The State of the IT Field (please read)

itdaddy

Turgon said:

Government is just government, whoever gets in they will play it the way they see it. Just dont get played. Many people in IT now will be out of the industry in 5 years time, others will not. Think laterally and position yourself accordingly to give yourself the best chance of longivity!

dude what you said here. I feel you hit the nail on the head man!
That is exactly what I am doing spreading myself in a couple of areas.
Maybe in three areas (security, data/voip, Microsoft-sql). Goingto focus on these three. Every needs security and that will get worse. Database is a standard now. and voip/data are always key.

Devilsbane

I have read a few of the posts on here about why there are no jobs and I mostly agree. People who don't deserve them have them. People with a degree, or who have crammed for a test get them. You know, I have never been asked to verify my certs by anyone. I always have web transcript links ready and I carry my CompTIA cards in my binder. And nobody has ever asked to see them.

I did have my education checked up on though. As part of my background check they called the school and verified dates of enrollment and the degree received. So why wouldn't they contact Microsoft, or CompTIA, or CISCO??? Doesn't make sense. That stuff is so easy to share, all it takes is a web address you can print or send in an email.

itdaddy

2lazybutsmart

yeah and if the employer some day or right away looks you up by your ID number that the cert is suppose to assign you to and they find out
that you are not really certified. you are in big trouble and would probably get fired. Live by fraud someday you will be found out..

best to do it the right way..

itdaddy

web transcript links ready and I carry my CompTIA cards in my binder. And nobody has ever asked to see them.

me either. but some day someone will and it will be the end of you maybe.
I know it sucks. If you have the skills and you need a cert to get a job and you get a fake one; it really is based off your morals. I mean. I really hate the job market myself. I mean very unfair. If they like you over all. They should give like ratings and score you honestly in a 360 degree fashion. not just "are you certified" to me being certified doesn't make you great. it is doing the job with all your heart and soul that can make you great. I have met guys who don't have any certs in programming and can stomp those that do. It is the world we live in.

But I say work hard be honest and you will be blessed knowing you didn't lie and that you are a hard worker. I believe that. and will there be those who get ahead by cheating yes but some day they will get there reward. I say be honest work hard and you will be a blessed person.

puckstopperga

Exactly. That's the whole 'name of the game' in business. Adapt or become obsolete. Find and carve out your niche, or learn to flip burgers.

Any time you stop learning or stop changing, you're in effect, dying. At least career-wise.

it_consultant

Scott LaRock wrote: »

I work as a Security Guard in a very large building occuiped by 3 well known banks, it's a 12 story building.

One company (I won't say the name) takes up about 7 floors in the building. They have about 200 total computers and they have 1 I.T guy who does all the work.

Not to complain but I see this more and more these days. It seems companies don't need as many I.T guys as before, only 1 guy to do it all.

I mean, I only have a 2 year and a couple certs and while I won't say I'm high level, I have a hard time getting a help desk job.

With my certs I should be a Desktop Support Tech... doing basic work with installing hard drives, light networking and so forth and I never get looked upon for this type of position. I've had a couple light contracts here and there but nothing permanent.

I think for those who want to stay in I.T, it's best to aim big, you have to be able to do something that everyone else can't. The truth is that companies just don't need multiple admins anyone of a whole bunch of programmers.

Only 1 or 2 and they'll lay off everyone else... sad but true, they just don't need the people anymore.

I work for two clients for a total of 400 desktops and 40 servers, me and another guy (only one person at the job no a given day) can handle this load.

Technology is more reliable, but I think after the tech-boom purge the professional IT person is much better and therefore can handle more things.

gorebrush

Have to agree with Scott, but I'm finding that this "one man fits all" approach is starting to get tiresome for me.

I have worked professionally in IT since 2004, and at the beginning of 2006 I got my first Systems Administrator gig. I loved it - I was the techie that everyone looked to for looking after the network. I think I learned more in those two years I was there than at any other job/cert/degree I've done. Nothing makes you learn better than two years in at the deep end.

I looked after 11 Windows 2000 servers, Exchange 2000 (Which I upgraded to 2003), networking, routers, the domain, everything. I even project managed, designed, co-ordinated an office move of 90 people, all the servers, computers, networking the lot.

I came here and within two years went from knowing very little about Cisco to being on my way to a CCIE.

You can learn so much from a job, but as I've been trying to move jobs, I'm finding that employers are starting to get greedy and ask for what is comparatively, an absolute shopping list of skills and no doubt I'll fail to get a job because somebody (amazingly) will have one or two more skills than me.

