IT Career guys i need advice

I would start out taking classes at your local community college for basic certifications such as A+, you can also take Microsoft approved courses at your local community college to prepare you for the microsoft exams to become a certified MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) or MCSA (Microsoft Certified System Administrator).

If you do well learning on your own and have some spare cash to build a network at your house to test in a domain environment (most Business networks are domain) and in Server 2003 you can get your certs without even going to a class. It just costs $$$$ for the exams lots of $$$$.

I beleive you CAN get by in this field without a degree, it seems as though i hear a lot more demand for certifications rather than degrees. A lot of it has to do with your background, persistance, hours willing to put it, weight willing to gain, and "street" knowledge you aquire doing jobs with your family.

Start doing jobs for family members and charge them whatever you think is appropriate, theres a huge difference between real world scenarios and scenarios the microsoft books throw at you. Become accustomed to real world scenarios because its not always as pretty as microsoft would make their product out to be. You get tested on whats in the books even though the books tend to disagree with themselves even though they are written by the almighty microsoft authors who know all, and command the world.

I work at a small business doing residential/small business type jobs with a maximum of about 25 computers in a network. We are similar to such companies as the " Geek Squad " and retards like that.

I have the knowledge necessary to administer larger networks but given i am still a fulltime college student with no degree yet i chose to stay at a smaller part time business.

Last year i made 43k which isnt too bad for a 20 Year old college student. Last year i worked full-time all year, this year aint lookin too pretty, plus im part time now. I have been doing this 3 years and if you do work in this field be prepared to answer the same question 26 times over and sometimes 3 times to the same person... ex: " ring ring ring ... Hello? Computer store... .I think i have a virus " I cant tell you how many bazillions of times i heard that, it gets kinda old pretty fast.

Any questions. Ask.

X

im in ECPI for Computer Networking/Security and i want to know like what KINDS of jobs are out there for my field? i need as much info as yall can provide, its for a project. entry level pay, positions, stuff of that nature. thanks guys. appreciate it.

I actually "learned" my job on my own. However I did attend a 2 year technical school and obtained my Associates in Network Design and Administration along with my A+ (which I think is vital besides what some people may say).

During and after school I was a lead tech at best buy (dont worry exindust I wont take offence to the "retards" comment). I will admit though most of them are morons but for the most part they are forced to be that way (pushy managers). While working there I pulled in a hefty 12/hr.

After the good ol BBY I took a position at an engineering firm starting pay @14/hr but the day before I was supposed to start I got offered another position. Pay was better @16/hr. I am still currently with that company and six months after I was hired I jumped to $20/hr, which is where I am sitting now.

I am currently attanding an online university, which I will recommend if you would like to know, in which I will obtain a Bachelors in Network Management as well as my MCSE, Security+, Network+, A+ and Project+.

So in all like exindust said, I have heard of people making it without a degree of some sort but I would recommend it. If nothing else at least try to get yourself some certifications. You also need to be dcareful here. Some companies are getting smart in picking out the "book" certifications. If they don't see any experience with you MCSE they will probably look right past you.

I would say the average starting wage for a IT support/ help desk support is around 12-15/hr.

DropTopPony said:

any suggestions on what course(s) would be the best path to pursue?

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IS majors w/ minors in accounting are in high demand right now and making 6 figure incomes

imo its a good career,but i wouldnt do it again if i had it all to do over again. i dont exactly know what i would have done but not this.
i didnt list any certs or requirements because everyone else has already established the main ones.

well here at ECPI i can obtain a list of certifications which i will but i just started here like a month ago so im still in basics of everything. i.e. college orientation, college algebra, CIS 106. i wont be gettin into my field studies for a while now but once i do i plan on getting as many certifications as i can. the more will help me get a job. now ive heard that i would probably have to relocate to like Cali to get the best job or something. i want to know more about the online schooling to get my BS degree. what are some highly recommended fields to try and get into? what KIND of jobs could i get? like help desk, workin for game companys *networking/security major*

Bob, from first hand experience, if you go IT make sure you take some Econ courses as well.

I graduated from Rutgers with a degree in Information Tech and Informatics and yielded a job right out of college doing Analysis work for $45k. After my first year I got a 9% raise and now make $49k. I just got a call yesterday from a company based out of Newark for a more "tech" sided job (coding, etc.) for $60k plus benefits.

The money is out there, just either major in CS/MIS/IT and minor in Econ. There is an awesome market out there for IT in the financial world!

What's the reason for the change? What do you currently do?

Any questions feel free to PM me.

