IT Career Should I get a CCNA if I want to work with AWS or Azure? |
- Should I get a CCNA if I want to work with AWS or Azure?
- Anyone here work a non-technical IT position?
- Next steps in InfoSec
- Contracts and at will employment
- Not sure where I want to go after Desktop Support Tech, tips/help?
- When should I start applying for jobs?
- Thinking about going for my Bachelor's & Master's
- 32 years old, looking to go to school. Is it too late?
- To CCNP or not to CCNP?
- Recruiters
- Tips and advice for making Security a career, not just a means to an end?
- Fresh Non-CS Grad gets Job in SOC, how do I best spend the next year ensuring my future in the industry?
- Cybersecurity A.S.
- Creating a CV
- Computer Forensics Degree (DeVry Online)
- Not very good at my job, don't know what to do....
- I'd like to hear from people who bounce around to a lot of different jobs (w-2 contract/staffing companies)
- How much downtime do you have at work?
- IT JOB
- Network Engineering Fundamentals
- Is my friendship with boss toxic?
- Sophomore MIS major looking for summer 2019 internship
- How much should pay be as a lowly shop tech?
| Should I get a CCNA if I want to work with AWS or Azure? Posted: 02 May 2019 07:28 AM PDT Hello! I am hoping to work in IT within the next few months. Because of finances I can't get a degree but I can work on training and a couple certifications. Because of my interest in cloud technologies, I want to do the AWS associate or Microsoft Azure certifications. I don't have A+, so I couldn't tell you how many pins are on a certain cable, but I've built several computers and am often times everyone's go to person for software or hardware help. So I was thinking about avoiding doing A+. What I was curious about, would there be any benefit for me to get my CCENT and CCNA before doing AWS or Azure? Or is it a bad decision to even try to go that route without a few years worth of IT experience working the help desk? Help desk positions here only pay 12-13 an hour which wouldn't be enough to rent a mobile home. Also, I just wanted to add that I have decent Python and JavaScript education and experience. [link] [comments]  |
| Anyone here work a non-technical IT position? Posted: 01 May 2019 09:33 PM PDT What do you do and what's it like? How did you get there? Do you like it? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 May 2019 08:43 AM PDT Just for some background, I am 27 and I've been actively working in Information Security for 5 years now. Before that I was in school for Computer Science, but it wasn't something I had thought of or was even aware of until College. I wasn't some prodigy kid who has been programming since he was 12 and all that. At the moment I've got a fairly diverse background, I've done a bit of Vulnerability Management, Incident Response, Networking, System Administration, Application Security, some basic scripting and Software Development, as well as some exposure as a Manager. The issue I'm having now is that since I've worked in positions where I am a generalist and I don't necessarily have a ton of background in any of these areas I've been feeling like I'm fairly incompetent in all of them. I study often outside of work, and I really do enjoy this type of work. I like the attacker side of things more than the defender side, and I am really fascinated by any of the advanced areas in Application Security or the low-level binary exploitation type of stuff. I feel a bit stuck at the moment and feel like I have to move into management because even though I have 5 years of experience I don't feel as if I'm anywhere near as technical as I should be. I am able to study on my own and figure things out, but I can't do a lot of tasks without doing additional research. I don't mind going into management at some point, but I would like to do a bit more technical work before that, but I feel that as I gain more experience it's just going to make my knowledge gaps more painfully obvious. Basically I don't know if I should try to dive really deep into one area (somehow, not sure other than outside work), if I should continue on this generalist route and just gradually build my skills in these different areas, or if I should stop focusing on my technical abilities and work on more of my soft skills and moving up the Management side of things. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide with this, I really appreciate anything I can get. [link] [comments]  |
| Contracts and at will employment Posted: 02 May 2019 07:01 AM PDT So I've been working at a company in Maryland (I live in VA if that matters) for a few months as a system administrator/security as a contractor for one of the IT contractor (like GDIT etc) in the area. I received a phone call from my manager on the company side that I had put in my resignation yesterday. Now I never put in my resignation to my company as I was already driving to the office when my manager at the company called. I called the manager for my contract and she said that my performance was excellen but instead it was a "contractual issues". From what I read, MD is at will but I was wondering if I had a any recourse here? Update: The manager just called and asked if I could take a pay cut...seems to be money related. [link] [comments]  |