While I've enjoyed being a jack of all trades, I'm tired of it now - and would love to be able to walk into an environment where I am just doing one thing - Cisco. However, I don't think the job market is really catering for someone like me right now with the recession etc.

I think I seriously need to consider contracting - I have specific skill sets which I know I can market and offer as a service to many smaller businesses, and my wide range of skill sets mean I could potentially be marketable to many more single businesses as opposed to offering a single skill set to a smaller number.

I think I am starting to gain confidence about actually going out there and doing it - however while the going is good at my current permanent job (and that's another rant I'll save for another post), I'm racking up the CCIE hours and banking the money, making sure my bills are paid.

Turgon

gorebrush wrote: »

Have to agree with Scott, but I'm finding that this "one man fits all" approach is starting to get tiresome for me.

I have worked professionally in IT since 2004, and at the beginning of 2006 I got my first Systems Administrator gig. I loved it - I was the techie that everyone looked to for looking after the network. I think I learned more in those two years I was there than at any other job/cert/degree I've done. Nothing makes you learn better than two years in at the deep end.

I looked after 11 Windows 2000 servers, Exchange 2000 (Which I upgraded to 2003), networking, routers, the domain, everything. I even project managed, designed, co-ordinated an office move of 90 people, all the servers, computers, networking the lot.

I came here and within two years went from knowing very little about Cisco to being on my way to a CCIE.

You can learn so much from a job, but as I've been trying to move jobs, I'm finding that employers are starting to get greedy and ask for what is comparatively, an absolute shopping list of skills and no doubt I'll fail to get a job because somebody (amazingly) will have one or two more skills than me.

While I've enjoyed being a jack of all trades, I'm tired of it now - and would love to be able to walk into an environment where I am just doing one thing - Cisco. However, I don't think the job market is really catering for someone like me right now with the recession etc.

I think I seriously need to consider contracting - I have specific skill sets which I know I can market and offer as a service to many smaller businesses, and my wide range of skill sets mean I could potentially be marketable to many more single businesses as opposed to offering a single skill set to a smaller number.

I think I am starting to gain confidence about actually going out there and doing it - however while the going is good at my current permanent job (and that's another rant I'll save for another post), I'm racking up the CCIE hours and banking the money, making sure my bills are paid.

Your best bet is to stay where you are, at least for the remainder of this year. Meanwhile sound out the contract market. Put a contractor CV together and send it to agents on jobserve who handle network contracts and see what response you get. Your looking at anything from 15 - 50 pounds per hour for this kind of work. Depends on the client and the role. Generally large shops pay better. Smaller shops have less budget and do more inhouse. Banking you need experience. Defence you need security clearance. Mobile operators can pay well but you need good design and carrier class experience. Outside of those you can get decent enough jobs with large companies that offer you a doable contract that pays fairly well as well as providing you with an experience opportunity. Just apply yourself. I had one contract network design gig with a Tier 1 which involved multiple renewals spanning 4.5 years. Ten other network designers were shown the door during that period but many just didn't knuckle down in the job handed to them. Others simply were not good enough technically, sloppy or unreliable and/or took liberties

Be aware that contracting usually means a fulltime gig Monday to Friday and working on site so dont expect to be working any other jobs at the same time. Getting renewed is the name of the game in contracting. Its how you earn your spurs as a hired gun.

it_consultant

itdaddy wrote: »

earweed




hahahahahaha ahha

I had never heard that one another good one is Obamination! haha
but Odumbo is my favorite ahahhahahahahaa ahaah

yep demcrats are going to mess it up taking away competition.

I have said why can't we make health care like car insurance. My policy is renewed every 6 months and once the 6 month contract is over I can pick any car insurance I want that gives me a good deal? why cant we do that with health care?
US has always had great health care noone is denied just a huge bill in return?
It is about the cost not the care? huh democrats? huh?

Like Rush Limbau said our health care is fantastic anyone in America will get the best health care it is just they charge so much in return. what we need is competition in health care not governemnt controlling what we do.

It is so obvious what to do....competition drives prices to be more fair and makes the big guys who want to rake us dry think 2x.

how governemnt is so stupid sometimes!...

Health insurance is not like car insurance because if you mess up your car the will just buy you a new one. If you get cancer you are quite literally a money hole. According to any other type of insurance you should just be put down to save from substantial losses.

