From Finance to Tech

I am currently in the process of receiving an IT certification through Google who has partnered with Coursera. From there I want to prepare to get a CompTIA A+ certification, which would open the doors for me to hopefully and successfully make a transition from the finance industry to the world of tech.

Now you may be wondering why I would make the jump from finance to tech because finance can be very lucrative. To be honest the finance industry to me is boring and was something I happened to stumble upon. Its time for a story of my professional background and how I got to where I am.

My first job was as a cashier at Sears. I was primarily the cashier in the tools department because a lot of the other employees hated working the tool department. For me all the fun people were in the tool department, so I did not mind working there. It was a good first job for a high schooler. Once they had an opening for sales associate for tools, they offered it to me, and I took it. I was already familiar with the crew and was learning about tools and lawn/garden stuff and I could make a little more money so why not. Big mistake! I learned quickly that sales was indeed trash and some people working there were very aggressive when it came to taking customers. I mean come on; you are mad because I helped a customer buy a toolbox that I made $2 from in commission. I knew right away that this was not going to be my lifelong job and honestly, I only stayed for 3 years because of some of the people.

My next job was as a teller at Bank of America. Now I enjoyed my time at Bank of America. One because it was a respectful job and two, I made some lifelong friends there. I met my best friend and the godfather and godmother to my daughter working here. Now being a teller was fun because you got to interact with different customers every day. My manager was like a second mom who made sure I did all my homework and gave me time off when I needed it to graduate college. Now not everything was great though. I ended up getting a new manager and we just never got along. I was respectful but he was hard to respect. He started slowly weeding out all the men who worked in the branch and replaced them with women. When he had to decide to transfer me or another employee who was a woman, he transferred me. Even though I had seniority and the better chemistry with the team. I was upset. One because I lived 4 minutes away from the bank and was going to a branch that was about 30 minutes. And two, I felt that I earned my spot in the Brockton branch and it was flushed down the drain. Now I tried to give the city of Weymouth and the branch an open mind. The team was very cool, and they taught me some things. Like the manager there let me interview potential candidates which I enjoyed. I have always thought I had an ability to feel a person out or read them and the interview process either confirmed or denied those feelings. I was promoted to Sales and Service Specialist (tongue twister) which was pretty much half teller, half personal banker position. I had my own desk and got to interact with customers on a deeper level. The bank however went through a transition where sales was now the focus. It went from really caring about the customers needs to this customer does not have an account or a credit card, lets push them to get one. I hated this new wave. I was in the mindset that we do not know what these customers experience, or background was at and to push something not genuinely but pushed to make numbers was like being a shark and I’m not a shark.

You can see trend here; I hated sales and being a salesperson. My next job was as a transfer agent for State Street. Transfer agent is basically being the order taker for clients on securities on the stock market. A client would call and say, “I would like to order 1 buy of SPY” and I would process it. It was a desk job in a back office in Boston. It was a new world to me. I didn’t go to school for finance, so the terminology was different. I was a criminal justice major, but I had banking experience. Once I got comfortable to took off and was a real good worker. I knew I wanted to blend my degree in criminal justice and my experience in banking into a position and I decided that compliance would be the best fit for me. As soon as I got hired at State Street, they offered me a position in the mentor program, and I reached out to the compliance manager to ask If he would be my mentor. He said yes and we met once a month just to take about life and work. Finally, a position opened on his team, and he offered me the position. I accepted it so fast, and I felt that I finally found the job for me. I was investigating, researching, and processing data which was exactly what I loved to do. Unfortunately, State Street started to outsource a lot of their work to save money. The way I found out that I was being laid off was bad and would not wish it on anyone. I just had my daughter in August of 2018 and was on paternal leave. I asked my manager before I left on leave should I worry and look for other jobs because I heard rumors about compliance being outsourced. He assured me that compliance was a job that had to stay stateside, and I would be good. So, with that I took the time off and enjoyed my new baby girl. The second day I come back from leave, my friend, who also worked at State Street called and said my manager was looking for me. I thought that was weird because he knew I usually come in a little later due to dropping my son off at school. I get there and the vibe is just off. Then I get notified that my manager’s manger wanted to talk and honestly, I never spoke more than 5 words to her, so I knew something was happening. We walk into an elevator go up a couple floors and meet an HR rep and I said this isn’t good. She tells me that with the company outsourcing, my position is being eliminated and I was being laid off. They told me I had 2 months and I would be getting a severance package. I was beyond upset. I told them, I literally just had a baby 2 months ago and I was the one bringing home the money and now I won’t. my wife told me take the time off spend it with our baby and you’ll find something.

