Carolina Otakus Podcast
We all know that being an otaku can be fun and exciting. But we also know that there are certain questions and topics that otaku's ask just because they can. "Is Goku a dead beat father? Or Does the intro music to an anime make it better? AfroSly and LexyTheNoob will answer these questions and more on Carolina Otaku's Podcast. If you enjoy gaming, tech and anime then Carolina Otaku's is right for you. So give us a listen.
Carolina Otakus Podcast
Mastering Tech Certifications and Embracing Furry Friends
Ever thought about taking the leap into the tech industry, but felt daunted by where to start? Or maybe you're a pet lover, curious about the realities of pet ownership? Join us on a journey with our special guest, Lexi, who navigates us through these two seemingly unrelated topics with humor and candor. From tackling her A Plus certification to her hilarious cat-sitting adventures, this episode is packed with real-life experiences.
Shifting into the tech field may seem intimidating, but as Lexi shares her inspiring career journey from humble beginnings to a cybersecurity position, it's evident that persistence pays off. We also dive into the nitty-gritty of obtaining tech certifications, detailing the costs, available courses, and proctors for exams. Lexi even warns us about potential pitfalls, a nugget of wisdom only someone who's been there could provide.
But it's not all tech talks! We engage in a fun yet enlightening discussion about pet ownership and why pet insurance is essential. We hear about Lexi's experiences cat sitting, her insights are both hilarious and relatable. We then explore the unprecedented remote work opportunities and free education programs brought about by Covid-19, and how thinking outside the box can land you a tech job in unexpected sectors like MedTech or even gaming platforms. This episode is not just for the tech enthusiasts but also for anyone considering a career shift or curious about pet ownership. Prepare to be enlightened, entertained, and perhaps even inspired to take new leaps.
https://www.carolinaotakus.com/
Now, hello and welcome back to another episode of the Carolina Utaku podcast. I am Afro and I am here with Lexi. Thank you for coming back again. It's greatly appreciated how we start things off. I think a lot of people are actually going to like this episode. We kind of went, we kind of gracefully skimmed over this topic before, but we're going to get a little bit more in depth about it. But before we actually get into that, let's just start out with Lexi. What's been going on with you and what have you been up to?
Speaker 2:Hey guys, welcome back. We missed you Lately. The last two weeks I've been in the process of moving, so next time you probably see me my background will be a lot different. I'm actually moving to a house where I can have my own little office, so it's going to be awesome. I should have a lot of stuff hung up on the walls, kind of like aphoros. Then also, I finally passed my fucking A plus certification. Yay, Yay, Right. So it's been like the bane of my existence since I've been in tech. I'm not even going to lie to you, and it's not like it's a really hard exam, it's just one of those ones I was like I'm never going to pass this and I would either pass the first half and not go back and do the second half, or I would just fail the first half by a few questions and not do it. But this time I've passed both. So now I am officially A plus certified. So there you go.
Speaker 1:Very, very nice round of applause for Lexi for passing that. I know those shits are not easy at all and a lot of people want to do it, but a lot of people don't follow through with it. So congratulations, Congratulations, Pharoah. What number is this for certification?
Speaker 2:Number five.
Speaker 1:Five certs, your niggas behind man, people behind five of them, things. But but still, congratulations on that and, yeah, congrats. I know that's not easy at all. So, yeah, for me nothing, nothing really new, just working, and just just really working, you know thinking you're not going to tell us about cat sitting.
Speaker 1:No, cats are cool If you got it. Look, if you have a cat, congrats. They're OK. They are self sufficient to a certain extent, but one cat is cool. Two cats is crazy. When you have two cats and they basically Two cats just shit all the time. They just shit all the time. Cat boxes Look, man, it's. It's not for the faint of heart. I rather have a dog. They do their business outside and all I got to do is just, you know, get a dog, get a poop bag and just use the poop bag, pick it up and just throw it away. Little box with the little box. You really have to go through steps.
Speaker 1:I know a lot of people might say, well, it's easy, but I'm just like, I don't know about that. You got the cat hair after I was done. I was vacuuming everything, I was washing stuff, just to get rid of this cat hair. You know, like I said, if you have cats, more power to you. I know you probably love that cat and that cat is self-sufficient as hell. You know how. They really probably don't give two shits about you, but you feed them and they come up to you when they're hungry. So, yeah, congrats for that. But no, that's, that's not. That's not as as what what people say. That's not my ministry. So I have a dog and she's enough, so she caused enough at that also.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, cats sitting was cool, but you know it's not for the fan of heart. So if somebody is like I want you to watch my cat, you know, make sure it's a loved one. If it ain't a loved one, don't be watching somebody else's cat. No, don't do it. Don't do it. They're going to be scratching up shit. They're going to be rubbing against shit like, and just leaving cat hair everywhere and cat litter after they use the bathroom just ends up on the floor and Not worth it. Don't even do it.
Speaker 1:So you know one cat. So I had. I was watching my sister's cats when his name Baloo, and the other one is named Keanu. Keanu wasn't hiding the whole time but came out to use the bathroom and eat. Baloo was the one who was jumping on beds, jumping on the windows, sitting in the window.
Speaker 1:Seals like like some real, like anime cat shit. You know it's like sunny outside the windows. Up cat has one paw like hanging and the other ones on the window Like real shit, like that. You know what I mean it was actually really cool. All I needed was like some lo-fi beats behind that shit and it would have been like an amazing, an amazing visual.
Speaker 1:Like I said, I live out in the country, so like all you hear is like bugs and shit in the background, country, and it's a cat like just chilling in a window cell, dope as fuck. Like I said, lo-fi, like a motherfucker, if you, instead of that raccoon I love that raccoon I got, I got a raccoon right here. But if, if, if they would have changed that, make them a fucker cat just sitting in the window seal, that'd be great. But yeah, they've been cool. They were cool, very friendly, not like standoffish or anything, but, like I said, it's not for the faint of heart at all. So be prepared to deal with that shit. If you're thinking about getting the cat or kitten, really think about that shit. You know what. We're just going to take this first part of the episode to. Just I'm just going to bring this shit down for y'all. If you have a pet, you know. If you're thinking about getting your pet, get pet insurance. I don't have that shit Because you never know. Yeah, you should definitely get it.
