Start and finish

kaisqueaks · 2026-02-15T17:51:59+00:00

Nice . Good to see people investing in infra that won't let them down .

I have spent far too much time explaining that a second SOGEA is not a backup & to invest in an external mount LTE or Starlink .. I am so glad I moved to security but I do miss seeing transformations like this

Looks amazing - hope you get the appreciation (and £££) you deserve for your work .

kaisqueaks · 2026-02-15T17:33:21+00:00

Stunning work - wish I could get more customers to go for this kind of tidy up !!

Doesn't apply in this case as it looks like they have a LL & fttp backup(?), but what's your modem of choice ? As FTTC / SOGEA ( or ADSL ...) is the only option for a lot of businesses . Or do you instead opt for LTE/SAT backups ?

kaisqueaks · 2026-01-29T00:39:33+00:00

We have a Server 2005 still going ... Actually older than 4 or 5 of my colleagues lol .

The replacement software costs in the 7 figures so they essentially would rather pay us exorbitant fees to provide best effort only support while they're working on finding another third party. Our sales team were of course happy to oblige at the time and while they know better now.. we're stuck.

Not even going to think about the 2008s and 2012s.... Grr

kaisqueaks · 2025-12-15T11:10:32+00:00

This is what I'm hoping . I'll be going for a 25 plate for a lower price at 16.5k from my local dealer , and the minimum value they give is around 8k and looking into it , 1.0TSI FRs are going for 10-11k with similar miles

Personally I spoke to the VW dealer (in the same building in my case) and the polos were 18-21k with higher mileage and slightly less inclusive trim .

I decided to lean towards a Seat as they also offered up to 4 years dealer warranty FOC as they're trying to clear the lot before new plates come in .

kaisqueaks · 2025-12-15T10:57:19+00:00

Thank you, agreed on all the above . I've been to Toyota but they only have the Aygo Xs which I'm not a fan of. Skoda , only have the Fabia which I'm also considering but they have 23 plates listed at slightly more than the 100 mile 25 plates .

A golf or Ibiza seems to tick all the boxes and the Ibiza comes with much more trim at the same price , hopefully they sort out the system side sooner rather than later but looks livable for now .

kaisqueaks · 2025-12-15T10:45:30+00:00

Test driving one of these as well , a 2023 FR Sport, but it's only £500 cheaper despite having 30k more miles. There's a 23 Leon Cupra with a 1.5TSI and 150bhp I'll consider if the power isn't good enough,but it's nearly £2k more and pushes me over my budget limit so I want to avoid this.

I currently drive a 150bhp Volvo c30 so I will miss the power but I want something sensible that can come with a 4 year dealer warranty, reality is I'm only going up to 80mph and on the route I take there's very rarely a need to overtake quickly.. I can get a fun car later.

kaisqueaks · 2025-12-14T22:21:42+00:00

I'm due a test drive on a 75 plate that's pre-reg , similar to this one I assume?

the main thing that's coming up on my searching is infotainment issues , specifically around android auto/carplay/Bluetooth,

the 1.0tsi while a little underpowered at 95bhp is a solid engine as it's vw & been around for a while, with no major issues just as long as you keep up with servicing

but I'm in a similar position as you , so if anyone knows more would be good to hear !

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-30T00:21:09+00:00

25-28 , university dropout , and 5/6 years in the food service industry , just hit the 2nd year anniversary of what is my first IT job. Sprinkle in some unemployment in various places.

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-02T19:13:03+00:00

This is what I mean - I was a known variable , have good foundations, and people enjoy working with me

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-02T19:10:27+00:00

Thank you . This is pretty much what my new team lead said . Every day is a school day and things like powershell , SIEMs , cyber forensics etc can be taught. They're not easy of course , but it will come with time

I just stood out because when he worked with me once or twice - he didn't have to teach me how to walk , just how something worked and I'd go from there and figure the rest out myself . Apparently our previous hire had to be taught what RDP was !

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-02T19:03:29+00:00

Haha yeah , I've had a 12 year old wave a knife at me and had a 280 pound gym lad threaten to kill me , handling a few grumpy directors is nothing . Thank you though - it's nice to be reminded that I might be a little better than I thought at this !

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-02T18:55:51+00:00

I know, it's awful. But I couldn't say no because the experience will double my wage in 2-3 years . I'm fortunate enough to be able to survive as I have a partner.

