William Phillips graduated from MyComputerCareer’s Cyber Warrior program this past Saturday with four core IT certifications, three stackable credentials, and the World Class IT Professional Award. He also landed his first IT job interview after three months of strategic searching.
The Marine Corps veteran who tried everything from construction to food service before finding IT joined us on Get Into IT Live last Friday to talk about what actually works in intensive technical training. His insights matter because he’s fresh out of the program and willing to discuss both the wins and the failures that got him here.
The Long Road to IT Training
William served as a Marine Corps radio operator from 2011 to 2015. After leaving the military, he tried logistics, food service, warehousing, and construction. None of it stuck. He enrolled at Ohio State and bounced between majors without finding his direction.
Then Joseph Egan, a friend from church who graduated from MyComputerCareer back in 2011, recommended the program. William looked it up, verified the GI Bill covered it, and applied. He started classes in October.
“I’ve been around tech almost all my life,” William explained. “I just needed to recognize it and pursue a career for it.”
Three Months of Full-Time Training
The Cyber Warrior program runs five days a week, eight hours a day, for three months. William earned A+, Network+, Security+, and CISA+ along with three additional stackable certifications. He went four for four on his core exams.
But it wasn’t smooth. William failed the second part of the A+ exam on his first attempt. “That hit me so hard because I felt like I put my everything into that,” he said. “I was putting my value into this test.”
His instructors Grant Gibson, Roy Baase, and Laurence Healey, along with his classmates, pushed him to adjust his mindset. He retested the next day and scored higher than he did on the first part of A+.
“This test will not make or break you,” William said. “But if you allow it to affect your mindset, if you allow it to affect your faith, then yeah, you’re going to feel crushed.”
The Study Strategy That Worked
William used every resource available. Presipio, Measure Up, Quizlet, AI-generated practice quizzes, YouTube videos during his Houston commute. He played certification questions while driving to Thanksgiving dinner.
But the real key was daily repetition. “Reps, reps, reps,” William repeated, crediting Gibson for driving that point home. “You will not retain this after one time. You have to keep putting it in every single day.”
William also focused on understanding why things work, not just memorizing answers. Then he’d teach concepts to classmates. “If I can teach somebody how to do something, it makes me more confident,” he said. “And it lets me know if I did something wrong.”
Job Search Lessons From Someone Still In It
William started applying for jobs right after earning his first certification. Three months later, he landed his first interview the day before our conversation. His approach is methodical and organized.
He tracks every application in a spreadsheet. That organization paid off when he received a phishing email for a job he never applied for. The training from the Cyber Warrior program helped him spot the scam immediately.
His biggest advice? Quality beats quantity. “If you just mass send your resume out to a bunch of companies, I promise you 90% of them do not care,” William said. “It’s all about the ATS and keywords and making sure things really line up.”
He recommends five to 10 tailored applications versus the spray and pray approach. And he stresses networking above everything else. “If I had one thing for anybody to take away: networking. 100%. Without networking, you’re just making it harder for yourself.”
William uses LinkedIn actively and recommends anyone without a profile create one before starting their program. Jason, his career advisor, helped him tailor his resume for IT roles and identified relevant experience William didn’t realize he had.
Why Classmates Made the Difference
William credits his success to the relationships he built during the program. “I honestly do not think I would have passed without my classmates,” he said. “You have to form those connections.”
Study groups provided different perspectives on complex topics. The shared experience kept everyone moving forward during rough patches. He also noted one civilian student fit right into a class filled with veterans, proving the program works for anyone willing to commit.
His Final Advice
For anyone considering IT training, William has one message…don’t wait. “If this has been in your heart for a very long time and you really want to get into it, take that leap of faith,” he said.
He also noted something interesting about starting from zero. “I think it’s better actually if you don’t have any experience because you’re coming into this fresh and you’re like a sponge. You can just absorb everything.”
William walked across the virtual stage this past Saturday with 2,135 other MyComputerCareer graduates. He earned his spot through consistent work, strategic networking, and refusing to let setbacks stop his progress.
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