RL professions p99 players

[Alarti0001]

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

<-T2 support contractor for the USAR as a SASMO.

CCNA is worth something but usually not if you dont have 5+ years of in the field experiance behind your name. The NET + and the MCTS are good ones. If you are up to it a Security+ trumps the Net+ and any company will gladly take that over the Net+ if it is required. From everything I have seen in my 12 years the CISSP is the mac daddy atm or a MCSE.

CISSP is security based though, and I was trying to provide first steps to an 18 year old not to someone with a decade worth of experience. Security+ does trump Network+ for security especially but it is a bit more advanced of a cert for someone without only an A+ cert.

Agreed cisco certs are nice but the business world is a microsoft world.

This is a good basic flowchar for certs

http://certification.comptia.org/certroadmap

[Urbanzkopf]

Originally Posted by Alarti0001 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The A+ is a very common cert. It doesn't make you competitive as everyone has it. Get your network + and maybe your MCTS and look for Help Desk Tier 1 jobs. Also, don't tell anyone your age they aren't allowed to ask you, and they would discriminate against an 18 year old.

Have you considered college? The IT field is swimming with CS and MIS degrees, so you really aren't competitive without a degree unless you are a young Bill Gates or something.

I appreciate the advice, I personally enjoyed networking while I was at my apprenticeship but college isn't something I can do right now as I don't have the funds to pay for the terms there, also I think that I would need to be looking at paying for an exam myself and studying for it. Not really sure it's been awhile since I've been near the IT environment kinda makes me feel like I wouldn't be competent enough it's been that long.

I don't tell them my age nor does my CV contain that but soon as it gets to the interview stage that's always where it goes boom haha..

edit: guess if I was good at the talking game then that would be no problem but i'm not one of those few who walk interviews like they are nothing!

[knottyb0y]

I am a software developer, actionscript/ruby/objective c web/mobile apps for a language learning company. Started out as a part time tester 4 years ago and worked my way up through QA to software dev. best job I've ever had. Requires a lot of self study and problem solving abilities but its the kind of job you wake up everyday excited to go to work. That's worth more than you can imagine.

[Alarti0001]

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

I appreciate the advice, I personally enjoyed networking while I was at my apprenticeship but college isn't something I can do right now as I don't have the funds to pay for the terms there, also I think that I would need to be looking at paying for an exam myself and studying for it. Not really sure it's been awhile since I've been near the IT environment kinda makes me feel like I wouldn't be competent enough it's been that long.

I don't tell them my age nor does my CV contain that but soon as it gets to the interview stage that's always where it goes boom haha..

edit: guess if I was good at the talking game then that would be no problem but i'm not one of those few who walk interviews like they are nothing!

Make sure you are on linkedin, and hit up everyone you know. I can't explain how many recruiters have come after me on that site. Amazon, Msoft, Nintendo, Apple, Exxon Mobil.

Also, if you aren't sure what direction you want to go as an IT a few suggestions would be CyberSecurity (Fastest growing and least filled job out there), Healthcare related IT development (Obvious implications), and filling a position for an Oil company (They pay very well, and with the new shale oil they will start exporting they will boom within 2 years)

[melkezidek]

Good advice from Alarti. One thing I will add is sadly to get experiance you either need some great internships (that likely wont pay you) or do some really shitty years in help desk (that wont pay you half of what they should). After you get some experiance and some certs on your name though doors open things are alot better.

[mgellan]

Originally Posted by Alarti0001 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The A+ is a very common cert. It doesn't make you competitive as everyone has it. Get your network + and maybe your MCTS and look for Help Desk Tier 1 jobs. Also, don't tell anyone your age they aren't allowed to ask you, and they would discriminate against an 18 year old.

Have you considered college? The IT field is swimming with CS and MIS degrees, so you really aren't competitive without a degree unless you are a young Bill Gates or something.

Any one who works for me (Director of ICT for a School Division) can pass the A+ on Monday after studying over the weekend. Network+, Security+, etc. are all very baseline certs for the bottom fee.. er... entry level employees of the ICT world, Deskside Support / Service Desk Techs (or guys assembling whiteboxes in the back of a computer store). Good money compared to delivering pizza I guess.

