Hello, - Get good at marketing and sales. The product you are selling is you. - Get really good at knowing when to push, and when to wait. - No doesn't always mean no if you get turned down for a position. Get good at knowing that and putting that into practice. - Get good at looking and acting confident. This might mean working on blindness skills. I don't know you, and I don't mean to offend you by that statement... but looking and acting confident, even when you're not, will help you. - Get a set of tools in your toolbox. Professional resume, good wardrobe, professional-looking bag/briefcase, knowledge and skills in a variety of systems with a variety of screen readers is probably all a good start. - Everyone, and I mean everyone you meet could be your next employer or your connection to your next employer. Don't slack off or take a break from sales/marketing. - Be willing to be uncomfortable in putting yourself out there, and being willing and able to discussyour blindness, to answer questions which might seem strange, and to generally be human and converse with people. - If able, make the offer to work for free for a period of time, or get an internship. This is more valuable than any cert. - A+, net+, security+, CCNA, MCSE certs could be valuable, but put the other things on this list higher up on your priority list. - Don't waste time applying on indeed or large employer sites, especially when starting out. Take a look at places in your area, make personal visits, maybe with a box of donuts and a resume, and offer to speak to them in person. If you want to apply online, apply with companies directly if possible. - When interviewing, you are not the only one being interviewed. Use it as an opportunity to interview them. You are having a conversation, and you are determining whether or not the employer is a good fit for you. It is a chat. A bit more formal, but still a chat. - Be willing to describe how you would complete tasks as a blind person. Even if they don't ask, they are likely curious. - Always follow up after the interview, and if you want the position, don't take no lightly. - Don't wait for any state agency to help you find work. Chances are, you may be waiting for a while, or you may end up at a position you will be unhappy with. - Look up salary trends, as well as other information about your employer before the interview. Mentioning something you learned might make them think that you are really motivated to get the position. - Always tailor the resume to the position, and include a cover letter unless they say not to. - Get involved in the community, with Senior centers, on websites, or whatever, and build up your presence so that you can use that as a form of experience if you haven't already. I went a bit beyond answering your questions about certs, but getting and maintaining employment is a bit more involved than getting the right cert, although that does help. Thanks. On Tue, Jan 7, 2020 at 2:38 PM Mike Fulton wrote:

Hello,

I have been subscribed to this list for quite some time but haven't posted much. My name is Mike, and I graduated with a B.S. degree in IT about a year and a half ago. I have been struggling to get a job in IT to start my career. I am now in the process of studying for my CompTIA A+ certification, and then I'm going to start studying for MCSA. I was fortunate enough to ge able to get these costs covered by my state rehab agency. I have a few questions about starting my career, and am mainly looking for pointers, tips, tricks, etc. Would you agree that I'm getting the correct certs? My goal is to specialise in sysadmin or network admin. What general tips, tricks, and pointers do you have? What screen reader have you found works best to have on a thumb drive for accessing other systems? What other tools and techniques have you found useful?

Any help and info you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Mike _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list -- blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org To unsubscribe send an email to blind-sysadmins-leave@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

-- Best, Nimer Jaber The message above is intended for the recipient to whom it was addressed. If you believe that you are not the intended recipient, please notify me via reply email and destroy all copies of this correspondence. Action taken as a result of this email or its contents by anyone other than the intended recipient(s) may result in civil or criminal charges. I have checked this email and all corresponding attachments for security threats. However, security of your machine is up to you. Thanks. Registered Linux User 529141. http://counter.li.org/ To find out about a free and versatile screen reader for windows XP and above, please click here: http://www.nvda-project.org You can follow @nimerjaber on Twitter for the latest technology news. To contact me, you can reply to this email or you may call me at (970) (393-4481) and I will do my best to respond to you promptly. Thank you, and have a great day!

