Where do I fit, in the IT industry?

JR Writer

Im looking to embark on an IT career but dont know where I fit in. Im only going to work in areas I find interesting. The parts of IT I enjoy is
Working with OS configuring them, maintaining them etc. Im really not keen on hardware and fixing hardware related issues and building PCs. I also have an intrest in Networking but overall I dont like taking a computer apart and putting it back together. Any job titles in IT you think maybe appliable to me let me know.

Thanks

MeanDrunkR2D2

Well, to be honest it will be hard to break in with a Sys Admin type of job without any other IT experience. Many of us have cut our teeth doing Helpdesk or Desktop work. Most of that, of course, won't be building PC's and most companies wouldn't expect a person to do that day in and day out. Now, with desktop you may need to replace Hard Drives, or replace memory, or other things of that nature, but the majority will be software installs/support. Most of us have used that experience to move up and learn the company, their process, and becoming experts at what we do.

If you have interest in the networking side, a good entry level role will be as a NOC technician. Generally they start off new folks with crap 2nd/3rd shifts and after you've put in your time you could move into a 1st shift, or have the experience necessary to maybe find a Network Admin type of position. Certs that will go hand in hand with your future path will be critical for your growth and something I would highly recommend. Those certs without experience won't always translate over to skipping the starting points in an IT career, and there will be alot of competition from other new and experienced people looking for a change. Once you get past that entry level experience it will get easier as you specialize and become an expert in your chosen path.

JR Writer

MeanDrunkR2D2 wrote: »

Well, to be honest it will be hard to break in with a Sys Admin type of job without any other IT experience. Many of us have cut our teeth doing Helpdesk or Desktop work. Most of that, of course, won't be building PC's and most companies wouldn't expect a person to do that day in and day out. Now, with desktop you may need to replace Hard Drives, or replace memory, or other things of that nature, but the majority will be software installs/support. Most of us have used that experience to move up and learn the company, their process, and becoming experts at what we do.

If you have interest in the networking side, a good entry level role will be as a NOC technician. Generally they start off new folks with crap 2nd/3rd shifts and after you've put in your time you could move into a 1st shift, or have the experience necessary to maybe find a Network Admin type of position. Certs that will go hand in hand with your future path will be critical for your growth and something I would highly recommend. Those certs without experience won't always translate over to skipping the starting points in an IT career, and there will be alot of competition from other new and experienced people looking for a change. Once you get past that entry level experience it will get easier as you specialize and become an expert in your chosen path.

Thanks for your reply, in all honesty I'm looking more for job satisfaction than a high paying role. Ofcourse I would like to progress but I'm not looking to go to the top. I dont know what Help Desk would be like I've heard it gets boring after awhile but it seems right up my streert.

MeanDrunkR2D2

Help Desk varies from company to company. If you enjoy being on the phone and assisting users for a variety of reasons and likely would hand off more difficult tickets to higher level support for things that you are unable to fix remotely. Some companies allow their help desk to be more hands on, others keep them with more basic issues. It's definitely not a "career" position by any means as most will work their way up and out of that. It would be unlikely that you'd do much more than decyphering issues that users have before they may be passed onto other groups. Generally you are the first line of defense for a corporation. Also, if you work in a customer facing help desk, you will get calls frequently from rather irate customers (Like working for a cable/internet company). Those will be the ones that more people would want to work out of quickly as you can feel rather abused by the people calling in.

ccnpninja

Start somewhere. You don't have to start pretty. Climbing the IT ladder takes some time at the beginning.
FYI, I started in IT repairing mouses and keyboards..

Nemowolf

If your looking to stay away from doing any hardware work, your limiting both your entry and end points for a career.

Typically, most folks start doing help desk type work either in a call center or more service desk/desktop support. Unless your in a call center, you will have to get your hands dirty and on the flip side doing call center work tends to burn you out fairly quickly. That said, your going to end up doing some grunt work at some point in time because no one else is there to do it for you so your going to have to accept that fact if you want to proceed.

I would instead look at analytics, database administration, or even development. You stay more on the operational side of business and tend to have little to no contact with hardware.

maXmood

Assistant Computer Technican
Computer Technician
Junior IT Engineer
IT Engineer
System and Network Administrator
IT Administrator
IT Manager

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and currently IT Engineer

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i went through all these posts, i reached the peak (or not), which is IT Manager, but decided that wasn't my cup of tea, so i moved to what i like most (IT Engineer) where i loved my interaction with everything around me and get my hands dirty..

sometimes, you pick a path, plan properly, but then you just deviate from it, because not everything comes as expected. so you might like what you mentioned here, but sometimes, unless you experience it, you don't know what would it taste/feel like.

that's just my humble opinion on the matter, out of 18yrs of experience in the IT field.

zaleonardz

Hi Bud,

Indeed I agree with what has been said here, you do need the underlying knowledge, or at least proof thereof.

Your other problem is, and I am sorry to say this, but you kick out a desktop support engineer under every rock, so you are, and will always be in a hyper competitive market, whatever you are prepared to price yourself for, there is somebody willing to do it for a lower price.

While you say money is not important, I would therefore then assume you are quite young, or filthy rich.

If you are filthy rich, just go buy a shop and shout at other people and do what you want, cause your the boss

If your not filthy rich, then I would assume you are quite young, In IT, if you start at say 20, you have 30 years before your 50, and seen as "Old"

While that may seem a lot, it goes by pretty quickly, and you have to remember that you need to establish yourself now, while you are young, full of energy, unencumbered ect. Consider the compound interest in terms of annual salary increase 5% on peanuts = peanuts, but the sooner you get to the upper level, 5% on big bucks = much more, thus essentially your salary increases above inflation, which is what you want, and you essentailly have your 20's to establish yourself.

Lastly consider why you like Desktop support over physical IT, forget about the work itself,
Complex issues, do you prefer to work with people, or cant stand people
Is it the physical work, do you perhaps have a dirt issue (I am not poking fun, its a legit question, OCD's form part of this)

Database work can be rewarding, entry level qualification, and start at the ground.
ERP Implementations can be fun if you like working with complex problems and people, ERP is about people, not software
Server Support is def a way to go as well, nothing is easier then the life of an Exchange Admin (Until it breaks and you have 900 phone calls and MD breathing down your neck)
CET is fun work
WAN's is big bux, but high stress.
Few examples.
Plenty of careers in IT, depending on what your core qualities are, there is a profession in IT that will come close to it

Turn internally, look at why you LIKE desktop support and the things that you do about it, not the job itself, take those core values, and measure different tasks in IT against those core values, and you will find a niche.

But limiting yourself to "my printer does not print, or I have not received any emails in the last hour, which is wierd cause I am waiting for one from my mom who emails every 5 seconds" over 30 year lifespan, and you will most likely put a gun to your head. it is what it is..

robS

Helpdesk could be an option, it can be as boring or as interesting as you make it and how proactive you are, and you may find more opportunities to be proactive in smaller organisations where there could be more variability in your role.

Some (larger) organisations offer formal or semi-formal IT trainee gigs which see you spending a year in 4 different roles (for example) and may give you an idea of what you want to do.

If money is unimportant, then consider an internship or voluntary work to get experience and see what you like.

You can also try coding for free but bear in mind that dev is quite easy to pick up initially, but it's not until you've been doing it for a short while that you suddenly realise how little you actually know. You don't have to do formal learning either , I know some good java developers who got started tinkering with minecraft mods...