When it comes to working in IT Operations or Development (software engineering), you have to learn and relearn CONSTANTLY. Recently in the news I saw how tech jobs rarely require a degree, and it’s for good reason. When you walk over and snatch that diploma out of your proctors hands, you’re already obsolete — or at least figuratively speaking.

The same goes for guys like myself whom are certified. While some of them may never expire, and others have a 3 year shelf life — the fact of the matter is; in the era of the Cloud… it’s obsolete within months. These facts are why I insist that pursuing a job in tech must be journey you love. Getting into tech can’t be driven entirely by pay (I do AGREE pay is certainly a motivating factor), but one must innately be drawn to the field through intrinsic means.

Most of the folks I work with or have previously worked with were big into PC gaming, electronics, building stuff, tinkering with things, etc. If this doesn’t sound like you, then I hate to tell you… you’re going to burn out faster than a match from your favorite pub.

It’s a labor of love. You’ve got to want to learn it not because you’re told or expected to, but because you’re curious and want to get in on it. Anybody can do something for a little while, but its that consistency, that grit that gets the job done. If you don’t love it, it’s not impossible… but it’ll be hard. The people who love it around you will get be getting certified and learning the bleeding edge stuff just because they feel like it, while those who don’t will find it a daunting task.

AZ-100 here I come.