| Not sure where I want to go after Desktop Support Tech, tips/help? Posted: 02 May 2019 06:54 AM PDT So I'm 25, got a degree in film. (useless haha i get it) I've always had a natural talent when it comes to IT so after not finding a job in film, I worked in IT. To get the foot in the door, I worked at Geek Squad in Best Buy for 1.5 years and jumped ship after I got an A+. I was making $14/hr there. Talked to recruiters like TEksystems and Robert Half, and I'm currently working full time almost a year in a small company that oversee I would say about 100 Windows Devices, and 80ish iPhones. My official job title there is Desktop Support Technician, making 24ish/hr ($50,000 salary). I'm enjoying my job now, but I want to grow and earn more money. The company IT department consist of just me and my manager. We recently got business phone upgrades and I offered to help by researching MDMs and we are now actually pushing out iPhones with DEP. My manager said at one point the job I do is more junior system admin than desktop support tech since I help out in creating users in active directory, create new users in exchange servers, and helped install a new host at a remote branch. My goal is to make $120,000 salary at one point in life, but I want to know if I'm at a right track. I'm studying for Net+ then going for a CCNA. I have a homelab setup with ESXi. But I feel lost as to where to start. People are saying powershell and python is something that is most likely required so do I learn that too? My current company has a good tuition reimbursement policy, so are there good online courses for maybe a BA in something in the IT field that can bolster my future? Appreciate any advise, thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| When should I start applying for jobs? Posted: 02 May 2019 07:43 AM PDT Here's some of the back story. I'm 26, currently work at a medium-sized IT company in Chicago for a little over 4 years now. I worked for two years in the help desk and going on 3 years as a field technician. We host our own cloud environment, host email, and also support in house environments as well. Graduated from college with a degree in Psychology and Philosophy but was offered an IT job and decided to give it a shot. I don't have any certs at the moment, but from what I've been reading it shouldn't hold me back too much. My girlfriend recently got accepted to grad school in the Portland Oregon area and we will be moving out there end of July- early August. I was hoping to work remotely for my current company so I didn't have to adjust to a new place and a new job at the same time but if no one at the help desk is willing to switch positions with me then it won't be possible. I've taken a look at the job market in Portland and it appears to be a good job market out there which is good. Found a few jr. sysadmin jobs where their descriptions entail a lot of what I'm currently doing at my job with pay starting at a little above what I'm being paid now which is great. I'm not entirely sure about what roles I should be applying for as I don't want to limit myself. So what positions should I be looking for? I know you guys can't just say "oh you should try doing this" so it might be easier to explain what different positions do. My other question is when should I start to apply for jobs? With a move in date of August 1st, I'm not sure if I should be sending out applications until I'm at a point where if I get a job offer I'm ready to move out there in the next two weeks. I don't know if employers will be willing to hire me and then wait that long until I'm able to work I want to thank everyone in advance for their time in responding and their advice. I find this subreddit to be very supportive and I appreciate all of you! [link] [comments]  |
| Thinking about going for my Bachelor's & Master's Posted: 02 May 2019 09:16 AM PDT I have been in the IT field for a little over 6 years or so. I have a few certs at the moment and I know I can do pretty well with keeping up with certs and studying for more of them. But I have been getting the urge to back to school. I do have an Associates Degree already. Maybe I am hitting mid-life crisis already? Hahaha. I originally planned to get a Bachelor/Master's when I got out of High School, which is now a long time ago. I guess I am feeling down on myself for not completing my time when I was younger. Can anybody else relate? I'm babbling on and straying away from topic here a bit. Apologies. Ummmm so looking at programs online I am looking to take advantage of those transfer/fast track programs. Meaning going to a University that works with the local college I went to. From what I understand I'll start as a 3rd year, albeit for specific Majors in my field. To be even more specific there are only two programs for the transfer process. One falls under the School of Business Administration and the other is School of Information Studies. The program guide for the Information Studies program looks to have things like database administration, security, software/hardware implementation, and web/app development. The Business program shows looks to focus more on project management and systems development. I know every school will have a different curriculum but for those with advanced degrees, what would be the pros and cons between the two or what insight would you be willing to provide about going back to school? [link] [comments]  |
| 32 years old, looking to go to school. Is it too late? Posted: 01 May 2019 10:25 AM PDT I'm 32. Spent the past 11 years in a dead end retail job and I'm ready to get my damn life on track. Looking to get my degree. I'm tempted to go for associates just because it'd be so much faster, but a lot of advice I've seen says it's really not very useful for getting a job. If I start a bachelor's now I'll be 36 by the time I'm done. Being honest, will employers be willing to seriously consider me for entry-level jobs at that age? