What should I do next?

pipetko

Hello guys,

I just became CCNA certified on Saturday. I am a middle school teacher at the moment. For the last 5 months during the school year I was waking up at 4:00AM, so I could study for 2- 3 hours before work. It was crazy but I did it, first try with no IT experience. I used OG books, but mainly used Jeremy's IT lab - his videos, slides, labs. Did tons of memorization and tons of labs. I also used Boson, but I did not like it. I think Boson was quite different than the real test. I think Jeremy's practice tests were better.

Anyway, for what I have heard and seen the best path forward is to find a job and get professional experience. You all probably heard this a lot, but any network engineer job post asks for like 3 years of experience minimum. What positions should I be aiming then? Also, should I say that I am a school teacher pivoting to tech? Some people were saying that this sounds amateur and that I should put myself as a tech professional and almost ignore the educator part. I don't know what to do. Studying and learning was easy. This non structured part is much harder for me, and I would love some guidance.

volfkhat

Congrats on passing the CCNA.

Unfortunately, the job markets cooked.

Not sure how many employers out there looking to hire a person with "no IT experience".

Are you financially ready to quit your job for a call center/help desk role?

If Not... don't get your hopes up.

JDMurray

pipetko said:

Also, should I say that I am a school teacher pivoting to tech? Some people were saying that this sounds amateur and that I should put myself as a tech professional and almost ignore the educator part. 

From my experience, you need to emphasize ALL of your skills and not just IT or networking. Many hiring managers like to feel as if they are  getting "more for their money" by hiring someone with experience in multiple job roles, such as technical writing, accounting, people-skills (Help Desk, customer service), and teaching. Mix that with a degree or two and several related certifications can cause a hiring manager to choose you to interview--or hire--over other candidates with less diverse experience. Remember, you are being hired to solved the manager's problems; that is what you must emphasize you can do on your resume and in an interview.