IT Career 27 No qualifications but want to pursue IT Career (UK) |
- 27 No qualifications but want to pursue IT Career (UK)
- Career advise networking
- How I deal with tech recruiters after 2 decades of mis steps and pitfalls.
- 25/M science background, thinking of moving into IT and eventually security. Where do I start?
- Resume + Cover Letter advice
- Got my CCNA a year ago, what should I work on next?
- Learn to Code or Study Network+
- Why I hate recruiters + how would you have handled
- Pay review - questions about job satisfaction
- Resume is too long. Need help finding balance.
- Please Critique my Resume
- is it the company is slow or they wanna get rid of me ?
- Cloud System Failures
- Should I take the leap of faith?
- Good part-time jobs? CCNA in college
- Getting lunch with the CTO today, what do I ask?
- What would your thoughts be if almost all entry level helpdesk positions for new employees in the IT world started making it so that in order to be hired, you had to assemble your own PC within a given amount of time in order to get the job?
- Powershell scripting and Python courses or material?
- Troubleshooting and more - Does this job exist?
- Career Advice
- Short or long resumes?
- Do I want to be a Jack of All Trades?
- What do you IT Pros do for fun?
| 27 No qualifications but want to pursue IT Career (UK) Posted: 24 Sep 2018 05:16 AM PDT As title suggest i am 27/m looking to get into IT but i have no qualifications from my school days and have had trouble getting any interviews or knowing what to apply for. I would love to get into coding/programming or even game development as gaming is my main hobby. A small background, i've worked pretty random jobs through my 20s none of which related to IT until i joined an IT college apprentice program last year and landed an IT computer building job which lasted for 6 months before i left it due to bad working conditions (nobody spoke english, it was essentially a production line job and they didn't care about helping me with my apprenticeship). I still feel i learnt to build PC's well from it but it left a bad impression on me. 5 months later i am currently now on hold from the college until i find another apprenticeship to continue my education, However most jobs i find are "Helpdesk" which sounds like a glorified call centre type job and i am personally an introvert who doesn't really like talking/communicating with customers (sounds bad but i do get along with fellow co-workers wherever i have worked, it's just customers i get nervous with). If anyone is able to give some advice on how to actually break into the coding scene/ game dev scene or any idea which apprenticeships are good for learning i would really appreicate it having lurked here for a while. I also do feel some apprenticeships may be put off of my age as they tend to hire much younger people than myself. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2018 04:50 AM PDT Hi guys going to put up resume and cover letter, please advise what type of positions I should try applying for?resume I know the resume needs tweaks, I already got advise of what and where to tweak, I can do the duties I listed fairly comfortably. Here is my cover letter for a job I was considering applying for. cover letter Thank you. [link] [comments]  |
| How I deal with tech recruiters after 2 decades of mis steps and pitfalls. Posted: 24 Sep 2018 08:19 AM PDT For those of you who may not know me, I am in technology in the systems, networking and automation space. I have 20+ years of experience, and I literally run a blog and podcast about getting ahead in the tech industry. So, when u/nightpanda2810 posted on "Why I hate recruiters" - I thought I'd make a separate post instead of a wall of text comment :) A few months ago, I actually had a podcast episode about this, but I thought I'd detail it in writing. I've actually have gone head to head with a few recruiters in the past who refuse to remove me from their email lists for positions I wouldn't take in my career at this point (JR SYSADMIN, $17/HR, NEWARK NJ!) Again, I don't want to sound like a pompous ass - but for reference, I've got 20+ years of experience, Lots of certs, a degree, and I've been a consultant for years. After getting 3 emails from the same dude in a row, I started replying to the emails with nonsense responses. The recruiter finally responded back with a very prescient 'Dude! This is not helping me do my job...' - to which I challenged him to call me. He said he would and never did. For a few weeks at least. One day, I finally had the guy call me and tell me "look, man, this is a f*ck1ng numbers game. I'm going to send out, on average, 1,500 emails per day and half the time the description for the job is wrong anyhow." So, without further adieu: My advice for people in a technology career is the following: 1: Recruiters are salespeople, and YOU are the product. The recruiter holds entirely no cards in this poker match - they're just a middleman salesperson. I can not tell you how many times I acted in fear because I was afraid the recruiter wouldn't like me or present me for reasons that were all in my head. Recruiters typically already know whom they want to present before they even call you. So - don't be cocky - but don't be afraid to push back when someone starts to waste your time. As proof that 'recruiters are sales people' - I said that I've been doing this a long time, right? So when I wanted to launch my podcast I went through each person one-by-one and sent them a LinkedIn message about it soliciting feedback (and also to cull the herd of dead connections). What was SHOCKING to me was how many recruiters had moved on to be account managers at software companies or generic 'sales' people. Recruiting is sales, hands down. And frequently it involves very little concern about your happiness or career trajectory on the recruiter's part. It is sad, but true. This is not true of ALL recruiters, but true of most. 2: If you live in a major metro area (which I'm going to assume most IT redditors do) - be proactive and start developing relationships with recruiters. I have about 5 or 6 I've known for a decade who still recruit. Develop relationships with them. Make them take you to lunch or coffee if they've got a role. Number 1 - if they're not willing to meet you, they don't think you're a strong candidate. Number 2 - You'll have the sales edge over other candidates presented by the recruiter. Number 3 - They'll immediately think of you more frequently because they got to take you to lunch, and it's an excuse to get a paid lunch on a client (trust me - I'm around salespeople all the time - this is a thing). 