Last Update: 7/31/99
How I got started ...
Historically, the military was not known for high salaries, so upon finishing my tour of duty (1987-1993), I wanted to become a programmer because programmers "made the big bucks". I went to El Camino Community college (Torrance, CA) and finished a A.S. in Computer Science with Honors. Then, I transferred as a Junior with a Dean's Scholarship to USC, ready to finish my degree in Computer Science. |
February 2, 1998 was another milestone because I opened the doors to a Microsoft Authorized Technical Education Center (ATEC) with Sandra Hamilton. The school is EdNet Career Institute, Inc. located in Woodland Hills, CA. Our first class had 11 people which were all government retraining students under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). |
On March 28, 1998, I became a Microsoft Certified Trainer. By this time, we had two days classes and we were ready to start a night class. Guess who was teaching all of the classes - yours truly, and it was quite demanding. In addition to teaching from 8 am to 10:30 pm, Monday through Friday, I also taught extra classes on Saturday and sometimes Sunday to help them get through their Microsoft exams. Next on the list, MCSE+Internet (3 more exams to go!) |
Life moves on. In May 1999, I took another big step by leaving EdNet and following my networking career. I used my time off to finish my MCSE+Internet, obtain my CNA Netware 4.11, and my CCNA. Down the road, my next goal was to become a CCIE - Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert. If you haven't seen what experienced CCIEs make, well then you better check out some of the Internet career sites. If my future employer would not pay for Cisco training, then I would pay on my own. The total cost of the Cisco training classes is about $15,000, not counting the practical lab review days @ $1000/day nor the actual exams. Short-term, Cisco training is very expensive; long-term, CCIE will bring you a six-figure income :-) |
The following month, I started my job search using the various Internet career sites as well as posting my resume directly with employers I wanted to work with. Within four weeks, I was faced with a dilemma which I'm sure all of you want to face - I had offers from Deloitte & Touche and Sprint Paranet. |
After considering all the factors, I chose Deloitte & Touche and started working there at the beginning of July. I am a Senior Consultant working in the Los Angeles office, specializing in e-business Technologies and Solutions. We work with a variety of clients from small startups to Fortune 1000 clients in all sectors, analyzing their infrastructure and providing high-performance e-commerce solutions. There is plenty of opportunity to travel and room for growth. We're looking for the best people to join us. If you're interested, please e-mail me. |
Speaking of travel, I spent four months in the Philippines working on various national computerizational projects. The Philippines is an incredible place for both work and pleasure. View my pages of the Philippines (coming soon) to see what you've been missing! |
This site is dedicated to my students and the self-study people pursuing Microsoft Certification. There will be links to all the sites I have benefited from and I hope you will also benefit. Thanks also go out to the students and fellow MCPs who have e-mailed URLs of great sites to me. |