From Layoff to Leadership: How Andre Leaned Into AI and Landed His Next Role

Podcast Transcript

Anja: Welcome to Promoted, a podcast about leaving low-wage work for good. I’m Anja Nikolic, today’s host and a Merit America coach. Today we’re talking about how a layoff can make you rethink your whole relationship with AI, and how leaning into it instead of running away can open up a completely different path forward. I’m excited to introduce today’s guest, Andre, who turned a layoff into a leap toward cybersecurity. He’s now in the process of landing a life-changing role. Welcome to the show, Andre.

Andre: Hey, Coach A! 

Anja: I remember when you first came into the program, not even knowing what you didn’t know! It’s been great watching you turn that into real clarity. Let’s dig into how you got there.

Andre: After a major layoff from healthcare IT, I wanted to get into cybersecurity or AI, but I didn’t know how. There were lots of boot camps out there, and I couldn’t find the best fit until I came across Merit America. Having the support staff, a coach like you, the material, and the weekly workshops were all big factors in completing the program.

Anja: Where were you before Merit America?

Andre: I come from 25 years of experience in healthcare IT. I was a contractor and a subject matter expert, playing multiple roles like legacy support analyst, help desk support analyst, trainer. Along the way, working with so many applications and venues, I picked up a ton of skills.

It goes back further than that. When I was nine, my dad was a local DJ, so I thought, maybe that’s a path. This was around 1979, so I did the little kiddie discos with my dad. I also played basketball, football, baseball, even track. My grandparents owned a store, and my grandmother was a pastor, so I took their path into business, church, and leadership. When I was 13, my grandparents gave me an office space to open a limousine service. In high school, everybody got their prom rides from me, and it grew from there.

I went to college and played baseball, semi-pro and then pro, until I got hurt. A provider on my team who was a good friend and mentor needed an office manager, and that’s how I got into healthcare. My first role was handling accounting and scheduling. I learned GE’s Centricity application, and then became a help desk support analyst. From there I worked in contracts. Every week I went somewhere different. When you’re young, you think, “Hey, let’s travel,” until you get to a certain age and want to sleep in your own bed.

Over those 25 years I picked up a lot, and computers aren’t the same today. What you learned yesterday is obsolete, so I’ve always kept learning. Technology is so important in my life that before I go to bed, I read something about it. If I’m not the doctor, I can train the doctor, train the clinical staff, and make an organization better by implementing different plans for them. That’s just as valuable. I’ve always known about AI, even if I didn’t know where it was going. And I want to be part of whatever comes next. If there are flying cars one day, it still takes software to run them, and I want to be the person who’s there when you need help.

Anja: What led you to apply to Merit America? What changes were you hoping to make?

Andre: In healthcare IT, as technology changes, doors close and open all the time. A lot of my roles were as a contractor, so I’d land contract after contract. But as AI came along and technology kept growing, those doors weren’t opening fast enough. I traveled for my last role, and I’d just gotten a brand-new condo that I never had time to just live in. Then the contracts I was counting on got shot down, one after another. So I asked myself: what’s the next big tech thing? It’s either AI or cybersecurity. And I realized that my skill set had a bit of both. Knowing a little about AI, I could transition into cybersecurity. I already had the foundation, so I chose that path, looked for a program, and selected Merit America.

Anja: Many people think AI is coming for their jobs, but you didn’t think that way. What made you lean into AI instead of away from it?

Andre: Great question. A lot of folks are afraid of change. As an implementation specialist and trainer, I went into organizations and made changes, and it’s the same thing with AI. If you jump on board, you can continue to have a job. If you don’t, you might not. It’s about being knowledgeable in AI. If you work for an organization that wants to help you grow and teaches you the skill set, that’s great. For me, the journey was to just get into AI and go from there.

Anja: What were the biggest challenges you faced during this time, professionally or personally, and how did you navigate them?

Andre: One of my biggest obstacles was me. When I got laid off, I was depressed. “I’m a failure, I can’t make it, what are my next steps?” But when you come to a closed door, you can go left or right. You can’t go back, and the ceiling feels like it’s caving in. But you have options. If you stay focused, it’s not the end of the road, it’s a redirection. So I took it all in, created an agenda, and went from there.

Anja: What advice would you give someone who’s been llaid off about how to pick themselves up and keep going?

Andre: When you come to an obstacle or a roadblock, those are just challenges to make you better. You have to be patient, challenge yourself, and keep pushing, because there’s no giving up.

Anja: Tell us about your job search.

