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    Home Unlabelled IT Career General advice from a hiring manager and 23 year industry veteran to newbies

    IT Career General advice from a hiring manager and 23 year industry veteran to newbies

    4 years ago

    IT Career General advice from a hiring manager and 23 year industry veteran to newbies

    General advice from a hiring manager and 23 year industry veteran to newbies

    Posted: 21 May 2021 03:42 PM PDT

    Here's a few things I posted in response to a question from someone who wanted to get into IT at 26 without any experience.

    • CERTS ARE NICE BUT NOT MANDATORY, unless you're trying to be an SME. I view them more as something to differentiate you from similar candidates (it tells me you're willing to commit to the time, cost, and effort of passing to enhance your career, the same thing that a bachelor's tells me on a smaller scale)
    • WORK FOR AN MSP for a couple of years; it sucks, they're a grind, but you'll be exposed to most segments of the industry, deal with environments from small to large, and get your feet under you. In my generation this was call centers, but now its MSPs. I tend to treat years of experience at a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio when they're at an MSP (e.g., if you work two years at an MSP, I consider that the same experience as working 4-6 years at a traditional corporate IT job).
    • Additionally, MSP jobs let you touch a lot of stuff, meaning you get to try doing stuff and see whether you actually like it. This is very useful - infosec sounds great, but you might actually HATE it (it's very detail oriented, reading piles of log files, and the like - I find it boring as hell).
    • GET A FRICKIN DEGREE. If you don't have an undergraduate degree (college degree), get back in school and get one. The IT industry is increasingly interested in degrees. Personally, I don't care if you have one or not when I'm hiring, but some companies won't touch you if you don't. It's VERY, VERY hard to get into management especially at the Director level or above without a degree.
    • BUILD AND USE A HOMELAB. Build one and maintain it (I still have mine and use it regularly), and make sure to bring it up during interviews. Tell me about challenges you had with it, what it taught you, etc. If I ask you about your experience with hosted web sites, and you have no professional experience there, you can say "I set up and maintain a requests website for my Plex at home, I have 45 users, and it's fully encrypted with SSL and blah blah blah)." Especially in lower level roles, it's a HUGE plus.
    • SELL YOURSELF. When you're just starting, you don't have much experience and education isn't very impactful. Sell me on your drive to learn, sell me on your intelligence, sell me on your willingness to work hard to earn your place.
    • On that same vein, ASK QUESTIONS IN THE INTERVIEW. Ask about the company, ask about the team, ask about the people on it. Do your due diligence - look me up on LinkedIn if I'm the interviewer, look up the company, be familiar with what we do and what's been happening with us. Show me you care enough about the environment you're going to be in to do the research, and I'm VASTLY more inclined to hire you.
    • APPLY ANYWAY. Even if you don't meet the requirements - most of my job reqs have to get filtered through HR and their idiocy, and people like to add buzzwords and other ridiculousness by the time they're posted. On top of that, I probably gave them a wish list of ten things and they listed all ten things as mandatory - if you can check off two or three boxes on that list, you're probably sufficiently skilled to do the role.
    • YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO KNOW EVERYTHING. I expect people to have to learn new things in every role they take, no matter what level they are. For instance, my current role uses a lot of Hyper-V (dammit I hate it) and every other shop I've ever worked in or run has used VMware for virtualization. It wasn't a barrier for hiring - I simply told the interviewing manager "My experience is in VMware, but the principles and concepts are all the same. I'll start brushing up on my Hyper-V before my start date."
    • THE TEAM FIT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING ELSE. How you interact with me and my team members is VERY important to me. I'd rather have a good fit I have to train you up a bit than deal with someone who's difficult to interact with. Remember that you spend more time with your coworkers than you do with your SPOUSE, and take jobs accordingly. Spend time chatting about hobbies and interests when interviewing, don't hesitate to outright tell them you want to make sure you're a good fit on the team (it would impress me, even at a fairly senior level, if a candidate told me that)
    • IF YOU DON'T KNOW, DON'T LIE. I'll see through your lie in half a second - when interviewing, admit your ignorance. "I'm not familiar with THIS TECH, but it sounds like OTHER TECH and I'd approach that issue this way."
    • NOT ALL MONEY IS GOOD MONEY. Some place may pay more, but they may also work you 90 hours a week on the regular and micromanage the fuck out of you. Factor work/life balance, your culture fit, growth potential, and everything else (benefits, PTO, etc) as much as you value money.
    • IF YOU STAY OUT OF MANAGEMENT, THE SKY IS THE LIMIT. You can go all the way. My brother is a pretty big deal with Dell's infosec team, and he had minimal IT experience when he got started (like less than 5 years total) and he makes more than I do now. The only reason this isn't true in management is that not having a degree will be a large challenge. $100k plus salaries are achievable within ten years of starting from scratch, if you make smart choices and work your ass off.
    • LINKEDIN IS YOUR FRIEND. Keep your LinkedIn up to date and accurate.
    • LEARN CLOUD. Your town is either an AWS town or an Azure town; figure out which and learn it. FYI, Dallas is an Azure town.
    • RESUMES LIST ACCOMPLISHMENTS NOT DUTIES. How did you benefit the company? What was the EFFECT of your change? Did you improve your team's customer satisfaction rating at the call center? Did you implement centralized logging and reduce time spent viewing log files 40%? Did you make an architecture change an improve uptime from three nines to five? Did you save the company money? Your title tells me what you did. I want to know what you *accomplished*.
    • SOFT SKILLS ARE HUGE. People with technical skills are a dime a dozen, but tech people with PEOPLE skills are surprisingly rare.
    • DRESS FOR THE JOB YOU WANT NOT THE JOB YOU HAVE. Self-explanatory, and remember that more 'important' doesn't necessarily mean more formal. It doesn't. Pay attention to how your leaders and peers dress and dress appropriately.