3: Know how many slightly pushy questions the recruiter asks you? The reverse is totally OK - Ask the recruiter how long they've been recruiting. If it has been a year or less, I won't waste my time without physically talking with them in person or on a web conference. Make sure they're not nervous, awkward or weird. Again - recruiters are salespeople - they sell what they know. 4: If you get more than 1 lame job offer from (usually, but not always) outsourced recruiting companies - use Gmail or yahoo smart folders to dump them into a bucket. I have a youtube video showing how to create smart folders on google inbox. I've been doing this for about 2-3 years straight, and I've only ever had one recruiter email that was exciting turn up in this folder. Versus the HUNDREDS that might as well be spam. 5: MOST IMPORTANTLY (maybe this should be 1) - be involved on LinkedIn and local meetups. I can not stress how important this is. When you're 'oh hey, that gal I met at the Cisco user group' or 'Oh yeah! I met you at the VMUG' - you skyrocket your chances of landing the job. Moreover, a substantial portion of higher income jobs DO NOT go through recruiters because they (on average) charge a 15-40% premium on the yearly salary of the role. So if you're interviewing for a 100k job (not at all uncommon in Denver where I'm at) - hiring managers usually seek out candidates with internal bounties way before they turn to recruiters. For this reason, being active in whatever technology excites you is SO beneficial to your career. This is true, even if it means you spend your own money and time doing it. And to be clear - 98% of the time it WILL be your time and money. Rare is the employer who spends too much time on your personal development. Think of it as a self-investment. I've probably spent a 5-10 grand over the last 7 years and maybe a thousand hours on extra-curricular technology 'work'. However, I've damn near doubled my income from building the relationships. If you invest in yourself and more importantly, relationships, you will out-earn any raises. Guaranteed. Doing some back of the napkin math - by doing this myself it's been like getting a 13.8% raise every single year. It hasn't always been linear, and I've had to shift jobs a few times, but looking back it's been totally worth it. [link] [comments]  |
| 25/M science background, thinking of moving into IT and eventually security. Where do I start? Posted: 24 Sep 2018 04:08 AM PDT Hi all! I currently have a bachelors in chemistry/minor in physics and 4 years experience in a laboratory. I don't have formal IT/programming training BUT I have heaps of personal experience. I build PCs/servers for fun. I realized that I honestly enjoy working with computers a lot more than I ever did doing hard science. I am considering the possibility of working toward a high level IT position. So where would I start? I believe can pass the A+ certs with some self-study. I took several practice tests and did ok without study. Should I just go for these and start applying to help desk roles? Or should I start with some community college/online classes first? Basically I'm wondering if it would be better to quickly gain experience in the field vs education. Thanks for any advice! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 23 Sep 2018 11:21 PM PDT I have scrubbed this of info but please if you could critique it would be awesome! Cover Letter & Resume album in image format Thank you guys! [link] [comments]  |
| Got my CCNA a year ago, what should I work on next? Posted: 24 Sep 2018 09:41 AM PDT I've been trying to decide what certification I should start studying for before it's time for my recertification. I really don't want to take the CCNA RS again, it seems like it'd be more interesting and useful to take a different Associate level exam. My boss suggested I start studying for the CCNP Route, but the CCNP is a lot of commitment, and I am not sure that is the, er, route that I want to take yet. [link] [comments]  |
| Learn to Code or Study Network+ Posted: 24 Sep 2018 05:27 AM PDT Hello all! So I'm in a crossroads in what I want the do. At first, I was studying for my Network+ because I want it for career advancement. I currently want the pursue a cyber security field or system administrator field, as I like doing those things a bit. However, I have been presented an opportunity to learn code, particularly HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Over the weekend, I practiced some HTML on FreeCodeCamp. I learned a lot and am pretty interested on pursuing this as it is kind of fun I also see this opening up more doors as I learn more languages, especially since JavaScript can be used for server work with NodeJS. At my job, we have made a developer meeting group that is pretty cool as we can just sit there and learn without any cost, and get to know other people, aka social networking. Either way, I see potential in the future learning either one. So what do you all recommend. [link] [comments]  |
