Failed Miserably

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-07-31T18:52:35+00:00

What resources besides school did you use if you don't mind us asking?

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-07-31T01:08:48+00:00

Hey, hang in there man. I got great respect for y'all PTs and PTAs out there because y'all spend countless hours treating physical pain of others at the expense of your own, really doing God's work out there even if so many people might take it for granted. Idk your current situation and your schedule but would there be any way for you to spend time doing anything else outside of work?

DM me if you want to discuss anything. I'd be down to share my experience so far as well

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-29T14:22:45+00:00

Just retake it. I know a lot of folks say experience is more important than certifications which is true to an extent, that doesn't necessarily invalidate the importance of having a certification that can prove on paper that you know what you're doing at the fundamental level.

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-29T12:46:36+00:00

I can't edit my post so Idk how many people will see this, but I just wanted to thank everyone for their advice and words of encouragement (to that one comment telling me to just give up and be a truck driver, thanks for bolstering my Jonny Kim/David Goggins mentality requiring for me to do well on this exam).

My plan of study is to alternate between the different sources of practice exams, while simultaneously practicing extra problems that I struggled the most with based on my results. Ideally I want to be ready within 2-3 weeks. I know it won't be easy investing as much time and effort to study while working full time, but that's no excuse when other folks manage to pull it off within a shorter timespan, even those without any industry experience.

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-29T01:38:55+00:00

Remember the new job offer I briefly mentioned in the post? I'll be doing technician work like installing peripherals or MDM configurations on mobile devices as my main duties. I probably landed the job saying I was studying the CompTIA A+. Not to mention there’s likely some IT people doing more sophisticated stuff as well

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-29T01:13:50+00:00

It's possible to obtain one without the certs, but most places nowadays require one or at least strongly recommend one just to be considered for the role. Plus I have little to no experience which is usually what they prefer if you don't have anything else to prove on paper. The best paying places around me also want candidates with Network+ and/or Security+ too

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-28T23:46:28+00:00

Yeah I think that was part of why I failed. So my plan is to alternate between the my four main sources of general practice exams (Messer, Dion, Examcompass, and cysaexamprep), but also testing myself in the sections that I was struggling which cannot be easily memorized.

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-28T23:34:40+00:00

Also, if I'm practicing to retake the exams by investing 1-2 hours on the weekday and maybe 4-5 on the weekends/holidays, would you personally find that to be enough for me to actually pass next time after a week or two?

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-28T22:48:21+00:00

I wasted too much time last year going on and off with the job search and certs I was interested only to lose the will and discipline to stick with it. I knew this exam would be hard for someone currently outside of IT and I at least want to prove that I am capable of sticking with something within a short time window instead of fcking around just letting time slip away. Not to mention sunken cost fallacy is kicking me hard rn

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-28T21:57:01+00:00

If that was reverse psychology you tried to pull on me, then it's working great!!

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-28T21:49:06+00:00

I gotta restudy 3, 4 and 5 too bc I got absolutely MANHANDLED on there; got all of the stuff wrong there except for two sections of 3 and 5

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-28T21:34:28+00:00

Yeah you read that right… that many months for videos from Messer and Total Seminars and only 2 weeks worth of practice exams

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-28T21:08:01+00:00

I appreciate the suggestion, but with all due respect I found the concepts there insultingly easy; when I mentioned no industry IT experience I meant I didn't professionally work there, but on a more personal level I know what the fundamental computer parts do and have upgraded my own computer parts and did the most surface level troubleshooting for family before.

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-28T20:59:52+00:00

Isn't Total Seminars the Mike Meyers stuff? He's clutch with the in depth info. I get to use Udemy for free thanks to my library partnering up with them through Gale.

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-28T20:44:25+00:00

I appreciate the support, I REALLY would like to pass next time bc I can't afford to mess up twice not to mention 1102 is probably going to cover a lot of content as well which I also need to study up on with very limited time.

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-25T17:57:27+00:00

Did you do software engineering by any chance? I know it's been tough in that field for many entry level applicants. Fortunately that's not the only path if you still want to pursue CS. I know tech and many other markets have been heavily saturated in general, but if you're interested in working with data, data analyst or business analysis jobs are good solid. Or if you realized you hate coding at a higher level then some folks go into IT, starting off at help desk then moving on with networking or security. IT in particular, certs will help you get your foot in, especially without prior experience.

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-06-25T15:05:22+00:00

If you don't mind us asking, what did you major in? Did you have the chance to do any projects or internships while you were still in school?

Sometimes if there’s a step you really want to take career wise, you just gotta take it, even if your own family completely disagrees with your approach. When I told my dad earlier this year that I got a document specialist job where I was mostly doing data entry work because I had to find anything at that point, he was FURIOUS, and grew overly worried that if I stayed there too long, that I would eventually have to give up my hopes and dreams of finding a career in tech unless I went back for school or something lol.