    I'm sure there's more, but this is what I thought up.

    submitted by /u/Team503
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    When you got your bachelors in IT how hard was it to even find a job? Is it worth getting associates and bachelors

    Posted: 22 May 2021 09:21 AM PDT

    I'm lost and haven't decided what I wanna do. But if I go for it, is job search hard as hell?

    submitted by /u/East_Address8660
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    "Flexible work hours" offered at my new job... Is this a trap?

    Posted: 22 May 2021 08:59 AM PDT

    I just got a job offer from an IT company for a Customer Success Manager position, and something that doesn't bode well for me is the "flexible" work hours. I know they are trying to present this as a positive idea, but I can't help but think that this is just a way to say that you should always be available anytime. I was told that I can get calls or meetings at 7:30am or at 9:00pm, depending on what the client needs or what their time zone is (we have clients in the US, Australia, Europe). For context, I will be the first (and only) person to hold this position in the company, and that makes me feel like a lot of boundaries are not set for this job. I also just found out about this flexible work arrangement after my final interview with the CEO.

    I worked in the Hospitality industry for 10 years and this job/industry is really something new to me. I'm really planning on taking the offer and see how it pans out in terms of workload. So, tell me, am I just overthinking this?

    submitted by /u/stoic_alpaca
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    I recently had an interview for a Web App Security Tester internship and I wanted to share the questions I got so you can prepare for it!

    Posted: 22 May 2021 08:45 AM PDT

    Pursuing a Bachelors in IT necessary if I already have a Bachelors in unrelated field?

    Posted: 22 May 2021 09:28 AM PDT

    Hey guys, really want to get into the IT field and have been homelabbing and working on the trifecta for the past year. I have a degree in business and have been reading a lot of posts lately mentioning a degree becoming increasingly important for mobility in an IT role. Is it necessary for me to grab a second Bachelors or has anyone found having any Bachelors is enough to check that box and gain a similar edge to allow for a timely exit from the help desk role?

    submitted by /u/dynamiteneon
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    Am I wasting my time - apply for helpdesk or get a RHCSA?

    Posted: 22 May 2021 09:19 AM PDT

    I just want to give some background history on myself. I'm 29 (turning 30 soon) I have an Associates Degree in Information Systems, I have my CompTIA Network+ and Security+, I have two years working as a freelance web developer so I know the ins and outs of Python, JavaScript (React.js, Node.js, Next.js), HTML/CSS. I started off going to school and switching from Commission Sales (have 8 years experience) because I wanted to get into Cyber Security. When I got into school and we took a few programming classes, I really loved it but I just can't seem to find a real job in web development and freelancing is not stable. So about two months ago I started getting certifications to move into a regular IT career, so I got my Network+ and a few weeks ago my Security+. I'm working on getting my RHCSA and I'm just about ready to take the exam but I'm looking for jobs requiring a RHCSA and most of them either need some kind of security clearance, are located far away (I'm in New Jersey), or are not entry level. Ultimately, since I invested the last three weeks preparing for the RHCSA I feel it would be a waste not to take the exam but am I just wasting my time looking for a jr/systems administrator role? I'm willing to go the extra mile and get another certification like AWS or another cloud certification but from what I'm seeing in the job market, I'm just going to end up in help desk.

