IT Career Interview canceled due to active shooter, what now? |
- Interview canceled due to active shooter, what now?
- Thanks for the help! Accepted my first full time sys admin position with the DoD today.
- Never stop looking, never settle - a story about finding a job in a rural community dominated by an MSP that embraces churn
- Interviewer asked me to prepare a training plan, any tips?
- Are you worried that you will lose interest in programming/DevOps/IT when you get older? Is it a realistic concern?
- Landed my first IT job!
- Comptia network+?
- When to leave and when to stay
- Do you think it would be worth it to switch to night shift for a promotion?
- In doubt shall I move to Luxembourg from Poland
- Changing careers from healthcare to cybersecurity and trying to build a resume
- What's the best way to answer "So why are you looking to leave your current company?"
- Is March the month when employers start hiring college grads?
- Looking for a management position. Tips?
- Why do IT degree curriculums have programming in it?
- MCSA/MCSE certs are retiring (confirmed by MS)
- Bachelors in Computer & Information Technology - What's next?
- What do you guys recommend?
- Just got an email from a recruiter for a dream job - any advice?
- Which option is better for getting into IT?
- Anybody here hate Agile? or Love it?
- Resume Check Please! Seeking Entry IT/ Help Desk Position
- How is it that so many people can get their IT certs in seemingly such a short amount of time?
- Any experience with professional resume writers? Is it worth it?
| Interview canceled due to active shooter, what now? Posted: 26 Feb 2020 01:32 PM PST I had an interview at 3, I was quite early around 2:30 so I was in my car and got waived to leave by police. I called my contact to let him know I wasn't able to get it in. He informed me about the active shooter. Several are dead, do I send a condolence email. What the fuck do I do this shit is so not normal. Edit: not fun to have a phone call with your parents saying you're not dead, distraught right now. Edit2: I love dark humor so you all are awesome. I've calmed down now and basically I will not be continuing the interviewing process with this company most likely. I have a decent enough job for now and will keep trying to improve myself there. [link] [comments]  |
| Thanks for the help! Accepted my first full time sys admin position with the DoD today. Posted: 27 Feb 2020 05:02 AM PST I'm a heavy lurker and not much of a poster, but this sub provides a lot of valuable information for prospective employees looking for some real info into the IT world. For those wondering, my career progression has looked like this: Customer service --> CompTIA certs --> desktop support / imaging tech --> sys admin today. All of this in the span of two years. Good luck to all others looking to get into the field! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2020 08:05 PM PST I started in IT a little over 3 years ago - late by most standards (early-30s) - first as just the 'local computer guy' for people in my social circle and their connections, and eventually went back to school to finish a bachelor's in IT. All through my last semester I put out feelers and sent out resumes and got nothing. After graduation I got by with 2-4 week contract positions and other side gigs, until I finally got a reply and an interview invitation around January of 2018. I should note here that where I live in the rural Midwest, you have a town of about 50,000 people, some small outlying farm communities of 500-1000 - and then nothing for about 90 minutes in any direction until you hit an interstate on-ramp. My wife moved us to the area years ago when she was transferred by the state board of education to teach and oversee juveniles with criminal records that are adjusting to life outside confinement, and moving out of the area is a non-starter since her parents moved to the area after becoming empty nesters to live near their grandkids. As you can imagine, opportunities are fairly slim here. The interview went amazingly, and they talked endlessly about my 'potential' and 'growth' and that they expected to send me an offer the next day. And they did. At $13 an hour. My first reaction was wondering why a college graduate with a bucket of certs was apparently worth the same as what Target is offering cashiers in town. My second reaction was that I needed to get my foot in the door and make some amount of money, and that maybe things would get better with time. I accepted the offer. The IT team was about 15 people, mostly staffed with tier 1 and lower folks with 2 tier 2s, a tier 3, a 'migration specialist' who was essentially a sub-manager and a sysadmin. The person I was assigned to shadow was fired less than a week after I started. Two more of the T1 techs quit in my first month. People were hired on as runners or front desk phone reception, worked to exhaustion, and either quit or were fired at their 90 days. I fully expected to be treated the same and updated my resume. At my 90 days, instead of being fired, they offered a raise to $16 an hour with grandiose promises. "Keep it up, kid, you could be making 75 grand next year." I took it. I probably shouldn't have. Moving to a tier 2 position meant that I would need to be on the on-call rotation. 