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 May 2019 07:48 AM PDT I've been working in IT for about 4 years thus far. When I started out, I wanted to be a network engineer and work with Cisco. But as fate would have it, I ended up in jobs that involved security (dashboard monitoring, assisting in pentests, etc), linux administration, and some networking (but with Juniper, Fortigate, etc, never Cisco). Even though networking and Cisco was my goal, I just seem to land in everything but. And I'm not dumb enough to turn down a job just because it wasn't what I had in mind. Fast forward to today, I'm working with a large company on nbfw (network-based firewall). I mostly do spreadsheets, some assisting in project management, but no actual touching of equipment. This job is a contract, so it could end anytime. That said, I wanted to keep myself current so I started working on my CCNP R&S because that was always my initial goal, and because I have no idea what other cert I'd work on. I've got 5 entry level certs and I thought it would be nice to have at least one mid-level cert at this point. But as I look at my scattered history and no real hands-on experience with Cisco gear, I have to wonder if it makes sense. So what should I do? Do the CCNP anyways? Just forget about certs for a while and play more online games? And just to be clear, I don't really have a niche of IT that stands out on my resume. I've kind of done a little of everything, so it's not like there's some special focus that would make sense to pursue. I feel kind of lost in the woods here. Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 May 2019 10:41 AM PDT So far all of my recruiters are Indians. Is this how the field is like? [link] [comments]  |
| Tips and advice for making Security a career, not just a means to an end? Posted: 02 May 2019 10:24 AM PDT Apologies for the long post, I'll try and keep it short as possible. 34, currently in biotech, recently acquired CompTIA Security+ certification. I'm not trying to switch into this field just for the $$$, I genuinely am interested in it and love learning. I wouldn't have spent the time and money to study and take the exam if I wasn't. If I really cared just about $$$, I would stay in my current field or do something with my MBA. I've seen a few threads regarding new entrants into this field lacking basic knowledge. I don't want to be one of those. I fully understand and recognize that my 1 certification does not make me an expert/guru. I'm a babe in the woods. I want to be a positive contribution to others that I work with and the field (I know it's an overly broad term). So how best should I go about doing that? I'm currently looking at and applying for entry level positions (e.g., Junior Security Engineer, InfoSec Specialist, etc.) so I can work on getting hands on, real-world experience. Ideally it would be a smaller shop where I can wear different hats, be exposed to different areas, not be pigeonholed right from the start. I'm sure eventually I'd have to specialize, but not right from the beginning, if possible. I'd like to continue learning, by getting Blue/Red knowledge (CySA+/Pentest), but also have an eye to getting Network+ to work on fundamentals. I started with CompTIA based off a suggestion from the Director of IS at my current company, and I haven't had a bad experience with it so I figure why not continue with it. Eventually, far down the road, I'm looking at CASP/CISSP. Should I look at learning Python? Is there a way to learn Splunk outside of hands on experience? Build a home lab and learn there? Should I be looking at sys/net admin positions and work up from there? What would you suggest to someone who is totally open to guidance, to advice? What else can/should I do not only make myself a truly (not on paper) better candidate but contributor to the field? And yes, I understand how earnest this post may sound, but it's truthfully how I am, and how I want to approach this so... yeah, it is what it is. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 May 2019 10:21 AM PDT Hey all, Bit about me. I'm 28, American. Due to a mix of undiagnosed mental health issues and financial problems I had a rough journey in Undergrad. Initially studied Nursing before becoming disillusioned with it and leaving school. I was always smart enough to do well in classes but my heart wasn't in the actual job. Anyway, I ended up getting better in the past two years. I went back to school and got my Bachelor's in English. My financial aid was about to run out and English was the only degree I could get in time. I ended up taking 32 credits over two semesters, while working full-time mind you, and graduated with a 3.9GPA as of last week. While I believe the course load I took was impressive and I learned a lot and did great work there, I understand the English degree is not respected amongst STEM types or HR professionals. Conversely, I had a connection and got hired into a SOC as a Helpdesk Engineer; moving up to a SOC Analyst within a month or two as they really need help. They will teach me, but there is some expectation that I will be a self-learner as well. I start this job soon, and am wondering, if I want to stay in this field, how can I best make up for a non-CS degree? I know in this job it already cost me money in my salary, and I'm not really content to take that hit for the rest of my life. I'm a very ambitious person who loves to learn. I've been passionate about computers all my life and am excited for the chance to learn further about them. I'm stuck in between two options on how to self develop myself in between work and would like advice on which is better. Focusing solely on certs and practical CS knowledge, potentially with the endgame goal of an OSCP first, or spending the next year making myself a decent candidate for the OMSCS; that is, focusing more on getting caught up on Math and getting comfortable with programming languages. Can there potentially be some overlap between the two? I will go ahead and say that getting a graduate degree is a personal life ambition of mine, so there is some non-practical part of my brain artificially leaning toward that option. Looking for any advice or perspective on this. I'm eager to get started but do not have very much of a mentor in this field. Thanks to anyone who takes time to read or respond! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 May 2019 10:08 AM PDT I'm currently pursuing an A.S. degree in cybersecurity. I currently have one class left, which I will complete by Summer's end. To gain an entry level position in IT, say help desk, should I pursue entry level career opportunities, consider obtaining certs, or pursue a B.S.? I'm at a loss on how to proceed. If necessary, I can get a list for the curriculum I adhered to. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 May 2019 09:58 AM PDT Just about to graduate with a degree in Computer networking.I have listed Server management under skills should i list that i did DNS,DHCP,Active directory or will they know this. [link] [comments]  |