    I know Help Desk isn't the end of the world but I know I'm capable and I'm just kicking myself in the ass for not having going to university/college much earlier in life. I made good money in sales and it was a fun time but now that I'm trying to move into IT I feel like I'm back at square one. I know it's an ego thing and I know if I have to, I'm okay with starting at the bottom of the totem pole again. I feel really frustrated seeing all these job listings that have these requirements and I feel like getting my RHCSA isn't going to do anything for me. My plan is to get into a systems administrator role, work in it for a year or two and then move into a cyber security role. I have the mindset of working hard, I have the interpersonal skills to communicate effectively and be friendly, I have the passion to fuel all of this, and I really want to get into IT.

    Am I just wasting my time? Do I just wrap up with my RHCSA and go for help desk? I don't know what to do. I asked a similar question before about cybersecurity vs rhcsa and people told me to look for SOC analyst roles but there's nothing in my area. I'm really lost here. I just need to get my foot in the door and I know I'll be fine after that.

    Thank you for your time and any advice you can offer me. I'm trying so hard and it feels like the goalpost keeps moving further from me.

    submitted by /u/InfinityByZero
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    Anyone here work in space tech (NASA, SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Planet, Spire, etc)? What are some of the unique challenges you face in the field when it comes to DevOps/IT?

    Posted: 21 May 2021 02:55 PM PDT

    I've started interviewing at some of these space tech companies and it's super interesting to me, more so than any other industry, and I'm curious about what kinds of unique challenges you face in the day-to-day.

    submitted by /u/IndieDiscovery
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    [Cloud/DevOps vs Blockchain] Please help me in finding the next best step.

    Posted: 22 May 2021 07:52 AM PDT

    Hi, I'm a 28 M from India, worked in the US for 2 years IT Experience. Worked as Jira Confluence Administrator, PMO Analyst and Process engineer in Google IT Support. Please hear me out.

    Unable to find jobs for the same in India and Remote. I'm trying to find the best possible step from here. With many suggesting the path of Cloud/DevOps Engineer and raging popularity for Blockchain Developer, I'm unable to make a solid decision. I understand that these are quite different roles.

    Cloud/DevOps Engineer : Looks achievable but the number of people training for this role is quite high. As this is a support and production role intertwined, the active hours and need to stay available can be high. (I doubt any work life balance.) The resources are streamlined. Considering the number of posts required in a company is less and the high competition, I'm skeptical if this is for me. Yet, the familiarity of this tech pulls me back.

    Blockchain Developer : Totally new tech and interesting use cases. It's supposed to be a disruptor tech skill in the future. The entry barrier is quite high as the resource and information are not streamlined like the other. Expecting better work life balance. It's new and risky. New tech has less people adapting it. The risk is companies not going further with it's implementation.

    The main problem I'm trying to solve is my financial state. With the ongoing pandemic and dwindling job opportunities, I need a tech skill that can be learnt in few months and get a job or freelance.

    Please help me in seeing the reality. I'm open to any new tech suggestions.

    submitted by /u/bluedjinn758
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    How do I maximize my career if I'm in IT with no IT background/education?

    Posted: 22 May 2021 03:31 AM PDT

    Hi all I feel a bit stuck. I'm wondering if it's worth going back to uni to do an IT/compsci degree to maximize career options or continue to complete more certs (not sure what direction)? Also where is the growth now in IT?

    Context - - I work in a IT strategy role with focus on digital workplace. Been in this role for 2 years but feels like no career growth (no consistent manager, management is distracted, company won't fund projects etc.). It has been more a project manager role than anything. - Bachelor's in life sciences - Certs acquired - M365 fundamentals, SAFe practitioner - Don't mind cloud, VDIs etc. But wondering can I make more in another part of IT? Im Open to lots of things as I like learning. Architecture, engineering, analyst etc. I'm Open. - Goal is most amount of money as I'm aiming to get my mum out of debt, and myself a normal life.

