43: Trying to change careers now

My guest today is trying to change careers now while he has a full-time job, a mortgage and two young kids. David Mock opens up about the challenges he's facing, his immediate concerns (will it work out?, will it be worth it?), and how he's getting through it all. 

Currently, David feels stuck and he shares how he's working on becoming a certified junior cybersecurity analyst, a new career that would provide personal growth, financial freedom and more flexibility.  It could also secure his future in a growing field.

Are you working on your career switch, too, like David? Here's hoping you can relate to any part of his story and that his experience and advice will motivate you to keep going. 

Episode Highlights:

• Feeling stuck
• Looking for growth and financial freedom
• Wanting to change environments 
• Researching a new field
• Securing a better future
• Learning from interviews
• When going back to school is not an option
• Self-paced studying while having a full-time job and family
• Taking time for self-care
• Internships and freelancing
• How to deal with fear and self-doubt 

Find David Mock at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidkmock/

Cisco program: Junior Cybersecurity Analyst Career Path

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Cybersecurity is a growing industry: https://blog.dol.gov/2023/09/22/see-yourself-in-cybersecurity

Music credit: TimMoor from Pixabay

Podcast info:
What's your career switch? What do you think about this episode and the show? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Transcript

Lixandra: Hi, everyone. I'm Lixandra Urresta, and this is Career Switch Podcast. This show is here to encourage you to take action with whatever career change you're considering or working on. Maybe you're trying to switch industries or professions or break out on your own and start a business. In some episodes, I talk to people who've made their own career switch, whether by choice or circumstance. They share the good, the bad, and the truth about their journey, including what worked for them and what didn't. In other episodes, I speak with experts who offer their best career advice on challenges that can come up during the process of making a career change. After all, it takes guts to switch things up, and it's not easy. However, it is possible. 

So, I hope you hear something in this episode, an idea, a suggestion, a piece of advice that will spur you into action with your own career switch, whether it's taking that first bold step or trying something new. Welcome. I'm glad you're here. 

Most of my guests on Career Switch Podcast have made their career change years ago. So when they're on the show, they're remembering and reflecting on their experience. That's great. I appreciate them looking back and sharing their wisdom once they've completed their career switch. 

Today's guest, on the other hand, is trying to change careers now. David Mock has a full-time job, is a dad to two young children, and has a mortgage. In this episode, David shares how he's trying to switch from ophthalmology to cybersecurity. He tells us how he's navigating the ups and downs of his career change, his concerns for the immediate future, and how he's getting through it all. 

Are you working on your career switch too, like David? Here's hoping you can relate to any part of his story and that it'll motivate you to keep going. Hi, David. Thanks for joining us today. Let's dive in. Normally, I ask my guests what they were doing before their career switch and what led up to it. But with you, you're working on changing careers now. We are recording this episode in October 2023. So what are you doing currently and why do you want to make a career switch?

David: At the moment, I'm a certified ophthalmic assistant. So, I work with the ophthalmologist and I do the different imaging and ultrasounds of the eyes. So right now I work at a hospital. So during my day, I'm always using the computer, right? And then whenever that there's an issue, everybody always looks at me since I'm pretty good at fixing computers and solving problems. Since I am always had a passion to work with the computers and learn about the new technology that's out there. I figured that I would like to try to pursue that as a career. It also offers the flexibility to work from home and pretty much like with the one computer field, there's like a lot of room to grow. So there's no limit to this career. At the one career that I'm in right now, that I'm pretty much at my pay cap already because at the hospital that I work for, they're paying me at the top level already. So I feel that I'm stuck right now. So that's one of the main reasons why that I would like to switch careers into the cybersecurity.

Lixandra: Yeah. And when we first spoke, you also mentioned that you want to change environments. Tell us about that.

David: At the moment, I'm just in the medical field, so I cannot work anywhere else other than the medical field. I feel with the cybersecurity, I'm able to work with the medical, if I want to say with medical, or the hospitality, or even with the major businesses. You know, because since it's in all the industries out there. So I feel that that's a lot of flexibility for me to learn different things and to see the different type of industries out there and then how the job will change per the industry.

Lixandra: Did you do any research on the cybersecurity field?

David: Oh, yeah. So Google is predicting that the field in cybersecurity is the most sought after field right now. Since everything in this digital age is all wireless and all on the computer now, there needs to be people that's going to protect all these assets from all these major companies. So as of now, there's not a lot of cybersecurity professionals out there right now. So I'm pretty much going through this path just to future-proof my career.

