IT Career [Weekly] What would you like to know Wednesday? General Question Thread |
- [Weekly] What would you like to know Wednesday? General Question Thread
- So discouraged...
- 12 years of experience for nothing?
- 12 Ways to Develop IT Experience
- Recommended learning resources?
- Start of a Virtualise Journey
- Can I get some resume feedback?
- Question making a package installer via usb
- Advice: Skills, Applications, Resume, Job offers...
- Short term choices
- Which Cert to knock out before I start class?
- Dealing with an awful founder/ceo in a start-up
- Does your LinkedIn match your resume?
- I have a 3 person interview tomorrow at a MSP any advice would be helpful
- Degree or Certs?
- What would you do?
- One man "jack of all trades" consultant. I'm burnt out and sick of the stress. Considering going to work for someone else. Not sure if it's realistic or will make my situation better.
- Conflicted Between Two Job Offers
- How do I ask for a raise, and how much do I ask for?
- Career paths out of System Administration?
- Hi all. Trying to learn some networking stuff and i have 10 tasks, but can't get quite right with 2 ones, can someone help out?
| [Weekly] What would you like to know Wednesday? General Question Thread Posted: 31 Oct 2018 01:17 AM PDT Not every question needs a backstory or long explanation but it is still a question that you would like answered. This is weekly thread is setup to allow a chance for people to ask general questions that they may not feel is worthy of a full post to the sub. Examples:
Please keep things civil and constructive! MOD NOTE: This will be a weekly post on every Wednesday. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Oct 2018 06:04 AM PDT I need some expert advice. So, I have my Associates degree in Computer Information Science. I tried unsuccessfully to get even a helpdesk job for six months before finally breaking down and getting a job at a collections call center. It pays the bills, but I still want to work in my field. I had three IT interviews - one went well and the two owners were very encouraging, but I didn't get the job; the next one was the owner of the company who didn't know anything about tech and who said that they were looking for someone with the right fit for the company; the last interview was a nightmare. It was for an internship and the director was very rude to me, insulted me and made jokes at my expense, and pretty much told me to change my career. They also emphasized that they were looking for an experienced person for the internship, which is what I thought that was for. I am about a year away from graduating with my Bachelor's degree in Applied Computer Science and I plan to get my A+ in the spring and maybe the Sec+ around the time I graduate. My dilemma is the fact that, even though I love being able to work with computers, I have no experience that can be put on a resume other than serving as tech support for friends and family. My school does not offer an internship at all for my degree. My fiance and I just moved to be closer to his career, so we can't afford for me to quit my job in order to get even a small internship around my crazy hours. But without experience, do I even have a shot at an entry level position? I keep telling myself that prospective employers will look past my lack of professional experience when I get my Bachelor's degree and a few certs, but I'm getting discouraged that it won't be the case. I want to do software support if I can, but I am willing to do anything to get my foot in the door. I eventually want to get my Master's and teach CIS at a community college or at a highschool level. But for right now, I just want to work in software support. So, I just need some career advice. I worry so much about never being able to use my degree and that this will have all been a waste. I don't want to be stuck at the call center forever. [link] [comments]  |
| 12 years of experience for nothing? Posted: 31 Oct 2018 07:54 AM PDT I've been doing support type roles for about 12 years now, and I am quite ready to move my career on from the front line. I feel like I've been here more than long enough. My ultimate goal is to move into development, but my market is too competitive for someone to get into even a junior position without a portfolio full of code in tech that didn't exist when I was in school, so I've pretty much given up on that for now. I need to build a portfolio first. But in the meantime, I have bills to pay. No worries, I thought, I should be able to easily snag a senior helpdesk/desktop support role given my experience. But boy was I wrong. I am finding myself also unable to get any bites for anything beyond tier 1 help-desk jobs that pay less than my previous one or even driving for Uber. Not to mention the majority of the calls I am getting are from bottom-of-the-barrel recruiters with thick accents that I can barely understand offering me shitty contract jobs that pay absolute shit with zero benefits. I've been doing this for 12 years, yet I've got a big 'ol pile of rejections from employers asking for half the experience I have. I have managed to get a couple of interviews, felt like I did well, but ended up not getting the jobs. It doesn't help that I'm currently unemployed. I got put on the dreaded PIP and found myself in a situation where if I didn't quit, I'd get the sack anyway. Oh well, it really was time to leave that dead-end job anyway. Basically, at this point, I feel like my career has been a failure, and if I don't get something quick I'm gonna end up living with my parents again in a town with even less