Cliff Krahenbill – October 4, 2023 – 10-minute read
As a young tech twenty-plus years ago, I got all my interviews and first technical job because of my certifications. I got fired quite a bit because I didn’t know anything. But that only lasted a year or two. I learned quickly that getting fired in technology is not necessarily bad. Your resume gets fatter, and you gain a ton of experience until you get to the point where your certifications and background keep you gainfully employed.
I often ask how you explain all those short-term jobs, and the answer to that is simple: I don’t. First, never put anything on your resume that will prevent you from getting the job. Never put anything on your resume that will raise a red flag.
The excellent news in technology is no one cares. Of course, everyone wants to hire a technology guru with certifications, education, and lots of experience, but those types are few and far between.
In technology, I treat getting fired or laid off as an opportunity to get a better job, make more money, and get more experience. Of course, I’m only speaking for myself. This is how it has worked out for me. Truth be told, most people don’t know what they are worth until they have to find another job. Every tech job should be treated as training for the next job. You learn as much as you can while getting more certs and education.
In technology, we build and rehearse disaster recovery plans. Then, the network loses its data, or a natural disaster strikes. Every business needs to be prepared for a worst-case scenario. The same can be said for any technology worker in America. You can’t wait to get laid off to go back to school. You can’t wait to get fired to become certified. So, we all must be prepared and have our disaster recovery plan.
That is how it is in technology. I worked for Clifton Gunderson from 2005 until 2010. Then, one day, the new CEO decided that the firm would no longer provide technical support services and closed Tucson’s IT support and auditing services. I was suddenly out of a job but excited about the opportunities I had been given.
My problem has never been about being without work. My problem has always been taking the wrong job or transitioning too fast. So if I get laid off on a Friday, I’ll be working come Monday, if I so desire.
I had already finished my first master’s, renewed my CCNA, and earned additional certifications. Why? Because the CG paid for my education and my certs. On top of my salary, I was making an extra $15-20K a year, and the sad part about all of this was that I was the only one on the third floor who took advantage of this tuition reimbursement benefit. Everyone else was walking around fat and happy and now unemployed.
That’s a personal disaster recovery plan. I was leaving out the door with much more than you came in with and ensuring that getting laid off is nothing more than an opportunity to get a better job and take advantage of new and better opportunities.
I know that getting fired or laid off from a stable job goes against our grain and programmed thinking. Still, if you want to make six figures in technology, you cannot do it working for the same company for twenty years, nor will you gain enough experience to move up the next rung in the IT world.
This is not your grandfather’s economy, and your children can expect to have more than 14 different vocations in their lifetime.
I watch the news, and I see another John Deere plant closing and the workers saying on TV they have no idea what they will do now that the plant has closed. So the question I have to ask is, why were they not prepared for such a disaster?
How many of your friends and family are not knowing from day to day if they will have a job tomorrow? Are they going to school? Are they looking at getting retrained? Probably not. They have a comfort zone, and they don’t want to move out of it. Can you do more to ensure your success in technology? Absolutely, and you should do all you can! Is it hard? You bet! Is it going to get more complex? Count on it!
Those with the education, certifications, and experience will always rise to the top and be employable—too many people are taking part in the new victimhood culture of victim chic.
This is all part of playing the game, but you can’t play if you don’t know the rules. And you can’t play whining about how life is just so unfair. Life is hard; we either lead, follow, or bring out the dead.