Discovering the Greener Grass
One morning in the month of June 1997, I was working at AOL and on the phone with a Member. I got stuck on whatever their connectivity issue was and so I called the Senior Tech Support desk for help. Whenever I would call for a Senior Tech’s help, I would ask for Charles (he was the best).
Well, this time I was told that Charles is not here, as in no longer working for the company anymore. I remember being surprised to hear this as no one left AOL at the time, we just kept growing. Later on in the hallway, I would ask another tech co-worker about Charles leaving and he is the one who spilled the beans!
I was informed that he had left the company for a new opportunity with a local Microsoft Certified Partner. This guy also casually mentioned “...Something about earning Microsoft Certifications...” in a tone that seemed to indicate none of this information had any value.
At that moment, in my head I knew my days at AOL were numbered and I had to find out more about this local MS Certified Partner company and if they were hiring more guys.
Ex-AOL Family Reunion
It’s sometime in early July, 1997. I had reached out to a best friend of mine, who was now a former AOL employee, and told him about Charles leaving. I then revealed that this local MS Certified Partner was a company named “Technology Point Interational”. I gave him their website URL and encouraged him to check and see if they were hiring more Techs like us.
At the time I was scared to leave AOL, the benefits and overtime pay were too good! My buddy had already done so and was not super happy with his new job. If he interviewed and determined it was a legit operation... I could plan on making a move then.
My best friend reported back about his interview and new opportunity at TPI. Once he was onboard, he then verified that they provided all the trainings required to earn your Microsoft Certifications. He also informed me that he got a company laptop and access to all of the MSDN Library of software too!
I immediately applied and was scheduled for the next TPI orientation and interview event. The event was on a Saturday at a local Productivity Point International office location. I remember being shocked when James Farhat, the CEO of TPI pulled up in his Lexus to this event. James was my age (23 at this time) and he was already running this startup and had earned quite the reputation in the IT community!
It was at this event, that I learned that TPI was made up of about 80% ex-AOL techs. It was like some AOL family reunion over there! It really felt like the next logical step.
After I was interviewed and hired on as part of Group E (there had been 4 groups hired previously), I signed a three year binding contract to work at Technology Point International. This enabled me to earn Microsoft Certifications and get serious about working in the IT industry. In fact, for the next six months of my life all I would really do is study and work with the latest Microsoft releases and earn Certifications along the way.
I will never forget that when I received my company laptop, the Micron TransPort TREK, it was running Windows 98 Beta and the year was 1997. I remember thinking at the time, “Wow, I now have access to beta versions of Microsoft products like Windows!?!“ This dramatically changed my view of everything. Little did I know, that a portal had opened to an exciting future career in IT!
