My Career Pivot.. Part 2

Don’t give up. If you do, your dreams die.

My life has been a pretty crazy journey since we last spoke..

I was knee deep in interviews, fielding offers, learning about new jobs I could apply for that I never heard before, and figuring out my way through this career pivot from working in the film industry.

For those that don’t know, up until recently, I was a full time worker in the film industry. But the jobs started to dwindle, checks started to get smaller, and calls for work started to come less and less. So I got to thinking, with my skills, what industry can I find another place in? Something more stable, essential/mission critical, and with a better work life balance.

The bible says “ask and you shall receive!”... I’m proud to say I have accepted an offer in a new position at a new company!! I’m going to keep the details minimal for privacy and NDA reasons but just know I got exactly what I wanted and more. My dream job and some. Thank you GOD. Oh and listen to my homegirl Beez, tech will change your life!

I spent the majority of my summer focusing on Data Center Technician roles and applied to those exclusively. As I continued deeper in my research black hole, I learned of other roles within the space and other companies in alignment with data centers (vendors and contractors) and I applied to every job posting I could find. This led to me talking to a lot of recruiters about my skills, what I had to offer, and what each job entailed. After about 3 weeks of interviewing, and a few weeks of waiting after, I had many rejections and a good number of job offers. I chose the one with the best work-life balance, pay (including signing bonus), and benefits package.. In that order. I don’t want to be at work every single day, with unknown hours like I’m used to in the film industry. Now I have more predictable hours, work less, and make more. This allows me to focus on school for the most part. Win win situation.

Things That Helped Me Along The Way

• Using my current skillset to apply to a new industry: If you’re a teacher with years of experience, why not lean on those skills when job hunting? You don’t have to be a teacher again if you don’t want to, but you can use what you learned on the job to apply it to another industry. I did this. I catered my resume to the jobs I was applying to by highlighting the skills I already had. Examples of this are things like “documentation”, “knows how to use xyz”.

• Reddit: I used Reddit like a bible and Google search engine in one. This allowed me to focus on my industry, find people interviewing for the same jobs (or already interviewed), and get endless tips on what to expect in my interviews and what each job role entailed. Look for subs for specific companies (Example: amazonjobs), specific industries (Example: datacenter), or resume help. I used subs from every company I had an interview with and these helped me prep for the interview that eventually led to offers.

• Use LinkedIn to find recruiters and people working at the companies you are applying to (bonus if in the roles you want to be in as well): I lived on LinkedIn this summer. I spent the majority of my time following recruiters and looking into their posts to see what jobs they were pushing to hire for the most. I kept this industry specific to my industry but this can work for you as well. Recruiters get paid to fill those jobs. So find recruiters working for the companies you’re applying to and get friendly with them. Shoot them your resume. Get on the phone with them and explain your skills and what you’re looking for. Don’t be surprised if they push you towards a position you initially didn’t apply for. They fill the roles all of the time and know what these companies are looking for. Use them to your advantage!

• Youtube: Brush up on your interview skills, learn how to get through the behavioral portion of your interview (they want to know if you’re likeable and easy to work with). Search for information for whatever field you’re in and get familiar with how they run interviews. You can never know enough when it comes to this stuff. You want to practice enough to put your mind at ease so you can interview without all of the nerves.

Good luck to anyone hunting for a job in this market. It isn’t easy at all. But it can be done with a lot of consistency and determination. FSO TEE OUT. I have a lot of studying to do.