Speaker 1:No, I still didn't get it because I actually need to see my job does it. But get pet insurance have you should already already have money saved if you can, because if you have a pet you never know what can happen. You can go to the vet in a vet bill. They could tell you a vet bill is like 200. Like the first initial shit they hang in the piece of paper. Oh yeah, it's like 200 bucks. Right, let's check up all that shit, everything. And then it's like, oh man, we checked the pet insurance. We need to check if we saw something. That bitch trying to 600 fucking dollars Because you didn't go into that motherfucker expecting that at all. So, yeah, you know, just have that money set.
Speaker 1:Medicine costs, all that shit costs food. Pet food is crazy. If you can make it yourself, you can make it yourself. If you can't, then you can't, but you're going to have to take it. I know people who you know living out here.
Speaker 1:Some people don't take their dogs to the vet and stuff until actually something happens. That's not the right way to do. That. It's not because if you, as a human being, you shouldn't go to the doctors when it's like, oh, there's something that's, you should go to the doctors, but you know you can't go to the doctor. You should go to the doctors, but also you should go, you know, just for your checkups and shit, because it's necessary. Same thing for an animal. So you know, if you want to get an animal, think about it, think about the type of person you are, think about the type of energy you have and think about how active you are and just think about your personality before you just go out and get any type of dog. If you know you're a real, true motherfucker, the last thing you need is a very energetic dog. Unless you want the energetic dog to get you out and about, then go for it. But you can't tame an energetic dog or a dog that's energetic, and you can't tame that because that energy is always going to be there. Some breeds just have that spunky energy to them. So just be prepared, you know, take your time to think about it. Think about the vet bills. Just think about the vet bills. That's all I got to say. You think about those. That should make you change your mind Big time, big time. Thank you.
Speaker 1:As Lexi said, she received another certification and I've gotten this question a lot working in tech, you know people that want to get into it because what they're doing right now isn't what they really want to do, or it's not enjoyable, or they're not getting the compensation that they want and they are living some check type shit. So, you know, in this episode we are actually going to be kind of doing like a mini interview with Lexi to kind of just understand what made her go in this route of going for the certifications, which certifications? What made her choose a certification that she wanted to go for, and also kind of just going in just seeing how her roots, or her root of getting knows. How does she learn? What does she do to learn? And if there was, if there were other things that she could do, if she could go back and do it over again, would there be things that she would have done different to save time or also money, if it ever came to that?
Speaker 2:So hold on. Let me like preference this, by the way. So like I get that question a lot too, especially when, like I post up a new cert, I want to preference this. I know everyone sees on TikTok hey, break it to tag, it's so easy.
Speaker 1:Yada, yada, yada but it's just fucking cool as fuck.
Speaker 2:And this episode. I'm definitely going to break that down because it's definitely not like that. You're not going to get this certification and then, wham bam thank you, ma'am make six figures. It's not going to happen, like if it does, you probably know somebody that knows somebody to get you this job, because it's not typical. So we're going to break that all down because I'm tired of people asking me how to get an attack and we have these high expectations because we saw this TikTok and want to be like oh yeah, breaking the tech is so easy. Y'all don't do anything, y'all made six figures. No, no, no, no, no. I know somebody now that's going from being a cop to trying to break in the tech and I am trying to break this to him. I'm like it's easier to be in a cop, but you need to have these expectations when you're trying to break it.
Speaker 1:Like I said, this is going to be, you know, ask questions to Lexi. But like I'm in tech also, like I have a B of degree and CIS and just starting out out the gate, like I was in a basically a call center, taking phone calls literally every day for at least three years until I got tired of it and that shit is not for the faint of heart I came in.
Speaker 2:I came in.
Speaker 1:I remember coming into that first corporate job. I came in with five people.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:Like the group that I came in with.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:By the end I say of one or two. No, I was the only one.
Speaker 2:I was the only person left, but yeah, so like that's my similar going into as well. So like for me, I worked at Verizon for like almost eight years. Like I left it like a month shy of my eighth year and I came in with like at least 20 something people, I think. When I left there was probably like three or four of us left. So like that shit is not for the faint of heart. I don't even know how I did it that long.
Speaker 1:I've seen these cry. I've seen mother because I've seen people cry.
Speaker 2:I used to see the paramedics at least once, twice a week. You have people like passing out, like all kinds of stuff. It's like, yeah, we're going to break that down because I'm like, yes, so if you're going in to tech and you have no experience, no knowledge of the industry, then you're more likely going to be starting out at the help desk, which means that you're probably going to be on the phone talking to somebody. So that is not for the faint of heart at all. It is very stressful because you're dealing with so many, so many things. You got to deal with customers and coworkers and supervisor. It's just a lot.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, Was your first joint was actually in office, right.
Speaker 2:Yes, I worked at Verizon. Yeah, I worked at the corporate office down here In office.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I worked for Charles Schwab. At the time I was working with, like, they had an application called portfolio center at the time it was basically just a reconciling application I dealt with.
Speaker 1:The people who were on these phone calls were people who were basically handling multi-million dollar accounts for like they were advisors and they needed to get their data All that data reconciled and two reports. Sometimes it would be in a certain timeframe. Some people need to get Stonion data into the application. Some people just need to help with just installing on a hosting environment Not even installing, but getting into our hosting environment or also just installing on a fucking server like a 2012 R2. You know what I mean. If you don't know what the fuck I'm talking about, be prepared. But a 2012 R2 Windows server. You know what I mean. It's just you never know what was behind that phone call. It could be at their most, worst point in that day. Piss the fuck off. And the funny thing is they can hear if you're green, they can hear that shit. Right, the fucking way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, fucking Well, you got to fake it to make it. Okay, fake it to fucking make it and make sure you sound confident as hell. You may not know anything that they say about sound confident. The second you don't sound confident. They're going to try to break you down.