Insurance is a ridiculous model for paying for health care, it flabbergasts me that no one can see this. In fact, our own country has only been doing this for a very short amount of time. Blue Cross / Blue Shield used to be non-profit risk pools designed to help working class people who got badly hurt. That ended during Nixon's term when the law was changed to allow and encourage for profit health insurance companies and HMOs.

it_consultant

gorebrush wrote: »

Have to agree with Scott, but I'm finding that this "one man fits all" approach is starting to get tiresome for me.

I have worked professionally in IT since 2004, and at the beginning of 2006 I got my first Systems Administrator gig. I loved it - I was the techie that everyone looked to for looking after the network. I think I learned more in those two years I was there than at any other job/cert/degree I've done. Nothing makes you learn better than two years in at the deep end.

I looked after 11 Windows 2000 servers, Exchange 2000 (Which I upgraded to 2003), networking, routers, the domain, everything. I even project managed, designed, co-ordinated an office move of 90 people, all the servers, computers, networking the lot.

I came here and within two years went from knowing very little about Cisco to being on my way to a CCIE.

You can learn so much from a job, but as I've been trying to move jobs, I'm finding that employers are starting to get greedy and ask for what is comparatively, an absolute shopping list of skills and no doubt I'll fail to get a job because somebody (amazingly) will have one or two more skills than me.

While I've enjoyed being a jack of all trades, I'm tired of it now - and would love to be able to walk into an environment where I am just doing one thing - Cisco. However, I don't think the job market is really catering for someone like me right now with the recession etc.

I think I seriously need to consider contracting - I have specific skill sets which I know I can market and offer as a service to many smaller businesses, and my wide range of skill sets mean I could potentially be marketable to many more single businesses as opposed to offering a single skill set to a smaller number.

I think I am starting to gain confidence about actually going out there and doing it - however while the going is good at my current permanent job (and that's another rant I'll save for another post), I'm racking up the CCIE hours and banking the money, making sure my bills are paid.

Some of this is our own fault. As technology has evolved it has become less dependent on constant administrator intervention. Most Windows servers I work on practically run themselves. Linux admins worth there salt have CRON jobs that do all the regular maintenance that used to be performed manually.

In IT today it is simply unacceptable to be too specialized. I have to be an expert in exchange AND firewalls AND spam filters, AND DNS. Why? Because all of those tools directly impact the sending and receiving of email. I am not going to be the one who says "Well, I configured your brand new Exchange server, now I am going to have to call the firewall guy to set up port forwarding etc".

Gore - the number of servers and users you are talking about can be reasonably supported by only one person with time left over. Thats the world we live in now.

westward

I was going to post a "what are the reality of entry level IT jobs for me in 6 months" thread..

I'll start by adding to this.

I had thought that me being generally useful in IT (but not yet specialized, as I have no job in the field) was not a good thing at all, but in a way it sounds like a few of you are saying is that, since any one specialty can often be partly automated, you need to fill 40 hours a week doing multiple things.

Those of you experienced in the field - would I be correct in saying that, compared to 10 years ago, more of your job (say in programming) is spent interacting with coworkers ABOUT the project at hand, and less is spent actually programming?

Using netbeans to program java for class, I see so much of the script happens automatically. It took me 50% of my time planning a "coin counter" script, 20% scripting it, and the rest just testing it.

PS: Just my thoughts as a soon-to-graduate person wondering why every job I see is "senior" this or "chief" that, and wondering who these senior chiefs are actually managing if there's no true entry level jobs....

Turgon

it_consultant wrote: »

Linux admins worth there salt have CRON jobs that do all the regular maintenance that used to be performed manually.

Unix admins have been doing this since the stone age. Its just a natural progression for it to be expected to happen on other platforms. Most large shops have tools teams dedicated to automation these days.

Turgon

westward wrote: »

I was going to post a "what are the reality of entry level IT jobs for me in 6 months" thread..

I'll start by adding to this.

I had thought that me being generally useful in IT (but not yet specialized, as I have no job in the field) was not a good thing at all, but in a way it sounds like a few of you are saying is that, since any one specialty can often be partly automated, you need to fill 40 hours a week doing multiple things.

Those of you experienced in the field - would I be correct in saying that, compared to 10 years ago, more of your job (say in programming) is spent interacting with coworkers ABOUT the project at hand, and less is spent actually programming?

Using netbeans to program java for class, I see so much of the script happens automatically. It took me 50% of my time planning a "coin counter" script, 20% scripting it, and the rest just testing it.