Andre: Merit America helped me a lot. I’m more technical than professional, and through the whole program I was more interested in the technical side. The professional side came afterward. I’ve been applying for a lot of jobs in cybersecurity, plus application analyst and leadership roles. The responses haven’t been what I wanted, but it’s not failure. It just takes patience. I know the position is out there for me, but I have to be a great fit for it, and this is where AI comes in. It knows my resume, my journey, my path. I use it to select the roles I’m best fitted for, for longevity, not to just get a job.

At one point I wasn’t getting feedback from a lot of job boards, so I went back and looked at my resume and found some mistakes. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t getting calls. I don’t know, but I fixed it.

Anja: You have a great story about a role that involved networking. Tell us about that.

Andre: This is a good one! On LinkedIn, you can find former colleagues, people in your city, and sometimes even your neighborhood. I found out my neighbor, two doors down, is the director of IT communications for the city, so I handed her my resume. That’s one way of networking, just talking to the people around you.

I also like to smoke cigars, so I go out and network that way. I play golf and meet people. One golfer turned out to be a director of IT at Vanguard. “Here’s my resume.” It’s all about general conversations and being polite, because you never know where opportunity will come from.

Anja: What happened with your neighbor?

Andre: When you’re in a big city, there are budgets and hiring processes, so we’re still waiting on an offer, and that can take a long time. I don’t put all my apples in one basket, though. I have a few other baskets.

Anja: Tell us more about the interviews you’ve had recently.

Andre: This past Sunday, through networking, an organization reached out to me. I know the owner well, and I just never put the two together. He called me three times. The first time we had a conversation. He called again about two hours later and we talked some more. Then he called about three hours after that and asked if I’d made a decision. I said, “You just called me, I’ve got to think it over.” So we scheduled a meeting, and I sat down with him yesterday.

I wanted to be sure this was the best fit for me. It wasn’t the role I’d originally wanted, but it’s a leadership role, with a long-term path. I went in with my guard up, because I don’t want to sell myself short. I have a resume, certificates, and a degree that speak for themselves. Maybe I wasn’t getting calls from the other roles because they weren’t a great fit. Whatever God had planned for me, I waited, and I’m glad I did, because I found the perfect job.

It’s a leadership role at an organization where I’ve always known the person, and I never thought I’d go back into that type of role. It’s not in healthcare IT. It has to do with cybersecurity, but it’s also leadership. I’ll be their network admin and general manager of operations, leading a team of four. I’ve worked in that world before, and this organization is building a whole new network. I’m their subject matter expert for that. It came out of the blue, a leadership role that pays what I want, and probably more than I’d have gotten in any of the roles I applied for. So I accepted it.

Anja: Andre, what a surprise – congratulations! You worked tremendously hard to get here, and watching your journey has been such a privilege. Thank you for sharing that with us.

Andre: Thank you. When we go down the path on our journey and only look straight ahead for opportunity, we forget opportunities can come from any direction. Just because a big organization won’t hire you doesn’t mean a small one won’t, and it can pay you the same salary. If you’re expecting to work at Lockheed Martin or Vanguard and those calls don’t come through, don’t get discouraged. There are other companies that need your skills, so stay on your path.

Anja: That’s great advice. Are you comfortable sharing what your new salary is?

Andre: I’ll say it’s over six figures. And I had to demand what I’m worth. I went in asking what was expected of me, and what my role was in the organization would be. And a very important question was, is this going to be a lifetime position? Their answers checked all the boxes.

Anja: Beautiful. Let’s come back to where we started. Everyone has their own version of the American Dream these days. Do you feel you’ve reached it, or reached a piece of it?

Andre: Wow, that’s a broad question. I think I reached the American Dream probably at twenty-one. And then life is just bigger than we think it is. At 21, we think we know everything, but it’s not until we mature in our goals and careers that we see where things are going. There’s a lot more to learn. So no, I haven’t fully reached it, because I’m going to keep learning. I’m 56, and I don’t see retirement even at 90, because technology is at my fingertips and I can do this work from anywhere in the world. But my dream, and one of my biggest goals, is just to be good to other people.

Anja: That’s exactly what I think of when I think of you, Andre: such a kind-hearted person who made such an impact during your time at Merit America. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I know it’s going to inspire listeners who are thinking about making their own leap into a new career.

Thanks for tuning in to Promoted. If Andre’s story resonated with you and you’re interested in exploring how Merit America can guide you toward a rewarding career, visit our website at www.meritamerica.org and stay tuned for our next episode.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.