| Why I hate recruiters + how would you have handled Posted: 24 Sep 2018 06:47 AM PDT Linked screenshot of LinkedIn chat. I happened to be on LinkedIn at this time, and responded rather quickly. Dead silence since. How would you have handled? i'm thinking I should have played along, and then spoken to the hiring manager about the FT position once I had a chance. [link] [comments]  |
| Pay review - questions about job satisfaction Posted: 23 Sep 2018 10:43 PM PDT I work in Support and have a pay review coming up. The questions ask stuff like what things do I enjoy the least about working at this company, what do I think of my manager, what could be done to make myself more productive. I take it this is kind of a trap? I'm thinking I should probably say as little as possible to avoid any conflict and not give them any excuses to hold off on a pay rise. I would like more career progression.... but I'm not so sure this is the place to ask for it?? [link] [comments]  |
| Resume is too long. Need help finding balance. Posted: 24 Sep 2018 05:38 AM PDT Brief overview: Have an AS degree, 90% of the way through a BS, had a few certs but they are expired, have over 6 years of experience in doing Sys Admin and Escalated support work as well as a few big projects under my belt. Do you think I should bother recertifying in CCNA and MCSE? I haven't studied for either in years but still have a very good hands on knowledge. Do recruiters look at this if one has a lot of experience? Secondly, my resume has hit the three page mark. I know that might be breaking the cardinal rule, but it's hard to stand out from others and also be concise with my career highlights. I can post a sample of it later, but I was wondering if anyone here had any mid level support / sys admin guidelines about how technical or high level I should be when describing Job duties and highlights on my resume. What do recruiters look at for someone around my level? Any helps is appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2018 08:56 AM PDT Any input on my resume is appreciated. Thank you. [link] [comments]  |
| is it the company is slow or they wanna get rid of me ? Posted: 24 Sep 2018 08:34 AM PDT Hi guys, I posted a few days ago about my employer gave me a counter offer when i decided to look for another job opportunity in another town which was very small to live for me . I ended up accepting the full time opportunity at my current employer and they gave me a shitty role to configure tablets. They found my replacement and the guy is good at the job I trained him and he is up to the speed within a week. Today i hear they are doing more interviews and i Still haven't received my benefits log in credentials, My employement profile hasn't been updated and my las paycheck was the same like before. I talked to them and they sent multiple emails to out head office but no reply yet. What should I do guys? Edit: Can company replace me completely and get rid of me as I'm full-time employee ? Can they find someone who does the job cheaper and get rid of me ? I was told not to accept counter offer but i did as it gave me fulltime status where as the other opportunity i was going to go for was Conditional for 6 months based on my immigration status. So going with my current employer Full-time was my safest bet. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2018 08:17 AM PDT Cloud System Failures. In the simplest definition, a cloud system can be defined as a virtual system that allows individuals and corporate entities to store and access files as well as software programs through the internet instead of their local hard drives on their computers (Botta et al., 2016). For the vast array of benefits, it offers, cloud computing has rapidly transitioned into a vital support system for all businesses, small and large alike. To further illuminate on this fact, the IDC predicts that over 60% of organizational software and infrastructural set up will be designed for cloud-based operations by the year 2020 (Ramachandra et al., (2017). [link] [comments]  |
| Should I take the leap of faith? Posted: 24 Sep 2018 07:34 AM PDT Hi all, I am a 26 year old who is returning to get my Bachelor's this Spring. I received my Associate's in Information Security back in May. I will be attending a university with roughly 15,000 undergrads. I am embarrassed to admit I have been to quite a few schools over the last 8 years, but I finally got things back on track about a year ago and at least got my AAS. Now I'm ready to go back for my Bachelor's. Currently, I work full-time in a help desk IT gig. I have worked here since July. The pay: meh, but its right around normal help desk pay. It could be worse but it's livable. And I also have to commute an hour to/from work every day. Which I have noticed is adding up more than I thought even with decent MPG. Anyway, because of it being a full time position, I don't have that much free time. And I spend all my free time at work doing IT related projects and studying for certs. I tried to bite the bullet, and suck it up and had planned to try juggling work and school. But, to my dismay I showed up for late Fall 2018 (a month or so ago) orientation to find out this college does not offer as many online classes/late sections as I thought. So I couldn't fit into the Fall. They get filled up incredibly fast. However...the college itself is great, has the exact program I'm looking for (Computer Science, cyber security track), is offering me a decent little scholarship. I would only be taking out about 1,000ish a semester in loans. Now that I have gave you some background information, my question is: would you leave the job and go back to school? I have to do something to pull income while I'm going to school. The area itself where the college is located is not very large at all and offers very poor job choice. The area is only known because of the state school that occupies it. My final gripe in question: if I did this, that I'd be leaving this job after about 6 months. I know it could be worse, but I am afraid in the future to look like a job hopper. I have a pretty decent work history at major companies like Apple, Best Buy, AT&T, etc. and I'd like to think I interview very well. So I don't think I'd have a problem finding some kind of internship. So, if you were me...would you take the leap? Would you leave the job at 6 months and go back to finish your Bachelor's? [link] [comments]  |
