In my first post I detailed the choices that led me from my original plan of being a history teacher, to dropping out of my computer science program, to starting my first help desk job.

After 2 years of working at Taima (now Convergys), I felt that I had hit a wall. The job no longer challenged me and became very monotonous. I decided to put my resume out there to see if anyone was looking for someone with my skill set. I learned very quickly that call center technicians are typically only hired for other call center jobs. Luckily Tonia, a good drinking buddy of mine, was working at Magma Communications, a then small ISP who was looking for people to work on their corporate support desk. I was called in for an interview which covered advanced networking, provisioning, and Linux/Unix administration. After stumbling and bumbling my way through the interview I never expected to get a call back. To my surprise I received the call 2hrs later and was offered the job. My new manager later told me that I did horrible on the interview but I had great people skills and that Tonia said I was lots of fun to go drinking with.

It was at Magma where I started learning Unix/Linux/Windows system administration. I will admit that it was quite a steep learning curve but I really enjoyed it. Three months into my new job I received a call from a recruiter who was looking for a platform analyst, which is a fancy term for technical support person, for a contract at Nortel Networks.

“Wow, Nortel!” was the only thought that went through my mind. At this point Nortel was still at it’s peak and hiring like mad. Layoffs were the furthest thing from everyones mind and there was nothing but prosperity on the horizon.

At the risk of burning bridges at Magma I accepted the contract at Nortel, with promise of an extension after the first 6 months. Upon arrival I realized that a ‘platform analyst’ role at Nortel related to resetting forgetful users custom application passwords. After about 2 months I realized that working at Nortel may not have been the best career move. To sum it up:
The Positives:

• More money than I had ever made before
• Met my future wife
• Got engaged to aforementioned wife

The Negatives

• Lost quite a bit of my technical skills due to monotonous, repetitive work

As with most people with Nortel on their resume, the axe finally swung on my job 3 days shy of being there a full year. The Friday prior to the layoff I was assured by both my manager and the HR representative that I had nothing to worry about and that my job wasn’t going anywhere. Needless to say I was devastated that Monday morning when the same management tag-team told me that everything they had told me on Friday had been “recalculated due to business requirements”. “Recalculated” being the politically correct term for “bold faced lie” in this case.

So here I was…unemployed, living at my soon to be in-laws house waiting to take ownership of my newly purchased house (Oh did I forget to mention that little gem?), and not knowing what my next steps were.

Check back shortly for my next posting which details my post-Nortel career workshop experience, the job that launched my security career, and the co-founding of Koteas Corporation.

My post about Mike Murray’s Building a Sustainable Security Career article made me think about the question that gets asked to every security professional at some time during their career – “How did you get to where you are?”

Everyone follows a different path but some of our journey’s start out quite differently. In this 3 part series I’ll attempt to explain how I went from a average High School student, with aspirations of being a history teacher, to the leader of a team of security-oriented software developers for a successful startup.

Part 1 – The Choice

In grade 11 I was positive that my career path was going to take me to University to study to become a history teacher. I loved history and social sciences and figured teaching it would be a great way to spend the rest of my life. At the same time, Nortel Networks was booming and hiring people straight out of University and College with degrees/diplomas in Computer Science. I decided that computers was probably a more realistic career path and switched high schools to one that offered a semester based system.

After graduating high school I enrolled at Algonquin College in the Computer Engineering Technology – Computing Science program. After struggling through the first year and a half I decided that the idea of sitting behind a desk, programming into the night, was not the path I wanted to follow. I switched to the Computer Systems Technician program as it appeared, on the surface, to be more networking oriented. Under the covers it was still very much programming oriented so I only made it through half of the term before withdrawing from Algonquin College. In hindsight I think that there were multiple reasons that I didn’t succeed at college:

1. I had just turned 18, which was the legal drinking age in Quebec (a short drive from Ottawa which had a drinking age of 19)
2. I was too young to understand the focus and dedication required for ‘higher’ education
3. I let the promise of money dictate where I should focus my studies

After making, what my parents then referred to as, “the biggest mistake of my life” I started looking for a job in the real world. I hooked up with a computer wholesaler as your typically sales guy. “Hi, I know you purchased two computers 5 years ago but we have a great deal on hard drives if you buy 200 of them…..hello?” After about 4 weeks I that this was not the career for me. I was offered a job at Taima Corporation (now Convergys), a fast paced call center supporting ISPs from all over North America. The catch? I had to attend one month of unpaid training which covered basic operating system configuration, dial up networking technology, and troubleshooting. The money was twice that of working at the local fast food joint so I figure “why not, I’m still living at home for free”. The training was surprisingly good as Taima wanted to make sure that when you were thrown on the phones you knew what you were talking about. The made sure everyone had a firm understanding of:

• Windows 3.1,95,98,NT
• MS-Dos
• MacOS 7.51-X, AppleTalk
• BootP, DOCSIS Standards
• Cable Modem Technology and Structure
• Network Architecture, Design, Connectivity
• UNIX
• ATM, Frame Relay, ISDN, xDSL
• Citrix

Most people trash call center jobs but I think it’s a great place for people to start out. You don’t start as a General in the military…you start on the front lines.

Check back shortly for my next posting which details my move from my first call center job, to my next call center job, to my ‘dream job’ at Nortel Networks.

There was a great post over at the nCircle Sync blog entitled “Do you still value your CISSP?” by Andrew Storms. I have yet to attain this certification but I plan on sitting for the exam in the coming months because I believe it to be a valuable asset in my personal development plan. The reason this post stood out is due to the comments the author received while at his both at RSA:

At RSA, I got one of those badge flags saying “ISC2 Member”. More than a few people asked “How did you get that?” Then before I could answer they would retort in a disgruntled tone “Oh you must have put your CISSP number in at registration. The CISSP doesn’t matter anymore anyway”

The authors response was “Well, OK, thanks for your kind words, I guess?” which was a subdued response compared to what I would have given.

Why do people feel the need to make snide remarks to belittle individual’s personal achievements? If I took the time to learn the subject matter required to both better myself AND pass a difficult exam, who are you to tell me it’s worthless.

Does it make you feel better about yourself to tell me my accomplishments are worthless? Are you a better person because you didn’t put the time into learning what I learned?

If a friend or colleague had a baby, after years and years of trying, would you immediately comment on how long it took them, how they’re time was wasted, and tell them the way that you think they should have approached it? The answer, unless you’re a jerk, is NO! You’d be happy for them, offer some congratulatory remarks, and maybe even provide a meaningful gift to show them how much you care.

When people tell me that one of my certifications are worthless I often think back to my favorite Jack Nicholson quote from the movie A Few Good Men:

We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.

I am very proud of the 13 certifications that I hold because I know how much time and effort, as does my family, was put into acquiring the knowledge needed to pass those exams.