2 weeks out of every 6, 6 hours of on-call standby every weekday, the whole day and night on weekends. For no standby pay, no stipend, and overtime paid down to the minute of billable. And our MSP clients had "24/7 support" baked into their contracts, so on-call was always busy. We weren't given company phones. We were supposed to call using a softphone app that never worked. So a lot of clients ended up getting our personal cell numbers. There was one company van, and it was terrible. But you had to drive it if it was available, or else the company refused to reimburse mileage. And we serviced clients far outside our geographical area, so 4-5 hour one-way drives on mostly two lane rural highways weren't uncommon. I was tasked with driving 4 hours in a snowstorm to a large metro area where a law firm was opening a new office with a network closet full of equipment, signed off on and agreed to a month in advance, only to be told once I was on site that the new office wasn't ready yet (cable hadn't even been run!) and to please come back next week. I later found out that home office knew about the cancellation an hour into my drive and neglected to forward the info to me. And they insisted on me driving back the same day. As the months rolled on, the churn became more evident. The tier 3 and one of the tier 2 techs left within a week of each other, neither giving notice. They were both very poor at documentation (and there were no standards, unless you consider storing all client passwords in plaintext in our management engine and defaulting all client accounts to local admins as 'standards') so large portions of our knowledge base disappeared with them. One of them was threatened with a lawsuit for breaching a non-compete because a client dropped us as an MSP after getting hit with ransomware and moved to internal IT, hiring away the tier 2 tech. I don't know how that turned out, but as far as I know that tech is still working there, so I feel like it was all bluster. Tier 1 techs were seen as utterly replaceable. The ops manager bragged about his 'nametag boneyard' with all the surrendered nametags and apparel. There were monthly giveaways of 'gently used' company shirts and jackets of various sizes. One tech was sent 2 hours out of his way to wipe and reload devices for a client, was told to stay until he was finished, got home after 10PM, and was promptly fired the next day for being late to his 7AM start time. All the while, ownership continued to press the sales team to add clients, promise them almost anything to get them in the door, then kick them to us and insist that we onboard them immediately. Regardless of current ticket or project load. Regardless if they were a firm with 6 satellite sites and 300+ endpoints. Regardless if we were going in blind because the MSP they moved from refused to hand over their documentation. Commissions first, techs last. Continuing education requests for certs and degrees were declined for "no business need." Company laptops were communal and sourced from stock that clients gave to us to wipe and recycle. We were encouraged to use our personal devices over company-owned when possible. I'm not an expert on compliance, but none of our work with medical clients seemed to be HIPAA compliant and I'm pretty sure the BSA would find a lot wrong with how Office and Windows licenses were used. Remote and at-home work was prohibited outside of on-call hours, despite 90%+ of our daily work being via remote session. My work-life balance began to destabilize, and I talked to a medical professional who strongly recommended I start antidepressants. A new ops manager was hired because the old one was being groomed to be the CTO due to all of the "incredible company growth." The first decision he made was to have the large stock room in the rear of the facility cleaned out (stuffing the stock into a space a third the size), moving most of the techs out of cubicles and into the new "open concept" workroom. No walls, no soundproofing or sound dampening, no real temperature control due to the doors to the dumpsters being constantly opened and closed, and next to zero privacy. Management and the sysadmin got to keep their offices. The cubicles were given to the sales team. We were told that it was done to increase collaboration. It only made phone calls with clients harder and intense work more difficult due to the constant distractions and crosstalk. We asked for headphones and were denied. Management stood in front of the whole team and promised that the situation was temporary and that within 3 months, a full renovation of the tech area would be completed. That was 7 months ago, and "Done in 3 months" turned into "We're starting in 30 days, I promise" to "Yeah, we got overridden by the higher ups, what can ya do." To say morale plummeted among the techs is underselling it. And then they added 2 more techs to the room, cramping the space further. Through all of this, my 2 year anniversary was closing in and