A Total Newbie in IT

Well, I should be clear, I’m not a TOTAL newbie. Just very, very new in the sense that all the technical jargon is a bit foreign to me. I grew up with an IT dad who had all the newest gizmos and gadgets, so I was not a stranger to the adage “Did you try restarting it?” I’m very familiar with how to solve technical issues, usually due to downloading something I shouldn’t have. But besides everyday Wi-Fi router troubleshoot (again, just restart the thing) I am so not aware of the ins and outs of this world.

My background has a lot of twists and turns. I was always a bit of tech nerd. So lucky to be able to have a lot of different computers in my teenage years thanks to my dad. In my adult years I spent a long time in the mobile technologies sector. I was a salesperson and a technician so as well as getting you to buy the newest shiny tech I could also fix it for you.

After doing that for around 7 years I was burnt out and tired, so I went into childcare. It was a good way to slow down, really take every moment in to find a good balance in life. I got the itch for tech once again and started easing my way back into the world. I started taking a course with the Open University in IT and Computing. Which was… great but dated. I felt like learning in that way was making me miss out on so many fun advancements! That’s why I bit the bullet and applied for a job.

Which brings us to present day! Here I am in an IT job that I never thought I would even qualify for, learning things I thought I was far too old to learn. Beyond being utterly grateful to Justin for taking a chance on a gal like me, I am just SO excited to be on the journey! Don’t get me wrong it’s a whole lot of information. My head these past few weeks has felt jam packed at times. However, I wake up every morning (very early morning mind you) so excited to see what will be next!

So far, they have taken it easy on me. I have learned about their support ticketing systems and how to troubleshoot for clients and customers. I’ve been using systems like Sophos and Atera which was a total unknown to me a couple weeks ago. I’ve had the pleasure, and sometimes displeasure, of resetting and setting up laptops for our customers. Learning Microsoft 365 all over again (Sorry I am a Google gal in my personal life).

I think the best part of it all is the sense of collaboration! Whether it’s with Rachel Thomas and Justin Thomas or just the systems themselves, the interconnectedness is so very cool and I’m so excited to really get into the nitty gritty of it all!

This is just the beginning of the journey. I’m so excited to get in on the ground floor of a fantastic company, Siarp . The ethos of what Justin and Rachel are creating is exactly the voice IT has always been missing (I’m not just saying this because they are going to read this).

I’m super jazzed to be on the ride and I hope these little musings will get others who might be in a similar position as I am to really go for what they want! No time like the present! ??

Terra Strickland