Speaker 1:Eat you the fucking live. It was to the point where, where I worked that we so we would get, we would get the way we use the. We use the phone, sir, a phone program called Siebel oldest fuck, and Siebel you would. It'll tell you the name of the client and I'll tell you the number. Really like it would rotate. So it didn't go like, oh, this person got this call, so this person going to get this call. You can get right off of a call and get another one right after right after.
Speaker 1:So, based on some numbers, we knew people that have been there for a certain amount of time. You knew numbers right away because you knew the people who were behind that shit automatically and they and people and the people that they, the people that you work with that have been there for a certain amount of time, they could tell you they'd be like oh, is that Steve? Yeah, he usually knows what he wants to do. If you don't know what he wants to do, he's going to chew you, to fuck out. Sometimes it'll just be like just transfer on to me and I'll handle it. Yeah, just just bring him over to me, I'll handle it, you know. And then sometimes you might just get the mom and pop, you know, like advisors and they're the nicest people and all you got to do is just be kind of nice and you get the review. The review comes in good, manager finds that out, and you know you get the most shit.
Speaker 1:But when you get into this shit you're going to start there Like. I know I'm not. We're not saying this because I know a lot of people know this already, but you just don't. You know you don't come in at one and just go straight to fucking nine.
Speaker 2:Right, you have to start from the like, you have to start from the bottom.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You have to.
Speaker 1:And fuck your experience that you have already If you don't have it.
Speaker 2:I wouldn't say that, depending on what your experience is, it can tie in, like if you have like customer servers or retail experience, you know how to handle that because you already deal with those kind of customers. You just got to translate it into tech language. But even when you're starting at the bottom, the only way you're starting at anywhere at the middle is, like if you have already completed like a bunch of certs, and I mean like you got your networking, your security, all that kind of stuff, then you might start in the middle. Maybe, or you have this you know super Durban's degree, or you have this super advanced knowledge of this system that's like really archaic or old and not a lot of people know. Then you might, you know, start up a little bit higher at the chain. But for most people that are coming in, you're going to be starting at like that entry level role, that help desk service, desk tech support type of role, which there is nothing wrong with that, because those roles starting out do make more than a lot of different roles that you know where you start out in different fields.
Speaker 2:Like I think when I started at Verizon, this was like 2011. I started out right after college. I was working at Walmart and I was making like $9. No, it was like yeah, it was $9 there. And then I got to Verizon and I'm making $13 an hour, but this is back in like 2011. So Things are good, things are totally Right. Right, and then, like well, when I left, I was making like over 22. And this was back in like 2019. So, like I was, I think I looked at my pace, though like no, my tax form for that year and I made like quite a bit, and I was like you never realize it. So you go back and look, but like, yeah, so it is lucrative to be here, but you got to realize. Like you got to start from the bottom.
Speaker 1:Right I. When I say start from the bottom, I mean really start from the bottom, Like cubicle type shit, motherfuckers being dirty as fuck. I, I, I.
Speaker 2:Well, look like, okay, not anymore, because now a lot of those positions have moved, like Work from home, but you still got to deal with like co-workers, attitudes and like company policy and all that kind of stuff. So it, you know it's still bad, but like you ain't got to deal with like Steve over here that never had you know knows how to take a shower, or this co-worker that just like All up in your grill, or somebody's stealing your Funko pops, or your fucking desk, like don't do that I knew motherfuckers that were literally just fart like I think God, because I thought the motherfuckers that we would in cubicles and they were just like fart and then have the audacity to just look up.
Speaker 2:It looks like you smell. Yeah, like come on.
Speaker 1:I hear you. You what? No, I can hear you. Or or having to deal with the person who is really loud on the phone, the person who walks around when they're talking on the phone.
Speaker 2:I remember one co-worker. He was like he was a like a trauma major just coming there. I don't know why they hired him, but he was so loud Like you can hear him from like across the hallway. Like he was that loud.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And co-customer would be like. Is that another co-customer?
Speaker 1:Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:That is. That is my co-worker.
Speaker 1:Loudest foot. Loud as fuck, loud as hell, for no reason. Like the person you got a mic, or literally right next to your mouth. Why are you so loud? So it it. It's different now. Yes.
Speaker 1:But, my thing is I didn't get my first remote job until 2018. I was working at Charles Schwab. I started that in what? 2015. So, and then I was yeah, and then I went into cybersecurity at CrossDark and that was my first remote gig. That's what I wanted. I didn't want to work in a cubicle anymore or any of that shit. But with with this, you know you start from that bottom and stuff like that, but then you also start to learn what you like and what you enjoy about it and then from that you can kind of dictate where you when the crew is going to go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, where you want to go if you want to get a certain cert or something like that. So I will ask you this, lexi what, what was the first cert that you received? And I guess, what was the? What was the motivation behind it?
Speaker 2:Oh well, all my certs have been within the last year. Yeah, I've gotten five certs within the last year, so I should everybody Hot shit. Yeah, and I'm working on my six, but I'm going to ask motherfucker.
Speaker 2:Shut up, but for me I. So let's roll that back. Let me kind of give you guys my career for progression. So I didn't really like I've been in tech for like ever, but I knew I did not want to be like On the phones forever. So I I realized that and I didn't know exactly where I wanted to go with that. So one thing I do recommend as a newcomer please, please, for the love of God, do not stay at that helpless service, less job, more than a year or two while you are there. Please, like what he said, figure out what you want to do and make that career path. Like, figure out what search you want. That that would be one thing I would go back. And you know, redo is figure out what I want to do and get the fuck out Because and I, I experienced it, I still experience it. But like you get in that mindset you're like, oh, this is just it, this is, I can't do anything better than this. So sure I worked there would be like drill it in your head Like we give you these benefits, we pay you this much, where are you going to find that else? You know right, whatever? So that's one thing I would do.
