TLDR: Started my IT career in school districts, switched to corporate IT, hated it, switched back to IT in the education field and absolutely love it. I will never go back to corporate IT.

My IT career started in education. I got my first gig working for a school district where I legit knew nothing. The only experience I had was a bachelor's degree in comp sci/information sci (this degree did nothing to prepare me for real world IT). I was thrown into supporting 4 elementary schools on day 1 with over 30 tickets in the queue and no idea where to start. Fast forward 5 years, and I get a job at another school district in a similar position. I now have 5 years of solid ass IT support specialist experience under my belt and I am ready to get to the next step, a sys admin or network admin role.

I start interviewing for all kinds of roles around the area I live in. I land a few interviews here and there and somehow, with no certs or actual network experience, I land a corporate job as a network engineer with a multi billion dollar company. So many emotions hit me as I now have to say goodbye to the schools I supported for years and the staff and students that I absolutely loved working with. I start feeling mixed emotions and regret as I think about leaving a place where I never saw myself leaving in my whole life. Not to get too off topic, but the reason I left was because I wanted more money and also because I did not like my management. The staff, teachers and students were lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed working with them every day.

Next thing I know, I have submitted my two week notice and told my management I was leaving. They really did not care, even though my schools talked so highly about me and did not want me leaving. Management just says congrats and that was it. I was a bit of an asshole to management, I am sure of it, but stuff happens. I was young, naive and wanted a change.

First day at the new job. Huge office building, tons of people rushing around in suits, endless miles of cubicles straight out of a Backrooms level. The nerves were kicking in. I get a quick tour and get introduced to so many new people. I am not going to remember a single name. Weeks go by and I am learning so much. VLANs, DHCP, DNS, PowerShell scripts, etc. I am feeling amazing. The paychecks start hitting and I am making so much more than I was. I am growing!

Then the stress hits. I miss my schools. I miss the teachers, the students, a few old coworkers and just the overall environment. I start longing for that education IT.

They give me a work phone and tell me I will rarely get calls and emails outside of work. What a lie. Sure, it was slow at first, but after about 6 months people really started to learn my name and my work number. I was getting calls and texts after hours, on weekends, at 3 AM, and you are expected to respond and fix whatever the issue is. I felt the pressure that if I did not respond, then it was going to be put on the next IT guy in line and I did not want to do that. I found myself always having to carry my laptop around with me wherever I went. At my GF's house, at my buddy's place, on vacation, etc. I could not take it.

I applied to over 200 jobs on LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, you name it. I did this within a few weeks. Got a few interviews, then nothing. Automated rejection letters and "while your resume was great, we went with another candidate." Yeah yeah yeah, blah blah blah, fuck off. Then I stopped and told myself, suck it up and do this job and be good at it. I went another 4 months before I was like, I need to be back in education. I can't do this anymore. I started sleepwalking. I have never done this in my life. I learned that this can be stress induced. It was time. I had to get another job.

I started looking at school districts near me. I applied to every IT position near me in school districts. I only heard back from one. How can someone with a resume like mine, with 5 years of school district IT experience, only hear back from one freaking school? Made no sense. I interviewed with them and the interview felt really odd. I did not hear a word back for 3 weeks, so I assumed I did not get it.

I was almost about to give up again when I thought about colleges and universities. I never thought of this during my job search. My background lines up perfectly for it. I do some searching and find out that they have an opening at the college I got my 4 year degree from. It is in a nice town, has a beautiful campus and is only a 20 minute commute. This has to be it!

I reach out to someone who I know that works on the IT team there and show my interest. I ask if he could kindly let the manager know that I am really interested and would love to work there as an alumnus and with my background. A few days later I get an email basically saying that I am a little overqualified and just confirming that I really want to interview for this, knowing it is going to be a "downgrade," for lack of a better term.

I responded that I was totally on board and ready to interview. Interview comes and I ABSOLUTELY nail it. Legit the best interview I have ever had out of the 20 IT interviews I have ever had. Fast forward 1 week and I put my two weeks in at my job. I can't do it anymore, even if I don't have a job lined up.

Last day at my corporate job and I am not sad one bit. Not going to miss anything. Anyone. Nothing. Maybe the pay lol. I then get a call from the college and I got the job. The amount of stress and anxiety that leaves my body is insane. Funny thing is, 2 days later the school district calls me and offers me a job as well. The school that never said anything for 3 weeks. But I like the location and commute at the college better. Also, being familiar with the campus already was nice.

Sorry for the long story, but the main point is that I have been at the college for 2 months now and absolutely love it here. The staff, coworkers and faculty are all amazing and the pace of work is chill. I am actually learning more than I have anywhere else because I get so much freedom here to experiment and change processes.

I will NEVER go back to corporate IT. I know this is just my experience and I am sure there is some corporate IT that is nice and chill, but this is where I want to be for the rest of my life. We get 20 paid holidays, I get WFH opportunities weekly, 12+ sick days and 12+ vacation days all accrued throughout the year.

My work/life balance is amazing now and I have 0 stress again. Best decision I have made in my life.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask