Alex Fender

Advice for Veterans Seeking To Land a Job in Google World

Recently, I was contacted by a Veteran who had recently earned her MBA in Information Technology and was seeking help and advice. This is her original message:

“Good Morning Alex!

Primarily at this stage I am looking for mentors in the industry. I have recently switched over to IT and being new to the field I am in need of guidance. I would like to somehow incorporate the knowledge I learned from my degree and my IT skills so they work harmoniously for me in a career.

Respectfully,
Michelle”

Here is my response:

First piece of advice, stay away from enterprise companies because they are the worst at I.T.! There is an exception of about less than 20 companies globally. Enterprise companies have all of the resources in the world and have no idea how to leverage them. Unlike the military where we are given less than we need and demanded to do more.

Look at small to medium companies that have great leadership, those companies are setting trends and making phenomenal new technologies! Stay away from companies with bad leaders, they are the cause of high turnover and burnout and will be the death of you.

That is also why so many young startups are getting acquired by the top companies. If you can get on board with a winner, you will get recruited like crazy to the top companies. I must get recruiting offers 3 to 5 times every week and the guys that work under me get about the same. Control your destiny by making sure you are on a winning team.

Next, I.T. Sucks!

80% of I.T. projects fail for 3 common reasons (out of scope, out of budget or did not complete the mission); you do not want to be a part of the 80%

But there is an area of information technology that is closer to analytics/software and customer acquisition that is exploding right now. Google makes 100 million every day with their advertising programs and Amazon makes $1,084 per second. That is where the money is and the long term future. We are currently witnessing an elimination of mediocrity in the market place.  Companies with bad leaders and poor technologies are failing everywhere and being replaced.

I.T. pros are fighting at every chance to get an opportunity with companies in this arena because the systems being created make companies profit and make people happy. Where I.T. projects are irritants because of the high failure rate. The most recent example is the Obamacare website.

The title  of the blog states job, not career because you are not likely to find a career in I.T.  That is because there is a high burnout rate and company turnover and things are changing like crazy.  The CEO of Linkedin, Jeff Weiner recently said that jobs today are more like military deployments. The key to long term success is this field is to continue learning. Just like when you were in the Navy, always set your sights at the next job higher up than you.

Get Google Certified

You will ultimately make more money, be happier and be in high demand. I get to pick and choose the companies I work with and the projects that I am on. Here is a link to the Google Certification Program and here is a link to the Google Partners Certification program. Right now in the U.S., there is less than 10,000 people who are Google Certified.  Ride on the coattails of success of one of the most successful companies ever! Then, buildout your credentials by earning advanced certifications with companies like Amazon, Bing, HubSpot, IBM, Oracle, Yahoo; here is a link to a list of Top I.T. Certifications http://www.tomsitpro.com/articles/best-it-certifications,1-1352.html.

I also recommend that you checkout Funnel Science and considering applying for Google Apprenticeship at this link http://www.funnelscience.com/job/google-certification-apprenticeship-training-for-veterans

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