Get a 2 year Community College IT diploma then try to find someone to fund certs in SAN and Virtualization (if you like overtime!), or get a 4 year degree in CompSci and go program in Java if you want to make nearly six figures...

And work on soft skills - technical competencies will get you a job but soft skills (communication, negotiation, requirements elicitation, etc.) will be the rocket under your ass to get you places. Lots of otherwise smart people are glass ceiling-ed into a cube pumping out code til they miss a technology curve and retire as the only guy who knows COBOL (or whatever dead language you last ramped up on) because of their abysmal communications skills. And learn to spell [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] As a few people have said here, networking can help you. Join Toastmasters!

Just my $0.02 but then again I'm the guy on the other side of the hiring table [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Regards,
Mg

[Ephi]

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

And work on soft skills - technical competencies will get you a job but soft skills (communication, negotiation, requirements elicitation, etc.) will be the rocket under your ass to get you places. Lots of otherwise smart people are glass ceiling-ed into a cube pumping out code til they miss a technology curve and retire as the only guy who knows COBOL (or whatever dead language you last ramped up on) because of their abysmal communications skills. And learn to spell [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] As a few people have said here, networking can help you. Join Toastmasters!

Just my $0.02 but then again I'm the guy on the other side of the hiring table :

This is truth. Nerds will land good jobs and have a nice steady career. Nerds who can speak have no limits in technology.

[maahes]

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

Any one who works for me (Director of ICT for a School Division) can pass the A+ on Monday after studying over the weekend. Network+, Security+, etc. are all very baseline certs for the bottom fee.. er... entry level employees of the ICT world, Deskside Support / Service Desk Techs (or guys assembling whiteboxes in the back of a computer store). Good money compared to delivering pizza I guess.

Get a 2 year Community College IT diploma then try to find someone to fund certs in SAN and Virtualization (if you like overtime!), or get a 4 year degree in CompSci and go program in Java if you want to make nearly six figures...

And work on soft skills - technical competencies will get you a job but soft skills (communication, negotiation, requirements elicitation, etc.) will be the rocket under your ass to get you places. Lots of otherwise smart people are glass ceiling-ed into a cube pumping out code til they miss a technology curve and retire as the only guy who knows COBOL (or whatever dead language you last ramped up on) because of their abysmal communications skills. And learn to spell [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] As a few people have said here, networking can help you. Join Toastmasters!

Just my $0.02 but then again I'm the guy on the other side of the hiring table [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Regards,
Mg

I strongly agree with the overall point of this post. Having the ability to bullshit/communicate will take you to places your skills never will. Shit many of my first jobs right out of high school (skipped college due to it being a massive waste of my time and money.) I landed only cause I can talk bullshit. Now that I think about it, 90% of the jobs in my past I had no idea about the technology I was applying to be working on. I studied on it over a weekend, used my charisma and bullshit to sweet talk me the job during the interview. Once on the job is was sink or swim while getting paid.

[zaraax]

Originally Posted by Alarti0001 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The A+ is a very common cert. It doesn't make you competitive as everyone has it. Get your network + and maybe your MCTS and look for Help Desk Tier 1 jobs. Also, don't tell anyone your age they aren't allowed to ask you, and they would discriminate against an 18 year old.

Have you considered college? The IT field is swimming with CS and MIS degrees, so you really aren't competitive without a degree unless you are a young Bill Gates or something.

Even with a degree the payscales aren't great considering most tech supp work can be outsourced as long as the SLA is beneficial. I abandoned IT completely especially with the cert factories pumping out IT techs. If you must have a career in IT, may I suggest security or becoming a database guru. Yeah, I know easier said then done. I'm currently halfway through my accounting degree and working in a mid-level govt. job analyzing statutes and administrative code.

[Alarti0001]

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

Even with a degree the payscales aren't great considering most tech supp work can be outsourced as long as the SLA is beneficial. I abandoned IT completely especially with the cert factories pumping out IT techs. If you must have a career in IT, may I suggest security or becoming a database guru. Yeah, I know easier said then done. I'm currently halfway through my accounting degree and working in a mid-level govt. job analyzing statutes and administrative code.

IT is booming and will continue too. As i suggested earlier cybersec, the oil industry and the healthcare field will grow. They get paid alot too. Tech support work is entry level IT. 2 years of that or less and you will get bumped up if you apply yourself. I am making 5 times what I started out at.