PS: Just my thoughts as a soon-to-graduate person wondering why every job I see is "senior" this or "chief" that, and wondering who these senior chiefs are actually managing if there's no true entry level jobs....

There are entry level jobs. The problem is lots of people want them, particularly college grads who didnt get the grades to get picked up and fast tracked by a large company. People who get fast tracked dont stay in helpdesk long if they go there at all. For the rest its the helpdesk route. But the opportunities to get in there are declining fast and are increasingly deskilled. If you get one, kudos, but spend only as much time there as it takes to get on and get out. Historically helpdesk jobs involved a bit of everything, but as IT has matured the dumbing down has taken over so many helpdesk jobs are very restrictive in terms of hands on exposure. There are exceptions but fewer as time goes by.

To answer your question, a lot of helpdesk requirement is outsourced or offshored so many of those roles are actually filled by someone somewhere in the world already. Companies need people who can work with and leverage that on at least a supervisory level as opposed to people who can 'do' that. The short term careers are in managerial responsibilities, or senior engineer at the operations level. In the long game it's in the design/architect space particularly roles that are close to the commercials of selling, winning, developing and protecting new business as opposed to merely delivering on someone's promise or busting a nut to prevent an SLA breach.

LoMo

This thread is a very good read. I've been in IT for just over four years and all of those have been Help Desk. I have found it incredibly difficult to get any type of hands-on position. They all want previous experience, of course.

Right now i'm working a job doing support for clinical applications at an Army hospital. Only took the job because I needed to start working again. I want to knock out some certs while I keep an eye out for something better.

ubermich

Relating to all of the posts about being a "jack of all trades," how do you advertise that you are or can be this without job experience? Using myself as an example, I messed up BAD 7 years ago. I took the Cisco CCNA course in high school, which includes a FREE CCNA exam at the end... I didn't go take the test. I could have also easily passed the A+ at that time... I didn't throw down the cash to go take the test. (Bottom line, I didn't want to work IT because my mom was a burnt-out IT professional who always complained about the job. I was going to school for engineering, because that was going to be sooo different! ) I started engineering school, then dropped out 2 years later because I figured out engineering wasn't going to be any different and I would never be confined to a desk! (Ah the fruits of youthful idealism.) So what did I do? I went to go work in a warehouse. After 2 months I went from packing boxes to driving a forklift. 1 year later I left to go work on cars. Without any schooling, I went from an apprentice to a full-blood tech in 6 months, ASE master certified in 2 years (had all of my tests done in 1 year, well before the 2 year experience min was met), and was almost GM World Class certified by the time I moved jobs 3.5 years in (another 3 months and I would have been the youngest GM World Class tech ever, my good friend holds that title instead). I transitioned to Lexus and was promoted in under 30 days. Received "Technician of the Quarter" 3 months later. The bottom line being, I can learn... fast, even if I don't have experience in that particular task or flavor (Lexus, Saab, and Cadillac are three very different beasts, never mind driving forklifts vs. serving food at a retirement home).
These things on a resume look like career-hopping, but really it's just looking for something more challenging or realizing I had reached the top of the ladder. I was never going to be anything more than a forklift driver at the warehouse, or grease monkey at the dealerships. So now I'm going back to take my certs and try to break into an IT career where things are always changing and I can help people. In my opinion, I have all of the right components as far as experience (hobby, small network maint @ the retirement home where I was in food service, CCNA course), customer service (food service, dealership customer interactions), time management (self-employed currently), drive (all of the above, illustrated by my desire to reach GM World Class, something very few techs ever do), and willingness to learn (all of the above). In others' opinions, I look like a job-hopper with no vision, no degree, and no work experience who will eat up a bunch of resources and provide no output.

I'm going to start trying with local computer shops, as suggested earlier in this thread, but really hope someone here has some insight into breaking the assumptions that come from topping out in multiple low-grade fields.

Also, back on the subject of braindumpz. Is this just the practice tests made up of questions people memorize while taking the actual test? If so, and if someone has studied (ie. read through Sybex, Meyers, built custom setups for decades, practiced less-common actions such as older versions of windows & command prompt), what is the harm in this? Noting, obviously, that this is not always the case and someone could just memorize answers and that would be ethically wrong.

Thanks!

fredlwal

Since companies are having a hard time to fill positions why don't they start apprenticeship programs in the IT field. Has anyone ever heard of apprenticeship program just for IT?

Turgon

fredlwal wrote: »

Since companies are having a hard time to fill positions why don't they start apprenticeship programs in the IT field. Has anyone ever heard of apprenticeship program just for IT?

