First job in tech still elusive

Mr.Robot255

My input - Change your name on here, i don't think using your real name is a good idea when people can google it and find your posts here and linkedin etc.
I also get the impression you are an actual sys admin from linkedin. Maybe change a word or two just so its clear you are not an actual sys admin but looking for that first break.

jasper_zanjani

Mr.Robot255 said:

My input - Change your name on here, i don't think using your real name is a good idea when people can google it and find your posts here and linkedin etc.
I also get the impression you are an actual sys admin from linkedin. Maybe change a word or two just so its clear you are not an actual sys admin but looking for that first break.

Why wouldn't it be a good idea? I'm engaging with the community

jasper_zanjani

Fulcrum45 said:

If a steady gig is proving difficult to find reach out to local MSPs and offer up hourly assistance for any projects they have coming up.

That's a great tip! I appreciate you resisting the urge to be vicious and offering positive, constructive advice!

shochan

Definitely go find a local MSP (managed service provider), you will dip your hands in A LOT of different technologies and gain a lot of hands on experience.  Even if you have to start on helpdesk...honestly, most IT ppl should have some helpdesk experience, that way you can learn to talk people through troubleshooting the issue.  Then eventually you could get out in the field jumping network to network putting out fires.  That is my recommendation.

jasper_zanjani

All -

Not only have I heard everyone's feedback, but I have listened as well. The wisdom I had heard from others about "speaking it into existence", must have been mistaken. On second thought, I agree that exaggerating my qualifications is too likely to result in my humiliation, especially since I have personally experienced that IT hiring managers tend grill you on your knowledge. I have removed the offending entry from my resume and replaced it with the following:

Being honest is what comes natural to me, but in my desperation I mistakenly thought I had to do whatever it took to get in the door.

I thank the community for their wisdom and insight. After all, that's what I'm here for!

NetworkingStudent

I think it looks great!!
Someone mentioned it earlier but, I will bring up the suggestion again.  Possibly change your name on tech exam from your real name jasper_zanjani to something else.  This way you it's harder for employers to link your posts on this forum back to you .  

MrsWilliams

advanex1 said:

jasper_zanjani said:

advanex1 said:

Let me get this straight. I post a discussion about how I can't get my first job in tech because I have no experience... and your response is you're not impressed with my experience? You did catch the word "first" right?

Thanks for looking me up on LinkedIn, I'm actually rather proud of my profile. I am certainly certified in all those technologies, you have to scroll down a bit further to see, and I have provided links to validate all my certs. As for my headline, that is marketing. Think of it as me speaking it into existence. And don't take the experience I put in my "current position" too seriously, I've actually been unemployed for almost two years.

You said it was easy to move into IT, I don't agree. My impression is that the people hiring for IT positions have no patience whatsoever for someone new to the field and value experience uber alles. Guys spend years, decades in the same position, and that is basically the only thing that matters. One guy I know has been an Active Directory Engineer for 16 years and his LinkedIn has nary a cert in sight. Everyone I talk to says I don't have the experience.. but I do have knowledge, core skills, a winning attitude, and the capacity to learn. I wish these things were valued more. But as your post confirms, at least by people in infrastructure, they are not.

Look, I hope you aren't getting angry about what I posted when I was trying to help you. I hope you can take the feedback/criticism and supply us with a resume to see how we can help you further. What I wasn't impressed with was the explanation of your experience. It offered no insight into what you can actually do and/or are capable of. You asked for advice.. I gave it to you. If you have a winning attitude and a capacity to learn then lets start at the basics of marketing yourself and your skills better.

Certifications aren't the end all be all, but if you have no experience it would be a way to show you can learn the technologies. However, you are going to have to start at a lower level more than likely than what you are willing to accept.

My LinkedIn for comparison: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpinit/ (not the end all be all)

NetworkingStudent said:

I think it looks great!!
Someone mentioned it earlier but, I will bring up the suggestion again.  Possibly change your name on tech exam from your real name jasper_zanjani to something else.  This way you it's harder for employers to link your posts on this forum back to you .  

I was going to login and reply to Mr. Robot. I decided not to do such a thing.

But now that I see the suggestion again, I thought I'd start logging in.

Him having his real name is no different that the 20+ LinkedIn profiles people have/had in signatures and elsewhere on this forum. I could prove this easily but I haven't the time. Don't tempt me though  LOL 

People can get a lot of information from a full name, city, and state. ESPECIALLY if you don't have a common name like Tony Smith or something where I am going to get 150 matches. 

Do I agree he shouldn't have his real name? No Comment

The people that post LInkedIn pages is no different though. The LinkedIn has the real name, company, technologies, level of clearance and so forth. 

So, we can't promote "networking" one day and not promote networking the next. 

jasper_zanjani

NetworkingStudent said:

I think it looks great!!
Someone mentioned it earlier but, I will bring up the suggestion again.  Possibly change your name on tech exam from your real name jasper_zanjani to something else.  This way you it's harder for employers to link your posts on this forum back to you . 