    I've tried speaking to managers, others etc. on career trajectories but it never seems to be helpful. So what are your perspectives on how to navigate a career in IT with little IT background but willingness to learn?

    submitted by /u/littleoops
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    New Job as System Administrator - Do these sound like red flags?

    Posted: 21 May 2021 09:16 PM PDT

    Just started at a new job. Very large company as a system administrator. Today was my fifth day. Looking for some feedback if any of the following sounds like "red flag" territory.

    Background: Working on an Infrastructure only team. No end user support (handled by other team). Team of 8 including me, comprised of network, system, and security admins. 140+ sites throughout the US, thousands of endpoints, incredibly complex networking.

    Day 1 - Arrived on time. Met by random staff member (no reception due to Covid), and shown to my cubicle. Asked other staff what I should do, was shown my laptop, asked for credentials, they guessed and it was right. Setup my desk, and logged in. Had to work through staff in the area just asking inquisitive questions regarding the company, and operations, etc. Everyone very laid back. Reached out to manager to ask for some direction on first day to-dos and/or tasks. Received no reply. Manger checked in half way through the day, noted to him I was excited to get started but wasn't given any direction on anything as of halfway through the day. Peers didn't know what to have me do either. Went to lunch with peers but not manager, discussed more of the day to day and history of the company. Went back to the office went home.

    Day 2 - I'm ready and rearing to go. Started off first thing in the AM asking for clear direction. Was given standard trainings to take, "15 annual trainings". Finished them all (including tests) in a few hours. Was told to sit by for the remainder of the day. Didn't have access to any servers or infrastructure yet.

    Day 3- Got infrastructure access in the morning. Dove right in. Getting my bearings of the systems, ensuring I had the necessary access to everything, etc. Started making a list of areas that very clearly needed optimization while bouncing questions off the other sysadmin. Afternoon, I was told I'd be taking over a "project" from a member of the company who would be leaving in the next month. At this point I'm excited as all hell! So much to make better, so much promise! I'm excited. I joined a call with this staff member in the afternoon. Realized very quickly that the "project" was the handoff of a multi billion dollar acquisition of another company and the replacement of every single one of their existing site level infrastructure. Before the end of the day, my bare naked empty calendar was now filled with Mon-Fri morning to afternoon meetings for the next 4 months. These aren't small sites. They're massive. I was given access to a document library with 15,000 documents and told to "read up" and ask any questions. Now at this point I'm thinking to myself, ok…this is somewhat overwhelming, but you wowed them in your interview, you kicked ass, you'll knuckle down and you'll rock this project. Went home, head held high.

    Day 4- I start with my list. I'm reviewing patch management policies for these 140 sites and thousands of endpoints through the patch management tool, realized the tool hasn't been touched since 2019. Started finding that almost anything that didn't "need" to be touched…pretty much wasn't. Started reviewing the infrastructure, found 5 hosts with 2.5TB of RAM, only utilizing 359GB. 46TB of storage, and under 5TB used. Started asking (gently) penetrating questions (why did we buy this much, etc) was told it was here when they got here. Raised concerns regarding a quote I recently saw to replace all of this equipment with even more resources in the next few months. And I pumped the brakes. Asked for the business use case to spend millions of dollars on unneeded infrastructure and was told by the other sysadmin to not bring this up to the manager. I inquired as to why and was told that the PO was already signed and to let it go. Noted that if given the opportunity to save the company significant money, I'd like to think that would be warranted. If there was a legitimate business use case by all means. Was told to just drop it by this peer…not aggressively, but still. Again, not above me, not a boss, a peer. Sat on this overnights weighing my thoughts.

    Day 5- Had another hour meeting with the project handoff guy. Realized after diving into the project plan, that this multi billion dollar acquisition infrastructure project is being managed through a word doc, no PMO application. And I was like wait….you want me to take over this project, that you have been working on for 2 years…in the next 3 weeks. And my oversight is a lengthy word doc of remaining "tasks"….at this point this guy is straight up dumping things on me, explained processes and day to day involvement that he has been working on for years and I'm like…ok, starting to feel a little overwhelmed. So I talked to my team, all of them. Not a single one of them had any knowledge of this guy, or anything about the acquisition, or the project. Haven't talked to my manger yet.