opportunity for IT jobs than I have now. What I don't have are certs. Main reason for lack of certs is I didn't really need them in my previous positions, and they are expensive and time consuming to get. Is that holding me back? I don't really have the money to do any cert bootcamps right now, and any time spent studying for certs on my own is time (plus I don't have the funds on-hand to build the requisite home labs) I'm not applying for jobs or driving for Uber to make some money. I have too many bills to pay. Does my resume suck THAT bad? Here is an anonymized version: http://www.dzcomposer.com/miscfiles/resume_anon.docx Should I just pony-up the $100+ to get my resume professionally re-done? Or am I really truly only qualified for entry-level jobs despite being in this industry for a long freaking time? And if that's so, is there any way to fix that in a year or less? [link] [comments]  |
| 12 Ways to Develop IT Experience Posted: 30 Oct 2018 11:53 AM PDT Here are 12 ways to develop experience in IT and get into the field. Please keep in mind this post is geared towards those who are seeking entry-level work, looking for a career change into the field, or want to improve their resume with IT related work. This is not geared towards those who are experienced although some of the points covered may be beneficial. 1. College Work-Study Programs in ITCollege work-study programs are great because they provide relevant work experience that translates well into the job market. This is where I started my career. I was hired into my college's help desk and worked in their IT department all throughout college. This experience provided me exposure to ticketing systems, basic networking, support models, printers, AV equipment, and training end users. I developed foundational IT experience for my career. If your college doesn't have a formal helpdesk opportunity the library usually employs opportunities for computer lab assistants which is another alternative. 2. VolunteeringIf you take a look at volunteer sites there are many volunteering opportunities that relate to IT assistance. These volunteer opportunities are usually for technical support. Other volunteer opportunities include teaching classes at non-profits. Some specific volunteer opportunities that I have seen are assisting seniors with technology, helping people with job searches online, teaching classes on using technology, and social media management. My county library depends on a heavy volunteer base so that's one place to start looking. 3. Craigslist Gigs and JobsYou'll most likely find part-time IT related work here along with contract and temp work. It's a resources that's often overlooked but the opportunities are great. I was able to snag a few gigs through craigslist during my time in college. I recommend looking here because the bar is usually pretty low in terms of competition with other candidates. Experienced candidates are mostly looking at formal job sites like Indeed, Dice, LinkedIn, USA jobs, and Monster. 4. Working Up the LadderGetting technical experience can even begin in places like retail stores. A friend of mine started in one of Apple's stores, moved into a customer service center, got a helpdesk position, and now is doing application support. I know there's a handful of people on this sub who have went up the traditional ladder with helpdesk and then into system administration. 5. Technology Development Leadership ProgramsA highly lucrative but unknown opportunity are TLDP/TDLP programs (technology leadership development). These programs are usually offered by large companies (Fortune 500) and provide participants the opportunity to rotate within the technology business unit. During your rotation you can pick out teams you want to work with for a set amount of time like cyber security, project management, database, networking, and application development. 6. InternshipsInternships are great while you are in college. It provides work experience and networking opportunities while bolstering your resume. When we think of interns we generally think of them as college students but here's the thing, I took an internship when I was a bit older then traditional college age (18 - 22). Before the internship, I had a full-time job doing desktop support but I really wanted to be in cyber security. I ended up quitting my job, took a pay cut, and accepted a short cyber security internship that helped my career. 7. Hack-a-Thons and Extracurricular Clubs in College or High SchoolMy high school offered CCNA as coursework and I participated in the after school clubs. Did I get certified? No. But it was a great exposure and learning opportunity. In college, there are often clubs that have to do with tech. In my college my after school club was in our linux lab. We usually had LAN parties in there but in order to set that up all of us had to have an understanding of using linux and networking. 8. Relocate to a Different CitySome cities offer less tech opportunities while others have more. Take for example hot tech spots like Silicon Valley or Seattle. These hot spots employ large tech companies. I grew up in a rural are so the tech opportunities for me were scarce until I relocated to a large metropolitan area. As I get further along in my career, I've expanded my job search to the entire country vs just looking at jobs in my state. 9. Developing Tech Related Skills in Your Current PositionIT related skills doesn't just include understanding tech but it also includes your ability to be customer-focused, professional and supportive. I've seen secretaries and accounting professionals spin their skills in customer support to land them jobs in helpdesk support. 