By Michael Gibbs
Over 20 years ago, I decided to make a drastic career change, leaving my steady and reliable job in healthcare to focus on my passion for technology. This change was not a simple career transition. Yet, I embarked on the journey doing what most people do — spending a fortune on training to obtain multiple certifications, making me hireable. However, no employers had an interest in me and my certifications.
Prospective employers all immediately offered the same objections and rejections: I had no technology degrees and no technology experience. The 20,000 dollars of certification training was not enough to get me hired.
But I never gave up. Within six months, I went from internal medicine to the tech lead on my team at the world’s largest internet service provider. So, how did I get there? Here are some lessons I learned along the way and how I went from certifications to certifications “Plus.”
Lesson One: Bridging the Gap
To get my first tech job, I needed a different approach. An approach to get a medical professional with no degrees in tech, or experience in tech, hired.
To that end, I asked over 50 recruiters what are the most desirable qualities in a network engineer? I asked them what the hiring manager would consider the “perfect hire” for a network engineer. Armed with this information, I created a list of the perfect network engineer. I self-analyzed where I feel on the spectrum of their answers. What qualities did I have, and what qualities did I lack.
I then performed a gap analysis of my current state vs. the perfect hire. I made a list of what I needed to do to become the ideal hire, filled in the gaps, and was hired on my first interview.
See, hiring managers were looking for many things, far beyond just certifications.
Hiring managers also place a premium on soft skills, emotional intelligence, likability, communication skills, attitude, and motivation.
Lesson Two: Soft Skills
With over two decades of experience in the technology industry, I have found that when someone is seeking their first tech job, soft skills are just as essential as competency. That is the difference between someone getting hired or rejected.
Remember hiring managers are people. As people, hiring managers tend to hire people that they like. Hiring managers prefer people with excellent soft skills, communication skills, great attitude, and high emotional intelligence.
When one lacks experience, they need something to stand out from more experienced individuals. The soft skills, communication skills, and attitude often make an employer like the person enough to hire someone who lacks experience. The hiring manager wants them on the team as they are so likable, even if some training is required. The best managers know that you hire for attitude because you can train the missing skills.
When many people want to transition into tech from other careers, often they focus only on the tech. However, these same people must improve their personal marketability with soft skills. This personal marketability is especially essential in big roles where the technology professional is customer-facing like those of a cloud architect, enterprise architect, or solution architect
Lesson Three: Certifications That Make a Difference
While getting a lot of certifications will not get someone hired, the proper certifications can increase someone’s marketability. These certifications can help make up for gaps in experience. Certifications imply a basic level of competency and can help an applicant get a job interview, which is part of the getting hired process.
Specific certifications will make you more marketable than others without them. For the best careers in cloud computing, networking, and project management, the following certifications are beneficial:
- Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Solution Architect Expert
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
- Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
- Project Management Professional (PMP)
- Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) – Enterprise
- Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE)
Lesson Four: “Certifications Plus!” The Secret Sauce
The key to transitioning careers or receiving promotions and upward mobility in the tech industry is to increase your marketability. Like anything, when you find out precisely what the end customer wants, you develop and refine the qualities that the customer wants. The customer is not the job applicant in terms of careers; the customer is the hiring manager. Once you know what they are looking for, you’re hired!
I have used these methods for over 20 years to help individuals secure their first tech job or receive internal promotions in the technology sector.
Today I run a global organization, GoCloud Careers, that teaches people how to get their first cloud architect jobs. How do we train our candidates? Our curriculum is based not just on the tech but what hiring managers and recruiters tell us is their perfect dream hire!
At GoCloud Careers, we train people to become cloud architects, enterprise architects, and solutions architects. What sets us apart from other certification programs is that we meld the technical training with soft skills, leadership, emotional intelligence, communication skills, presentation skills, and business acumen training into a single program—that “Plus”; making that secret sauce. Students leave our training and education as elite cloud architects both exceptionally qualified and, more importantly, employable.
When looking for an elite technology career, don’t just focus on certifications! Focus on that “Plus,” the whole package, and build the technology career of your dreams!
