Out of curiosity...

I am 21 y/o. No professional experience, kind of did the computer thing out of a hobby-ist POV. Decided to turn a passion into a career.

I'll be finished with my associates in IT in August. I currently have my A+, am taking my Net+ on Mon 1/28. I am currently working through CCENT/CCNA material in night school (work full time during the day, school at night heh). Will also be going through alot of NetWare and Linux stuff around May. My last semester this summer focuses around a few different Microsoft certs.

So, to be a bit conservative and mention the certs I am interested in and plan to get, let's say that in August I'll have an Associates, A+, Net+ , CCNA, and a Microsoft cert of two (Thankfully, my current employer purchases vouchers for cert testing). What kind of pay can I be expecting?

As for currently, I work in an inventory dept for a small PC company (~60 employees) . I make $9.00/hr. However, I start a new position in the company doing quality compliance tomorrow. Basically, after the techs build and install the software to the customers specs, my job will be to go back and insure the proper hardware, software, configurations, etc has all been implemented before shipping. Not the greatest IT job, but it's a start. They require A+ cert. They gave me a quarter. Can't say I was thrilled but eh...

Just wondering if I can hopefully expect better compensation atleast when I finish school in 7 months. It seems going from shipping boxes out to doing something a bit more IT-ish, would be worth more than $0.25. But I may be wrong.

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Comments

networker050184

Experience is key my friend. You can have all the certs you want but with no experience you are going to have to work an entry level job. It will still most likely be a pay increase working entry level IT. Don't get your hopes up to high and be dissapointed though.

Smallguy

I would not expect a big increase

but if your employer is paying for Certs that's great mine does the same so you might as well get some more experience.

like stated above experience is really te key if you liek where you are stay there gain more experience hopefully the certs will give your employer the confidence to allow you to expand your role in the company.

what I did was tell my boss when e had 2 employees leave I anted to step up to the plate....he gave me a shot and we're both happy with the results

Kasor

I agreed that experience is the key. Also, you need to know what type of IT career that you are looking for? Technical, Support, Design, Development, Management, programming...

Remember, think about the future for the IT career.

hypnotoad

Hi DM05

Don't get discouraged. Use each job as a stepping-stone for a better one and set goals.

If many employers are looking for 3-5 years experience (check dice.com, craigslist, monster, or careerbuilder) then shoot for staying at your job for 3-5 years and use that time to:
1. Refine your skills (through Certs, etc).
2. Build your experience.
3. Find out what areas of computers/networking you really like.
4. Network with people. You never know when your company's ISP might be hiring.

Basically, the experience requirement is there for 3 reasons that I can see:

1. Many kids don't learn much in college -- colleges teach everything from algorithm complexity to karanaugh maps and set theory. How much of it is practical? There's a huge cirriculum difference from one school to another. Many schools offer specialized degrees.

2. Programmers (and probably network people too) have a big productivity gap between good ones and bad ones. The statistics I've seen about managing and hiring programmers say that a good programmer is up to 27 times more productive than a lousy one. They figure if you can stay a few years at a job, you're less likely to be a lousy one. It's probably the same with hardware people.

3. People fresh out of school get very cocky very quickly when it comes to showing off skills. A lot of them have it go to their head. I am always careful not to hire someone who is too sure of himself, because if they make a mistake they risk screwing up something important.

Goldmember

DM05 wrote:

I am 21 y/o. No professional experience, kind of did the computer thing out of a hobby-ist POV. Decided to turn a passion into a career.

I'll be finished with my associates in IT in August. I currently have my A+, am taking my Net+ on Mon 1/28. I am currently working through CCENT/CCNA material in night school (work full time during the day, school at night heh). Will also be going through alot of NetWare and Linux stuff around May. My last semester this summer focuses around a few different Microsoft certs.

So, to be a bit conservative and mention the certs I am interested in and plan to get, let's say that in August I'll have an Associates, A+, Net+ , CCNA, and a Microsoft cert of two (Thankfully, my current employer purchases vouchers for cert testing). What kind of pay can I be expecting?

As for currently, I work in an inventory dept for a small PC company (~60 employees) . I make $9.00/hr. However, I start a new position in the company doing quality compliance tomorrow. Basically, after the techs build and install the software to the customers specs, my job will be to go back and insure the proper hardware, software, configurations, etc has all been implemented before shipping. Not the greatest IT job, but it's a start. They require A+ cert. They gave me a quarter. Can't say I was thrilled but eh...

Just wondering if I can hopefully expect better compensation atleast when I finish school in 7 months. It seems going from shipping boxes out to doing something a bit more IT-ish, would be worth more than $0.25. But I may be wrong.

You are doing good! This is why...

1) You have an IT job! Many people post on this forum with no IT related job. You are in the door!

2) You are obtaining certs and experience. Keep working hard for the certs they will pay off!!!

Just keep working and obtaining certs. Get the MCSE and CCNA. Next thing you will know you will get hired for $15-20 hr and you can move out of your moms house.

Have fun

jbaello

Your almost there, and also I will recommend on obtaining your Bachelors Degree, if you want to shoot for a decent salary/position, you know 6 figures

DM05

lol thanks for the comments guys.

I don't expect to come out making a bazillion bucks. I was atleast looking for an entry level job that pays atleast $10.00/hr.

Oh, and that new position? Yeah. It was decided it wasn't needed, so I am stuck shipping out boxes again! lol (2nd time this has happened). See, this company isn't very large. And they seem to expand when the workload hits, promise the world to people, then when it slows down (this time of year) they clean house. After I get my Net+ on Mon (hehe, not being cocky. Just trying to remain confident. I test much better going in with confidence), do you think I should shoot out some resumes to a few companies I'd like to work for and maybe post my resume on a few sites?

I have no real qualms with this company, it's just that everytime they discuss moving me into another dept that is actually IT related, they back off at the last second. Starts to get a bit frustrating, you know? I just don't think it would hurt to throw a worm out there and see if I get any hits back.

As for what type, well, I can't answer that lol. I guess I would need more professional experience before deciding that. lol.

EDIT: Oh, and I would love to get bachelor's degree, but it's $$ heh. I'd like to invest in it sometime in the future maybe once this loan is payed off and I can afford to take another out.

phantasm

Your on the right track, better off than I am at least. I have my AS in CIS and work as an Analyst, not int the IT dept.

I'm working on my BS right now and my CCNA. I just hope things get better.