I requested a meeting with my ops manager. We went over my year, he had nothing but effusive praise for my work, my ticket clear rates, my billable time, and all the other fancy metrics that MSPs love. After what felt like an hour long love fest, he told me I'd qualified for a raise. To $44,500 salaried. With the condition that I would be expected to work a minimum of 45 hours a week. He framed it as "Effectively a $2 an hour raise" while trying to avoid answering me in regards to how often I'd be asked to work more than 45 hours. Then I asked him about the $75,000 amount he mentioned the year before. "That was if you had moved from the tech side to sales." I asked him what he could offer if I stayed hourly. Maybe a dollar an hour, but he'd need to get ownership approval. I thanked him and went back to work. I reached out to some of my former colleagues on LinkedIn who had moved to a few of the smaller MSPs in the area. They all said the situations were similar, just on lesser scales. It seemed like for most IT professionals in town, you just danced from XTech to Y Systems to Z Service and Sales to D Networking to N Technology to QNet and back again. They all paid about the same, they all treated you about the same, and you were just cogs in the machine. Recruiters would occasionally call or email, but mostly for temp-to-hire positions for the same MSPs. There were whispers that the call screeners and tier 1 tech positions at the company were going to be farmed out to outsourced labor. In the end, I resigned myself to the salaried position and began considering if a MBA could open more doors outside of tech. Thankfully, I never stopped updating my Indeed and LinkedIn. About a week after I accepted the salaried position, a recruiter for a major food and beverage plant in the city messaged me to see if I was in the market. I said I could be, and let them know what I felt I was worth in the market. (I won't give hard numbers on the new position, but 'substantially more' should suffice.) They called me the next day to set up a phone screen, then an in-person interview, then a second in-person interview where they flew in the CTO from their headquarters to interview me personally. He told me the position was 40 hours, no overtime, no on-call. Flexible hours if needed. Remote and at-home work allowed and encouraged. The IT team on site was small, but we'd have support from the IT teams at all of their plants and sites working together. It was the friendliest interview I'd ever had. I had an offer sheet emailed to me within 6 hours of that meeting, at the above referenced 'substantially more' rate. I asked their HR team if they needed me immediately, or if I could give 2 weeks notice. They insisted I do so. The next day, after lunch, I requested a meeting with management and told them I was giving my formal notice and would be leaving in 2 weeks. "Thank you. Good luck." That was it. I thanked them and went back to my desk. Less than a minute later, my PC was remotely rebooted and I was locked out of all systems. Within five minutes, security came into the room and told me I had 10 minutes to box up my personal belongings, turn in all company property, and would be walked out to my car. When we got to my car, they asked to search my vehicle to see if I had any supplies that were company owned, and that if I refused, anything they deemed missing or lost would be taken out of my final check. I agreed and handed them a 5-port switch and a few loose cables that were left over from various on-site calls. The manager came out to the lot - I assumed to say goodbye - only to have him hand me the a copy of the handbook that mentions the non-compete clause and to remind me that if I was leaving to work for one of their clients that this was my notice that legal action would be taken against me. I assured him that my new employer was not a MSP client, got in my car, and left. I pulled into a gas station and called my new employer to let them know what happened, and they asked me if I was available to come by the office that afternoon. Clearly, I was. I signed all the paperwork that afternoon and went to meet the team. Shook hands. Here's your company phone - shut it off when you clock out. Here's your company laptop, here's your office. Let us know what furniture and supplies you want and we'll order them tonight. For the first time in my IT career, I felt valued and appreciated. I officially started with them a week ago and I've felt nearly all of my stress and anxiety melt away. I've lost weight because I don't stress eat anymore. I have more time with my kids and my wife since I'm not expected to block out 10-11 hours a day for my job - and because I'm not constantly checking my phone for on-call tickets, that time is better spent. This has been a massive post, but the tl;dr is this - don't undervalue yourself. Know your worth. There are employers that will try to wear you down and put immense burdens on you because they feel like you don't have any other choice, especially in smaller markets. If it's realistic to move, do it! But if it isn't, please, please don't give up on yourself. Don't settle. And don't expect an ounce of loyalty from those you move on from. But do keep in touch with your fellow techs if you can. All of my former colleagues have sent me well-wishes and update texts - and at least two of them are now looking for an escape hatch. I hope they do. [link] [comments]  |
