Welcome to episode 73 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_), two Pre-Sales Technical Engineers who are hoping to bring you the IT career advice that we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we discuss the journey to presenting at conventions with Al Rasheed.
Original Recording Date: 03-29-2020
Topics – The Journey to Presenting at Conventions
01:54 – Al’s Contact Info and Background

* Al is a Systems Administrator for a federal contractor in the Washington, D.C. area.
* He has been recognized as a VMware vExpert, a Nutanix Technology Champion, a Cisco Champion, and a Veeam Vanguard.
* Al volunteers in his local community to give back to those in need.
* You can interact with Al on Twitter (@al_rasheed) or check out his personal blog here.

02:48 – A Brief Career History

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About 15 years ago, Al stepped down from a management position at a local grocery chain.

* The hours were brutal, and he had small children.
* Working weekends was required.
* Al decided to take a risk after getting support from his wife.
* He remained with the grocery chain part time while adapting to his new career in IT. This helped supplement the difference in pay of his new role and enabled him to get a severance after a few years.
* Al has no regrets on the decision now, but at the time (late 90s / early 2000s), he was desperate for something else (regardless of cost and sacrifice).

* The adjustment to IT from retail was certainly challenging.
* His first role was in phone support working the help desk. Al had little experience and happened to find an employer who was willing to take a chance on him.

* Al mentioned it was not hard to move from manager back to individual contributor.

* Even while being a manager, he liked working with others toward a common goal and did not feel he had all the answers. Because of this, the transition back to individual contributor was easy.

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Al remained in the help desk position for about 2 years. When he left that company, his retail role had come to an end. The next role was working for a federal contractor at the Department of State.

* This is the one Al feels he enjoyed the most and where he was able to learn the most. The team culture was one of support and encouragement, and it was a place where folks were not penalized for mistakes.
* In hindsight, Al regrets leaving this organization.
* Interesting fact – Al was with this employer on 9/11. His security clearance was being processed but did not go through during his time there.

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Al’s next role was for a local university that was closer to home. He was there about 10 years.

* At some point the role began to lack challenge.

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About 7 years ago, Al made a change to work for a federal contractor (his current employer). His commute is still very short (15 minutes each way).

* Al received a security clearance within one year of being hired.
* There were very few technology changes at the university.