I got a CIS degree in the early 90s and my 1st employer sprung for a set of classroom-taught MCSE courses. (huge perk because they're big bucks) With less than 10 years in the field I got an MIS manager job with a small manufacturing company. The money is decent (a little north of 70K), I'm sure I could make a lot more, but this job barely requires 40 hours and I almost never have to work weekends or nights. I have one "tech" who works for me.

Advice -- get experience first and foremost. But you also need to show that you can handle course work. A full degree WILL get you in the door, but you can collect a lot of certs in the same time it takes to get a degree. Which is the advantage is going to depend solely on the hiring companies needs and management culture. When I'm hiring for entry-level, I prefer a degree (not necessarily IT related) and some relevent experience and/or certs. The biggest thing I look for during an interview is enthusiasm and an apparent ability to LEARN since I'm not expecting huge amounts of technical knowledge or experience from a recent grad.

DropTopPony said:

If i can learn the same info from the Tech School in a shorter amount of time would it be worth foregoing the 4 year degree?

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Absolutely. But I don't know how employers take this into account.

DropTopPony said:

During my searches i have seen both College programs and non College programs (tech schools). Anyone have any insight on what the advantage of the College degree is over the Tech School...other then the degree itself. If i can learn the same info from the Tech School in a shorter amount of time would it be worth foregoing the 4 year degree?

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I'll chime in since I am part of the hiring process at a software development company.
First off, it really depends on what part of IT you are interested in. I have a degree in computer science and became a programmer. Some people don't like programming, and are more happy doinging networking, or support.

As far as a degree vs technical school, what I can say is this: Our company has hired many programmers with either 1 or the other. We have found that people with degrees have a better understanding of the core concepts, and have an easier time applying those theories to other things that are outside the scope of what they took in school. That said, we have had some brilliant people from technical school work with us too. However, the bottom line is with same amount of experience, the people with the degree always make more money than those who don't.

I have no degree, but I can pass my military experience off as a tech school, even though it had very little to do with my job now. I am self taught, and also have no major certifications. Just some bs ones I got through a few vendors when we bought their software and went to their training classes. I've worked for three very large companies over the past 7 years, and last year I made a little over 80k with benefits. My official title is a "Senior Information Analyst" but that's just a fancy name for a programmer. The thing that has worked the most for me, is staying current on technologies, regardless of whether you use them on the job or not. I spend a lot of my free time working on outside projects to develop skills I may not get “just” doing my job.
I do believe that I am the exception to the rule though, since I don't work with anyone that does not have a degree.

im just sick of makin minium wage and i love computers so i went to school for it. ive been told by some people that computer networking/security is a great field and is in high demand and then ive heard that you wont get far......i just want money and a job i love doin!!! haha hard to find yes but its possible.

I'm buzzed right now and need to go to bed for my 75 mile commute in the morning. I'm a 12 year software developer and I can tell you some things about this career these days. I work for a major petroleum services corporation. I'll get back to you later.

Need to finish this beer... need at least six hours of sleep... need some bonuses that aren't there for Americans... don't get me started about the Indians taking our jobs... ****ers...

my95gtstang said:

im just sick of makin minium wage and i love computers so i went to school for it. ive been told by some people that computer networking/security is a great field and is in high demand and then ive heard that you wont get far......i just want money and a job i love doin!!! haha hard to find yes but its possible.

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yup, had a offering last week as a civilian contractor for the government making 70k a year for infastructure security and 40k for just a basic networking job.
as far as my schooling, i have a BA in computer science and an associates in information security and assurance. working on my masters now in computer information systems.
If i had to do it all over again id go heavy in the security department.
as far as certs ive got my a+, security +, net +, ccna, ccnp, sscp and just a couple months ago my cissp.

If you do IT, make sure you have some sort of business background or at least take come business classes. Demand for doing purely IT is still available, but you make yourself more marketable with some core business knowledge too.

im 25% indian, so appreciate it if you didnt

GDawg said:

I'm buzzed right now and need to go to bed for my 75 mile commute in the morning. I'm a 12 year software developer and I can tell you some things about this career these days. I work for a major petroleum services corporation. I'll get back to you later.

Need to finish this beer... need at least six hours of sleep... need some bonuses that aren't there for Americans... don't get me started about the Indians taking our jobs... ****ers...

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It’s hard to get into an IT job. I have a degree in Computer Information Technologies. All the jobs that I have went in for interviews said sorry you don't have enough experience. How am I supposed to get the stupid experience if I can't get hired in the field? So I just got a new job this week. I'm an aviation line service tech. The funny thing is one of my friends who doesn’t even have a college degree is making about 50,000 a year in a computer field and I have a degree and can’t get hired, it ticks me off. I just applied for another IT job right before I posted this.