[TriLUG] Career change into IT

[Ken MacKenzie]

That.  I have maintained a day job for a while.  But it is not much in the
tech I like working on.  And it is behind the tech curve.  So I maintain my
own business to have something with more current skill sets on my resume to
keep my skill set fresh as well as to tax shelter some things I buy.


On Fri, Feb 14, 2014 at 1:16 PM, Steve Litt <slitt at troubleshooters.com>wrote:

> On Wed, 12 Feb 2014 09:59:51 -0800 (PST)
> Craig Cook <cncook001 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > My wife is interested in a career change to get into IT.  She has
> > done DBA/SQL courses at Wake Tech and is now doing a web design
> > course at Wake Tech.
> >
> > Any suggestions on places to get experience?  Volunteer opportunities
> > to get IT experience?
> >
> > She enjoyed writing SQL, and likes HTML5 so far.
>
> [Note: I sell a book called "Quit Joblessness: Start Your Own
> Business", so I'm not unbiased on this topic]
>
> There have already been a lot of good suggestions, so allow me to add
> one more...
>
> She should immediately start her own business. Print 500 bizz cards,
> create her own company's website (nothing complex, but obviously good
> code that verifies w3). She could do all that in a day.
>
> Then, tell everyone she meets about her business, and lowball her rates
> just to start things up. She shouldn't be picky about the jobs she
> accepts, EXCEPT that such jobs should be small and short term, so if
> she gets her dream job, she can easily fulfill all her business
> obligations.
>
> Starting your own business has some benefits:
>
> 1) You might actually make money
> 2) It fills slack time periods on your resume
> 3) If you make some money at the business, it gives you a bargaining
>    position when negotiating your starting salary with an employer
> 4) The business might pan out long term.
>
> In the 10.7% unemployment 1982 recession, I was burning all my gas and
> time begging for jobs. Finally, I just started Steve's Stereo Repair
> out of my house. In the ensuing years, Steve's Stereo Repair became
> Steve Litt Business Systems, American Troublebusters, and
> Troubleshooters.Com. Do a web search of famous businesses that started
> during a recession. Mine isn't by any means a unique or uncommon
> experience.
>
> SteveT
>
> Steve Litt                *  http://www.troubleshooters.com/
> Troubleshooting Training  *  Human Performance
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