Marcus was stuck in retail management. Good pay, bad soul. He retrained in IT support.
The Journey
Marcus enrolled in an IT support diploma while working part-time retail. It was hard. By month 12, he’d graduated and started interviewing. By month 14, he had an IT support position at $54,000 (already a $12,000 jump). Within three years, he’d moved to a systems analyst role at $72,000.
“The salary jump was nice,” he says, “but the real change was feeling like I was building toward something instead of managing decline.”
The Lesson
Your existing experience matters. Marcus’s management background made him stand out as an IT support candidate. He could communicate. He could manage projects. He just needed the technical skills.




