Career Decisions in the IT field, HELP!

[TQ_]

I'd like to hear some opinions on what I should do. I'm 26 years old and going back to school next month. I took A+ and Network+ classes years ago but never got the certifications. I was anxious to get into the field and start making some money. I'm currently making about 40k a year but I feel like I'm at a deadend and want more.

I'm thinking about taking the Cisco courses offered at my local community college. Cisco 1 & 2 of 4 is offered next semester at night. This semester I am thinking of taking Network+ and Security+ then getting my certifications. I am also interested in learning a little of Microsoft Server and Active Directory.

Another area that I have been very interested in but have no seen much offered for it as far as school is Wireless Networking / Security. Some parks in my city have gone wireless and I've heard some cities have gone wireless now. Also, I read about different police forces having multiple wireless networks in the area that their computer sync too while driving that away they never loose connection. Someone has to work on them?

I'm open to all suggestions and opinions.

Thanks!

 

[jon1320]

I'm taking the Security program (SCP - Security Certified Program)right now at a college...
Im going to get certified, so I'll have

A+
Net+
MCSA
MCSE
CCNA (cisco certified network admin)
SCP cert

I'll be pretty universal for any companys IT needs... which is what you want man.
If you can adapt to an environment, you're good as gold....

get a few years of experience under your belt, and you can land a 100k+ job for the city === great benni's !!

4 year plan for experience on my behalf
YEAR 1) Intern for a school district doing IT, and personal training on the side for extra $
YEAR 2) Get a contracting job (that requires atleast a year of experience) drop personal training ... or keep it depending on workload and times of year.
YEAR 3) continue contracting job, and start asking the contractors for availibility of jobs... (so you can ditch the contracting job and work for them... ) Also, make a business.... for home computer suport and troubleshooting etc... and give them a card.. EASY WAY TO GET KNOWN !!!
YEAR 4) Either score a job, or work HELLA hard to be able to GET into something GOOD.

yeah, this will be fun and financially satisfying

 

[Dial_tone]

Work your way through it. People look down on paper certs. I had a Cisco instructor who was a genius in the class room but he had never touched a router in production. He got no props.

 

[navigatorrs]

Work your way through it. People look down on paper certs. I had a Cisco instructor who was a genius in the class room but he had never touched a router in production. He got no props.

I totally agree with you^^^^^^ When i was finished getting my a+ Network certs. i thought i knew it all. When i did finally land a job in IT,only then did i realize that all the book work went right out the window,and to excel in IT you have to be hands on!! I was always getting teased by the older IT guys. They would say ask....... he has all the certs.LOL

 

[TQ_]

Certs really only help you get your foot in the door and show you was dedicated enough to get certified.

I went ahead and registered for school. This semester I am taking Net+, XP Professional, and MS Server 2003. I know most of it anyways but Cisco isn't offered at night until next semester. Its a good start and will get me back in the swing of things with school and studying. Its been awhile since I've been in school and I now have about 5 years experience in the IT field. The only thing that hurts me is I don't have much server experience at all.

 

[mus1cjunk1e]

Check out database administration. Specifically MySQL. MySQL dba's are in really high demand and you can mess with the software yourself because it is open source. A dba that is GOOD can make 6 figures with around 4-5 years experience.

 

[SpyWizard]

without the certs you have little value..

MCSE
CCNA/CCNE

then 4 years experience..

CISSP or a SANS certification..

Worth 75-95k per year

if you have a 4yr degree in Computer Science you will be good to go with the above certifications..

you can work in fortune 100 companies.. $125-140k year, if you have a major/minor in business management and computer science, that means you can supervise a bunch of techs..

and then you will be $150-210k year..

 

[Razorguns]

Is that what you love doing? You would do if u didn't get paid?

If so - go for it.

But remember, life int he corporate world - well, it changes everything:

You'll have pressure. deadlines. inadequate resources. red tape.

That "joy" you get at home, may change to stress when you now have to do it for "work".

And the killer, and why I quit IT :

You'll find, TONS of people who got into IT solely - cuz of the paycheck. So lots of stupid people, who at 5pm - run out the door. They hate computers. They don't even have ones at home!! And will always pick laziness, surfing, and doing nothing - then having to do that work.

I shit you not. I've seen programmers who HATE programming! They'd rather program, have it work perfectly - then focus on other things. They just hate getting new work. WTF? What's your job title again?

IT has changed. Early on it was all geeks and was creative. Now it's dumbed down with lowest paid whoevers, and people seeking paychecks. And "IT aware" managers who want to make all the indecisions for you. Lots of politics.

Just be aware of this. Picking IT, and picking the BEST place to work at - go hand in hand.

And for the love of God - don't work at a software company. Unless you enjoy high-stress and 60 hour weeks. No wonder the shitty jobs go to India. Let them deal with this crap.

r

 

[drsketch]

My title = Network infrastructure engineer
I would recommend getting a degree in computer network systems, taking an entry level position in a company and let them pave your certification path. Just racking up certs with 0 experiece may get you a job but you may lose the job when they find out you're potentially worthless compared to your resume.

 

[littleriver1]

I'll echo what musicjunkie says about learning SQL and especially MYSQL. There are lots of enterprise level relational databases out there but the nice thing about this area of computer programming is that the syntax is pretty much the same no matter what database you use. In other areas everytime the boss says "we're going to a new platform", "we're going to be using new hardware", or "this project is going to be done using this great new framework" it means you have to stay up late for a year learning all new syntax.