In my Money Makers interview series, I usually interview notable professionals and entrepreneurs. In this article I interviewed David Hockaday, an IT professional and creator of the SpokenTruth podcast and the Young Hock blog, both of which provide interesting points of view. Without further ado, let’s get into the interview!
For my readers who may not be familiar with you, would you please introduce yourself? Who are you? What do you do?
I’m David Hockaday, born and raised in Uniondale, NY. I currently live in Owings Mills, Maryland. My career is in information technology and I have 1 and a half years of experience being a help desk technician . I write poetry and hope to become a spoken word poet one day.
Is there anything you want people to know about what you do for a living? For example, what sets you apart from others in that industry?
I will be starting my new job next at John Hopkins Carey Business school as a technical support analyst. What sets me apart from others is my ability to want to learn everything there is about computers and me trying to be ahead of my time to see if technology will ever stop evolving. I always think about how dangerous technology is too.
How did you get your start? Knowing what you know now, would you have done anything differently?
I got my start from majoring in IT at Nassau Community College. With what I know now, if I could go back in time, I never would’ve gone to college. I would’ve gone to a technical hands-on school to pursue certifications instead of a degree.
Is there anyone who has really inspired you – authors, coworkers, or managers?
My mentor Jackson Joseph inspired me. He was helping me study for the CCNA exam. He taught me how to master the material and to not take short cuts in information technology. He is currently studying for the CCIE and I hope to follow in his footsteps.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far, both in your field and in personal finance?
The biggest challenges were trying to gain more experience and training at my previous job because I felt like enough training was not provided and I was thrown to the wolves. As far as finances, I would say trying to pay rent during the first week of the month and saving money in general because I’m always in debt. Plus for a while I was wasting money fixing my broken down car for years.
Time for a bit of a loaded question – what is your favorite thing about your profession?
The ability to learn more and help end users solve problems. I love troubleshooting.
At the end of the day, what is the main thing you hope you achieve?
Honestly I’m thinking long term. After I die, I want to make it to heaven.
What’s the best piece of advice you received growing up? How did it shape you into the person you are today?
Always look out for family because family is all you got. This helped me include loyalty into everything I have passion for.
Everyone views success differently, what personal metric do you use to define your own success?
Success doesn’t mean happiness. Success means to be able to take care of your responsibilities and to achieve goals that you worked hard for. Success is to achieve a goal through the value of hard work.
People tend to struggle with finding a good work-life balance, especially these days. How do you manage? In other words, what’s an average weekday like for you?
On Mondays and Fridays I rest after work so I can spend time with my girlfriend. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I will study 4 hours after work. On Saturday I study for 2 hours and Sunday I study for 4 hours.
What’s something you’re interested in – outside of work?
Poetry and watching battle rap hands-down.
If you had to give advice to someone who has just joined the job market, what would it be?
Make connections with people in your field, take your PTO, be prepared to be thrown in the wolves, college does not teach you everything so always ask questions to learn, and never throw all your eggs in one basket.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed learning about David Hockaday and his views as much as I did! If you liked what he had to say and want to see more, be sure to check out his podcast. It you’re into poetry, be sure to check out his blog. As always, if you have any thoughts you’d like to contribute, add a comment!