    Now my overall assessment at this point is:

    1. The teams been there for years, everyone set in their ways. Everyone stays in their lane. Consensus is that any changes that will affect them will "rock the boat".
    2. The current sysadmin only works when asked to do something. Half the week he was on his cell phone. No proactive work being done. Getting the consensus that as im talking to this sysadmin about why literally everything is outdated, mismanaged, and a mess, it's because of his lack of effort. I was constantly told he's incredibly "busy", sitting next to him for 40 hours, I saw under 14 hours of actual work vs talking to coworkers about non-work related things, or on his phone. Also got the vibe that he doesn't want me bringing up the $$$ related oversights that I'm identifying.
    3. This acquisition project, who btw 3 people on the team have apologized and noted that they thought it was very very odd this was handed to me on day 3 of my employment. Feels incredibly daunting. I was introduced via email today to 27 people (VPs, managers, and vendors) as the staff member who would be taking ownership and lead on this project moving forward over the next few weeks.
    4. To this day the only two interactions I've had with my manger was a few friendly "good mornings" in the hallway. Who also had no background in IT. Which is why these quotes, etc, are probably all getting by.

    It's, been, one, week. Thoughts?

    submitted by /u/Ok_Calligrapher_2155
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    How I went from 19/hr to 77,500 salary in 2.5 years

    Posted: 21 May 2021 07:23 PM PDT

    Hello everyone,

    I've been seeing a bunch of posts like mine, but thoght some people may find my journey interesting or relatable.

    I started going to college part time in 2017 but wasn't sure what degree to pick.

    I started an IT Specialist role in a LCOL city in winter 2018. This was a help desk position on site, and I would resolve tickets and a few projects. The biggest thing I was doing at the time was getting many computers on Win 10, installing software, and fixing random IT related issues. I was paid 19/hr and I think I got a 20 cent raise after a year. During this time, I switched to an information technology management degree.

    In Spring 2020 I started a level 2 role in a higher COL area at 49,500/year salary. During this time I started getting certifications. I got CompTIA net+, sec+, and cysa+. After getting sec+, my company tasked me with network and security administration tasks.

    I was looking for sys admin or security analyst jobs maybe 8 months into my second role. I finally landed a sys admin type role for 58,500 salary in spring 2021. This job had me working with SQL server, windows server, SharePoint on prem, IIS, etc. After a couple months I realized this job was not a good fit for me, and I really wanted to get into the cloud. I was studying for Microsoft Azure admin certification during this time.

    While I was studying for the Azure cert, I was looking at SRE, infrastructure engineer, and cloud admin roles. I got a few interviews, and ended up getting an offer at 70,000 and 3% bonus for an sre role at a medium col city. Soon after the offer I got my azure cert, and negotiated up to 75,000 + 3 % bonus.

    At this new job I will be working with AWS, kubernetes, docker, windows server, SQL server, and other AWS services. I'm starting in June, and until then I will be starting for AWS SAA certification.

    I was very lucky to be able to make the leap from sys admin to sre in a short amount of time, and I am looking forward to getting hands on in the cloud.

    submitted by /u/spencer2294
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    M/30/Aus - At a crossroads and could use some advice.

    Posted: 22 May 2021 05:50 AM PDT

    Hey y'all, long time reader, first time poster (alt account due to colleagues knowing my main account)

    I work in the field of science (specifically laboratory technician), and have been looking to move towards a career in IT.

    I was accepted for Comp. Sci a decade ago, my current job came up, decided to not go to Uni, accepted the job in the lab,studied a diploma part time, and have worked there ever since..

    I am now at a crossroads and am hoping to change careers, however, being new to a lot of the certifications and lingo means that, although I consider myself very computer-literate, I am, not sure what in God's name I should do to make a move towards that as a career.

    I am in Australia, if that.. Changes anything?

    I have been looking at sites saying "this certifications average salary is $XXX, XXX a year!" but surely sitting some online exams and then applying for a job isn't all it takes nowadays?

    Sorry, I am sure this sorta thing gets asked here a lot, and maybe it's bias, but i always see positive postings about how people went from one career to another, but for the life of me I can't see a path there.

    If ANYBODY can offer any advice or give any tips, that would be fantastic.

    All the best

    submitted by /u/GreatUncleYourself44
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    Worth leaving my remote job for an on site Linux role?