Speaker 2:But from there, from Verizon, I went to a company called QS one. They're a mom and pop software company for retail pharmacies. So there was kind of already got my experience of doing something different than working on just cell phones. So for there I was working on like not working printers. You know software issue to software were jankies but I didn't like it. But you kind of get the all sides of that business to you working with like nurses or pharmacists, insurance companies, whole nine yards. So that's kind of where my health care exposure and like, ok, I like health care, so health care tech, because technically in high school I was in bio med classes and kind of want to be an AST. You know it ties in. And so there's where I like, ok, I like tag, I want to stay in town but I don't know exactly where. So from there I went to a company called OmniCell which is another med tech company.
Speaker 2:And I think the moment was for me is when we got our big rent somewhere, attack, and I just decided that I wanted to do cybersecurity. So from there I did a boot camp I which was full time, so I would literally get up at like eight o'clock in the morning, be in class from nine to four thirty and then clock in at work from four thirty to twelve thirty and then go to sleep and do this all over again for almost four months. So, yes, I was dead tired. Nobody really heard from me and this is why I stopped streaming. So with that, the reason I took it, it was because they were at the end Of the course.
Speaker 2:They give you the opportunity to take your size, which is your. This is a comp to your certification for cybersecurity, which is a step above security plus, and I felt for me like multiple times in the past I had tried to get like my A plus by myself, like self study couldn't do it, like look at it, I would do it, not go back and do it or I will fail and just give up. It was just like, ok, I need some kind of Guidance to make sure I get this. So One thing I will say, though I hear a lot, is how you break into cybersecurity. It's not a beginner feel. It's really not. You really do have to start from the bottom. So you would need to start with your like, especially if you have no experience of knowledge or nothing, you really need to study for your comp to your A plus certification.
Speaker 2:First, because cybersecurity is one of those fields that build upon everything else you're dealing with. You know networking you're dealing with like system admin stuff. Sometimes you're looking at log piles, things of that kind of nature and everything of that sort. So it's something that you're taking a knowledge and building upon. So don't think you're just going to be able to. But I want to work as a security and not know anything. So, yeah, that's kind of how that path went. So from there I did the boot camp. I surprised I passed my size. Like my heart was literally beating when I saw that pass on my screen because I literally like I'm going to fail this. I'm going to fail this. I'm going to do fucking fail this. What was the? What was the when it came to the boot camp?
Speaker 1:What was the hardest shit to do? You know what I mean. What was it? What was the hardest thing and was there? What did you do the hardest thing and was there? What did you have any thoughts of Did? You have any thoughts of Kind of like turning away from it.
Speaker 2:So I think the hardest thing for me is like Is For me, the hardest thing was dealing with everybody else in the class. So everybody came. I think a lot of people came into this thinking that it was just going to be easy. We're just learning just about cybersecurity and not realizing that that's something that you build upon. So, like literally when we started, we're learning about Linux. People like why are we learning about Linux?
Speaker 2:You got people that don't even know how, to don't even know how to do the basics, like we're going to be using BMS, like. So you know, we had to go back and do that and so we were learning Linux, who didn't really network, and people are like, why are we learning that working? This has to do with security? Yes, it does.
Speaker 1:Oh, she said that shit.
Speaker 2:Yes, people said that shit. Yes.
Speaker 1:Niggas saying it. I'm fucking saying no experience and nothing coming to a classroom review. So teacher, sorry. So teacher comes in and it's like all right, we're going to build a virtual machine. We're going to build a virtual machine today. And you know, there we go. Uh, how we do, how we do that shit.
Speaker 2:Like, yeah, that's, yes, that's, that's, that's what it was. So I'm like so that was one thing for me. I'm like OK, and so it was just dealing with that was a lot. And so I did a lot of like hoping my classmates with like different stuff, like there was this one girl flesh her heart. She knew very little about computers but she made it. She made it all the way through. I am so proud of her. But yeah, it was a struggle. So I think that was like a big thing. For me was like Dealing with all that. But as far as like concept wise, I think this, the thing that I hated a lot, was like networking and like we're talking about like subnets and like, oh, it was just, it was just a lot. Yeah, network plus will be like really hard for me, but yeah, that, that was that was my biggest trouble during my bootcamp.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, I I will say Lexie and I was talk word Checking each other earlier today and you know, kind of just on this topic and one of the big thing, one thing that she asked me was why don't I have any certifications? It was dumb next to that, like I, was that what? Oh? So If you, if I'm sorry about that, um, you know we're recording and you know we have video of the recording and stuff like that, and, uh, I heard a noise in the background of Lexi's, of Lexi's recording and I was like what's the what is that? What? What the hell, what is that?
Speaker 2:We're good now, thank you Continue.
Speaker 1:What was that?
Speaker 2:I'll tell you later.
Speaker 1:So, uh, yeah, X, we uh you know why? Why don't I have any certifications? Um, I, I thought about it. I found like YouTube videos like a whole, like literally like a whole class of it. And you know, even when I was out of college I was thinking about it, I wrote it down. I have like books and stuff for me writing down a plan and stuff like that, but for me it's just, I don't know. It just wasn't once. I was done with school. I'm done. Let me tell you something. I had it. I wasn't the greatest at school. I'm not the smartest motherfucker. I'm not gonna hold it. I know how to take something and I know how to. I know how to apply it. I know how to apply that shit. If I want to learn something for myself, I'm gonna learn that shit because I want to, because I enjoy learning it. You know what I mean. Yes, me getting a certification could help with. You know salary and compensation and money back to G.
Speaker 2:Let's not even go into that.
Speaker 1:Shut the hell up so Don't you put that on me. Um so no, he needs to know, he needs to hear this. Um, but it, it just wasn't. It just wasn't something that I wanted to do. Um, the funny thing is I was I was looking into getting a. This has nothing to do with tech, but I was actually getting looking into getting a certification in horticulture. Go on like for real like for why.
