Advice for me

Hey guys, I am getting really bummed over the whole hiring process. Maybe its me, IDK. A little background, I started in IT in the mid 90's as a programmer, Visual Basic, Clarion, Fox Pro. The company I was with was an MSP and they dropped their programming dept, but moved me into mainsteam IT stuff, desktop support, network and server support and installation. I've pretty much done everything in the realm of what MSP's do, I've designed and installed networks in environments the size of school districts, manufacturing plants, etc down to home offices. I've even been service dept manager for a few years. Then I moved and of course we then had the tech bubble then 9/11 so I was jumping around to a lot of contract assignments in the big city working desktop support, network installation, sometimes helpdesks.

Got real tired of that and found a great job with a copier company making $75k and working less than 40hrs/wk. The work was mostly copiers, with a lot of printer installations, and troubleshooting networking and some desktop and server support as needed with the main goal of getting the printing either deployed or repaired.

Fast forward, its now over 10 years later and I've moved to a new city and picked up a quick job doing mostly the same at a copier company which also sells network contracts, especially since they brought me onboard as I am the lead network and server guy.

I'm completely sick of driving around and fixing stuff. My goal is to be systems administrator, but I've been looking for about a year with some interviews here and there. I'm mostly running into the same BS that others are finding. My resume gets me interviews pretty well, I just need to figure out how to land the job. I've recently been studying the mid level IT certifications.

Any help is appreciated,

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techfiend

When I'm interviewing I put most of the focus on if I can work well with the interviewee. Knowledge is important, ability to learn is more important, personality is most important.

Dojiscalper

techfiend wrote: »

When I'm interviewing I put most of the focus on if I can work well with the interviewee. Knowledge is important, ability to learn is more important, personality is most important.

As an employee I get performance awards all the time. I get along with everyone, and am respected and promoted to lead very quickly once I'm hired.

The downside is I'm the stereotypical tech geek, I am very bad in interviews and first impression situations. I've been told many times by others and managers that I'm much more than they expected once they get to know me. But that doesn't help much until I'm hired, LOL.

TheFORCE

Are you doing any research on the people or company you will interview for? Do you hold any certifications? People here can help you polish your resume and provide advice in that area too. Just be relaxed when you go in, and smile all the time.

mbarrett

Dojiscalper wrote: »

The downside is I'm the stereotypical tech geek, I am very bad in interviews and first impression situations.

If you're driving around fixing stuff, you probably have better people skills than 80% of the sys admins out there. I've come across some very antisocial people out there who are like the proverbial "Tr011 under the bridge" or who deal with the same 2-3 people every day. So that's all they know. This isn't every sys admin, but they do exist.
My advice would be to just be relaxed and confident in your abilities during interviews, and don't show up thinking you're inferior - the hiring managers will pick up on that attitude and it will most likely sink your chances. If you stay relaxed, your natural customer-facing people skills will be apparent.

NetworkNewb

Dojiscalper wrote: »

I am very bad in interviews and first impression situations.

Sounds like you know what you need to work on... These seem to be the hardest area for a lot of tech folks. Most don't like working on it though because it requires them to get out of their comfort zone.

Dojiscalper

Ugh I know, I have excellent customer service skills and that's one of the reasons I get promoted to lead quickly. The managers always see that I can handle the really delicate or volatile situations without escalation.

I'm just scared stupid in interviews which is silly because I've been around and know my stuff.

scaredoftests

Stop being scared of interviews. Bring a notebook filled with your questions. It helps to write things down during an interview, it calms my nerves actually.

mbarrett

The thing that calms me down is to come with a list of questions that I've thought out ahead of time, and I make sure the interview isn't finished until they're all answered in one way or another.

scaredoftests

or picture them naked.

MeanDrunkR2D2

Or get them naked...

/just kidding. Don't do that. For the safety of your own eyes.

scaredoftests

True..LOL