| Good part-time jobs? CCNA in college Posted: 24 Sep 2018 06:56 AM PDT I've recently received a CCNA Routing and Switching right before my summer ended and I am wondering where do I go about from here. The problem is that the jobs I think I qualify for are, I believe, all mostly full time jobs. Either that or I am ignorant about what I can apply to. I live in the Silicon Valley, so I understand that there are lots of IT positions, but again I'm not sure where I fit in as an employee looking for a part time job. I've looked into internships, but the problem with internships is that they are during the summer, and I'm not sure what positions I should focus my aim for. Background information: Before I earned my CCNA, I TAed for an IT class (intro to IoT) and worked for the cabling division (we just pull cable across campus) at my school. I recently quit those jobs in hopes to find a job that pays more and adds "better industry experience". What types of part time jobs should I be looking for to enhance my IT career? [link] [comments]  |
| Getting lunch with the CTO today, what do I ask? Posted: 24 Sep 2018 06:45 AM PDT Curious what questions you all would ask the CTO of your company if you got to sit down with them. Some context, we are an Ag company and I'm an associate manager in IT. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2018 05:36 AM PDT This would demonstrate to the employer that you know the workings of a PC inside and out and can easily reference any piece of hardware necessary if you get a call when something goes wrong with someone else's PC. And obviously if you can't do this, you don't get the job. [link] [comments]  |
| Powershell scripting and Python courses or material? Posted: 24 Sep 2018 05:25 AM PDT Hey all, I've been in the industry about three and a half years now with various internships and time on HelpDesk. I recently became a Network Engineer, but I haven't learned any scripting and have heard it would be useful to know Powershell and Python scripting. I'm still new in my career and I want to start learning this stuff sooner rather than later. Any suggestions on study material? YouTube videos? Pluralsight? Articles? Study groups? I'm also curious if there are any other languages like Python that would be useful in the networking and sysadmin world. [link] [comments]  |
| Troubleshooting and more - Does this job exist? Posted: 24 Sep 2018 04:32 AM PDT Hey everyone, I've been a software developer for a few years now. I feel happy and content developing software but I find that I mentally get into the zone and feel excited when I'm troubleshooting, scanning through log files trying to find errors, figuring out where bugs are, and fixing them. I also love setting environments up, deploying applications, and making sure infrastructure is working as expected. This seems to be a mix of tech support (without the customer part), deployment/ops, and general software development but I can't find one job title that matches this description. Does a job like this exist? Maybe something like this exists but it's specific to particular companies, for example, maybe "support level 1" would be customer support, but "support level 3" would be what is described above? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 23 Sep 2018 10:03 PM PDT What does it take to become a CISO? Talking about education/certifications/experience etc. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 23 Sep 2018 04:52 PM PDT What is more effective: short resumes listing general concepts or long resumes full of technology keywords? Does it matter? [link] [comments]  |
| Do I want to be a Jack of All Trades? Posted: 23 Sep 2018 06:10 PM PDT So this is a question about specialisation, and how early or late in my career I should think about it. Some background is necessary so heres a brief-ish rundown of my IT journey so far- - Just under 2 years ago I joined my current company (a website) in a Junior Ad Operations role. - Since then I learned how to proficiently use Office, the Google Ad platform (DFP/Adwords/Analytics), Photoshop and a few other things like Charles to debug the odd ad. - Around a year ago I was asked if I could help out the Dev team with QA, as well as some tech support the CS would request for the users. So I ended up learning the testing process in a Development team, as well as things like SQL, decent HTML/CSS, and some basic Javascript. - Now I've been moved solely into the dev team as a Junior Test Analyst. It's ok, but I feel like if I had more code knowledge I wouldn't have to ask the team so many questions. Hence I picked up a couple books on programming that I am studying my way through in my spare time, of which I have little. - Finally, the manager recently asked if I would be ok adding Tech Support to my role. Meaning, I would be first responder for the office's technical woes, if it was above my head then I would pass it on to the IT Support company we contract. Should I be worried about switching fields so much? I don't want to specialise in either QA or Tech Support, but I don't have the experience on my resume to get another job. I don't have a degree, and this is my first office job. Sorry if this was a bit rambley, but I just feel like I'm lacking a direction I should be working towards. [link] [comments]  |
| What do you IT Pros do for fun? Posted: 23 Sep 2018 02:16 PM PDT |
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