    Posted: 22 May 2021 05:38 AM PDT

    I'll preface this by saying I know this is pretty subjective, but I always appreciate your opinions when searching for clarity.

    So some background, I'm currently in a fully remote role working a networking position for about 65k a year (1 year in IT with sec+ and RHCSA certs) . I am not challenged at all (I can essentially get everything I need done in 3 hours) and my contast requests to do more have been ignored, so in my spare time I've been learning python and gotten pretty decent with it. I also recently started studying for AWS certs. My goal down the road is to move into more of a devops/cloud engineer position with my short term goal being gaining experience in a Linux admin capacity.

    I recently interviewed for a position as a Linux systems engineer, which involves some support as well as some troubleshooting of code and code deployment alongside developers. The pay would also be about a 15k increase but it is in the office. Now, I have loved working remotely and feel I am much more productive than in the office, but would I be a complete idiot to let that be the reason for turning down this role?

    My biggest concern is that I likely won't be in this area after next summer due to a planned move for my family, so I would need to look for another role after moving. Do you think it would make good career sense to snatch up this opportunity, gain what experience I can and see what happens or should I stick with the safer route I have currently, keep studying, and try to find something remote?

    submitted by /u/CoolBreeze549
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    I hate coding and thinking of switch to another role

    Posted: 22 May 2021 03:03 AM PDT

    I am 24, currently working as TL, writing in scala almost 6y (fin tech field in general ).
    I can't stress enough how i hate what i am doing, and in my opinion i am doing it pretty bad, but still manage to grow in that career. I am really wanna choose different role, project/product manager for example, but i am not sure. And i can't refuse that amount of money that i earn right now (because switching is always decrease of salary).

    Maybe someone has similar experience and can share of outcome, thank you.

    submitted by /u/dzordered
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    Azure Administrator study materials and recommendations

    Posted: 21 May 2021 11:12 PM PDT

    Hey all! Just wanted some insight from others who have taken the AZ -104 what are some solid study material. Books, udemy, ect. I am super hands on as well. My company just gave me the green light that I could get rembursed and they want to groom me into a azure admin role. I am looking forward to this because this is the path I want to take. Thanks!!

    submitted by /u/October_Sir
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    Still job searching after 6 months in the North Austin, TX area...

    Posted: 21 May 2021 04:01 PM PDT

    You'd think being in the "new Silicon Valley" of Austin, TX would help me get a job, but I am struggling to find someone that will hire a man with a bachelors in CS but no professional experience

    Any tips? I'm getting desperate here

    Edit1: I'm not sure how "taboo" it is to give my personal name and info on reddit, but like I said, I am getting kind of desperate here...

    https://www.bparsonstech.com/

    If you guys think putting this here is a bad idea, I'll delete it asap

    Edit2: thank you everyone for the tips. Sounds like I need to rework my resume. That just goes to show my architectural background got a little carried away. I really do appreciate the help

    submitted by /u/ArchAggie
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    Looking to get some career and learning advice, please if you have the time....

    Posted: 21 May 2021 10:35 PM PDT

    Hello and thanks for taking the time to stop by and check out my post. I'm posting in hopes that I'll be able to get some solid direction or advice in earning gainful employment in the IT industry.

    Some background, I'm 30 years old with no education outside of my GED currently living in California and I have a real passion for computers building/fixing/troubleshooting I enjoy it all. I've always enjoyed testing myself against electronics that stopped working from consoles, to fans, or phones, just about anything I could get my hands on or convince people I was smart enough to youtube or google the fix. I've built 4 pc's now 3 of my own and 1 for my nephew and absolutely love everything about it and if I'm being honest most of my free time is spent in front of mine.

    I have a background in Customer Service and Sales, where I've gained a ton of experience working with people and learning how to adapt to different situations. I'm good at these things but Customer Service and Sales aren't necessarily my passion.

    I've been doing a lot of research on whether or not I should go for a degree or certs and I think the best bet for me personally would be to get my CompTia A+, Net +, and Security + certs while working and trying to find a helpdesk or similar entry level position here in the Coachella Valley.

    In regards to the certs I plan on getting the A+ and then working my way toward the other 2. What are some efficient ways to prepare for the cert? I looked on the CompTIA site and it looks like i can pay around $1200 for a bundle of study courses for both exams vouchers and a retake voucher in the event that I fail. As embarrassing as it is to admit $1200 is quite a lot for me, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be willing to spend the money if it's worth it. Are there free, reliable alternatives that I can use? Would it be unreasonable to expect myself to have these goals accomplished within the next 18months if I truly gave it everything I have?