Speaker 1:Because I, I enjoy it, I like it, um, I, I was uh doing, I was going to like a lot of um, so and every Depending on where in the state that I live in, um, the college the one of the big colleges has like workshops and stuff for, like you know, if you wanted to grow stuff, you wanted to get into like small, small farming or urban Farming and stuff like that, and you know I was going to like these things about soil learning how you know the different soils within the state works and what you can do with it, what you can grow in it. Like I enjoy like going and doing research on the stuff that can grow within the zone that I live in. If you don't know what what I'm talking about, there are different zones depending on where you live and each depending on the east, the west and midwest and all that stuff. Like Certain zones, you can only grow certain foods in certain fruits, certain vegetables and certain trees can only grow within that zone.
Speaker 1:Where in the carolinas, you don't see a lot of citrus because, well, we don't have the weather for that and we get snow, so citrus really isn't that great. I've seen people with lemon trees, but just as a whole. Not the best thing to have, but anyway. Um, yeah, I was looking into getting a certification in horticulture. Um, don't know what I would do with it.
Speaker 2:By the way, he grows mushrooms, guys. That's why I made him bring this up gourmet mushrooms. Let's get that shit started. Oh, okay, gourmet or more. You have to say that.
Speaker 1:You can't, can't be out here just saying oh really, nigga grow mushrooms. I don't know we're nigga grow mushrooms.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm pretty sure Our audience is sophisticated enough to know that I'm not talking about the psychedelic kind.
Speaker 1:Okay, here's my thing. Nothing against the audience, but hell, nah, some of it could be like oh for real, for real, you sell you, you, you grow them shits, you dried them shits too. No, no, I oyster mushrooms, shiitake matake. I grow on straw or in logs, that's it. Putting that out there, cool, it's called mycology, the study of mushrooms, so um, but I just certifications. Really wasn't for me and I don't know, you don't even know what could happen, but For right now, no, once I was done with school, I was done with school, I didn't want to get the whole master.
Speaker 2:I mean, you have your bachelor's degree. I think you're in a good spot and with your like experience, you're in a good spot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but you can never stop learning. Education is always education, very true, like repertoire.
Speaker 2:There's another thing people forget about cyber. That's cyber, but tech in general, you're always upscaling, like you're always learning, and if you're not, then like You're gonna fall behind in the trend and what?
Speaker 1:what I would recommend to people. You people, you don't have to listen to us, we don't we, we just we, just a black man and a black woman just talking to y'all. But you don't listen to me. But I'm telling you this the thing to get into. We're seeing it more and more and absent shit. Learn how this ai shit works.
Speaker 2:Yeah learn how machine learning?
Speaker 1:because the the fucking, because the tech support shit. If the ai, the ai gets better with the way that you ask it questions. If you ask it the right question, it learns from it and it it does it better the next time. That's how it learns. So if somebody can call, some people don't want to talk to a ai, but for companies as a whole, companies only care about companies. There is no family shit. It's really not. It's about it's. It's really about you doing what you need to do. You get your money and you're good to go. And this day and age, if 401ks aren't really like the most secure shit, if you got one, you got one. If you don't Go, get one I guess. But and pensions on the thing anymore, that's like.
Speaker 2:What I have? A pension, you have a pension.
Speaker 1:You have a pension. I ain't got one of them, shits, um, but you know, get into that, ai shit for sure, because that shit's gonna, that shit ain't going nowhere and it's moving Very fucking fast. Yeah, extremely fast, stupid fast like holy shit.
Speaker 2:Why is this so fast yeah?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's definitely would be ai. Oh, yeah, very, very fucking fast so if you're out there and you're listening, remember you gotta start from the bottom. So if you want to learn ai, you still need to know those basics.
Speaker 1:Yep, yep, it's not like I said. Um, Definitely not for the faint of heart at all, I think. So, like I said, I don't have any starts or anything, but what? What was your? You took a class, yes, but with training material. What were you guys using In that class? Was it something that was just specified or specific to that class, or were you getting textbooks and stuff like that?
Speaker 2:so For the bootcamp that I was in we had like different materials, so for we were learning like Linux and stuff we were using. I think we were using Cisco has like A Linux essential class, a networking essential class and like a cyber security basic class.
Speaker 2:So we were using that to learn like the basics right and then when it came to learning about size, they were used sort master, but we really wasn't using that. Mainly what we were doing Is taking like exam questions from, like practice tests and like going over those and going over the reason behind certain answers to kind of get that background knowledge along. When we were doing like VMs of like different Linux distributions, like upon 2 and Cali and um, we were setting up Like open sense, which is a firewall which you can use for like an ideas firewall or IPS firewall and going through and setting that up and Using like packet tracing on that kind of stuff. So there's there's a lot for that. But, like For all the other certifications that I got, I've gotten those like self study, um, and most of it I would use, like I always recommend, if you're going to do self study, like jason d on Onidemi is part of the go to, because he does break all that stuff down there and he does have those practice questions and usually if you can pass those practice questions you can pass whatever certification. Going for um and then textbook wise it's a lot of different textbooks but For size I think we just use like the regular size of study guide, if I wasn't packed up. Right now I'll have a copy of it, but all my books are like packed up, yeah, and then um For a plus. I really didn't use too much like Book material because, like, I've been in the field for so long, so you kind of more like a refresher and seeing what they're looking for, type deal. But there is a lot of a plus certification books out there that you can use Um as well.
Speaker 2:And then I think another thing I definitely used and helped me pass was YouTube. Youtube is a plethora of good information. Like for the simulation questions. There's videos out there that will go through the simulations and break it down for you so you get a better understanding. Professor Messer is another great person that breaks everything down. If you don't want to pay for the Udemy class, you can watch them on YouTube. And then on YouTube there's like practices and questions. So I was watching that like two, three hours beforehand, just like making sure I have like a grasp on it. But for A plus, I would definitely recommend knowing your raids, your printers even though you really don't use printers like that in support, you will be asked a ton I mean a fucking ton of printer questions and then some cloud computing concepts. You want to know those too.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Okay, if let's say, I do think this is also a thing, but you can tell me if I'm wrong but when it also when it comes to certifications within this tech world, if you prefer to use a certain, if you use, if you prefer to use like a PC or a Mac, I'm not mistaken I think you can get certified within with like Mac too.
