About two and a half years ago, I used to be in a VCDX prep Slack group comprising of the likes of Grant Orchard, Niraj Naidu, Anthony Spiteri, Tim Williams, Craig Waters, Jeff Wong and a few others. In those days, I was looking for a study group to join to work towards the VCDX. I happened to talk to Craig about it and he suggested I join this Slack group he was a part of. After the introductory banter by the guys already in the group, I settled in and began spending some time towards the VCDX.
Back then, NSX was a relatively new thing, at least in Australia it was, and Anthony was working towards his VCIX certification. As for me, I wanted to jump into a cool new thing that was at 6-9am on the technology clock in my region. I got my hands on the NSX installation iso, courtesy of Harman Nagra, installed it in my home lab and away I went exploring it. The VMware HOLs were great at letting me (and anyone else for that matter) play with it. I used both these resources to their fullest potential.
Anthony had a go at the VCIX certification in Sydney and passed it despite all the issues that seem inherent to lab based exams. He encouraged me to have a go at it too. I wasn’t quite ready just then, spent another month or two preparing and finally scheduled it. The first attempt was a disaster with the latency, disconnections and other issues within the lab, I received a free voucher to do a retake. Between the first and second attempts, the banter within the group continued and Anthony challenged me to pass the test in my second attempt. I accepted that challenge and studied my head off for the next shot and despite those latency issues, I passed. In case you want to read up about my experience with the two attempts, go here to my other blog.
When I passed the test, there weren’t more than a few people that were VCIX: NV-certified. A role within VMware PSO happened to open about that time working on implementing NSX for customers in Australia. The knowledge gained during the process of getting the VCIX:NV was absolutely invaluable in bagging the role (in addition to all the contacts I have gradually established over the years). Thanks heaps, Claire O’Dwyer!
So how did it change my career and life?
- Got me a job at VMware working on some fairly complex projects
- This job gave me the opportunity to work with and learn off of some very smart guys – people like Tony Sangha, Scott Norris..
- This job gave me the opportunity to properly work on and attempt the VCDX free of charge
- Preparing for the VCDX opened my eyes up – it’s about solving business problems with technological solutions – it helped me think like an architect should
- While preparing for the VCDX, I happened to chat over Twitter with my mate, Graeme Vermeulen, who suggested I join a Slack study group for the VCDX he was part of
- The level and quality of support I’ve received being part of this particular study group deserves its own blog post (which I’ll do at some point)
- Gave me speaking (TAM tech sessions) and blogging opportunities, allowed me to be a 5x vExpert (2014 – now)
- Gave me a healthy salary allowing me to build an investment property portfolio
- Got me my current job which involves designing NSX’s microsegmentation capabilities among other things (multiple AWS architectural designs and an SD-WAN project)
- Got me my next job which will involve working on NSX-T/Cloud among other things (and an excellent wage to boot!)
- Above all, gave me the opportunity to further establish my personal network with people that matter (there are too many people to individually list here, but it includes my mates that co-run this blog and hiring managers at various companies)
The gist of this blog post?
Be prepared for an opportunity, gain multiple skills and increase your value to the marketplace. And thank you Anthony!
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