Lixandra: So cybersecurity is a growing field and it'll help secure your future. Yes. Did you consider anything else when choosing cybersecurity for your career change?

David: So the salary is a nice salary, even starting out as a junior analyst. At the end of the day, salary is the main factor of switching careers also. Since I have a mortgage, I have two kids. My son is eight and my daughter's five. I just cannot pick any career that's going to pay me less or that's going to take me away from my family also. You know, so I'm looking for something that's family orientated, that there's a good work-life balance with it.

Lixandra: Do you think you'll enjoy working in cybersecurity?

David: The cybersecurity fascinates me because Though in technology nowadays, everything is all on wireless, Bluetooth, NFC. So the criminals nowadays, they're stealing people's identity easily by just copying their passwords. And this is like a faceless crime now. So I like the aspects of trying to catch the criminals using my brain and not physically catching them.

Lixandra: So you don't want to be a police officer or anything like that?

David: No, no, no. I do not want to be a police officer.

Lixandra: You said earlier that your colleagues turn to you when there's any computer problems at work. Yes. Do you help family and friends with their computer issues too?

David: Yes, since my parents, they live in Florida and I live in New York. So whenever that my parents have an issue with their computer, they call me. I just either do a video chat and then I log into their computer for my computer. And then based on the problem that they're having, then I solve it for them. Or if it's something that's more of like a physical problem, then I just walk them through it. using the webcam and just telling them the step-by-step instructions how to fix it. And then on the side, I work with another business that like whenever that they need to install like a wireless printer or put a webcam, then I either go to their office and I fix it for them and then do the install. Or the same way, like if they're too busy to meet up, then I just do it just wirelessly also.

Lixandra: Walking someone through any computer issue takes patience and repetition. Yes, a lot of patience, yes. Especially with seniors, right? You'll have to take it slow. So that's a skill. Not everyone can do that. And you also studied computer science in college, right?

David: Yeah, so when I moved to New York, I was going to this online schooling, and I actually graduated with a bachelor's in computer science. So my only regret is that I didn't do the internships. So internships in the IT field is very important, because that gives the future employer to show them that you have real world experience how to solve any issue that they're going to pretend to you. So even though that I have personal experience, I guess the employers, they don't want to give me a chance to show myself or to prove myself. that I know on what I'm doing. And if I don't know that I know how to find the solution by either Google searching it or YouTube, you know, so pretty much that I'm that's my only regret of why that I feel that I'm still not in the field yet.

Lixandra: Right. An internship would have given you experience to put on your resume.

David: Yes.

Lixandra: Although I hope you have the work you do for your family, friends, and colleagues on your resume, since that's experience. It's just unpaid.

David: I remember going on the interview one time that the interviewer actually told me that. He was like, I see that you have a lot of personal experience, but I don't see any of the retail experience. And then I tried to explain to them that I didn't do the long distance because I just had a baby and I had to work full time. And it was very hard for me to juggle school, Go to the internship, unpaid internships, take care of my newborn, and then work a full-time job. You know, but unfortunately, I guess the employer wanted somebody with more experience, which is fine because I learned that going on the interview, I learned the different things of what to say or what to do. So I'm pretty much that I took that as a practice. You know, so then like, I'm like, I'm after every interview, I would jot down, okay, so what did I do well? What do I need to work on more? And then from there, then I just brushed up on like how to be like a better interviewee.

Lixandra: So David, what did you learn from the interviews about what you should be doing to switch to cybersecurity?

David: Okay, so the other option to do is to try to get certifications, right? So there's, all different types of certifications depending on what path of the IT world that you want to pursue. I'm doing a schooling right now that's free. So this is sponsored by Cisco. So they have a lot of different courses there. So I found that they had a cybersecurity course. It's self-paced. I believe that there's like 10 different courses to try to become a junior cyber security analyst. You know, so then like I'm at the moment, I already obtained two certifications from them. Once I feel that I have enough certifications, then I'm going to apply to more jobs, because then that will boost my confidence. And when they do ask me for the interview, that I have something else to show them other than my personal experience, that I have the certifications sponsored by Cisco.

Lixandra: And Cisco is well-respected in the IT field, right?

David: Oh, yeah.

Lixandra: It's like getting a Google certification. Have you thought about going back to school and getting a master's?

David: The issue with that is that since I have a family now and I work a full time job, I really can't take that risk to build the bills up again and then not get a job in the IT field again. So I already went that route when I was younger.

Lixandra: I don't blame you. I wouldn't want to go back to school either and have that expense.