I would say start small and slowly clime up. There is already quite a bit of excellent tips have been given by other listers. I personally started with IT hobby being family/ extended family IT guy. Got married and wife made me go to school for AA in Network Administration and support. By the end of finishing college, I started volunteering in local church and then in the churches' private school. Slowly after that I was managing 2 different company's networks, school and 2 grocery stores. Things got so busy so that we went and bought one of the grocery stores. LOL. Right now, we slowly start outsourcing IT to a consulting company, but my point is that I started very small from basically nothing to IT director in school and then to the store owner. BTW I do have certs. They are in the cupboard so as my diploma with owners. LOL. As for screen readers, what ever makes you able to get the job done, go for it. -----Original Message----- From: Mike Fulton Sent: Tuesday, January 7, 2020 2:37 PM To: blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] starting a career in IT Hello, I have been subscribed to this list for quite some time but haven't posted much. My name is Mike, and I graduated with a B.S. degree in IT about a year and a half ago. I have been struggling to get a job in IT to start my career. I am now in the process of studying for my CompTIA A+ certification, and then I'm going to start studying for MCSA. I was fortunate enough to ge able to get these costs covered by my state rehab agency. I have a few questions about starting my career, and am mainly looking for pointers, tips, tricks, etc. Would you agree that I'm getting the correct certs? My goal is to specialise in sysadmin or network admin. What general tips, tricks, and pointers do you have? What screen reader have you found works best to have on a thumb drive for accessing other systems? What other tools and techniques have you found useful? Any help and info you can provide is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Mike _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list -- blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org To unsubscribe send an email to blind-sysadmins-leave@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Hi, A few things that helped me: Before I was in a job I did a lot of work on my own in email and web hosting and finding out how all that worked so I could get a deep understanding on the technologies. I would recommend finding something that interests you in the field you want to work in and really go for understanding and reading up on that field, then put it into practice with your own environment. Also I would highly recommend getting in on the scripting and configuration management arena, I have found a lot more positions in this of late rather than older style sysadmin work, and it pays a lot better as well. Andrew. ________________________________________ From: Nimer Jaber [nimerjaber1@gmail.com] Sent: 07 January 2020 23:22 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Re: starting a career in IT Hello, - Get good at marketing and sales. The product you are selling is you. - Get really good at knowing when to push, and when to wait. - No doesn't always mean no if you get turned down for a position. Get good at knowing that and putting that into practice. - Get good at looking and acting confident. This might mean working on blindness skills. I don't know you, and I don't mean to offend you by that statement... but looking and acting confident, even when you're not, will help you. - Get a set of tools in your toolbox. Professional resume, good wardrobe, professional-looking bag/briefcase, knowledge and skills in a variety of systems with a variety of screen readers is probably all a good start. - Everyone, and I mean everyone you meet could be your next employer or your connection to your next employer. Don't slack off or take a break from sales/marketing. - Be willing to be uncomfortable in putting yourself out there, and being willing and able to discussyour blindness, to answer questions which might seem strange, and to generally be human and converse with people. - If able, make the offer to work for free for a period of time, or get an internship. This is more valuable than any cert. - A+, net+, security+, CCNA, MCSE certs could be valuable, but put the other things on this list higher up on your priority list. - Don't waste time applying on indeed or large employer sites, especially when starting out. Take a look at places in your area, make personal visits, maybe with a box of donuts and a resume, and offer to speak to them in person. If you want to apply online, apply with companies directly if possible. - When interviewing, you are not the only one being interviewed. Use it as an opportunity to interview them. You are having a conversation, and you are determining whether or not the employer is a good fit for you. It is a chat. A bit more formal, but still a chat. - Be willing to describe how you would complete tasks as a blind person. Even if they don't ask, they are likely curious. - Always follow up after the interview, and if you want the position, don't take no lightly. - Don't wait for any state agency to help you find work. Chances are, you may be waiting for a while, or you may end up at a position you will be unhappy with. - Look up salary trends, as well as other information about your employer before the interview. Mentioning something you learned might make them think that you are really motivated to get the position. - Always tailor the resume to the position, and include a cover letter unless they say not to. - Get involved in the community, with Senior centers, on websites, or whatever, and build up your presence so that you can use that as a form of experience if you haven't already. I went a bit beyond answering your questions about certs, but getting and maintaining employment is a bit more involved than getting the right cert, although that does help. Thanks. On Tue, Jan 7, 2020 at 2:38 PM Mike Fulton wrote:

Hello,

I have been subscribed to this list for quite some time but haven't posted much. My name is Mike, and I graduated with a B.S. degree in IT about a year and a half ago. I have been struggling to get a job in IT to start my career. I am now in the process of studying for my CompTIA A+ certification, and then I'm going to start studying for MCSA. I was fortunate enough to ge able to get these costs covered by my state rehab agency. I have a few questions about starting my career, and am mainly looking for pointers, tips, tricks, etc. Would you agree that I'm getting the correct certs? My goal is to specialise in sysadmin or network admin. What general tips, tricks, and pointers do you have? What screen reader have you found works best to have on a thumb drive for accessing other systems? What other tools and techniques have you found useful?

Any help and info you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Mike _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list -- blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org To unsubscribe send an email to blind-sysadmins-leave@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

-- Best, Nimer Jaber The message above is intended for the recipient to whom it was addressed. If you believe that you are not the intended recipient, please notify me via reply email and destroy all copies of this correspondence. Action taken as a result of this email or its contents by anyone other than the intended recipient(s) may result in civil or criminal charges. I have checked this email and all corresponding attachments for security threats. However, security of your machine is up to you. Thanks. Registered Linux User 529141. http://counter.li.org/ To find out about a free and versatile screen reader for windows XP and above, please click here: http://www.nvda-project.org You can follow @nimerjaber on Twitter for the latest technology news. To contact me, you can reply to this email or you may call me at (970) (393-4481) and I will do my best to respond to you promptly. Thank you, and have a great day! _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list -- blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org To unsubscribe send an email to blind-sysadmins-leave@lists.hodgsonfamily.org