Danny's newsletter - Issue #3
My Start
I opened my Year Up offer letter and there was the logo for the company I was going to be interning at. That was it, my foot was officially in the door. Granted, my toe was in the door but you get the point.
From there on out I was on an interview, an exhibition of whether I could or could not do this. I knew I had the work ethic, now it was about picking up everything I could to be able to get into tech.
However, I recognized the odds were stacked.
To put things in perspective, I had done a couple of years of community college and no degree. Everything I knew I had learned either on my own or was learning on the job (internship). I knew I was competing with graduates from Ivy League schools and experience at a who’s who of other top companies. Not only this, but the majority of interns are looking to put in a good name and come back after another year at their top name school. I didn’t have that to go back to, this was it. I even had left my job in Electrical Utility (completely different field) to focus on this opportunity.
What I wanted was to get my foot in the door. A punchers chance, nothing more, nothing less.
I knew if I could prove my character as a person as well as my ability to learn on the spot, I had a shot. So I went for it.
The Odds
As a brief recap I had the following going for me
No college experience at a top school
No previous internship at tech companies
No connections at other companies
Had left my job to focus on this opportunity (less $$)
A lot was riding on this and I knew what was at stake. I was hoping to apply what I had soaked in from my classes the months prior and the many hours behind the keyboard building my skills on my own time, towards the path of a career in Information Security.
As you can see I didn’t have a lot of experience or formal education in this field. I want to state that this CAN be done. Having the vision of where you want to be, and thinking long-term will take you far.
“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” - Bill Gates
If you can think long-term, you will be surprised at what you can accomplish in this field.
See my other posts for more on how to get into tech and Cybersecurity.
I’ll end with these words from Henry Ford.
Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right. - Henry Ford
Written on August 1, 2021