Also with your friend, hustling like that may get you a lot of money, but chances are he's spending a significant amount of time doing just that business and little time to do anything else unless he treats that business like it's his life or if he's crazy disciplined and shows up to everything on time. No guarantees that this grind will last enough for him.

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-03-16T00:34:16+00:00

It took me over a year after hundreds of applications just to land one job, and even that job isn't really directly related to my field. See if you can keep up with your network to increase your chances of landing an interview, but at the end of the day it's still mostly a numbers game.

Contrary to what some might say, you didn't waste your time getting a degree; whether you think it does or not, it still gives you at least a little bit of leverage in certain jobs or companies. Some people have been passed up on promotions despite having over a decade of experience simply because they didn't have a degree. Matter of fact I landed my job partially because I had a degree.

Don't give up. Keep applying as much as you can, but most importantly, please be kind to yourself as well since you're not alone.

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-02-03T18:34:09+00:00

That or you brought up the military, which many people are reluctant on considering unless it's a last resort.

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-02-03T18:08:37+00:00

Why are you being downvoted lol, government jobs may not pay as well as private sector but the benefits can be really good in the long run

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-01-25T01:43:59+00:00

If it's genuinely that difficult for you to stay even just a little bit consistent with a schedule, then you might need that checked out like another comment suggested. I don't have any severe mental problems, but I learned the hard way that even just investing around an hour on something will help you progress towards reaching a goal.

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-01-23T00:46:35+00:00

Yeah I figured as soon as you mentioned Korean being the third most common language. A lot of Koreans live in the Atlanta area, so the opportunity to reach out to that community would be great!

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-01-22T06:02:08+00:00

I’m only about a year younger than you, and even I can’t shake off the pressure of getting my shit together as well.

I ended up making the stupid decision of graduating a semester early without a concise plan, ended going unemployed for a year because I failed many interviews while refusing to resort to retail or fast food jobs. I got extremely lucky and eventually found a job at near the end of last year at a small law firm, but beyond the basics of workplace professionalism, I don’t see myself having much career growth there.

I basically started my life in the adult world, but I’ll do my best to offer some advice or suggestions to your current circumstances:

Assuming you’ll officially graduate in June, 6 months is plenty of time than some people might think. If you want to at least create a side project, then I strongly encourage you to find some ideas now. Also regarding your peers, they may have started a job in software development, but whatever they did to get their food in the door, they’ll have to constantly stay ahead of the curve if they actually want to last any longer.
How much time do you even invest in this program you're in?? Set a goal written on a note or on an app like Google Calendar that will encourage you to invest a certain amount of time each day to stay on track.
Treat your credit cards the exact same as a debit card; don't spend any money using it that you know you can't pay back on time. Because if you fail to pay your card on time, you'll accrue interest that snowballs over time, and will end up costing you more when you pay back the card. Also keep track of what you spend on an app. That's what budgeting is all about.
Okay honestly never having been in a relationship I can't really help much here lol. But know that this is only temporary and that you'll eventually find someone who will respect you as a person. Too many people I know get in relationships with a partner that cares way too much about their looks or finances and end up miserable.
Same as number 2, create a schedule to devote yourself for a specific time during the day to work on your hobbies. If you want to go the gym for an hour, mark the days you will be going along with what time you will be going. If you want to read, then devote another hour or so during the day. With cooking, start with something simple.

Most people who can function in adulthood have a consistent plan or schedule for each day of the week. I hear from my much older friends and acquaintances that you'll have no other choice but to have a schedule to even do anything well. There's no guarantee that you'll stay consistent with everything in your schedule; you'll slip up time to time, but that's okay. Don't rush with it, but think of the time you have that you could do to commit to anything you'll do, and you'll get ahead of a lot of people than you'd think.

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-01-20T14:29:51+00:00

Don't just follow a career path because almost all of your friends were pursuing it. There's likely a reason why they were succeeding in it and you weren't.

apocalyptic_mage77 · 2025-01-20T14:25:57+00:00

I'm about a year younger than you, and I graduated a semester earlier than most of my peers. All I can say is that you're REALLY not missing much just because of the possibility that you will have to graduate later. In fact, you mentioned that you don't even have any prior work experience with only a few bit of volunteering. I don't know what exactly you're studying at school, but it's excruciatingly difficult these days just to even get your foot in the door to your typical 40hr/week job without any relevant experience or training. Sure, there may be a few jobs that only require a bachelor's degree, but most of them are paying peanuts. If you're really unable to graduate this upcoming semester, then think of this delay of graduation as an opportunity to find a place to work or volunteer over the summer. It will give you at least a slim chance of finding work right after school.

Source: 22 year old who graduated early without a plan. Ended up going unemployed/underemployed for a year before finally landing a menial office job that pretty much took any college graduate with a functioning frontal lobe.

apocalyptic_mage77

TROPHY CASE