10. Getting a College Degree or CertificationI've seen people be successful with all types of educational backgrounds (associates, bachelors, IT diplomas, etc) but only when it's been combined with relevant work experience. My take on this is that if you invest more in your education the more leverage you'll have if you combine it with relevant work experience. Having educational credentials alone without any relevant work experience doesn't carry much leverage in my opinion. 11. Personal Projects or School ProjectsWorking with tech requires all of us to keep up and adapt to change. It's a constant stream of learning and at any given moment new technology could be rolled out in the organization. A few of my friends have shown off their personal projects in interviews and received positive feedback. Projects can include home labs, creating databases, developing a website, and so forth. 12. MilitaryIf you were to join the military there are opportunities related to technology. A buddy of mine is an officer and he's been able to achieve his Net+, Sec+, and CISSP during his time in. I believe 25B in the army is closely related to IT (check with a recruiter). I don't know too much about the military but it seems to have had a great impact on people's careers. [link] [comments]  |
| Recommended learning resources? Posted: 31 Oct 2018 01:14 AM PDT Hello all. I attended a community College some years ago for Information Technology, but did not see it through. Chief reason among them was crippling anxiety and self doubts. I want to go back, but I'm quite certain that what little I learned then will be of little use these days. I'd like to get ahead of the game and learn as much as I can for relatively little money before I drop a lot of money on tuition and books. Any online courses, books, etc, that you can recommend for a complete newbie would be greatly appreciated. Edit: my apologies. I forgot what a vast field of study "information technology" is. Specifically I'm strongly considering network infrastructure, but I'm also looking at server administration and informatics to see if I might be interested in that as well. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Oct 2018 07:58 AM PDT Hey everyone! I currently live in a part of the world where virtualization is now becoming to go to solution for server rooms and off-site backups. Being a third world nation, we don't have access to in person training nor skilled professionals available to guide us. We have skilled but not highly skilled, primarily those we learnt via hands-on or googling. My question is, where can I start my virtualization career? From VMware VCA to VCP? About me: * CCNA RS, CCNP in progress * 14 months as the sole network administrator at an SMB. Thanks for all the inputs! [link] [comments]  |
| Can I get some resume feedback? Posted: 31 Oct 2018 07:43 AM PDT Hello all! I've posted on a separate board asking for help and was directed to this one, which actually answered a lot of my questions. I also realized my CV/Resume needed to be revamped, so I was wondering if anyone can give me advice? I currently have no experience in the IT department, but have been trying to - for the last 3 months - find an entry level job doing helpdesk/1st line. I have a little hand-on experience with doing my own things, like upgrading RAM, or helping my friend set up her computer, or helping relatives with small tech-related issues, but I'm not sure how to convey that in the CV. This is also just the bare minimum in terms of layout, I wanted to get the actual CV figured out before I make it look better. The link is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xHw7THRyjYM-Khgvl3Lw_v75PNLafTF5/view?usp=sharing Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Question making a package installer via usb Posted: 31 Oct 2018 09:20 AM PDT Let's say I wanted to create my own suite with a list of programs that I want installed on a computer via usb like chrome, Microsoft office and a bunch of other programs but I don't want to do it one at a time I just want to create a wizard to click what I want to install [link] [comments]  |
| Advice: Skills, Applications, Resume, Job offers... Posted: 31 Oct 2018 08:36 AM PDT So I got an email from a company for an entry level IT position. I decided to research them and found out they have a bad reputation and make you go through rigorous assessments to get hired for a low wage position. This wasn't just one or two reviews, there were several complaints about management and culture. I'm already at a job I HATE and while I'm desperate to get out of it, I didn't see the sense in attempting to get hired somewhere like this. The current employees are warning potential applicants to "STAY AWAY" or "AVOID". Ignoring those obvious red flags would be foolish. This is the first sign of interest I've gotten since applying for several jobs. So I was very excited at first. I have my final A+ exam on the 19th of November. There's no way I'd realistically be able to retain ALL the information and put ALL of it on my resume as knowledge or skills. Are there any core skills, or operating systems I should focus on in depth over the next 20 days? I'd like to have something on my resume that makes it look more credible. All of these entry level positions have such high qualifications and I'm afraid that my resume just isn't enough. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Oct 2018 04:51 AM PDT Hey all. I'm in a weird spot in my career and have a couple options of what I can do short term.