| Interviewer asked me to prepare a training plan, any tips? Posted: 27 Feb 2020 07:26 AM PST I'm in the running for a position I'm very excited about. They seemed to like me during the interview, but they mentioned they're looking for someone with experience supporting Sharepoint, which I don't have much of. I received an email asking me to put together a training plan to learn about Sharepoint if I get the job, including a timeline and estimated costs. For the people who have done stuff like this before, do you have any tips or recommended resources? I'm really excited about the opportunity to specialize in something, but I thought I'd seek some pointers before I get started. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 27 Feb 2020 10:33 AM PST Are you worried that you will lose interest in programming/DevOps/IT when you get older? Is it a realistic concern? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2020 02:18 PM PST Took me around 9 months of searching/interviews but I found a company that was expanding from my closest major city to my local city. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 27 Feb 2020 10:14 AM PST I'm currently in a desktop support position with +8 years IT-experience trying to move to a more specialized cloud administrator position. Have AWS Solutions Architect Associate, az-900 and ms-900 but feel like something foundational is missing on my resume. Comptia a+ seems too basic and hardware based, MCSA is too long and retiring btw. Maybe network+ or cloud+? What could prove that I know my stuff? [link] [comments]  |
| When to leave and when to stay Posted: 27 Feb 2020 09:26 AM PST Hey all, I'm looking for advice or insight on something. I've been a one man shop at a family owned business of about 75 users at 4 locations and about 120ish devices for the last 5 years. In that time I've gotten married, put a mortgage on a house, and had a daughter who I'm enamored with. I'm very fortunate. Lately I've just felt this creeping doubt that I need to move onto something bigger. I've even had interviews at places, most recently and MSP, that is willing to pay me about $10,000 more a year. My trepidation comes from my current job, however, because of the freedoms and comfort it provides. I've worked MSPs and have had 0 positive experience. The owner who I spoke with was very intelligent and well spoken but I'm trying to remain skeptical and not jump to the first new thing. Especially considering that MSP work has not been beneficial to me in the past. How do you know when it's time to move on? I'm happy, but I just feel like maybe I'm supposed to keep moving up? I always worry about no longer being marketable but I set yearly goals and use certs to kind of template my learning. For example, in 2018 I completed CCNA and this year I'm working on my OSCP because I find it interesting. My current works pays for all of the learning material too. Is there anyone who feels similar or has any insight? Am I being silly and not realizing how good I have it? [link] [comments]  |
| Do you think it would be worth it to switch to night shift for a promotion? Posted: 27 Feb 2020 09:23 AM PST I work in networking in a NOC environment. I recently got offered a promotion to a team lead, but the position is overnight. It's a fairly significant raise and a change in job duties: I would no longer be working tickets myself, but delegating and assisting other techs, which I would prefer. I've never worked overnights before so I have no idea how I'd react to it. In my early twenties I managed a gas station and worked a 4:30 am - noon shift and I loved that honestly, but that's the closest I've gotten. Some background about me: I'm married and have small kids (9, 4, and 1). Good thing is my wife can switch to work the opposite days I do, so she can watch the kids while I sleep. So, people who have worked nights (especially in networking): how bad is it? Is it worth a promotion and raise? Can you make it work with a family? Any tips on how to make it healthier if I do take it? [link] [comments]  |
| In doubt shall I move to Luxembourg from Poland Posted: 27 Feb 2020 09:19 AM PST Guys, at current company I offered my resignation, they are asking me if I can stay and trying to find more interesting positions for me, because current one is very boring. At the same time I have job offer in hand from Luxembourg. What is keeping me on doubt is relocation (due to not so many flats available and very expensive) and job itself I am not sure. Its a combination between networking and SOC while on current company they are saying you can have Cloud path chance. What would you recommend in this case? Thank you community! [link] [comments]  |
