I imagine there are a good number of people out there who have been yearning to have more time to do the things they want to do. Well, want no more! Many of us are now tied to our homes and therefore there's an increased probability we've got more spare time to fill.
If you are such a person, what activities or desires have you managed to find time for?
I've decided to go back to school ... not literally as that costs lots of money, but I've decided to set time by each day to study.
I was made redundant in early February so other than school runs, had a few weeks practice on the isolation front before the current situation was born. I took the first week off as I'd not had a break since October and then started to split time between looking for jobs I could do and jobs that I'd like to do. The former is important from the point of paying my mortgage but the second for my mental wellbeing. Now, a positive to the current situation is the arse has fallen out of the job market (along with all other markets - other than the super ones!), so I'm taking the opportunity to bridge the gap between the could and the like. It's time to study again!
I've spent my entire professional career working in the IT/Technology industry in one form or another. My first role was providing PC support in a factory back in 1996 and spent much of my time vacuuming carbon black out of computer cases. The factory produced rubber and plastic mouldings for the car industry. I soon got my feet under the table and progressed to system and network administration specialising in Novell (remember them!) NetWare/IntranetWare and Windows NT. God I loved that job! From there I progressed into more senior system administration jobs, then onto Infrastructure Project Management, IT Operations and Service Delivery Management and then onto pure Service Delivery. Saying that I needed up being a little more hands on in the job I unfortunately lost and it reminded me how much I love actually doing stuff with technology.
So, as a middle aged man is it time for a change of route once again? I hope so!
I've been studying networking taking the Comptia Network+ route for the past few weeks which has worked as a good refresher but ultimately didn't feel hands on enough. Instead I've decided to delve into the world of Linux a little deeper as it's something I've never studied. Before starting my skillset was limited to getting Linux installed and navigating around the filesystem.
The advent of Virtualisation has made the learning process so much easier than it used to be. Gone are the days of needing lots of spare equipment to run various operating systems, instead you can build and scrap until your hearts content. Most companies offer free or evaluation versions of their software and you don't have to delve into your wallet (or purse) for virtualisation software. I've ended up using VirtualBox which is provided by Oracle.
In terms of material I'm using Pluralsight which costs me £24 per month and provides video presentation training for pretty much anything you'd ever want to know...as long as it's IT related. There are of course lots of free resources out there such as YouTube but I like structured courses which take you on a journey. I was also excited to find Professor Messer who has created course videos inline with CompTIA for A+, Network+ and Security+ certifications. I quite fancy the Security course once I'm out the way with Linux.
All in all, no matter how long this situation lasts, I may say I'm bored at moments in time but am certainly not short of things to be working on. Fingers crossed some good will come out of this whole situation in the form of a dream job at the end.
That sounds useful. It's hard to keep up with any field in computing these days, but a bit of basic knowledge goes a long way. I use Linux all the time at home, but there's plenty I don't know as it mostly just works.
Good luck with the job search. Maybe companies will be looking for at least temporary workers if people fall ill.
Thanks Steve, fingers crossed. I've applied to my local Tesco for now as it'd be good just to be doing something useful! I hope there is a need for temps when things start to return to normal. Probably the best option to get a decent level of up-to-date experience quite quickly.
Being productive and helping out the community are things that matter right now. I've been donating some stuff to the local community project that is really taking off.