Best guess pay with

diablo911

I was just wondering if anyone had any input on what type of pay i might be getting ready to get into with this BS from a university in Networking and hopefully a CCNA. I have looked at allot of job postings but the entry level ones that i think i could manage back home offer 13 an hr  sitting in a cube picking up the phone dealing with pissed of customers / tech support. Its tempting though to just take a package handling job i found working for UPS that pays 15 an hr. 

EANx

Pay will be highly dependent on several factors, including, but not limited to:

• Location
• Industry
• Work hours/days
• Other benefits / total compensation
• Other skills you might have

A job working in NYC for a firm on wall street will be high-stress and long-hours but you'll make more than you would working for a school district in Topeka. But the school district might still come with a pension and probably has good health benefits.

Jon_Cisco

If you take the packing job you will do well for yourself as they just keep coming. You will probably have an easy time finding and keeping work at least seasonally.

However if you want to look to the future then you need to understand which career has more opportunity for growth.

diablo911

i agree, but dam the last thing i want to do in this life is find myself sitting in an office cube as tech support for years just to move up to another tech role, spent 5 years on this degree, don't really feel like doing another dam 3 just to find a none miserable job. There are just so many other options with other companies in the non computing field that take entry level with better pay and benefits that i come across each day.

Infosec_Sam

This will depend pretty heavily on the area of the country you're working in. Due to cost of living, you're going to bring in a lot more money in the SF/LA/NYC/DC areas, for example. The $13/hr makes me think you're not in a big IT market, or maybe you're not looking in the right places.

My recommendation to you would be to take any IT job you can land right off the bat. The CCNA should at least get you a job with "network" in the title, and from there you will be able to climb pretty quickly. What I've seen in the time I've spent researching the job market is that you'll enter the workforce low but you climb the ladder much faster than in other industries. Companies would be much much more willing to hire someone with even just one year of experience over a fresh grad. You can use that to your advantage by keeping your eyes on the job market for the next couple years. If you're a good interviewer, you may be able to negotiate yourself a couple extra thousand per year as well.

diablo911

Companies hiring someone with just one year experience vs a fresh grad like myself, or soon to be ? dam thats rough but i get it, i know experience is way worth more than school which is why i will most likely be looking at something else job wise, maybe an electrician apprenticeship. Ya the army doesnt make you spend this much time learning vs actual work experience, im on default mode just going through the motions of what i have left of this degree cause im over the whole IT/University experience, id rather spend 5 years back in Iraq vs 5 at this school. Computing is just so dam boring man, i look around and no one even looks like there alive, just sitting their staring at a screen. F**k that. life is to short. 

thomas_

Just because you take a job doesn’t mean you have to stay there for years especially entry-level jobs.  I would take the IT job and then look at getting soething better while in that position.  Alternatively, keep on looking and maybe also apply to the jobs that may seem out of your reach as well.  

cyberguypr

I am very confused. Based on your other posts you sound fed up with your IT studies, wanted a very specific role, then wanted to give it up for a trade. What is the goal here? Money? You seem to be getting good advice but almost instinctively go and immediately reject it.

iBrokeIT

cyberguypr said:

I am very confused. Based on your other posts you sound fed up with your IT studies, wanted a very specific role, then wanted to give it up for a trade. What is the goal here? Money? You seem to be getting good advice but almost instinctively go and immediately reject it..

I second that sentiment. OP, this will require some introspection on your part, are you seeking a job or a career?  Make a decision and then align your actions and mentality accordingly. You appear to be delivering us an inconsistent message here.

MontagueVandervort

You only have 2 more semesters so at least it will be over soon.

Then maybe just a break for a while of the "whole idea" of IT might serve you well.
Doesn't mean you can't get back to trying to use your degree later on if you so choose.

Transitioning (back) to civilian life is not an easy task especially if you immediately jumped into school as soon as you got back.

You may just need some wind down time and somewhere where you can spread your wings more.

Electrician's Apprentice doesn't sound like a bad idea to me.
I have a friend who is an electrician and complains all the time that he can't get anyone.
I know that's only 1 guy, but I would assume it's not dissimilar where you are since many don't even consider the trades these days (for various reasons).

Electricians where I live start at $99/hr (that's not even Master - which is much higher).
And I live in a very low cost of living area so the wage will be even higher in most areas... so absolutely no loss in that direction if you end up there for the rest of your life.

diablo911

Ya, ill probably end up going that route, could of been of journeyman by now if i just did that after the service vs going to a university , a place of reading poetry and minerals while trying to learn group policy, i forgot all of it cause i don't use it which sucks, ya im the type of person ment to be in a trade, cause aside from just saying "ya i have a degree" it doesnt help knowledge wise at all.  

MontagueVandervort

Nothing wrong with that.

The trades are great. If I wasn't made for IT, I would absolutely choose a trade.

Best of luck to you!