Pivoting? In This Economy?
My pivot plan in this new economy.
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When is it a good time to pivot in my career?” That is entirely up to you, your life, your finances, and your goals. Many of you may be wondering.. “Are you currently pivoting Tara?” – The answer is “YES”.
For the last 6 years, I have worked in the film industry in Atlanta. It has been very challenging and rewarding at the same time. When I first joined the industry, I mapped out a plan to get back in school, finish my degree, and pivot deeper into the tech field. Even with all of life’s hiccups (COVID19, actor’s strike, writer’s strike, AND a potential strike with my own union at the forefront), I made it through and have had a pretty successful career in a short amount of time. BUT I truly believe you should always be upskilling and making yourself someone that can’t be replaced. With the onset of AI, jobs being outsourced overseas, and jobs just outright disappearing due to advancements in technology, I knew I wanted to position myself correctly when the tides started to change. So I hit the lab, SEVERELY.
As of today:
I got my associate’s degree in business with a cybersecurity focus. Paid for by my film union just for being an active member.
I researched DAILY.. Different careers, skills needed, day in the life, education and experience required, and a complete roadmap to get from point A to point B. My goal was to take myself from a field technician (basically what I do in the film industry) and make myself a data center technician to begin my new tech journey. After speaking with a few data center technicians + critical environment technicians, I knew this is where I could start to get where I wanted to ultimately be. Most of the DCT job postings are looking for people with a few certs and electrical/HVAC/plumbing experience with on the job training being given once hired.
Had to add: my goal was cyber at first but the more I researched, the more I needed to KNOW networking BEFORE touching cyber. And I also needed networking before cloud. That networking foundational knowledge is EVERYTHING.
In the midst of all of that research, I transferred my credits to WGU to complete my 4 year degree. I should be done in about 3-4 semesters with a degree BS in Cloud & Network Engineering (started as Network Engineering and Security but swapped when the new major opened up because it aligned with my career path more). WGU is self paced, DYOR.
My ultimate goal is to become a Network Security Engineer OR a Cloud Security Engineer (probably start with the former and end up working my way into the latter)… so back to the books I go. Does this career path require a degree? Nope. Just a few certs and A LOT of hard work. Do I want the degree anyway? YES. Will I be sending out resumes and making that pivot long before I graduate? Yes. Every step counts and the data centers are where I will be starting. This may not be the path for everyone and it may not be as easy as it sounds. I have a background in electrical wiring (6+ years) and have experience working with the very equipment they use in those data centers. I’m just getting up to date on the software being used and the objective of the tasks at hand.
I know a few of you follow me on Twitter and have seen how aggressive I’ve been about these free Oracle certs (link here). I currently have 5 new Oracle certs & I’m working on #6 right now.
OCI Foundations Associate
OCI AI Foundations Associate
Oracle Data Platforms Associate
OCI Generative AI Professional
OCI Multicloud Architect Professional
OCI Observability Professional (currently studying for this exam)
I did not come to play this year. When I set my eyes on something, that is exactly what I am going to get. Why Oracle? Because it is FREE. I have a complete plan and roadmap that I put on pause to maximize this Oracle opportunity. The cloud is VERY important to our future. Data needs to be stored. And I see the writing on the wall. So I am planning my route accordingly.
So you ask… “pivoting… in this economy?” – yes, this is like the last chopper out of Vietnam. Do not be fooled. Take a good long look at your job/career. Do you believe it will survive the next 10 years? I asked myself that in 2020 and never looked back. I showed up in the present while still planning meticulously for my future. A life behind the laptop won out over a life in the field.
Education is the most important thing right now. If you have a good education and some street smarts, you will make it and thrive. If not, get familiar with UBI. Pivot while you can. While you still have savings and a means of getting money. Even if you don’t have either of the two, use some of those free searches on ChatGPT and other LLMs to help you reverse engineer a path for yourself. Plug your current work into it and ask it what recession/pandemic/AI proof industries you can pivot to with your skills. Then ask it what licenses, certs, or education you need to get into higher paying jobs than the one you currently work. Work overtime if you have to. Get a 2nd job. Do whatever you can to better your education and make yourself damn near irreplaceable. Play around with a few questions and get a feel of the direction you need to head in.
THEN JUST MAKE MOVES. DO NOT HESITATE, YOU WILL GET LEFT BEHIND.
Pivot while others still ponder the thought of pivoting. While everyone is still saying “there are no jobs out there”. The jobs are there, the waves have just changed directions. Follow the money. Stack on.