| Changing careers from healthcare to cybersecurity and trying to build a resume Posted: 27 Feb 2020 08:58 AM PST So I'm looking for an entry level position to get into infosec and as my title says I'm transitioning (at 40) from 20 years in the healthcare field. As in patient care, not IT or anything related to the infosec sector. My degree is a BS in the STEM category and I'm studying for comptia sec+ and oscp to hopefully take this summer. I have been practicing as a hobby for about the last 5 years following codecademy, udemy,YouTube, hackthebox, overthewire, etc. Now I'm looking to start building a resume and hopefully actually send it to potential employers around end of summer. Any advice is greatly appreciated and also any feedback from others that have made this career transition. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| What's the best way to answer "So why are you looking to leave your current company?" Posted: 27 Feb 2020 08:23 AM PST Context: I currently work for an MSP as a "Sys Admin/T2/T3" guy. Per usual MSP stereotype, the workload is crazy and I'm starting to plateau in what I'm learning. I've always given the answer "I'm looking to expand my knowledge and further my understanding of technologies etc..." however I've had some interviewers try to get me to talk more about why I want to leave. How bad is it to say that I want to step away from the crazy anxiety-inducing never-ending workload? Or say that my company culture is actually just pretty toxic in general? edit: spelling [link] [comments]  |
| Is March the month when employers start hiring college grads? Posted: 27 Feb 2020 08:15 AM PST I've been applying since the beginning of my senior year (graduating May 2020), had a real phone interview with a place in October, which I get rejected from, probably due to being too early. I was supposed to have a phone interview in January, but when it started, I was told by the interviewer it was too early. I also started to ignore those numerous recruiter phone calls I get every day, because they only hire immediately and my resume would go in a blackhole. Then I had a interview with USAA jobs, which actually was hiring college grads, but got rejected (so don't count that as being too early). Is March a better month for employers to hire college grads? The concept of January and February being the hot months is such a myth. Also, I am trying to relocate from NJ to the West. [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for a management position. Tips? Posted: 27 Feb 2020 08:14 AM PST The title is semi self explanatory. I have been working in IT since I was 18 (i'm now 23.) and I think it's time for me to start looking for a management job. I have work in a HD environment and now work as a desktop support/jr sysadmin for a fortune 500 company. Any tips or ideas on how to get my foot in the door? [link] [comments]  |
| Why do IT degree curriculums have programming in it? Posted: 27 Feb 2020 08:12 AM PST If most employers would hire a programmer who is a CS graduate than an IT graduate. But why do schools still insist putting programming units in the coursework? [link] [comments]  |
| MCSA/MCSE certs are retiring (confirmed by MS) Posted: 27 Feb 2020 08:03 AM PST |
| Bachelors in Computer & Information Technology - What's next? Posted: 27 Feb 2020 07:42 AM PST Hi everyone, In the summer of 2017 I graduated with my Bachelor's in CNIT. A few months after graduation I started working as an IT & Data Quality Manager for a non profit in a small city (~30k pop). They started me off part time hourly making okay money, but within a year they had moved me to full time and then salary making about 40k a year. At the time it was a really nice pay increase (something around 20%). I'm looking to move up now. I can't do so in my current company of 2.5 years (I was hired in at the highest and only position for IT). However, whenever I look for job postings, everything is requiring really advanced experience. At my current job I've gained some hands-on work experience with Office 365 and Active Directory, local domains, etc. However, its pretty basic knowledge (adding users, adjusting permissions, things like that). I have a fairly broad interest in technology, but I've come to realize that this degree feels more like a glorified IT Tech Support degree, it offers some advantage but doesn't seem to really give you that much of a better job choice. I have two questions mostly: What is my degree worth? What sort of job should I expect to be qualified for? What do I focus on next? I want to continue to learn and be more valuable. Certifications seem like the most obvious next step, but they're expensive. What should I work on first? Although I don't mind the occasional website updating and basic designing, I am not the biggest fan of helping people with basic IT equipment issues. I have a passion for coding but limited exposure to languages. In school we learned basic things like Visual Basic, Java, Javascript, maybe some c++. Nothing crazy. I'm also a fan of security / penetration testing. Some sort of security analyst or auditor. However, school very briefly brushed over these topics in general. I have a pretty logical thinking process so coding is fairly easy for me once I know the language. Really just looking for some advice on what to move towards next, and what sort of jobs I should be looking for to continue learning. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 27 Feb 2020 07:42 AM PST I've chosen Computer Science as my major, but I'd also like to learn cybersecurity. The difference is that I can graduate Highschool with an associate's on Computer science, but I can only get a certificate in Cybersecurity. Computer science can cover a lot of things while cybersecurity primarily focuses on one. I've also seen open jobs for cybersecurity rise over the years. What do you guys recommend for me? What's the best choice for the future? [link] [comments]  |