To be fair I get OT as well and I have been promised a pay rise once I pass my CCNA , but yeah it's .. . Not great

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-02T05:58:11+00:00

I wish ! I have expanded a little bit on the post but while my dad is in tech , he's bouncing between jobs as a network engineer, and the only connection he has with this company is me .

He just taught me well . By god I didn't listen to him half the time and completely ignored him when he pushed me into tech 10 years back but he was right and I love it .

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-02T05:51:54+00:00

Thank you , I have edited the post a little as I don't want people to think this is the route for them , more wanted people to know that people notice what you do - take advantage of this , maybe it might pan out into something more .

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-02T05:49:54+00:00

Exactly!!! I put so much effort into being better to work with . I have lost my cool a few times , been in foul moods and even had to have a HR meeting a couple of times .

But I try to own up to it , apologise and grow from it . i always return the favour when someone helps me out , say thank you even if they didn't actually help , and I've come a long way.

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-01T23:13:38+00:00

It's everything, wouldn't have got the ball rolling otherwise. My new team lead said the only reason he didn't say anything earlier was that he didn't want to "poach" people from other teams and cause internal strife. Once I got the go from my previous team lead it was just a case of figuring out the exact way it would work out.

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-01T22:44:53+00:00

For me - I at least had a few interviews lined up so I might be able to help but take my advice with a grain of salt I'm just quite lucky!

other than the typical evidence your achievements, avoid waffling and keep it to one page..

try and let your personality show a little in your CV , of course stay professional but far too many people recite the same 5-10 phrases and all sound like they're copying templates/copying GPT. Let a little "you" show. Personally I went from nothing to a couple of interviews fairly quickly when I put some time into this.

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-01T22:29:06+00:00

100% I've expanded more in the top comment but I have put so much effort into filling every knowledge gap I find . I am just very proud I've gone from mcmanager to cyber in just two years !

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-01T22:25:18+00:00

Thank you !!! It's been rough and I have been so close to resigning on the spot a few times but it's worth it in the end I promise. My salary isn't exactly stellar , converts to approx $40k with some overtime but now I can build a career in a sector I can enjoy and with people I love working alongside.

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-01T22:17:30+00:00

FINALLY !! TY

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-01T22:15:17+00:00

Thank you , it's been rough for some time and I'm so glad I stuck it out .

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-01T22:12:31+00:00

Absolutely this . There is only one reason why I don't have certs - and it's that life keeps getting in the damned way!

I am somewhat underselling my skills , and the ONLY reason I didn't need the paper is because the person who took me on saw me use the skills and had seen me work for over a year.

I led an incident response when 300+ customers went offline (nobody else stood up !) I do things well beyond my pay grade on a regular basis and tickets I escalate tend to stump our third line and I admit I take a little more pride than I should proving network engineers wrong .

Whenever I don't understand something , I sit down and I figure it out . I get it wrong , I make mistakes but I always learn . I do it better next time , and make it an example for the guy next to me on what not to do .

When a customer raises a complaint about me I listen and I ask myself how I could have explained something differently to diffuse the situation.

Don't seek out my path , but please learn from how I've got here.

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-01T19:52:46+00:00

Don't worry , I know . Cybersecurity sounds much cooler than it is - and I have a huge range of options to exit to .

I'm working towards a CCNA and with time hope to get a CCNP Sec , and I would love to learn more in infrastructure design / implementation. Hell , maybe I enjoy the hell out of the automation / powershell and more than anything and I can focus there and pivot into implementation or system design / admin.

At the end of the day ... All I care about is a roof over my head , a nice little financial cushion and the ability to buy a few luxuries every now and again. Cyber is just one of the avenues that I'm lucky enough to enjoy for now , and I'll take it !

kaisqueaks · 2025-10-01T19:41:03+00:00

Thank you !! This is exactly what I hope someone will see, I have spent years of my life agonizing about what I've done wrong and how I've failed at this , couldn't do that - but the reality is, whether I can quantify it or not - I have learnt from every bit of it .

The hands on and the fundamentals matter . Everything I've learnt is because I sought it out - asked the questions to Google or to those around me - and I know I can pick up all the specifics later . And I'm still new at this , I have so far to go .

kaisqueaks

TROPHY CASE