Globalization and corporate policies will fill the positions by third party at home or overseas.

If people want long term careers in IT they have to start thinking strategically i.e 5 years hence. There will be no apprenticeships except for stellar graduates who will be on fasttrack careers and have no time to post on TE.

fredlwal

Turgon wrote: »

Globalization and corporate policies will fill the positions by third party at home or overseas.

If people want long term careers in IT they have to start thinking strategically i.e 5 years hence. There will be no apprenticeships except for stellar graduates who will be on fasttrack careers and have no time to post on TE.

Well, that means I have to keep my face in the books 24 hours a day with no life at all, just to stay up on new technology. I just read an article the other day that project managment is the best thing to move toward since all you do is make sure resources get the job done while you direct them for that short time.

beemwilliam

You know Nurses used to make chicken feed wage years back? Now a good experienced nurse in California can make around 40.00 greenbacks an hr. It appears to be all about demand and supply. Its very difficult to break into this field with no experience. Ive seen eight to ten greenback an helpline support roles requiring an A+ authorization and two to three years knowledge.

Turgon

fredlwal wrote: »

Well, that means I have to keep my face in the books 24 hours a day with no life at all, just to stay up on new technology. I just read an article the other day that project managment is the best thing to move toward since all you do is make sure resources get the job done while you direct them for that short time.

Lots of people have moved into project management and the pay isn't always great. Projects also require budget which is often squeezed in a tough economy. We find companies like to employ experienced project managers as opposed to newbies. An exception is the person employed in a different role within the large organisation who gets moved sideways into PM. This is not always seen as a career move. Look at positioning yourself into a strategic role as an architect 5 years hence if technology interests you.

factory81

I work at a managed I.T. firm, that is basically an outsourcer of I.T. departments.

Because of this we are expected to all have a niche per say. Don't get me wrong, you can still be an MCITP:EA and study for your VCP, but some people strictly hold their jobs because they are the go-to guy in their field for certain things. E.G. One small team of people had to become CCNP:Voice certified so we could become a premiere Cisco voice partner.

Classroom A/V guy
We have a small team of Cisco engineers
MCITP's are typically taking care of clients either remotely or on-site
We have a datacenter team
We have a few VCP/MCITP:EA's


Then we get in to the infrastructure of things and we literally have a cabling department, a CAD designer, a guy who works with our engineers to draw up network diagrams, and so on until you reach a 70 person I.T. team.


In fact one of the arguments you can make all day is how can your 1 or...2 50k/yr admins be as smart as our 70 person+ highly certified engineers. But many businesses we take care of are just large enough that they can't justify 50k+ a year for one individual who has failed to meet their needs in the past in every area. So why not put up a 25k/yr retainer with this company here....


I think desktop support roles are becoming harder to find with better admins, and more proactive/better management software. Kids leave high school with A+, N+, and CCNA's around here. I kid you not, numerous high schools have I.T. programs and I have seen 17 year olds with CCNA's and A+ certs paid for by the state. With that being said, you can imagine just how diluted this job field is. DST's are literally driving everywhere and calling everyone all the time. It isn't even a fun job once the pressure is put on you to do X amount in a given day because we are spreading everyone too thin.

factory81

ubermich wrote: »

Relating to all of the posts about being a "jack of all trades," how do you advertise that you are or can be this without job experience? Using myself as an example, I messed up BAD 7 years ago. I took the Cisco CCNA course in high school, which includes a FREE CCNA exam at the end... I didn't go take the test. I could have also easily passed the A+ at that time... I didn't throw down the cash to go take the test. (Bottom line, I didn't want to work IT because my mom was a burnt-out IT professional who always complained about the job. I was going to school for engineering, because that was going to be sooo different! ) I started engineering school, then dropped out 2 years later because I figured out engineering wasn't going to be any different and I would never be confined to a desk! (Ah the fruits of youthful idealism.) So what did I do? I went to go work in a warehouse. After 2 months I went from packing boxes to driving a forklift. 1 year later I left to go work on cars. Without any schooling, I went from an apprentice to a full-blood tech in 6 months, ASE master certified in 2 years (had all of my tests done in 1 year, well before the 2 year experience min was met), and was almost GM World Class certified by the time I moved jobs 3.5 years in (another 3 months and I would have been the youngest GM World Class tech ever, my good friend holds that title instead). I transitioned to Lexus and was promoted in under 30 days. Received "Technician of the Quarter" 3 months later. The bottom line being, I can learn... fast, even if I don't have experience in that particular task or flavor (Lexus, Saab, and Cadillac are three very different beasts, never mind driving forklifts vs. serving food at a retirement home).
These things on a resume look like career-hopping, but really it's just looking for something more challenging or realizing I had reached the top of the ladder. I was never going to be anything more than a forklift driver at the warehouse, or grease monkey at the dealerships. So now I'm going back to take my certs and try to break into an IT career where things are always changing and I can help people. In my opinion, I have all of the right components as far as experience (hobby, small network maint @ the retirement home where I was in food service, CCNA course), customer service (food service, dealership customer interactions), time management (self-employed currently), drive (all of the above, illustrated by my desire to reach GM World Class, something very few techs ever do), and willingness to learn (all of the above). In others' opinions, I look like a job-hopper with no vision, no degree, and no work experience who will eat up a bunch of resources and provide no output.