My former bosses that I'm still in contact with tell me to stay where I am and work on the Masters/MBA then jump...but I'm working in a very unrewarding and unfulfilling job. Granted, the pay and benefits are quite good...but I'm having problems seeing the positive through the bullshit. [link] [comments]  |
| Which Cert to knock out before I start class? Posted: 31 Oct 2018 04:26 AM PDT I start WGU on December 1st for Cyber Security and Information Assurance. I've already got my A+, Network+ Security+. Long term I want to make entry to the cyber security field. Currently going on 1 year on the Help desk. I spent 3-4 months studying for ICND1 this summer before putting off due my son being born and life being crazy. I recently banged out my Net+ and S+ in a total of two weeks here in October. I partially credit my intense ICND 1 studies for giving me the foundation knowledge to do that. I really want to maximize my time and obtain one more cert before I start next month. Should I go ahead and attempt to make the CCENT happen? My other idea is to knock out a Linux+. I have zero linux experience other than installing Ubuntu and Mint on my own PC. Which one will be more useful long term, but also which one will be more manageable to obtain based on the factors I listed above? Neither of these Certs are included in my WGU degree path. [link] [comments]  |
| Dealing with an awful founder/ceo in a start-up Posted: 30 Oct 2018 04:40 PM PDT I'm working in a start-up at the moment and the company founder is literally the worst possible leader This is just scratching the surface
I'm staying becsuse I like my team and the salary is competitive but in all my years this guy is the worst leader I have ever worked under. How can I improve this situation. [link] [comments]  |
| Does your LinkedIn match your resume? Posted: 30 Oct 2018 12:36 PM PDT I took a free class for LinkedIn profiles that was hosted at my work. In it, they mentioned that your LinkedIn Profile should NOT just be a copy of your resume, and instead should talk more generally about your position/team at a company (specifically the jobs area). For example, my resume might have a job like this: ----------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Right now, my LinkedIn literally has the same bullet points for that job. According to this class, my LinkedIn should instead say something like: ----------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Have you heard this before? [link] [comments]  |
| I have a 3 person interview tomorrow at a MSP any advice would be helpful Posted: 30 Oct 2018 05:57 PM PDT Im going to be doing Helpdesk work form them i got through the first and second interview good now the Hiring Manger and i guess the Systems and Network engineer want to sit down and have a face to face meeting. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Oct 2018 11:27 PM PDT Longtime lurker on this sub, I've learned a great deal so thank you all for contributing and sharing your knowledge. Im currently in a bit of a crossroads, Im in a Help Desk Analyst position and have been for going on about a year now, and before this I did Technical Support for a Cable provider for a little over 2 years. In between those two roles I found myself working in an Admin Role (Not tech related) for a For Profit College, but now Im feeling that IT is definitely where I plan to stay for the foreseable future. My question is, I am thinking of getting some certs to bolster my resume and get me a higher paying position. I currently have an A+ and Im interested in the cloud, but im unsure whats the most practical bust cost effective way to go about moving up and into the Cloud. Any thoughts on next steps would be great, and thanks again! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Oct 2018 04:22 PM PDT Hey all. I've been working in the IT sector for about 10 years now and recently got a job working as a computer and network technician at a mid sized City (local government). I came from a job as a network tech that I had worked there for 8 years. Things have been pretty slow with the new job (mostly how the gov works) and having second guesses about returning to my previous job. I left on a good note with the company and told me I could return if I wanted too someday. The benefits are awesome at the city and have a great pension. If I return to my previous job, I won't get a pension but will still have a 401k. I proposed a substantial pay increase if they would like me to return. I'm 28 years old. What would you do if you were in my shoes? Ride out the new job because it's government sector and a great pension or return to the previous job for a substantial pay increase but without a pension? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Oct 2018 02:04 PM PDT I've been working for myself as an I.T. consultant for small/medium companies for about 14 years. From early on, I dealt poorly with the stress of a constantly fluctuating schedule as primarily someone who is called in to fix broken services as quickly as possible. Now I'm back in school full-time (Network Security) and still juggling my clients full-time with reduced hours. I've pretty much made up my mind to walk away from this and work for someone else as it would hopefully be much less stressful and more predictable on a daily basis. That said, I haven't worked for someone else in almost 15 years and have no idea what the current I.T. work environment is like. My hope is to find something 40 hours a week. When I walk out the door, I'm done. Friends have warned me that it's more like 60 hours a week for the average admin/consultant in any larger company and evenings and weekends are often intruded upon. My background probably translates into consulting or systems administration. Though I have some background in network security and plan to transition as I obtain my degree. I've only worked for small companies or myself. So my experience in a larger corporate environment is non-existent. Oh. And I'm old. 47.
