well, since
my little post here the other week, I've already had a change in roles... I'm with the same company, but now they're simply calling me a "technical consultant"... far from being a demotion, it is in fact a pay rise and a shift from internal consumer ISP support to a role where I'm to develop value-added network-based software and solutions for business/premium customers (and decide what to do with some internal software and servers in use by the consumer teams which I still have to maintain/administer).
Instead of working in a call centre following a rotating roster where I currently start at any time between 7am and 3pm 7 days a week, now I'll be going to a cushy 9-5 M-F role. The only down side is that it is in Brissy; not sure how the commute from the GC to Bris will go
oh and as for qualifications... an incomplete Advanced Degree in Computer Systems Engineering from SBIT, and a lapsed CCNP. All I can say is that I'm very thankful for managers still being around who recognise experience as being just as good as qualification.
Before all this, back in 2000-2003 I was an administrative assistant at a medium sized financial/accounting firm in Brisbane where my task was to scan hundreds of thousands of paper documents through a sheet feeder into a computer database. After a few months I managed to switch roles to become their
PFY, before I got sniped by a dodgy contractual agreement... learnt a lot from that whole experience.
Between then and my current employer, I did a little contract work, and even pumped petrol/stocked shelves for Shell and Coles for a couple of months.