Speaker 2:I think that it's not something that I looked, looked into, but I think you definitely can.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:One thing I will mention about that because you brought it up and it reminds me. So the first time I took try to take my A plus certification back in June, I have a MacBook that I typically use not anymore since I got a gaming laptop but I have a Mac that I used to use like daily and I had updated it new operating system out in beta. Be careful doing that because I cannot take my tests because the software that they use was not supported. And so they could. They could not see me, they could not hear me, and so I just could not take my exam at all, Was it not supported because of the M one Wait?
Speaker 2:I don't have M one. I have an Intel based one.
Speaker 1:Oh, you have Intel based and it wasn't supported. Wow.
Speaker 2:So, if you do, don't, don't use the beta software. Just make sure you just stick with the original. If you're going to take your certification exam at home, a lot of people hate taking it home. I do too. It's just because, like, there are so many issues with the proctors that they have. They're all foreign and sometimes it's hard to understand them. Sometimes you get that real chill laid back, one that will not care about really was on your desk, and then you'll get some of the ones that be so nitpicky.
Speaker 1:Right, you know yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh, but yeah, and you cannot talk during your test, can't read the questions out loud, some, you don't have breaks, so you cannot move what you have to say in the camera's face, they have to see you like. It's like nobody can be behind. You have to be in a closed room. You got to take pictures of your front, of the desk, behind the desk, the left, the right. It's just a lot. Sometimes I would rather go in and just take the damn test and be like here. But where I am there's not a proctor site like whatever. It's fine, I've just do it at home. But yeah, this is to be content of that.
Speaker 1:Do you? Do you happen to remember, if you could, just the estimate of it? Was there like a total cost for you to do everything? I mean, yes, the YouTube is free and all that stuff, but with the Udemy and just the cost of the test, just an estimate. How much do you think? Like, if you wanted to do, like you're at five, right, let's say, if you wanted to do five certain you want to plan that out. Like what? Would somebody have to have a cassette or save in order to go on this venture of certs?
Speaker 2:So I've been extremely, extremely lucky with my search. I haven't paid anything for any of my search. You're a great big phony.
Speaker 1:Go ahead.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know I was going to call, but no like. So the bootcamp paid for my first start. Well, technically, actually, that was not my first. Let me back up. So while we were, while we were in the class, I see squared like they had a big push for their new certified and cybersecurity cert. So that was free, and so a lot of us just took it just to kind of get over knowledge. So I passed that one. That one was free. I think it's still going on. So, guys, you want to look into that? Definitely Google. There is like a self kind of learn, of course that they offer.
Speaker 1:But on LinkedIn learning, what was the name of the bootcamp?
Speaker 2:Mines.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Per scholars.
Speaker 1:Per scholars. It's free. Yeah, it's free to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm all about the free and the low, low, but yeah, so anyways, that one was free, but what I was saying is only thing learning is a good like course that'll walk you through all those concepts, give you a lot more details that are needed, but it will help you with the test. So definitely watch that. Second start was my size. I was covered, but book and material wise, the exam itself is like $300 and like all the books and stuff that we had, I probably say like another in the, so you're probably looking at $500 for that one if you're paying out of pocket. Third start I have is my Azure fundamentals. That's just Microsoft certification, like a beginner cloud based one. They used to do learning days where, like, if you go attend one of their like lectures about it, they'll give you a voucher and you could take the test for free. They don't do that anymore, but cost of that's like $99. Third certification I have is my ITL before foundations. That's mainly used for like IT management, that kind of thing. Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 1:I had to take one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my school made me take it, so they covered all those courses. Well, they covered all that and I think for that course is like another maybe $350 for that, and then the material is probably like another $150. But with that you have to. I found that if you actually do have to take that course or course that they offer before you can even take the exam. So I got lucky. So there you go with that and then my comp to you, as you know, with that that's two parts. I think there are $249 each, so that's like $500 there. And then book wise and material wise, you're probably looking at, in case of the young courses are not that expensive, like $20 each, but like for the books and if you use like SIRT, master and all that kind of stuff, you're probably looking at like another $200. So there's a cost of that. So probably at go ahead.
Speaker 1:How long do you get SIRT's last?
Speaker 2:All of them are three years. So, yeah, either you can retake it in three years and get certified, or you can do continual educational credits and apply it towards renewal of your certification.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, gotcha, okay, okay. So I will say I think a lot of people when people, I'll say this if you're doing something like it doesn't have to be in tech. There's usually a certification for everything. Just to let y'all know, there's a certification for growing mushrooms, there is. So there's a SIRT for everything. Everything always looks good on paper. That's just. That's just the way shit is. Shit looks good on paper. It really fucking does. And then also, if you want to go this route, make sure that you have the finances to do it, or find options to help you with that finance.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you could. Yeah, there's different ways to help out. Like, if you have a EDU email comp, tia does have like a student store so they can give you discount vouchers cheaper there. Jason Dion, if you take his courses, there's like a 10% off voucher. You know, if you're in school like WGU, which is where I am now, they will pay for all your certs and usually it's self-pay. So, like your class is you going to take the cert and passing it for a lot of courses. So that's another way you can do it.
Speaker 2:It is not expensive at all. It's like I think it's like $3,000, like some odd dollars, like each semester, which is like six months, and then, like you don't have a certain number of classes, like you can go as go at your own pace. So there's some people that will finish it in like one semester and you'll end up with like a whole bunch of certs that they didn't have to pay for. For me, I am not that person. I am self-paced and I like having an actual. I work a lot and so like I don't have time to like sit there and like do that. So I'm more self-paced and I just kind of go with the flow. So like I have nine weeks and I have to pass my network plus five, but I'm going to try to pass it within, like the next six. So yeah, I am.
Speaker 1:I maybe like a couple of years ago I had a friend of mine. They got their degree in veterinary medicine and they really weren't digging working out like vet hospitals and stuff like that and they asked me how can I get into you know this tech shit? And I told them I was like you should a lot of the colleges, like if you, whatever state you're in, a lot of the schools like the big colleges, usually have bootcamps. They usually do. So. I told her I was like you should look into a coding bootcamp at one of the big schools because you can do web development, you can do all that shit. They have different things Shouldn't be too much. But I was just like look into that. And they actually went through it and they ended up with a. They ended up getting a tech job remote, all that shit. It took, it took some time for them to get it, but they did get it and I guess that's that's the big thing they got it. It's gonna.