| Computer Forensics Degree (DeVry Online) Posted: 02 May 2019 09:58 AM PDT So I went to cc, got a arts & science degree to transfer. Left the college I was going to for a career, which didn't work out. Go figure. Went to tech school and got a certificate as a computer tech network spc. Kinda felt the program was bs but hey they hooked me up with a job fixing commercial printers with decent pay and benefits. Anyhow, said company works with schools for reduced tuition. Being a vet I used most of my benefits but wanna go back and finish my bachelor's and move my way into an actual IT related role. I know reviews are mixed on DeVry. They're regionally accredited and I'm not sure what that means in the real world of hiring. I am also a big supporter of the fact it's a piece of paper and work ethic and experience are much more important. But hiring managers may see it differently. My question to you all, will getting an online degree from DeVry look bad in some way, and not get me hired should I pursue it? Any of you guys have experience with DeVry care to share? Thank you guys for your time. TL;DR: want to get a degree in computer forensics will DeVry cut it when I want to pursue job openings in that specialty? [link] [comments]  |
| Not very good at my job, don't know what to do.... Posted: 02 May 2019 08:36 AM PDT So to give a little background on myself. Graduated a year ago with my BS in IT. Throughout college I decided I didn't want to go the classic IT route so I landed several internships in data analysis and business analysis. From there I worked as a Business Analyst with a company for 2 years. Throughout those 2 years I did very well and made the jump to my dream job at a new company as a Product Manager. Been here for 4 months and I've come to realize.... 1) I suck at this and 2) I don't like this work. I struggle with leading these projects and on top of that I find the day to day to be extremely boring. I don't really know where to go from here. My projects at my old job where little baby projects but here I'm leading the charge on these much larger scope projects with a lot more heads involved. I'm struggling to be a good leader on them. I'm truly wondering if I screwed up my career path and have to backtrack to square one or if things could get better. Any advice? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 May 2019 08:34 AM PDT When I moved to my city 2 years ago, I had to join a staffing company and work some entry level gigs until I quit after two assignments for my current full time position with a completely different company. Now the work is stable and okay benefits, but the problem is, I find myself very bored. I think I miss how new everything is and meeting new people every few months. I don't ever get very close with coworkers and it's the same situation at my current job. I've been looking for other jobs mostly because I am burnt out on desktop support, but I don't have certifications to make that next leap. I hated the idea of contracting because it wasn't stable and I could get fired at any time. That said, my city has tons of IT jobs and I think coupled with my savings, I would be willing to risk it again. Now, I have been wanting to focus on saving up money and becoming more financially secure with a 6 month emergency fund. I am hoping that since contract work is more risky and most people won't want to do it or consider it, then I should hopefully be able to find the same work but with a higher pay. The other issue is, so many people are moving to my city, that I think they are in the same boat as me when I moved here and take the first job they can get above $20/hr. So that would destroy my theory if that's the case. Anyways, I would like to hear from people's experiences with contract work and bouncing around from job to job. I would like to hear how you enjoyed it, what was stressful about it, did you benefit financially, etc? [link] [comments]  |
| How much downtime do you have at work? Posted: 01 May 2019 04:07 PM PDT Started at helpdesk about 8 months ago, working for a nationwide enterprise with about 22 sites that we support remotely. It's another guy and myself at helpdesk and i frequently find that we have a ton of downtime. Like sometimes I get two calls a day and have maybe 3 or 4 tickets open, and with those im usually waiting on users to get back to me. I'll usually study for upcoming certification tests or browse reddit but I'm wondering if downtime is common for people in the industry? I know it probably happens for the tier 1 guys a lot but do tier 2 and tier 3 guys have a lot of down time? What do y'all do with your downtime if you have any? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 May 2019 05:55 AM PDT Hello, I am finishing up my high school electrotehnics and now i plan to persuade IT academy in my country, The course lasts about 1 year and gou get soo many licences and degrees. My question is should I ho to IT with my life, is it profitable ??? [link] [comments]  |
