gemini to help me prepare for an interview using the STAR Method. The first interview was fantastic ( interviewer ended up being my direct manager)! She said she chose me because she could tell I did my research on the company. The second interview, wasn't even an interview. He was a cool and funny older guy, that told me he looked me up ( folks, please be careful about social media, some companies really do care about it). I have very few public posts on my FB page, but I did link the post I mentioned earlier and left it open for everyone to share.
He said once he read my post, he knew he wanted me on the team, especially since their company had been beta testing for AI for about a year or so. That following Monday, I was offered a job, with my pay being almost TWICE what I was paid at my last employer. From January of 2024, it took me a total of 4 months to find a new gig. I consider myself extremely lucky but I am happy that I put in as much as much energy as I did.
How is work going?
I was hired as an IT Analyst (Desktop Support, basically) and at first, it was quite difficult. I am a very resourceful person, but there were so many proprietary applications and the knowledge base could use some work. I don't think my trainer was doing it on purpose, but he would give instructions but leave out critical steps, which lead me to ask a MILLION more questions and he would look at me like I was stupid for having so many questions.
Again, I am resourceful. I began reaching out to other team members and searching through chat for answers. I then had 3 people that would guide me through steps and were willing to even jump on a phone call to help if need be. This was growth for someone with social anxiety, but I knew if I wanted to be great at my job, I'd need to step out of my comfort zone and network.
Challenges can make or break you
A few months in, I was assigned to a department that I was not familiar with because the main tech was on vacation. I barely knew anything about Macs and that particular floor had mostly Mac users. The other tech was a new contractor that didn't know much either, but I made it through. Then, they assigned me to that department again! The main tech gave me his number and I called whenever I needed help, making sure to write down every thing he said in One Note. I didn't know it back then, but the main tech LOVED that I had a million questions and wanted to learn everything I possibly could.
The contractor quit. I had to handle that station by myself and I was so proud that I figured out everything by myself based on the notes I made. Because the contractor left, there was an open spot, however, I was told that they were going to ask my trainer to fill the spot, since he was there 6 months or so longer than I. About a week later, I was told I was being promoted to Senior IT Analyst! The main tech advocated for me and said he thought I would be a great fit for the position, especially since I was curious about how everything works. I didn't even have to interview for the position!
During my 5 months as a Senior IT Analyst, I've worked with PCs and Macs, learned asset management, created my own scripts to update computers as needed, replaced hardware parts, and collaborated with the Network Engineering team to fix an issue I discovered that affected more than half of the employees in the building. I've networked my butt off since I get to meet people from various departments and now I'm comfortable enough to say I would love to continue my journey to become a Machine Learning Engineer. I know that I will not be making a jump into this role 5 months in like I did my current one, but I am STOKED to learn.
So what's the goal now?
Well, my focus is going to be learning Python first -- I'll be using Codecademy for structured learning and I am also reading Automate The Boring Stuff With Python (great book so far!). Every project I complete on Codecademy, I go back and see how I can improve my script and it's capabilities. I'll be using Dev.To , to record my progress, frustrations and success!
I'd love to hear about any advice you have or if you have any questions about what I did in my job search, feel free to ask! See you later <3
Top comments (0)