Speaker 2:You have to stay with it. It takes time. So it same thing, like I know a lot of people ask me all the time like how do you break in the tech? You know things of that nature, you have to stay with it. So, like I said earlier, what TikTok puts in your mind that you're going to get this certification and you're just going to be able to get a job like that Right now that's not happening and then before, like the big tech layoffs, it wasn't really happening like that.
Speaker 1:We kind of still in this shit. To be honest with you, we right.
Speaker 2:Everybody's saying it's over, but it's okay, whatever.
Speaker 1:We're still in it, right.
Speaker 2:And so I know people that are in my bootcamp are just looking for, like jobs and things of that nature. So you have to stay with it. I know I hate job hunting, it is discouraging, but you just got to keep going at it and going at it. And one thing I would recommend is, when you are trying to transition from one field to another, tailor your experiences to like that new role that you're wanting. So you know you have experience doing XYZ, you know doing customer service, so you can tailor that to like tech support, like, hey, I know how to you know handle difficult customers because I worked in customer service, or yada, yada, yada. And then I know I hate networking, but it is very necessary Because that's how I found a lot of like the opportunities that I have with like the bootcamps and things of that nature is just by being like on LinkedIn or I guess, x now, so it's not called Twitter, but there's people there that like post hey, I have this bootcamp, you know, or I know, this bootcamp is free.
Speaker 2:There's one girl on there, she does that all the time, but you just got to be, you got to be thirsty for it. That's basically the best way to be. You got to be thirsty, you got to be looking for everything.
Speaker 2:Yep Best way to be.
Speaker 1:I will. I will say, when you get into this field, have a LinkedIn profile. It helps because I get people contacting me through LinkedIn on job opportunities all the fucking time. It does happen. I found actually two of the job I have now and the job before. I found those both of those through LinkedIn jobs.
Speaker 1:Everything that uses a application needs support. Let me say that shit for the motherfuckers in the back Everything that has a application needs support. So what I'm saying is there are tons of industries. If you want to go into a certain industry, do it write that shit down. Apply to 10 jobs a day. It is so easy to apply to jobs. All you need is a resume. Half of the shit is already filled the fuck out for you. All you got to do is just press enter. 10 jobs a day, every day, monday through Sunday. That's 70 jobs a week You're going to look at but you might not get a lot, but you might get one or two and that's better than fucking nothing. 70.
Speaker 1:When I left my job last year in March because I just wasn't feeling it and I was living off my savings and I was applying to like I was applying and this was like still kind of COVID-ish, but not really so. People were. They were looking for people. I was having interviews every fucking day like it was a job. I was scheduling interviews in the morning and the fucking afternoon. I would I call my moms every day to check up on it. My mom would be like you got an interview today. I was like, yeah, I got like one at 10, I got one at one and I got one at three.
Speaker 2:Yep, that's how it was for me too. So, like, when I was going through my boot camp, I decided I didn't want to stay with my company that I was at during the time anymore, and so I would literally be in the boot camp and I'd be like I'll be right back. I got to interview with this company, come back after a couple hours. I got to go, I got another interview and, like some of these companies, you have panel interviews. So like, or you have multiple interviews. I remember for one of the jobs I work with, I had a panel interview and it was fucking five fucking interviews back to back, to back, to, back to back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah you. I was saying this a lot, but during COVID, COVID was horrible, but it was also like an opportunity for a lot of people, A lot of people, and if you didn't take advantage of that fucking opportunity, then you were fucking lost. You fucking lost If you didn't take advantage. It was so much, so much education out there for free. Motherfuckers were just giving shit away knowledge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and if you didn't?
Speaker 1:you know sorry.
Speaker 2:No, I was going to say definitely if you were not taking advantage of that, like now, you kind of tough break, tough break. You got to play catch up now Cause, like I was, I had this conversation with somebody you know that lives in this area.
Speaker 2:I was like if it wasn't for COVID, I don't think I would have the opportunity to work where I work now, or maybe a amount of money that I make now, because that shit is not heard of in this area. And then, like there are not that many like you know cybersecurity base or you know med tech based companies in this area. So, like I know, covid was horrible for everybody and like myself included. But if it had not came around, I don't think I'll be in the position that I am now. So I am grateful for that big ass tragedy in like everything that happened.
Speaker 2:But you got to look at it like it afford us a lot of opportunities. Now people get to work remote. You know if you live in a bad area, you're not stuck making that money that's in that particular area. There's a lot of like free, like knowledge out there, like I know in my state they were doing. You can go back to school for free for two years, like you go to the technical college for free for two years. So there's it just afford us a lot of opportunities. So I am very grateful for it.
Speaker 1:Like I said, I was every fucking Monday through Friday. I had shit lined up. I would apply to shit like in the morning and then get a response in the afternoon From mother, you're available for an interview.
Speaker 2:I want to do a screening call. Let me call you real quick.
Speaker 1:Mother fuckers were thirsty. We do thirsty nigga. I was feeling. I was feeling good, I was like shit. I left my goddamn job. You know I was.
Speaker 1:I was going to use up a little bit because it was because, from the experience from the past of getting out of college, you have this stupid fucking piece of paper, a receipt let's just call it what the fucking is a fucking receipt that you pay a whole bunch of fucking money for right. That was my dumb ass fall. If I can do it all over again, I probably would. I would just go a different route. But going from being out of college not having any experience, you apply to all these fucking jobs every day and you're, you're, you're living with your parents and it's just like, oh my God, what the fuck did I just spend four years fucking doing?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then now you got the experience you got and and motherfuckers are like coming to you based off of the shit and the effort that you put the fuck in, yeah, so, so now it's just like holy shit, this is great.
