Michael Ross Derring Jr
Aspiring Cyber Security Professional
Michael Ross Derring Jr is an aspiring IT and Cybersecurity professional.
After high school I began my career in the construction industry and worked my way up from laborer to site superintendent. At 30 years old I decided to switch careers. While I enjoyed construction it would never allow me to afford the life I wanted to create. After extensive research and self reflection I decided to enroll at Southern New Hampshire University and pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology focused in Cybersecurity.
While pursuing this degree I left the construction industry and started working in talent acquisition and recruiting. I started this role with a company named Bradley Morris, A boutique style recruitment firm dedicated to working with honorably discharged veterans and placing them in fortune 500 career roles. Unfortunately while I was very successful in this role 2020 brought about a new normal for everyone with the Covid 19 Pandemic. As I was one of the newer employees at this company I was unfortunately laid off. I worked briefly for myself as a handyman and carpenter before eventually landing my role with AllSearch recruiting in September of 2021.
My career in the construction industry taught me the value of a hard days work and also taught me how to be a leader. I have been fortunate to build some amazing houses and have had 4 houses featured in architectural digest. I also learned to be a working leader. Someone who doesn't just bark orders to my employees but is also down in the trenches with them working just as hard.
I have always had a passion for building things with my hands. I grew up playing with Legos, K'Nex, and Erector sets. I wanted to know how things work. I routinely would disassemble and reassemble my toys, I was fascinated with anything electronic or mechanical in nature. This curiosity eventually would boil over into computers and technology. I can remember being grounded when we got our first in home computer for taking it apart the second week we owned it. My mom came home from work to the desktop opened up and the various parts (ie Motherboard, ram, hard drive, etc) on the table as I was putting it back together. I will never forget how mad my mother was. Eventually the computer got put back together but that was just the beginning of my love affair with computers and technology.
Today this drive has led me to pursue my degree and build the life I want. I was married to my Wife and best friend in March of 2022. My wife brought with her my amazing stepdaughter who I treat like my own. We also have two dogs Rufus our lab mix (My dog of 9 years) and our new addition Frank our golden retriever. We also have a cat for my stepdaughter who she named Moonkitty.