22 karma · joined April 12, 2017
I'm now doing sysadmin work, and do a little bit of scripting here and there while working on teaching myself Python and C. Do you have any advice to avoid the kind of anthropomorphic thinking you mentioned your coworker does? The last thing I want to do is learn the "wrong way" and potentially struggle to rethink how to code.
I'm 30, and am essentially starting life over after finishing my military enlistment a couple years ago. all the experience of setting up shops and drafting reports meant nothing with out a degree. So I start working on my degree, and I am absolutely miserable. My love of learning was sucked out of me because I wasn't learning: I was working towards an extra line on my resume.
Right now, I am in a jr. sysadmin position making minimum wage, but I was selected for a SANS scholarship where they pay for your GSEC, GCIH, and one elective cert. My friend bought me a decent laptop, so I could experiment on virtual machines. Another registered me for the NCL so I could access their gyms to spread my legs a bit with more powerful tools. I READ SECURITY WHITEPAPERS FOR FUN NOW. I love trying to figure out how to best balance company workflow and security best practices.
I know at the end, that the three certs are not going to make me a SME, but at the very least I hope that this particular extra line on my resume can help get my foot in the door somewhere I can be mentored and develop my base. A salary that can actually pay my bills would be nice too.
Then I read articles like this, and wonder if I'm going to be sidelined again. I feel like at that point, my life is worthless.