David: And then there's no guarantee, even if you get your master's, that somebody is going to hire you.

Lixandra: Right. And for someone who's married with a family and a mortgage, you have to take these things into consideration. Yes. OK. You've been working on making your career switch for a few months now. You're taking these Cisco courses. You've completed two already and you're working on two more. So how's it going? What's a typical day like for you?

David: My workday starts at 630 in the morning. And then pretty much I do my duties. So then like whenever I get my lunch break, I try to read a few of the pages or the few topics from the course, you know, because like the benefit of this course is that you're able to do it on your cell phone also. And then I come home. I help my kids with their homework. And then my son goes to Taekwondo. So I take him to Taekwondo. And then while I'm waiting for him, I try to read a little bit of the pages. Then it's time to eat dinner. And then we shower the kids, make sure that they go to sleep on time. And then I try to relax a little bit just to get my mind at break, just to, to decompress, you know, so then like pretty much that, um, that's the cycle.

Lixandra: So a full long day every day. How is the Cisco program structured, David? Another guest we had on the podcast became a real estate agent, and she explained how her online course had modules, which took her hours to finish. Then she had a quiz at the end of each before she could move on to the next.

David: Yeah. The typical modules is anywhere from 10 to 12 modules. And then the thing that I like about these courses is that they guide you step by step how to do certain things. So then once they do that, then they have like a mid-chapter quiz just to see that you're actually paying attention, that you're actually grasping the knowledge, you know. And then at the end of the module, Then they have like another quiz just to make sure that you know that module. And then once you get towards the end of that one course, then they do the final exam and they go over everything with you. And then as long as you pass it, then they give you the certification and then you're able to post that certification on the LinkedIn.

Lixandra: And how long did it take you to finish the first two courses?

David: So the first course that I took, it was the intro course. So that one took me about a month to do. They're saying that each course should take you about 120 hours. It's just give or take on like, I mean, if you're reading through it real fast, and if you're grasping that information quickly, then of course that you could finish it faster. Since I have a busy schedule, so it takes me, I'm a little bit longer because since I'm not reading it quickly. Second one, I want to say like a month and a half, I felt that I wasn't really grasping that information properly. So I had to slow down just to fully grasp it better.

Lixandra: Do you study on the weekends too?

David: I try to, you know, but the kids wake up early and then once they wake up early, I got to make them breakfast. And then from there that they want to play. My daughter's in dance school, so I got to take her to the dance school. And then, of course, like whatever chores that needs to be done outside, I will have to do that, you know, and then spend time with my wife, of course, also.

Lixandra: Sure. Family time.

David: Yeah.

Lixandra: Right. So, David, self-care is so important while making a career change. What do you do to just unwind and take a break from your career switch?

David: I exercise, you know, so like if I'm having a hard time learning something, I'll just take a break and then I'll just work out, trying to push all those negative thoughts out. I like to listen to music, play with my kids and watch movies just to get away from all the chaos in my mind.

Lixandra: What's some of that chaos going on in your mind? For example, what would you say is the biggest challenge you're going through now?

David: I guess the fear of not getting hired by somebody after I spent my time just to learn this information. So I guess that that's my challenge right there, just not getting hired. And then I feel that I wasted my time. I wasted quality time that I could have spent with my family.

Lixandra: Yeah, I think that's the fear with any career change, right? Yes. Is it going to work out? When is it going to work out? And how is it going to work out? Because we all have a plan, but what's your plan? What would you like to happen?

David: The plan would be I finish the courses, I get my certifications, and then I get hired by a company. And then I'm in the company that I could find somebody that is like a mentor to me to teach me all the ins and outs of the position. Then I grow from there.

Lixandra: And to expand a little on your plan, what industries are you interested in?

David: Honestly, I just want to get my foot in the door. So it could be any industry that's willing to give me a chance. So that way, at least I could prove myself to them, to show them that I'm very hungry and that I'm willing to learn. The benefit with me is that they can mold me to the person that they want me to be. Just as a back story, I remember when I first graduated to be a licensed optician. When I first came out of school, I really didn't have a lot of the world experience either. And I was fortunate enough to get hired by a mentor that was already a licensed optician. She was doing this for 15 years already. And I guess that she saw something in me and then pretty much she took me under her wing and she told me all the ins and outs of the business. And then at the end of the day, It actually gave me like a manager position, since I knew so much, and since she vouched for me, and they knew that she was a very good employee, and they knew that she trained me from the bottom up, and then I was able to succeed in that career.

