IT Careers

[Rogean]

Originally Posted by Rexxin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Why go to school for IT? Everything you need to know is written in a Linksys router manual...

Sorry I hate IT guys...

Maybe if you run a workgroup network of half a dozen computers lol

[Tommy_Wiseau]

sry for being mean big rogean obviously you enjoy your work and that is priceless

[Diggles]

I'm going to college for IT so i can be like Rogean!

[Awwalike]

Originally Posted by Tupac Shakur [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

lol white boy behind a desk all day get @ me[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.][You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.][You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.][You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.][You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I knew you were still alive Pac!

[Kabilos]

I can tell you from personal experience that if you are going to want to work in the IT field you don't necessarily need the certs. But on the other hand you don't need the degree either.

I've worked with those that have one over the other and some that have both. My personal experience I am getting more by having both a 2 year Networking degree and a 4 year Information Security degree and no certifications.

I would highly advise staying away from "For Profit" schools like DeVry, ITT Tech, Dunwoody, Phoenix, Capella and a slew of others.

If you are strongly considering a for profit school I would highly recommend you check out on Netflix "Schools for Profit" documentary first. The schools seem awesome at first but they soon lose their luster when you have signed the paper work.

If I could go back and do my college over, I would have went to a local college that was not "for profit". Granted now I have 2 degrees, I am also sitting on 90K in student loans. I could have done the same thing at the big state university for a fraction of the cost.

[Rexxin]

Originally Posted by Rogean [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Maybe if you run a workgroup network of half a dozen computers lol

I know I know but I just struggle working with "IT" guys of several different levels of education and the good are few and far in-between, I usually end up doing my job and theirs....

[Rogean]

yea I hear you there.. I've seen enough guys come through our company (We are an IT Service Provider for GovEd, SMB, Hospice, etc.. on state contracts) that may have all the papers including degrees and certs, but in real world they turn out to be dumb as a brick and utterly useless as shit..

What annoys the shit out of me is all these guys come in with salaries sometimes even double mine just because I don't have papers saying I can do the job, yet I always end up doing their job.

I've been meaning to buckle down for years now to get MS and VMWare certs.. But try balancing working 60 hours a week with studying as well as trying to run Project 1999... ha ha ha....

[Rexxin]

What’s funny is all of the IT guys I interact with are working for the 2year Tech colleges, we do all the Classroom/Boardroom Automation, Programming etc. and have to deal with the guys they run through their school and give jobs to after graduation, it’s pretty funny when you have to setup a Computer Science College's network when you don’t even work for them.

[Clever]

The most important IT career advice I can give is to walk away early if it ever stops being fun. Nothing saps your life like an on-call career you hate, especially one that can rain pressure. I stuck around too long in datacenters I hated, working everything from Novell to MS to Cisco to UNIX engineering for everything from small shops to fortune 50s. Even with all the perks and the decent pay, and even though I really knew what I was doing, I looked up one day and realized that I was going to eat the business end of a gun if I didn't quit that afternoon. Gave 2 weeks, was escorted off the premises 45 minutes later, and have been able to breathe ever since.

If you enjoy it and have the skill, you'll likely love the career choice. If you don't enjoy it, no amount of skill in the world will make it worth doing, especially if you end up in an on-call position or one managing million-dollar-per-minute stuff for CTOs who can't even get your name right. I should have walked away when I first imagined doing so...on the second day of my first IT job. Instead of a college degree on my wall I have everything from a CNE to a CISSP, yet they're not worth the paper they're printed on.

Your results will certainly vary. Just remember that it's a niche career with niche training, especially if you're planning to take the common "skip college" advice.

[SearyxTZ]

Already been posted multiple times, but DO NOT go into IT unless you WANT to do it. You want to have passion for whatever you're doing with your career, or it won't last.

Regarding Networking: I considered it at one point and even picked up CCNA cert. I didn't like the work at all though. No amount of money - and network admins/security make pretty good bank btw - would have kept me in that field.