Home Geek

I just heard this phrase for the first time yesterday in class. Although the idea of the home geek describes me to a T I'd never heard anyone use the phrase.

My teacher, Steve, says that too often the home raised geek tries to get a job based on what he knows in hopes that it will apply to everything else that can be thrown at him and fails. Fails to get the job, fails to be heard, fails to get his chance and fails to have his accomplishments acknowledged.

Both my teacher and I have this in common, in that we both grew up learning computers on our own for our own separate reasons. We both had knowledge about what we knew, but we didn't know about what we didn't know. You can't apply basic PC tech to servers and mainframes because they operate differently and software is designed to do different purposes. No one wants to put their multi-million dollar company at risk in the hands of an untested anomaly.

Right or wrong in today's modern world people want to know if you're capable of doing a specific job and they want to see paper. Nothing says I made it like a degree or in the case of the I.T. world... certificates.

I know some of you reading this article will say, "all that means is you've studies a few books and winged it on the test" or better yet "I don't need that because I already know that stuff". Let me submit to you that memorizing definitions and book examples will not get you through 90% of the Microsoft Certifications.

My advice for the home geek is that if you love computers and want a real career working in the I.T. field than you should invest the study time and go for your certificates. If you're like me and don't know where to start and need a helping hand and some structure to help achieve your goals then take the challenge at www.computertraining.com

Finally, if your a parent, relative, friend, or person of influence over a young person that loves computers and wants to go into the computer / I.T. field please encourage them. Don't berate them for past failures or bad grades. Don't try to steer them away from computers because they aren't strong in math. Don't encourage them to go to a general education college or junior college to get "computer classes". Instead have them investigate the path of certificates. If you can, help them financially and encourage them during their studies. I'm in a 6 month study program that will lay the foundation for a lifetime of fulfillment in one of the most secure industries left in the world.

If you have any questions or comments about this post, I would especially like to hear them.