    What are some suggestions or tips you'd be willing to share?

    I appreciate you taking the time once again and do hope people take me seriously, I realize I'm 30 and starting late but I'm passionate about technology and realize now I can use that. It's not just about making good money and buying a home although those are definitely motivating factors, I would just really like to do something I love for a living.

    ​

    Your Hopeful Peer,

    Fooly

    submitted by /u/FoolyLoaded
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    Is this business just trying to keep me by giving me a made up role?

    Posted: 22 May 2021 01:38 AM PDT

    Long time lurker first time poster on this sub and would like some advice. Let me know if this isn't the place for this please.

    Situation:

    I've worked for Company X (multiple locations) off and on for about 8 years and I'm trying to find a career in IT with another company. Because they like me as an employee, it's kind of a specialized field, and I'm good at it, they want to keep me there as long as possible so they made a new role for me to be THE IT guy for one workday per 5 day week. Most of what I've done this far is endpoint support (replacing computers, printer issues, point of sale issues) I don't have a problem doing this, but my problem is that they've outsourced everything else IT related. They have many issues with their POS systems that I can't fix because it's with a 3rd party and the 3rd party states that I need to work for them to have higher privileges than a standard user, Company X won't standardize their hardware so there is compatibility issues everywhere, security issues in multitudes that they won't fix because it would be "too complicated", etc. I made a ticketing system so that employees could notify me when they had issues and no one uses it, they just email my boss instead or don't say anything at all.

    I don't know what to do about this and have been getting increasingly frustrated due to me not being able to do anything. I feel that it makes me look stupid and they just gave me this role to keep me and not because they actually needed someone for this role. Is this a correct assumption or am I acting entitled?

    submitted by /u/bouncypinecone
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    Is it even worth it to try and get the A+ anymore?

    Posted: 22 May 2021 01:10 AM PDT

    My main focus is the cloud, specifically AWS.

    I've got my AWS Cloud Practitioner, and got my Solutions Architect Associate as of yesterday. I have a few other TestOut certifications from college, and my actual associates degree in Information technology. I've been doing help desk type support for years now, and while I'll pay for it and take it if I have to, I'd really rather not have to memorize form factor sizes for laptop hard drives and and weird esoteric connectors if I can avoid it.

    So, yeah.. with all that being said, is it worth it to go through the trouble?

    submitted by /u/ABetterHillToDieOn
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    Welp not sure how to feel about this, will any guru offer any guidance?

    Posted: 21 May 2021 07:39 PM PDT

    Hello everyone, today I seemed to have reached a breaking point and I would like to get some advice on what should be my next move. I started working at a financial services company back in late 2020 after being let go from last job due to COVID cutbacks. Job is great no complaints on role and responsibilities however the culture of the team and mid level leadership has been very toxic and resistant of me since joining the team. After impressing high level management with my work ethic and knowledge I was then promoted as a senior role with a very impressive pay raise offer which I took because like I said I love what I do. Anyways after multiple attempts,since I started, to get any form of assistance and or guidance when it comes to complex issues that requires a bit more knowledge of certain systems, since I've been working there for less than a year, lead to nowhere I would be told by senior members as well at my supervisor to just go ask this team member or go as this other team member and the occasional IDK at the end of the run around which was concerning since they been working the between 8.5 to 15 years. Today someone on my team who did not take my promotion very well decided to just throw an issue that they were working on and refused to give me any background and inform what they have done note they been in this position for 8.5 years and was given the responsibility for someone senior and above. That team member became offended and reported me to the supervisor who proceeded to call an emergency meeting just to chew me out in front of the whole team. Was I wrong just trying to get all the information on what was done before proceeding my troubleshooting and secondly should I start looking for a position at a different company since this will not get any better in the foreseeable future?

    submitted by /u/B1acksun71
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    Feeling imposter syndrome about my degree in the IT field

    Posted: 21 May 2021 02:34 PM PDT

    So, I'm about to start my last year of college, and I'm getting a case of imposter syndrome. My degree, as you might have guessed, is in IT. When I first started college, I really had no idea what I wanted to do, so I just picked IT because I spend a lot of time on my computer and I knew that there were no shortage of jobs and that it paid fairly well. I wouldn't say I was passionate about it, but it sort of made sense and fell in line with my lifestyle.