My severance package lasted for 4 months, and I literally found a job the week before it ended. I got a job through a job agency working as member of the Code of Ethics team for Wellington Management. I knew from the interview that they would probably offer me the job and told my recruiter that and he laughed and never heard anyone so confident. 2 hours later he calls and tells me they want to hire you on a contract that lasted 2 months. It was a start, and I knew if I wanted to stay longer, I’d have to network and work my tail off. Once the 2-month contract ended it got extended for another 2 months then for another 6 months. Working for the Code of Ethics team was fun. The work was very judgmental based. What I mean by that is if an employee wanted to do something it was up to us to decide if they could do it based on their scenario. I enjoyed it but again this job was also outsourcing most of its work overseas so I knew after that 6-month extension, there wouldn’t be anymore. So, I started looking for other positions within the company. Now let me tell you, Wellington’s interview process is the most tedious process I have ever experienced. I went through about 12 interviews for 2 different positions but could not land both jobs. I thought this was it and I was moving on. My manager though, who to this day was the nicest manager I have ever worked with said she knew a position was opening on another team and she knew the manager and would talk to them.  I met my current manager and clicked. He was a black man and to have a manger of color for the first time makes you want to work harder and be better. In a way I look up to him professionally because of how he grew up personally. I knew if he could do it I could to. So I started on his team as a data analyst which is my current position as I write this. I’m still on a contract with the company but it keeps getting extended.

Now after going through that “short” story of my professional background, I want to talk about tech. Technology is every where and we use if just about in everything we do. From watching tv, to making phone calls to surfing the web. And with tech continuously growing, the jobs are growing as well. I’ve always liked tech, from video games to new tech toys. I have also been hacked and this made me think about a career more in tech. Hackers were able to hack into my phone account port it to another phone company and still my bank information. They stole $800 from me but I was able to get it back. This made me think how they do it and what could I do to prevent it from happening again. This is how my interest in cybersecurity peaked. Now I didn’t want to go back to school but I read most jobs want certifications. I started taking the Google IT Certification course and man, this stuff is interesting. I learned about binary and how computers talk in1’s and 0’s. I learned about networking protocols. I’m still learning but I feel inspired learning this stuff.

In high school I really didn’t think about college. I knew my parents wanted me to go but I wasn’t so sure. My wife who was my girlfriend at the time really pushed me and helped me get into college. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, a correctional officer maybe a judge. Now I’m not knocking college, because I wouldn’t have been to get the jobs I got with a degree. I wish I did something more interesting. Knowing what I know now, I would’ve gone to school for computer sciences. But I can’t turn back time. I can get these certifications and keep on learning along the way. My wife always knew she wanted to be in science. She got her PhD in it and got a job doing what she always wanted to do as a scientist. I love her passion. I am inspired by it. I stuck around the finance industry so she could finish school and get her dream job. Now she says its my turn and go for what I want. Tech is what I want and what I probably always wanted. It took me 31 years to finally realize this but its never too late.

If you are in a point in your life where you feel stuck or uninspired especially when it comes to work, it’s not you it’s the job. It doesn’t fit what you want to do. Find your passion, find your love find your inspiration. It may take some time for you to find it but believe me its out there. Whether it takes you 2 months or 50 years, you’ll find it. I believe everyone has a passion and they just must take the time to find it. Taking the tech certifications made me create this website. Never in a million years did I think I would create my own website and blog. But here we are! If I can do it, so can you.  -I am Cliffthedarknite.