| Just got an email from a recruiter for a dream job - any advice? Posted: 27 Feb 2020 07:34 AM PST So some background - I have only been working in IT for 2 years (F,23), however, I moved up the ranks fairly quickly and came in through an apprenticeship so I have qualifications behind me. I get emails fairly often from recruiters (mainly on Linkedin) about help desk jobs (what I do), but most of the time they are low paying and under the level, I am used to, so I normally ignore them. I am also quite happy with my current job. Today however I received an email from a recruiter for a job I have always wanted to do - working in a school, managing IT systems and providing training. I originally wanted to go into teaching but chose the IT path, and so this would be the best of both worlds for me. To top it all off, its 20k more than what I am on now. I fit the description really well, I have experience in schools and managing a team, and I feel like a good fit, however, I really don't want to blow this. I know I am young and have a lot to learn, but I also have a lot to give and I am a fresh mind to the industry. I emailed back straight away and I am waiting on a reply but I don't want to hold my breath or get too excited, but I really want to give this the best I can If anyone has any advice it would be very much appreciated Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Which option is better for getting into IT? Posted: 27 Feb 2020 06:51 AM PST Hi everyone. I am 20 years old and looking to get into IT but I'm at a bit of a cross roads. I'm trying to make a decision between going to a local four year university for a Bachelors in IT or getting my CompTIA trifecta, getting an entry level job, and getting my degree through WGU while working. I'm leaning toward the latter but I know WGU is recommended more for people mid-career. What would you all do in my shoes? [link] [comments]  |
| Anybody here hate Agile? or Love it? Posted: 27 Feb 2020 05:49 AM PST High visibility like hovering over your shoulder, and a cog in the machine people have described it to me as. The opposite of being trusted and having independence. Is this right? Can it be avoided in an IT career? [link] [comments]  |
| Resume Check Please! Seeking Entry IT/ Help Desk Position Posted: 26 Feb 2020 06:35 PM PST Iv'e been applying to positions for a while and haven't heard much back. A couple places called me and did not follow up on correspondence. Check out my resume and give me some advice please! The resume is based off a very popular post here on r/jobs that also recommends an interests section so I figured what the hell. Thanks! Resume: https://imgur.com/OKsAdY1 [link] [comments]  |
| How is it that so many people can get their IT certs in seemingly such a short amount of time? Posted: 26 Feb 2020 12:42 PM PST I was recently on the r/CompTIA subreddit and noticed people giving study advice and such. But I saw a lot of posts saying stuff like "It only took me six weeks to get my Net+ cert. I used three different resources and worked full-time", and "I studied for probably a month and passed first try". Like, what?! Is this what I should be aiming for? Serious question. Edit: As a follow-up, I'm currently thinking of pursuing my Network+ cert. I know that there is a plethora of resources out there, but I need to basically start at the beginning and assume I know only the basics of how networks work. What book or video course (or plural) can do this for me? Any help would be greatly appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Any experience with professional resume writers? Is it worth it? Posted: 26 Feb 2020 01:05 PM PST I've recently completed my CompTIA A+ and I will be looking to get started in a help desk/tier 1 support type role, but before I start applying I need to get my resume in order. Well I'm not really sure how to go about doing that because all of my prior experience applies to the insurance and financial industry, and the experience I do have doing tier 1 support type stuff, I have been doing at an insurance agency and its not really in my official job duties etc. since I'm really in sales. So I've been thinking that hiring someone with experience to write my resume and highlight the IT experience and skills I have might be a good idea. I was wondering if anybody else has done this and if they thought it was worth it/what has their experience been with it? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
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