How to Find a Better Job

About two years ago I was working a job that wasn’t ideal. I wasn’t treated very fairly and was expected to do things that would cut in to my normal life. My pay was only $12 an hour and the promises made to me of a raise never came true. I knew I would need to find a better job and fast.

Finding a better job is how Tara and I were able to grow our net worth, travel and get out of debt. Here’s what I did to get the job that I currently have:

Look at your options

The first thing I did was look at my options. I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology and have worked a bunch of different jobs within that field. Working in psychology is tough to make money, especially if you only have bachelor’s degree. It seemed like I didn’t have any other options.

I looked into graduate programs to see if I could further my education in something else. I didn’t really want to go back to school, but I was willing to if I felt like it was necessary. Finally, I came across a cybersecurity program at a local university.

Do some research on the job you want

After looking into the cybersecurity program, I realized that I might actually like a career in it. I looked at what the program would take and how long. I didn’t like the idea of going back to school for another year or having to pay all that money for graduate school, but it seemed like the average pay was decent enough to justify it.

Talk to people in that field

After I had decided that I wanted to work in the IT field, I found people in that field that I could talk to. Even people I knew weren’t in that field, I mentioned what I had wanted to do. To my surprise, my dad had recently started to teach himself how to code and suggested that I teach myself how to code as well. So, I went out to freecodecamp.org and started to learn.

Learn everything you can about what you want to do

Once I started to code, I realized that I could teach myself how to do that without having to go to school. I spent as much time as I could learning more and more about coding. I found ways to learn for free. For example, I used freecodecamp.org, codecademy.com, took free courses on udemy.com and even found YouTube videos that I could learn from. With the hope that I could quit my job earlier, I did this all while I still worked there. Fortunately, I was let go from my crappy job before I could quit. This gave me ample time to code and look for other jobs in the IT field.

Don’t be afraid to apply to jobs you may not be qualified for

Once I had lost my job, I knew I needed to find a new job quick. I didn’t feel like I was really qualified for any coding job, but I was desperate enough that I just went for it. I probably applied for around 50 jobs and only heard back from about 5 of them. Some were jobs that I wouldn’t be coding, but I could potentially go into a role like that. I was honest and upfront about my shortcomings, but tried to be clear that I could pick it up and be good at whatever I was assigned to.

Network, network, network

One of the best things I did while jobless was talk to people who were currently working in the IT field. I asked about what they did and if they had job openings at their current company. I told them what I was working on and what I hoped I could do. My current job I got almost solely because I was able to network with the right people. One of the guys I networked with was impressed with what I was doing. This guy (who I currently sit right next to) talked to the managers at my current job and put in a good word for me. My managers were impressed and asked for an interview. I was vastly under qualified for my job, but they took a chance on me because I was willing to learn and grow quickly.

Never stop learning.

My job is one that is always changing. Luckily, this allows me to continue to learn and be marketable in many different ways. If my job were to let me go, I would be able to quickly find another job. This takes the pressure off of being reliable on one job and even gets me raises at my current job.

Are you currently looking for a new job? If you have a good job now, what helped you get this job? I would love to hear about what worked for you to find a better job!