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| Conflicted Between Two Job Offers Posted: 30 Oct 2018 07:31 PM PDT I'm currently a sophomore in college majoring in CIS with a concentration in CS. I recently got a job offer from a decently sized company doing call center support for a software/web service they offer. They're a private company but do a lot of work with government. The software has won 2 Amazon City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge awards..so I assume it's successful. On the other hand, I also got an offer doing more computer technician stuff with a local computer service company. They're more like a MSP in my town. While I enjoy this type of work more, I feel like it may be on the small side and isn't much room for me to progress as much compared to the other place. Pay and hours are both similar. I would think the bigger company would be better on resume and possibly have progression, but I'm not the biggest fan on call center work. What do you guys think? [link] [comments]  |
| How do I ask for a raise, and how much do I ask for? Posted: 30 Oct 2018 02:24 PM PDT So I just got a new IT job working at a K-8 school about 2 months ago. This job was only supposed to be a temporary gig, but since they like me so much they said they would like to keep me as a full time employee. Working at the K-8 school I am mainly just taking care of tickets,(fixing teacher/student computers, imaging computers, fixing printers, installing wireless access points, networking, cabling) and sometimes maintaining the servers and VMware for all the students. they started my pay at 11$ an hour and quickly bumped it up to 12$ after about a week and a half of working there. They said they were going to officially change my status from temporary to full time in the next week. So my main questions are, am I getting underpaid? Should I ask for a raise? How should I bring up a raise? How much should I ask for? I work in Phoenix Arizona. [link] [comments]  |
| Career paths out of System Administration? Posted: 30 Oct 2018 11:02 AM PDT Hello All! I have been working in System Administration for about 5 years now split between two companies. First one I was on a small infrastructure team managing a medium sized infrastructure (600-700 VMs, 6 or so datacenters) that was supporting a SaaS offering. I liked the work enough except there would be large stretches where I wasn't really doing much, and my manager and I had a weird relationship and terrible communication. I moved to an MSP from there (seems like it was sort of a demotion from my last job, where I was actually in charge of projects and the infrastructure) and I just don't care for this work at all, its repetitive and brain dead most of the time, anything interesting has to be passed up to the Sys Engineers. But really I just don't think Sys Admin stuff is for me, but it's really all I have done, before this I was doing desktop support to get through college. I don't have passion for this field, though I don't think that is really necessary to have an ok job. Some of these guys are just so passionate for infrastructure so that makes me feel a little more like an imposter. Also I find the field to be very stressful, in that a wrong click can bring an entire company down. So my dream job is way less anxiety-inducing, I just don't know what is. I'm trying not to give up on tech completely just yet, and want to use my degree for something (BS in IT), but not sure where to go from here. I have considered IT audit (then a full leap to accounting if I really just have to get out of tech) for awhile, also project management and UX design stuff. But wondering if there is something else I should be looking in to from here. Anything that my time as a sys admin would help me transition. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Oct 2018 10:58 AM PDT
I would be very thankful, until any answers im trying to figure it out. [link] [comments]  |
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