I got let go from my job and didn't have any prospects or ideas of what i wanted to do next. I was working dead end jobs with no real future in sight and i felt like a failure. I was always good with computers, but could never translate this into working in the field. One night found BowTied doing a live online, and said why not. I Brought his book, and watched all of his content and was able to see the master plan. I executed on EVERYTHING he said, i got all 4 certs, i took them in the recommended order, i followed the recommend time frames and MOST IMPORTANTLY i did the home labs. My resume was formatted based on BowTied's examples and to my amazement, i kept getting hits. All this being said, i officially start my first job in the industry 1/5/2026 (First Monday of the new year) Side note, one thing i feel that really gave me the edge was of course doing having projects/homelabs on your resume, but in particular RECORDING VIDEOS and linking them in your resume. I made a private playlist on YouTube and i could see in real time, how many jobs were clicking the link and adding views to lab videos. Lastly this will sound super corny, BUT i can for the first time say i have a career.... This is worth its weight in gold. In the past, my leisure time was plagued with "im wasting my time, or i could be doing more, the clock is ticking" so being able to let my brain rest is amazing. If yall have any questions i will try my best to answer. Best of luck to everyone out there, just keep your head up and don't quit. Stats for nerd: 48 total jobs applied I applied between 11/6 - 12/3 11 phone interviews I Literally had 3 jobs that wanted me and i was able to have my pick of the liter and turned down the other 2 (I planned on applying more after the second week of January because there was a lot of delay with thanks giving, Christmas & New Years approaching but i got an offer!)