| Network Engineering Fundamentals Posted: 01 May 2019 10:33 AM PDT Calling all network engineers/similar roles, I'm interested in pursuing a career as a network engineer. I'm currently in a network support position at my university and I'll be graduating with a bachelor's in CS. I'm currently studying for the CompTIA Network+ cert, which I'm hoping to test for over the summer. First question, is Network+ a good place for me to start? Second, what fundamental topics should I be focusing on as I start my journey? Specifically things that you see daily/weekly on the job that are especially important to pay attention to. Finally, any extra advice you might have for an aspiring network engineer is welcome. Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| Is my friendship with boss toxic? Posted: 01 May 2019 06:54 PM PDT So this isn't specific to IT career advice, but I work in IT so I'm interested if anyone has ran into the same or similar situation or any advice this community might have. I think a friendship between myself and my direct supervisor may be preventing us from having a normal boss-employee relationship. To give a little back story, they haven't always been my direct supervisor. When I first started they were just another employee in my department but on another team. While working together we became friends and would occasionally hang out outside of work. Shortly after that they were promoted, a new position opened up and they encouraged me to apply so I moved onto their team. At first it was normal and didn't cause any issues. Looking back I think this might have mainly been because they were learning what it meant to be a supervisor. Fast forward to now, I feel like the environment is weird and possibly toxic. Honestly, I may be what started the problem as the environment shifted shortly after a mistake I made that became a large situation. Long story short, a few months ago I screwed up a server update. When I brought it to their attention the next morning we decided to work with a vendor to solve the issue instead of restoring a backup that morning. The backup would have caused a potential loss of a couple hours worth of work and we thought the vendor would be able to help solve the problem quickly without data loss. Once we realized they couldn't we were too deeply involved with them and are still fighting the issue today. This has been a very costly issue for the company, costing thousands of dollars in paying the vendor. As this problem grew I feel like my boss began to loss faith in me. I have been involved in fewer meetings, fewer projects, have been given fewer tasks and have barely been involved in any roadmap or decision making like I used to be. This wasn't noticeable after the event, but as the months have continued it has become largely apparent. As of now, I am receiving more directives/tasks from other departments than my own. I am an administrator for a business critical software platform with one other co-worker. Since the issue the other co-worker has been given large projects to work on, involved in various company initiatives, and given more responsibilities. I am honestly cool with that, they are a rockstar and have been a huge asset since they were hired. What sucks is that I have been given less and less in return. It is starting to feel like I am not fully part of the team anymore. The boss works closely with them only and I am being left in the dark about our roadmap along with current status of projects being worked on. I feel like the friendship I have with my supervisor has become toxic and prevented them from being my supervisor. They have stopped giving me feedback, stopped meeting for 1 on 1's, no performance reviews or comments on how I am doing as an employee and no mentions of how I can improve. Our company requires these things monthly and/or quarterly but I haven't had anything in 8 months. I think that because of the friendship they are unsure on how to address me as my supervisor and provide criticism/feedback. I really want a healthy boss-employee relationship. If I'm doing horrible the let me know how I can improve. If I'm doing good let me know that too. I've been letting this slide for awhile thinking that this might be all in my head. We are still friends and we talk frequently throughout the day so maybe I was being too hard on myself and there is no issue. But then today another co-worker from a completely different department asked me if I still admin the software platform since I appear to be hardly involved and the other admin has become highly involved in everything. Now I plan on talking to my boss, but I want some advice and to get my thoughts together first so I can have a healthy conversation without seemly like I'm jealous of the other co-worker or that I'm just complaining. TLDR; Ever since I made a mistake updating a server I have been involved in less and less with my team. I believe that a friendship with my boss has prevented them from being able to provide needed feedback and now they are unsure how to handle the situation. [link] [comments]  |
| Sophomore MIS major looking for summer 2019 internship Posted: 01 May 2019 10:23 PM PDT Where can I find internships that pay low-ish? (I'm not a competitive enough candidate for average/high intern pay) Many/most of the internships that I see on Glassdoor, indeed, google, etc pay $15+/hour. I'm very desperate at this point for something tech/business related that pays $9-11/hour. [link] [comments]  |
| How much should pay be as a lowly shop tech? Posted: 01 May 2019 08:43 PM PDT I'm currently getting min wage, and I feel like that's pretty damn low. I only work 20 hrs a week too. I'm the only in shop tech so I'm the one that does pretty much all the work on the customers' PCs. I have no certs and no GED, so getting another job in this field is definitely going to be hard, but I have been with them for 3 years now. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from IT Career Questions. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment