I’m currently a line cook, considering making the switch, but I’m a little confused about where to start. A local community college offers some certs that seem promising.
I have a little relevant background, a minor in comp sci, but that was some years ago (trying to relearn some of the material in my spare time now).
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I’m trying to get out. It’s a fucking miserable grind through bullshit and office politics. It can pay well, but there’s a cost to that paycheck I am no longer willing to pay.
Depends what sector of IT you want in. Tech support on the phone, just apply. Tech support deskside, maybe get can A+ to stand out but otherwise just apply.
Systems administration, if you don’t have experience, a cert can fill that gap. Microsoft server or azure/365 certs will be helpful if you want to go into windows. Any of the Linux server certs if you want to go that route. Some of the Linux ones are more affordable too.
Networking likes certs a lot more, especially Cisco shops. If you have advanced certs in Cisco you can get in easy a lot of places. Fortinet has a lot stronger presence these days than it used to though and the NSE4 is a great way to get into it. Huge companies tend towards Cisco, Aruba, and sometimes Dell. Medium and small tend towards other more affordable brands but Fortinet is a solid option.
The downside to certs is that many are expensive to get. Companies often will help maintain them. Good companies will help you get one if they think you are able and they think you will stay. But you need to be in the door for that.
If you want a place that will take in low experience and build you up fast, an MSP might be an option. You will usually touch a lot of things and get a lot of experience in a short amount of time. Downsides are pay and workload. You will not be paid fairly for the output expected. At least I’ve never seen it. So one approach is to get some exp from an MSP, then move on to a proper company after a year.
I’m leaving IT after a very long time for Software Engineering at the moment. IT burnt me tf out, ran me over and then backed up to make sure the job was done right. So I have a pretty sober view of the field and try not to bias it. It was great till it wasn’t. Feel free to ask me anything you want and I’ll do my best to give you a fair and honest response.
Thank you for the overview and congrats to moving on!
Sure thing, I hope it helps a little and that you enjoy it. Just hold your boundaries on work/life and you’ll probably be fine. 🙂
I’m happy to see I’m not the only one in this boat. I’ve been in tech/IT for a very long time and I’m very, very, burnt lol.
I am also in the process of breaking up with my work to take what little money I’ve made, and travel while it’s still possible (for reasons).
Makes me wonder how many other people are going through this. Feels like technology PTSD lol
Definitely not the only one. We need unions so badly it isn’t even funny. I think I have some literal PTSD from buyouts/layoffs/mergers etc. Every time a company I was at was bought, IPOed, or did mass layoffs (covid), I was cut. A few rimes because I was one of the higher paid, once because they just straight nuked my position, another because I had a manager that was brand new with a fragile ego and couldn’t handle (polite and professional) push back at all.
It’s happened several times now and now I can’t handle unscheduled meetings anymore without anxiety spiking through the roof and thinking I’m being laid off again. One time I wasn’t even given notice. My access was cut in the middle of doing maintenance on our hypervisor clusters and I was told over text when I asked my boss if his access still worked. I’ve taken time off for awhile now and working to change careers to where I will at least be paid well enough to be layoff resistant.
Damn. It’s crazy how much we are both headed down the same path. I’ve also recently taken a big chunk of time off and working to change careers. I’m just trying to make sure things are ready and I have something to fall back on.
I have a friend who is too nice a guy and gave 4 weeks’ notice because he genuinely didn’t want to leave his team in the lurch. He found out the next day (on a Weds) that Friday would be his last day. I want to be sure I don’t end up in the same way. They are heartless!
They really are. It’s awful being treated like a disposable piece that can be jettisoned without any further thought. That really sucks for your friend, I’ve been through that too. It was only a standard two week notice but it still was awful.
What career are you moving to if you don’t mind me asking? Feel free to DM if you’d rather keep it off the public but don’t mind otherwise.
On the Cisco certs, other vendors generally have fast track courses to get their certs.
I got into IT by getting an MCSE+I Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer+Internet, an A+ Cert and a CNA Certified Novell Administrator.
I am pretty sure that other than the A+ none of those exist anymore.
Getting IT Certificates is a good move.
You can’t go wrong with cisco certs, while they are not the top tier like the used to be, understanding networking will never go away.
As far as I can tell from my agency’s IT department it takes no qualifications or knowledge of anything. Just apply to jobs. Someone will be stupid enough to hire you and you can just google search basic trouble shooting and quickly become the CTO!
This is seriously the answer. I’ve known a lot of people that are useless at their jobs. All you have to do is keep applying and someone will hire you, then you can just learn on the job.
The most important credentials to get a bigwig it manager job is to have the same last name as the owner apparently
I started in basic overnight support centers. Certs are big so getting basic ones in your field can be important, but they arent always easy or cheap to obtain. I started with real basic/low level certs that arent really favored by recruiters but are important for actually learning: Network+ and Server+ as my job was focused on websites and servers at the time. Eventually I moved on to Cloud focused certs for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud because by that time I was supporting those cloud platforms.
I didn’t switch into IT, I’ve basically been in IT since I started working (which was quite a while ago). But hopefully I can help.
I think you’re off to a good start with the minor in comp sci. That will help. Certs can help too, depending on the nature of them. I wouldn’t go all-in on super-expensive certs, but if they are affordable and hands-on they’re probably worth it.
Depending on which area of IT you want to the get into, just keep learning/relearning skills and building up your knowledge in your spare time. That might be a bit more expensive if you’re going into the hardware/network side of things (especially right now). Maybe look online for used hardware you can buy to build up a home lab. But for software development it’s not too bad, since there are lots of good open source tools out there.
If you are taking the software path, I suggest finding an open source project and helping them out, since that’s a great way to learn and it’s good for the resume. But also know that (from what I’ve heard) the software development field is BRUTAL right now for entry level/junior devs. AI and corporate layoffs are making it a tough field to find a position in.
If you have a knack for networking, especially messing around on networks, cyber security might be a good avenue.
Good luck!
Thank you! I am looking at networking mostly atm.
Aside from all the current advice here. The golden rule is usually find friends in the field. Research where IT people go in your area and start to make friends. The job market is vicious right now, the more people you know, the better.
It took me 10 years to finish my BSc in Ecology because my ADHD hadn’t been diagnosed and I procrastinated by fucking around with Linux.
So I didn’t get hired in my field, and a friend of mine got me a support job at a software startup that didn’t find qualified people cause they paid like shit.
When it predictably went under, I had 4 years of experience and got a job as IT sysadmin in an MSP. 3 more years later I switched to the internal IT department of a newspaper, where I work now.
At the last switch, I had the choice between 6 employers who offered me a job and chose the one with a union, a workers council, a regular 35 hour work week, and 42 days of PTO per year.Was also in that position. Took an entry level QA job and just bounced around a lot.
Trying to be concise and noting this is all just my random opinion from personal experience:
- Always be building something. Look around at listings and see which tech stacks seem like stuff you’d enjoy and are hiring, Google them, download them, build with them.
- Carefully and securely after seeking much advice, host live demos of your builds somewhere and link them on your resume. If it’s something that might generate a large bill if abused, you could set up an auth system for it and have prospective employers email demo account requests by some form on your page. If you’re thinking web dev, at least host a simple page in AWS or Azure just to demonstrate some mastery of the basics of the front end, DNS listings, etc. Describe your setup in the page and why it is safe and efficient.
- Look for support and/or QA positions to make a start somewhere. Look for chances to leverage your new skills there for automation, analysis, or reporting.
- Contribute to open source projects and list contributions on your resume.
- (risky but often good) take freelance jobs gor short term work and exposure to different concerns… carefully with thorough research
… I think that’s my highlight reel.
Its tougher than it used to be. Certs are still a good way but you need one an employer cares about and the more generic ones won’t necessarily get you good pay. Since you have a comp sci minor you could try to find an open source project you could contribute to. A portfolio in dev is as good as certs in ops.
Used to work construction. I did a coding bootcamp with very little experience. I got through it purely on aptitude. Was 1 of 4 graduates in a group that was about 40 at the start. After, they hired me on as a contractor and they shipped me to a few different locations. One of the locations liked me so much they hired me full time. This was over 10 years ago.
I got a couple certs, then got a 2 year degree from a local technical college. That led me to getting a job working help desk, then got my current position as a Sysadmin via an internal job posting.
Minor in comp-sci will probably do the trick. Pretty common pathway in the US is to get with a contract agency and then have the client buy out the contract if they like you. If they don’t buy it out, then you have the relevant job experience to get your foot in the door at most places.
You can go for certs. Everybody hates them, but I can honestly say that having an A+ and Net+ cert definitely did not hurt my career. It’s worthwhile to study for certs too, even if you don’t get them. Just mentioning that I was looking into getting my CCNA helped (and knowing a bit from the study material is useful on it’s own).
I would recommend self study for the CompTIA tests. If you really put your nose to the grindstone, you can probably bust them out in a week or two.
Certs can get you in the door. They aren’t that important later.
Honestly getting an internship or some form of work experience goes a very long way. Then it’s a matter of meeting the right people at the right time.
Shoot for a CCNP, and do the certs up to that. Networking is an easy one to get into as everybody else is doing cloud computing, devops, AI, or programming. If you dedicate your life to it like programmers do with side projects then you can get above them in salary as well, though its not necessary.