    Lately, though, I've been wondering. I'm worried, because I honestly don't feel like I've learned nearly enough during college to work a real IT job. Even something as simple as a help-desk job seems intimidating to me. Part of this is my own fault, of course. I spent a lot of my time in college not focused on learning more about my degree, but rather doing things for my own enjoyment. I'm also dreadfully bad at programming. My roommate is also in IT, and he picks up stuff like programming much easier than me, and he's already seeming to get his career lined up. I feel like I'm going to get left behind at this rate.

    I know that one thing I should do over the course of this year is actually self study on things related to IT, but I'm unsure where to start. I'm also anxious about how difficult my first IT job will be, as even entry level IT jobs usually say they prefer someone with years of IT job experience. I'm completely willing to learn on the job, but my fear is that I'll just be thrown straight into a position and be expected to know how to do everything. Is my anxiety warranted, or am I just overthinking this? Do you guys have any advice on where to start when it comes to self teaching in the IT field? Thanks.

    submitted by /u/sootri
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    What’s more easier to learn. Associate degree in IT or asscociate degree in computer science?

    Posted: 21 May 2021 10:17 PM PDT

    I'm good at memorization that's all I'm good at. Like for example memorizing 50 questions and the answer or learning new language . I'm horrible at math. I know 0 about computer science and IT. What path should I take? I'm 22 and clueless plz help!

    submitted by /u/Lazy_Ice9916
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    [Fresh Grad] Got an offer from a big company but employment is handled by 3rd party agency. Desperate for advice!

    Posted: 21 May 2021 09:46 PM PDT

    I'm a final year student studying non-IT major but has been trying very hard to break into the IT industry for the last year. Recently, I applied for an entry position (associate IT infrastructure specialist) at a very big and well-famed company in my country. Im certain that having that company's name on my CV would be immensely beneficial to my future career.

    Fast forward to 2 days ago, I got a 1 yr renewable contract offer from that company. HR said while I would be working at that company, the employment and salary payment would be handled by a 3rd party agency. Is it a normal practice for big company to do that? What is the implications of this? Would I still be able to reference that company on my CV?

    I have never encountered this situation before. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

    submitted by /u/AspiredGundam
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    Hiring Managers of the IT world! - Are you having trouble keeping talent in rural America?

    Posted: 21 May 2021 11:42 AM PDT

    Greetings! Long time reader, but I've never really posted that much. Using an alt account for privacy reasons.

    ​

    So, I work in HR/Talent Acquisition for IT for a small-town state university in Ohio. Like everyone else during this whole pandemic, we've been forced to make budget cuts and naturally people have been let go and the business restructured. We have ~50 members in our IT department.

    ​

    One of our top network engineers, last Summer, took a position that's a permanent WFH with a large company. I'm talking, probably the world's largest. Mostly, this is because this isn't the richest area in the world (or even the state, lol) we really can't pay that much. The person in question was one of our most talented network folks, about 10 years experience/CCNP and was earning just shy of $80k. Pretty good for the area. This big company it turns out sniped him through a recruiter and offered him almost $200k with a catch that he'll have to travel 5-6 times a year. Anyway, I really didn't hold it against him - great! I love seeing our talent spread its wings and grow, especially when they can stay local!

    ​

    But - here started a problem. The same company - and through my own sleuthing and contacts - I discovered that it was the same recruiter even that sniped *almost every single one of our highest-level IT professionals*, a good few with recommendation from the original employee! They're offering *way* more than we could possibly ever afford, deep into the 6-figures and they are all WFH positions. Over the course of the past 12 months we've lost almost everyone senior, amounting to about ~15 people from almost every stream of IT. I really don't blame people for wanting to go... but this is making us suffer. We can't recruit to replace some of this talent to save ourselves it seems like, and even spreading out to further afield with our own perma-WFH positions the talent just isn't there. We've had ad-hoc situations where we've had to get consultants in but that's going to quickly add up to the unaffordable, also should something go catastrophically wrong.

    ​

    So - is anyone else having issues with retaining staff? Job hops? Is this a trend nationwide or has someone been frightfully parasitic to us in particular?

    submitted by /u/oorenhotrehnwopi3nt
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