Lixandra: Yeah, so you've already done what you're hoping to do again, right? Somebody to teach and mold you, like you said. And of course, it would be amazing for that to happen again, for someone to take you on as a mentee. But in the meantime, this is where networking comes in, right? How is that going for you?

David: Honestly, the only way that I network is just in my job. Like whenever that I get a chance to talk with my colleagues that are in the OMIT field, I just ask for their advice and see if they know anybody that's hiring or I just try to pick their brain to see like how they got hired. If they have any tips on like the interview or what certification that they hear, that's a better certification to try to get just to make my chances to get hired by the new employer easier. So other than that, that's the only way that I network since I don't have time.

Lixandra: Can you reach out to other Cisco certified cybersecurity professionals on LinkedIn? You know, ask them how they got into it, what they do. Yeah, sure.

David: I could try.

Lixandra: I'm doing that now for podcasting. I'm freelancing, but I've never been on staff at a production company. So I'm networking and getting to know people in the industry. And I'm also doing a mentoring program with the Podcast Academy. So, David, thank you so much for opening up about what you're going through now and your concerns. I know it's tough. You have a family and a full-time job. For our listeners out there who are also working on their career change now, like you, what advice do you have for them?

David: Like whoever's like watching this and they're trying to get into a field that they don't have any experience in, try to get the internships as quick as they can, even if they're not paid, you know, because that will give you that experience. And then at least if the place that you're doing your, um, your, um, internships, if they really like you, then they can hire you from within, since they already know how you work.

Lixandra: Would you consider doing an unpaid internship now?

David: Not a full time, but like if I have to sacrifice some, I could do like the weekends, you know, since I'm off the weekend, I wouldn't mind doing one day unpaid internships just to see the ropes, just to see like how everything functions. Yeah. Like I'm willing to sacrifice.

Lixandra: What's another tip you have for our listeners?

David: Don't give up. Keep on going, even if it's hard, don't stop. Just stay focused on the path that you're trying to go through. If something's hard, just read it again, ask for help, and just try to stay motivated to do it. Try to block out all that negativity, the little voice in the back of your head saying, oh, stop, because this is hard, or oh, that you're never going to find the job because you don't have experience. So just try to steam ahead and just push through all those voices, all those negative voices that are trying to tell you to stop.

Lixandra: And what keeps you motivated?

David: Just to try to have a better life. Just like how everybody wants more money, more of the financial freedom, you know, and then just to grow as a person. You know, like I feel like a tree stuck in like a little pot, you know, that I can't even grow anymore because the pot is stopping my roots from growing out more. Versus if you put me outside, then my roots will grow freely everywhere.

Lixandra: Right. You're contained right now. Yes. So, David, you never know who could be listening to this podcast. Can people reach out to you on LinkedIn?

David: Sure.

Lixandra: So I'll include your LinkedIn in the show notes in case anyone wants to connect with you.

David: Give me a chance.

Lixandra: Yes. Give you a chance. Offer their own advice. Sure. Put you in touch with somebody.

David: Yep, that'd be great.

Lixandra: What about freelancing? Like I said earlier, I'm freelancing while I'm making my career switch into podcasting full time. Would you consider freelancing on the side?

David: Oh yeah, definitely. I would definitely consider a part-time freelancing job. Whenever somebody needs help, you call me. That's the way that I'm doing it with that one company, the one that I told you about in the beginning. If they have an issue, they call me, and either I'll go to their business and I'll fix it for them, or if they don't have time, then I'll just walk them through it.

Lixandra: Well, the best of luck to you, David. I'm sure it'll work out eventually because as our guests here on Career Switch Podcast have shown, they figured out their career change and they were successful. So you will be too.

David: I'll make you a deal. Once we both make it, we'll do another podcast just to say that we both made it.

Lixandra: Okay, I'm going to take you up on that. We'll have another conversation when the two of us land new jobs, you in cybersecurity and me in podcasting.

David: Sounds like a plan.

Lixandra: Thanks to David Mock for being our guest today. As David said, he's open to connecting with anyone who can help him with his career switch to cybersecurity. So feel free to reach out on LinkedIn. 

You can find links to the resources mentioned in this episode and more helpful information in the show notes and on our website, careerswitchpod.com. So what's your career switch? Are you motivated to take action after listening to this episode? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. We'd love to know, along with any feedback you have about the show. Let us know too, if you'd like to be a guest. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn at careerswitchpod. And please rate, review, and share with your friends and colleagues. It'll help get the show out there. Thanks for listening today. Till next time.