Speaker 2:But you got to realize it too. Like, ok, when we were applying to jobs a little different, because now we have like the tech layoffs and everybody trying to break in right now. So it's going to be harder to to break in, and I hear it all the time. Like I've been applying, I've been out of work X, y, z amount of months. You know, I haven't heard anything bad. It's it's a lot harder now that it was, you know, like a year and a half ago.
Speaker 1:So but I also think that people you go on LinkedIn and there are certain, you type in tech support or shit like that, or desktop whatever, and you get a list of shit. I don't think a lot of people are thinking outside the box when it comes to applying the jobs. The one thing that I did when I applied the jobs I had, I went out and I bought a dry race aboard and I wrote down the industries that I wanted to be in. I wanted to be in drones, gaming, I had crypto and I had firearms, literally, and that's the shit that I was looking at every fucking day, literally every fucking day. Everything, everything that uses the application, needs support for it. So let I'm gonna say that I said that a third time, but I'm being fucking honest with you. That's what the fuck it is.
Speaker 2:Well, and also to you know, like I think people forget Like I know you're trying to get out this particular sector or whatever that you're in, but that sector might have a tech part as well. So like, for instance, I work in MedTech, so there's a lot of like farm farms but, like pharmacy tax, there's a lot of like nurses. Well, you can easily transition into tech with those roles because they need like pharmacy tax for like support. They may have questions that you guys may know. Same thing with like nursing, like one of my old jobs, they were always hiring for nurses because they needed them on, you know, for the software or whatever, to ask some questions about different things. So like, just because you're in that role doesn't mean you can't easily transition and get a tech job in that particular industry. That's another thing keeping in mind as well.
Speaker 1:Think outside of that fucking box like Bingo Bingo. I had interviews with trucking companies because they had. It was a. It was a truck company or a software company that helped truckers not have to use paper and basically do everything through an app. Trucking is that old of a business that everything is still done on paper and this company had an application that basically helped truckers get paid quicker and not have to go through the bullshit of paperwork and have to wait on papers getting sent and faxed the fuck over, and they needed somebody and customer support to help manage that shit.
Speaker 1:Thinking outside that box will help you a fucking lot. Not just with the regular degular shit Like if you there's something I play, trading card games. Go on TCG player, which is an application, and go to their careers. You'll find tech support jobs. Some of these jobs let's let me be clear Some of these jobs might not be all be remote. Some of these jobs you have to be in that certain area in order to get it because they want you to come in. But if you're in that area, fucking go for it. Shit. They might want you to come in like once or twice a week, but just fucking go for it. You know what I mean it's it's difficult, difficult, it's time consuming, but once you get your foot in a fucking door, just run with that bitch. Same thing.
Speaker 2:Twitch is always hiring for some kind of support or some kind of tech role Just in discord also.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in discord, and that's kind of how I found some of the jobs that I that I have is I will go on the website like, ok, what role do they have? That's open. And that's like, ok, I have a like a weekend job. So that's how I got the job I have on the weekends is like I literally was like I've never applied here. Let me just see what y'all got. Oh, we got this role, let me, let me try it. And I didn't hear anything back. And then they hit me up like a month or two later like, hey, you want to interview for us? I was like, oh, I forgot about that.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, yeah, let's do it, let's do it. And so, like, I ended up getting the role, but, like, sometimes you're going to do that Like, all right, I shop, you know, here, let me look and see what careers they got. Or, hey, you know, I play this game, let me see what careers I got. Sometimes you just got to think outside the box and do that.
Speaker 1:Everything nigga. Go around your house and just look at the back of shit and just look at the company that made that shit and then just go find it and see what jobs they have. Like I said, you got to put some fucking work in Funko. If you live in fucking like I think they're, they're shit in California or like in Indiana or some shit, I don't fucking know. But you got to think outside that box and really kind of just like, just you know, once you get your foot in, you're in there and that's, I mean, shit, that's it. And you know we can talk. We can do a whole another episode. We get more shit about this or more like people asking questions.
Speaker 2:Definitely asks us more questions. Yeah, I was speaking of. I was at Momocon and my friend, her boyfriend, was there, and so he was like I listened to the podcast.
Speaker 1:He was like and he had these questions for me, yeah.
Speaker 2:He had to yeah about like getting in the text. So definitely don't be scared to like ask those questions. We definitely will answer them, and if we don't have the answer, we'll find it out for you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure, definitely. Um, damn, this is actually really good. Yeah, is anything else that you wanted to add?
Speaker 2:You could do it. You could do it Like. I know how it feels to be like can I do this? I think that's self doubt.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Don't listen to it. You got this. Like that's one thing I wish I would take back is not listening to this shit, because, like, that's what held me back for so long. It's like I never felt like I could do it or I wouldn't amount to anything. I just like the imposter syndrome is what we call it but it sucks. But you got to overcome it. You just got to be thirsty. Like, if you ain't thirsty for it, then it ain't right for you.
Speaker 2:So just move it on, but you got to be thirsty, you got to be upscaling constantly, like if it's networking, it's a lot, but it does have its benefits. We're not saying that tech is like this evil place or whatever. It definitely has its benefits and it's purse. It just it takes some work to get in there. And do not believe everything you see on, like social media about breaking in and everything. And just because you see it, one person breaking in this way doesn't mean that it's going to work for you. It's going to work for you. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
Speaker 1:Tell them yeah, yeah, let's read, let's read, let's read you that I don't like the way you Look.
Speaker 2:That's what I say when there's more than one way to do that. Okay, you guys, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:If you got your cat.
Speaker 2:I don't literally mean skinning your cat. I'm just saying there's more one way to do it Okay.
Speaker 1:What about, like there are other ways to, like you know, de-scale a fish?
Speaker 2:No, I like what I say. Okay, you can't be making me switch it up now. Like you want, authentic, lexi, or you want let me like center myself, lexi, I don't understand which one you want.
Speaker 1:No, hey, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa. All right, okay, thank you, but you guys, thank you for listening to another episode. Greatly appreciate it and we will see you guys again soon.
Speaker 2:Bye guys.
Speaker 1:All right, bye.