I appreciate the advice, and I agree that you don't want to ruin your own chances by having derogatory information about yourself floating around in the social media age. But I don't intend to post anything detrimental to myself on this forum. I don't see anything wrong with being honest about the challenges I've faced and the course corrections I've taken, so I will stay here in true-name.

mikey88

jasper_zanjani said:

Being honest is what comes natural to me, but in my desperation I mistakenly thought I had to do whatever it took to get in the door.

I thank the community for their wisdom and insight. After all, that's what I'm here for!

Look, there is nothing wrong with exaggerating your experience a bit. Just don't totally fabricate. When I had zero experience in IT, I wrote that I was a "Freelancing IT tech" and when asked about I explained all of the different craiglist gigs I've taken and other small jobs in the past.  

coreyb80

NetworkingStudent said:

Food for Thought   I had a Network Engineering interview once. I declined the interview, and told them I wasn’t qualified.  The company still wanted to interview me

When I got to the interview the first thing the hiring manager said is I really Impressed him!!

He said most people will lie and say they’re qualified for the role, when they’re not. 

Similar experience last week with Cisco Meraki.  I spoke with the HR rep and she asked me some questions that were passed down to her to screen me.  I explained to her that I was pretty green in networking as I recently got my CCNA and was looking to further develop and grow my skill set.  She pushed me through the 2nd round and that was a nice interview as I kept stressing me being green, but attempting to answer the question using my current knowledge.  Point being, not everyone is looking for you to know everything, but to know that you can acquire the knowledge on your own or that you're not afraid to ask for help. 

EANx

There's a saying, "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard". Most hiring managers have known someone who had talent and intelligence but didn't work to their full potential. You can never tell how talented someone is by an interview but you can certainly tell passion and hard work. When someone talks about switching careers and how much they like IT and their home lab and the industry sites they use to stay up to date, they make that hiring manager wish he had five more.

cbdudek

Something else I will toss into the mix here....

Finding a sysadmin or network admin job in IT with no experience is incredibly hard to do.  Certs are meant to augment your experience, not replace it.  Breaking into IT means starting at the bottom and working your way up.  Starting in helpdesk for a year or two and then getting that network admin or systems admin job that you really want. 

You can hold out and you will probably find a systems admin job eventually, but it will take probably about 6 more months to achieve (could be 3 months or 9 months).

LonerVamp

MrsWilliams said:

So, we can't promote "networking" one day and not promote networking the next. 

Normally, I would agree with you. But...in this case, the poster is admitting to lying about employment. If he has an interview and the employer does a Google search and runs across posts here, including this thread, alarm bells will sound very shrill and loud.

That said, it seems he has amended his ways and that is a huge step! My fear, however, is an employer wouldn't bother continuing to read the full thread. But that is up to everyone and their own personal tastes/decisions.

I network with you all here, and don't use my real name. That's ok, right? (I mean, it's not like it's hard to find my LinkedIn, but I also do not admit to doing red flag things with this name.) I could just use something totally different, but I don't find it worth that level of obfuscation to me.

Anyway, I don't mean to usurp the thread for this tangent.

LonerVamp

@jasper_zanjani I think you made a really good change, and I wish you the best in your continued search!

SweenMachine

jasper_zanjani said:

NetworkingStudent said:

I think it looks great!!
Someone mentioned it earlier but, I will bring up the suggestion again.  Possibly change your name on tech exam from your real name jasper_zanjani to something else.  This way you it's harder for employers to link your posts on this forum back to you . 

I appreciate the advice, and I agree that you don't want to ruin your own chances by having derogatory information about yourself floating around in the social media age. But I don't intend to post anything detrimental to myself on this forum. I don't see anything wrong with being honest about the challenges I've faced and the course corrections I've taken, so I will stay here in true-name.

Hi @jas@jasper_zanjani !

I took a look at your LinkedIn just now, and as a hiring manager for an MSP in Chicago, I didn't personally so any red flags as it is constructed now; I know you have made some recent changes to it.

I think the main issue right now is really that lack of professional experience in IT - the certifications are nice, but I have never once hired because of that. They are nice attention grabbers for sure, but I don't know if your resume or LinkedIN would come up in my searching for a sys-admin because I am generally looking for 3 years or more of WORK experience for a role like that.

Service Desk is a different story. I have hired people making career changes at our entry level, and they have quickly moved up to the desired role based on their work ethic. My most recent hire is moving to IT from marketing. Couple years back, I hired someone in his 40s who was moving on from his Landscaping business, with no degree or certifications, and he VERY quickly moved into an engineering capacity based on his life experience, and then his soon to be gathered technical experience.

Keep at it! I have added you on LinkedIN and will send you any contacts I have in the Tampa area. Good luck!!

-scott

E Double U

jasper_zanjani said:
But I don't intend to post anything detrimental to myself on this forum. 

No one ever plans on doing it, but just stay a while. You will see lol.

To totally contradict what others have told you here, I believe "if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying". 

iBrokeIT

jasper_zanjani said:

All -

...

Being honest is what comes natural to me, but in my desperation I mistakenly thought I had to do whatever it took to get in the door.

I thank the community for their wisdom and insight. After all, that's what I'm here for!

Bravo Jasper, being able to be your true self in an interview will now allow you to give off a more genuine vibe that you were likely missing before.  Cheers!