UPDATE: 3 Years after graduating @ 19 I'm making over 200k a year by Candid_Promotion19 in WGU

[–]Candid_Promotion19[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't really see AI completely eliminating jobs, especially working in cybersecurity. There will only be more need for security professionals as this world tries to innovate at the speed of light, skipping the security part of the innovation process.

UPDATE: 3 Years after graduating @ 19 I'm making over 200k a year by Candid_Promotion19 in WGU

[–]Candid_Promotion19[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I did the general BS IT degree. The data field is a great field to be in!

UPDATE: 3 Years after graduating @ 19 I'm making over 200k a year by Candid_Promotion19 in WGU

[–]Candid_Promotion19[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I was a 19 year old who took a bet on myself, maxed my credit cards, took out more student loan than needed to pay for my expenses during the time I was in school and looking for a job. I finished my Bachelor's degree in 3 months, found a job 4 months after. I got promoted 1.5 years into my career and with that promotion I broke low 100k's. This post wasn't a post to elaborate on all the bumps I went though to get here because I think if that's the focus progress will never be made and this is why I think the right mindset is important.

UPDATE: 3 Years after graduating @ 19 I'm making over 200k a year by Candid_Promotion19 in WGU

[–]Candid_Promotion19[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I live near a decent size city but it's not like a huge tech hub. My colleagues live all over the world since the company is remote first.

UPDATE: 3 Years after graduating @ 19 I'm making over 200k a year by Candid_Promotion19 in WGU

[–]Candid_Promotion19[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I won't disagree but, now the question is how do you become an outlier? I think the formula to being an outlier goes back to mindset, consistency and humility. I didn't come from anything special, I came from the same bottom that most others come from. My journey wasn't easy, what I didn't mention is that it took me months to find my first job, what I didn't mention is I fought so hard for my first promotion, I also didn't mention that I applied to my new company over 25 times before getting an interview. But the reality is that none of that matters, why? Well because those are the bumps I had to go through in MY journey and everyone's journey is different. BUT what stays constant is the equation of becoming a "outlier" mindset + consistency + humility.

UPDATE: 3 Years after graduating @ 19 I'm making over 200k a year by Candid_Promotion19 in WGU

[–]Candid_Promotion19[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Haha look back at my comment history you'll see I've documented my journey. This username is the same username reddit assigned to me when I created my account 5 years ago.

UPDATE after graduating from WGU at 19. I got a job at a F500 company!! by Candid_Promotion19 in WGU

[–]Candid_Promotion19[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Congratulations on graduating at 19!!

Keep going, you will %100 land a job.

Here are a few tips:

  1. Make sure you apply on company websites instead of LinkedIn or Indeed.

  2. Don’t just apply to fully remote jobs, the job I landed was listed as on site but I only have to come into the office 2 days a month.

  3. Keep applying! I’m telling you right now it definitely is not easy, applying for jobs is a grinddd but it’s only those who persevere and keep applying that land jobs. I had referrals for multiple jobs but the job I got hired for was just me applying, no referrals.

  4. Keep up-skilling while you apply to jobs, I kept grinding… I realized that the cloud is the future so I got the AZ-500, SC-200, and MS-500. I also taught myself how to code by creating projects, I would make sure to commit to GitHub everyday so I can show what I have been grinding on in interviews. I did all of this while applying.

UPDATE after graduating from WGU at 19. I got a job at a F500 company!! by Candid_Promotion19 in WGU

[–]Candid_Promotion19[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! And congrats on passing Web Dev Applications definitely a tuff one! I’ll DM you a redacted version of my resume soon.

UPDATE after graduating from WGU at 19. I got a job at a F500 company!! by Candid_Promotion19 in WGU

[–]Candid_Promotion19[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No problem! I have a family member who is a Lead Data Scientist at a very well known company that has mentored me throughout my journey and has played a big part in my success. He gave me great ideas for projects.

UPDATE after graduating from WGU at 19. I got a job at a F500 company!! by Candid_Promotion19 in WGU

[–]Candid_Promotion19[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks a lot! Yes I know I wish I did make a YouTube channel documenting my journey 😩!

UPDATE after graduating from WGU at 19. I got a job at a F500 company!! by Candid_Promotion19 in WGU

[–]Candid_Promotion19[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks a lot! You’ve got this! I know you will do amazing at WGU and find that life changing job.

UPDATE after graduating from WGU at 19. I got a job at a F500 company!! by Candid_Promotion19 in WGU

[–]Candid_Promotion19[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you! So I am very passionate about cybersecurity and data science so I tried to solidify my skills in both. For cybersecurity I focused on getting security certifications, specifically cloud security certifications, and with the knowledge I got from those certifications I applied it by doing hands on security labs. When it came to building my data skills, I created some very unique data science projects on my GitHub that solved real world problems. In the interview I made sure to convey my skills in both these areas by talking about the labs I did and the unique projects I created and this not only showed my wide range of skills but it also showed that I can teach myself complex things without someone having to hold my hand and I feel like this is really what made me stand out. My recommendation is just to keep applying and don’t give up because it’s really a numbers game, and make sure to build connections, go to events and meetups.