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Recently I had succeeded in earning my A+ certification. While the certification meant a lot to me, I still had one more task to do. Find a job. With my certification in hand, I began looking for jobs posted on the internet, anything that related to computers and best fit my qualifications. Turns out a lot of companies wanted people with experience. So how else is someone supposed to break into the IT industry? Sounds like a Catch-22, don't you think?

Despite the lack of responses, I was persistant in my search, applying and following up when necessary. I finally made some progress in July when I was called in for some interviews. Unfortunately, the first interview was as far as I got. I was offered a position at a local computer store, but the starting wage was at minimum wage. I may be unemployed, but the environment and pay was just not worth it, so I stuck with my unemployment benefits for a little longet. I'll admit, I was even beginning to doubt myself. I wondered if I would ever land a job.

My break came a couple of weeks ago, when I got a call from a temp agency after they looked over my resume and asked me to come in for an interview. I figured, why not? It wouldn't hurt. Turns out AT&T outsources through this agency for Tech Support. The agency liked what they saw and I was hired with them, working as a contractor at AT&T. Yup, I finally landed a job! A well paying, full-time job too. I'm currently in training, but still getting paid for it. It's been pretty cool this first week. Let's hope I'll be at this position for a while.

All this just goes to show that if you're determined enough to get what you desire and with enough work, nothing is out of reach. So to all those who had even the slightest doubt in me.....

You were wrong.

My next challenge awaits me as I continue on the path to a new and better life. 'Til next time. wink

"There is always someone left to fight" - Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Gladiator

So I planned on putting up a journal entry some months ago. Just shows how much procrastination I still have. That's a fading habit though, as I've been a busy bee lately. This would have been pretty long had I not split this entry into two. Let me start my first entry with Fanime.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, Fanime is an anime convention that has taken place at the San Jose Convention Center on Memorial Day weekend the past four years. The past two years were a blast to go to. This year felt...different. Part of this was due to a lack of interesting panels and other events. The other part was due to taking on some personal issues I had at the time. Overall it was just mising the spark that was there in '06 and '05. I still managed to have my share of fun though.

Before that though, I was laid off from my job at the dental office about a month earlier. This was a portion of the personal issues I was dealing with. Thanks to this, among other things, I finally got the nerve to study for my CompTIA A+ certification. I had to pass two tests to become certified, a Core Hardware and Operating Systems exam. If you already read my previous entry, I already passed the hardware exam. Soon after Fanime, I took the OS exam. Unfortunately I didn't pass it, however I still had one more shot at it before these tests expired to put in new tests. Towards the end of June, I took the exam again. This time I passed, overjoyed and relieved of a lot of stress when I saw the computer screen say "Congratulations!". I'm now A+ certified!

But there was still the problem of finding a job.....