My Final Reflection:
As of right now I just mainly want to concentrate getting through this semester with the passing grades I need to continue my education. But seriously if things go as I plan them to I want to finish up my requirements to graduate, find a job working in the line of work that I have been so vigorously studying for the past estimated three years. I want to either start full-time work or take some classes part-time to continue school while working part-time, but I want to work on Certifications this time to enhance my education I have gained so far. Then I want to work on the revised version of the Associate Degree Waukesha County Technical College offers in place of the Programmer/Analyst Degree called the Web & Software Developer Degree, which is only a difference of a couple core classes and two math classes, which I figure should be good for me.
But, the Certification(s) I plan to obtain before I work on this second Associate’s Degree will be:
Ø Information Technology Project Management
Ø CompTIA Certification
Ø Java Programming
Ø And possibly the Information Security certification if I feel it is necessary
After I complete everything I want to complete at WCTC, I will work on a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology that I started a few years ago while I am working at a job site I applied for. My expectations with the job I will be working at will be to start out either in help desk or somewhere along the lines of working in Customer Service/Tech. Support for the company I will work at, that won’t bother me at all. I am looking forward to start at the bottom and work my way up the ladder. I want to work my way up to eventually becoming a Software Engineer in the IT field. I also want to possibly work with Visual Affects and Animation as far as creating software for Visual Affects and Animation. The reason(s) why I have chosen Programming is because it seems like a great fit, I enjoy the challenge of figuring out and resolving problems and I also enjoy making my own creation, I also love computers, so creating my own programs and at the same time learning how they work or how to make it work seems challenging, but interesting and keeps me busy. As far as being a Tech. Support person goes, in my line of work I find it to be the most important part of Information Technology because Computer Support Specialist are the go to people to help resolve an issue before going to the experts which are the people who develop the program(s). Plus, they are the part of the team that acts as a second pair of hands that make up the Tech team of each company out there. I would look forward to starting my first IT job as a Tech. Support person any day and then working my way up the ladder, it helps in the long run in a few ways. One, it helps me to appreciate what the Tech. person does to make my job easier, two it helps me to understand the product(s) I write the program(s) for and sell, so when it comes my time to write programs, if that is my goal then I have an elementary experience in learning about the product(s) and programs I work with. When I first started my Fundamentals of Support class my knowledge of Tech. Support and Customer Service was limited, but now I learned a little more about the importance of maintaining a professional look in your career or future career and I learned a few ways of advertising myself so that I can get a good paying job for what I learned and building this Career Portfolio was one way of doing it, networking through internet channels such as Facebook and LinkedIn also works as great vehicles to move me into my future career or to help me meet my goals through a fellow colleague. My overall view is any resource, any tool or any means of getting from point A to B is worth working with even if it starts out as Customer Service in Tech. Support and using instruments such as a Digital Career Portfolio or Facebook are good tools because it enhances you professionalism as well as your professional look.