One of my earliest memories is seeing the above picture of the Taj Mahal in a Ladybird book and being amazed. I stared and stared, wondering what this exotic building was and how a place like this could exist? This book showed pictures of the Wonders of the World and it completely captivated me. Fast forward to me as a seventeen-year-old, I sat in an office with my career guidance counsellor as he asked, “What would you like to do with your life?” I shrugged and said, “No idea”. He suggested “What about this IT thing?” and there I was: an IT thing guy!
Having spent my school years looking at maps, geography books, atlases and globes, imagining all the adventures to be had in the world… How was I going to be an IT thing guy? In my early twenties I got my first taste of foreign lands. On this trip bumped into and made friends with an Irish guy (Luca) who would return to this story twenty years later.
My IT career had taken off and I somehow fell into contracting in software testing. Truth be told I never really enjoyed my job, but I quickly learned I could use it to achieve my goals, not career goals but life goals. I worked and travelled, worked and travelled again… my life was truly a roller-coaster, from the lows of work to the highs of travel. Work was tolerable because it allowed me to live out many of the dreams that were started in that Ladybird book all those years ago.
Throughout this period of my life mentioned, I had become the ‘go-to’ guy for solving IT problems amongst my friends. I could spend hours or even days fixing something I knew nothing about. Eventually I would fix it, and it felt good, I couldn’t really understand why I got such a great feeling from this achievement, but I liked it – I fixed something that wasn’t working! How on earth can I do this for a job? Where do I start? Or am I too far down the line to make a career change?
Step back in the man I met almost exactly 20 years previously – Luca, who was now a director with Aspira. At this stage Luca knew me well and knew I liked resolving IT-related issues, so he asked me “Do you want a job?” I said “Yes”, then suddenly I was in a job doing what I discovered I loved: fixing things! I had finally become the IT thing guy – how could that counsellor have known? I’ve since hung up my backpack and swapped it for a family, I couldn’t be happier, and I never have to work another day in my life. It’s funny when you step back and look at life’s big picture… there are dots to be connected all over the place.
P.S. I made it. In more ways than one.
If you have an IT-related issue that needs solving, please reach out to Aspira today at info@aspira.ie.
Author: Kevin O’Donovan, IT Engineer, Aspira.