My college experience was characterized by being completely immersed and productive. I graduated from the University of Phoenix with a B.S. I studied IT and Software engineering. 90% of my time was spent online, and 10% was spent trying to understand the remaining 90%. It was enjoyable, but I wish I had spent more time getting hands-on experience.
After graduating, I applied for many jobs and realized how valuable hands-on experience was in comparison to the degree or school I attended. It’s ironic that every employer wants hands on experience, but none will give it to you. My only job was as a help desk tech at a local IT company. The company was acquired and I was quickly laid off. After many helpdesk and desktop support roles, I saw the NexGenT Zero To Engineer ad on Instagram. I realized that I could do so much more with my job.
Terry’s advice to “invest in your education and career” is what drew me to Zero to Engineer. This message resonated deeply with me. Terry had done this before and was very successful.
Zero to Engineer was a million times better than I expected. The experience was simply amazing. Before ZTE, I didn’t know that routers and switches had command lines. The FSNA project was a huge undertaking. I can still remember watching every video in the module.
ZTE gave me the confidence and motivation to go the extra mile at my job. Senior management noticed and asked me to collaborate on many new projects. I was able to complete most of these projects because of the tools, protocols, skills, and protocols I learned at ZTE. I wish I had known about the networking world sooner. I would have joined Zero To Engineer sooner.
Recently, I accepted a job offer. I am currently working in a government office as a network administrator for the City of Santa Ana. This new job offered me a 50% increase in my pay and I cannot thank Zero to Engineer enough for helping me reach this milestone.
Terry and his team are my best friends and I know that I will achieve my ultimate career goal of becoming a senior engineer.