I'm going to start trying with local computer shops, as suggested earlier in this thread, but really hope someone here has some insight into breaking the assumptions that come from topping out in multiple low-grade fields.

Also, back on the subject of braindumpz. Is this just the practice tests made up of questions people memorize while taking the actual test? If so, and if someone has studied (ie. read through Sybex, Meyers, built custom setups for decades, practiced less-common actions such as older versions of windows & command prompt), what is the harm in this? Noting, obviously, that this is not always the case and someone could just memorize answers and that would be ethically wrong.

Thanks!

Go work at a small ISP in their help desk. Then study for your CCNA using all their equipment laying around. Then once their current admin gets a better job (as they always seem to do), just apply for that position. You will demonstrate your knowledge by answering those phones day in and day out. Especially if you start to support businesses.

gorebrush

Turgon wrote: »

Most large shops have tools teams dedicated to automation these days.

Since my last post in this thread, I've actually become one of the above, Deputy Team Lead in fact.............

rob7278

Project Management can be a very rewarding position, however I wouldn't recommend that you decide to go in that direction if you are doing so because you perceive it to be an easy laid back job - project management is the opposite of an easy laid back job. While I have never been a Project Manager in IT, I was previously a Project Manager for a construction contractor. You are the point man/woman on a project - accountable for scheduling work/resources, accountable for the work getting completed, for the quality of the work, ensuring materials are ordered and available when needed, etc. You need to develop very tough skin because - if the project gets behind schedule - you are taking the heat, over budget - you are taking the heat, the workers you are overseeing do a poor job - you are taking the heat; basically anything and everything that ever goes wrong on a project and - you are the one that is going to get yelled at. So if you are not good at taking the heat for other peoples mistakes, this would not be a good job for you. I couldn't stand always getting yelled at by angry clients for other peoples screw ups, so I changed careers and got into IT - best move I ever made; I had to take a monster pay cut initially - Project Managers do typically make very good money, but in my opinion they earn every penny.

Dsmith81

I have a great deal of self taught IT experience from building and troubleshooting systems and networks, to web development, to software development. I have worked in retail management for 10 years and most recently in project management for construction installations. I have decided that I want to earn my living doing something that I love and that is IT, anything and everything IT. I know it's going to be tough to break in since I don't have formal experience, but I plan to pursue an MBA after my BSIT that way if I can't find a job doing what I want to in IT, I will be better qualified to work in a different area until I can.

halflife78

Wow, I just found this site after forever and didn't realize my original thread was still stickied. Hope this helped a few people over the years, I may need to give an update on where I am now since this.

superjerelman

halflife78 wrote: »

Wow, I just found this site after forever and didn't realize my original thread was still stickied. Hope this helped a few people over the years, I may need to give an update on where I am now since this.

Please Do!

cmoney21

I have just begun to look for a new IT position, in the Seattle area. Does anyone have any suggestions?

nettetech

It is really a great help for the students who still taking up IT related courses like me.:)
But what is the specific job position that freshly IT graduates can apply for?

TexNolan

halflife78 wrote: »

Wow, I just found this site after forever and didn't realize my original thread was still stickied. Hope this helped a few people over the years, I may need to give an update on where I am now since this.

As of today I just found this site, and it has helped on a few things, but lot's of info is from years ago. So what is the standing of IT today? I am asking because being a laborer for more then 30 years and not being able to keep up with the young wip'r snap'rs, I have considered getting Cisco Certification.

Someone said CompTia A+, but that will get you $10 an hour, I'm at $20 an hour now. Need to improve my work environment, what's yours or y'alls suggestions?