Not so sure anymore...

I was enrolled at New England Institute of Technology for Network Engineering. I loved it at first, then I started taking night classes while working 4/5-12pm at my old job.

I still did well, just hated the night classes. Then, I started working 8-5 & night classes. I would work 8-5 M-F then class 545-930 M-F. I got burnt out, since it was accelerated learning w/ 10 week quarters, I just couldn't concentrate in class because I was falling asleep. (I get up at 530am to be in work for 8am)

So I'm going back to community college to finish my associates... IT Support Specialist. I plan to get my Bachelor's. Just not sure if I want to go into just Computer Science or Computer Information Systems,( I want to be a MIS) or something completely not related. I do help desk now, & I like it some days, but most of the time I have 0 to do. There's also other reasons why I dislike it so much, but this is my first real job/IT job. It's almost to the point where I feel like IT isn't for me, but I love computers & technology so much.

I guess I'm just confused on which career path to take. I have a hard time learning networking, but that could be because it was introduced via Cisco originally with a really bad teacher. There's also personal reasons that I can't concentrate that will be taken care of before I start school in the Fall.

Anyone else go through this sort of thing?

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Comments

nel

i know how you feel man, im in a similar job position in terms of how you feel. i also do uni PT aswell whilst i work FT.

It sounds like you know what you are interested in (MIS) so do a degree related to that! im about to wrap up my bsc and i know i am interested in net infrastructure so im going to do some cisco stuff to lead down that road. it would be of little interest to you doing networking at the moment when your trying to forge a career in mis. So choose which one and go for it.

From what you say, im not suprised your burning out. i would suggest taking less classes etc and spread them over a longer amount of time otherwise you might not see/feel the benefit from them.

also remember...its not a sprint, its a marathon

dynamik

Yes. I work and attend school full-time while still studying for my certs. It can really wear you down. Whenever I'm feeling worn out I just remember that there are other people doing the same thing and they have kids. That makes me feel like what I'm doing is easy.

Cisco can be a lot to take in. Don't get discouraged because that didn't click right away. Also, while you need to have a decent understanding of networking for pretty much anything you'll do, you don't need to be a Cisco guru to succeed in IT. You may enjoy things like administering Sharepoint and Exchange a great deal more. If you have your heart set on the Cisco route, maybe start with something less intimidating first, such as the Network+.

Finally, don't base an IT career off your help desk position. I believe the consensus is that those types of jobs suck, but they are usually a necessary step when getting started in IT. Keep gaining experience and learning, and you'll have your ideal job before you know it. Believe me, I know how easy it is to get discouraged, especially when you're doing self-study. That's why it's important to stay involved with things like this forum. This site has really kept me on track over this last year; it's unfortunate that I didn't stumble across it sooner.

Hang in there. You'll get where you want to be sooner than you think.

edit: Nel, she's not a man

nel

Finally, don't base an IT career off your help desk position. I believe the consensus is that those types of jobs suck, but they are usually a necessary step when getting started in IT. Keep gaining experience and learning, and you'll have your ideal job before you know it. Believe me, I know how easy it is to get discouraged, especially when you're doing self-study. That's why it's important to stay involved with things like this forum. This site has really kept me on track over this last year; it's unfortunate that I didn't stumble across it sooner.

That is an excellent point dynamik.

edit: Nel, she's not a man icon_wink.gif

ooops, my mistake, sorry!

hetty

Im totally for self-study, you can fit around your lifestyle and you can do it in spurts and take time off from it as well when you are just not in the mood. And you’re not completely reliant on an employer to give you the training to move your career along also. I agree with Nel & Dynamik. Like Nel says, if its what you want to do and your in IT for the long haul then its not a sprint. You just cant learn everything overnight. Sometimes stuff doesnt click straight away, like Dynamik was saying. But when you come back to it or you practice with it in a lab. You sometimes wonder what you found so hard in the first place. It just took a little time to understand what was going on.

If you look at it this way. If you can set yourself a goal of x number of pages a day. Multiply that by the number of days in the year monday to friday. That gives you a total number of pages you can read in a year. So if x was 20 pages, multiple that by 260 days (52x5 M-F) that equals 5200 pages. Thats a lot of information over a year. Thats easily a few books and certifications of your choice. Obviously you may not be in the mood to read or too busy some days but if you could keep up an average, maybe catch up on weekends if you missed out during the week or something. Multiply that over a few years and you wont know yourself.

royal

There's some consultants that I work with and they were trained by our company to get their MCSE and have limited experience working on real server technology. They were mostly in help desk position. When they finished training, they were due for a raise. They were expecting pretty high raises because, "They have 4 years of experience in IT." That's 4 years in help desk, not 4 years in server technology which is quite different. Don't count help desk as IT experience. As dynamik stated, it's just necessary to go through to really start getting your IT experience.

vCole

dynamik wrote:

If you have your heart set on the Cisco route, maybe start with something less intimidating first, such as the Network+.

I didn't have my heart set on the Cisco route. That's all my college offered for networking.

famosbrown

royal wrote:

There's some consultants that I work with and they were trained by our company to get their MCSE and have limited experience working on real server technology. They were mostly in help desk position. When they finished training, they were due for a raise. They were expecting pretty high raises because, "They have 4 years of experience in IT." That's 4 years in help desk, not 4 years in server technology which is quite different. Don't count help desk as IT experience. As dynamik stated, it's just necessary to go through to really start getting your IT experience.

Exactly...this is a great point made by Royal. Many say that you need experience before getting that Network/Systems Admin/Engineer job, but you can't get it unless someone gives you an opportunity to get it first.

Take advantage of the extra time you have at work self-studying for additional certifications and maybe even some college. Your certifications/education will land you that interview, and then you have to prove that you are worth the opportunity. Strive to learn the material rather than just getting the certification, and you will find yourself doing more than Help Desk in no time!!

vCole

famosbrown wrote:

royal wrote:

There's some consultants that I work with and they were trained by our company to get their MCSE and have limited experience working on real server technology. They were mostly in help desk position. When they finished training, they were due for a raise. They were expecting pretty high raises because, "They have 4 years of experience in IT." That's 4 years in help desk, not 4 years in server technology which is quite different. Don't count help desk as IT experience. As dynamik stated, it's just necessary to go through to really start getting your IT experience.

Exactly...this is a great point made by Royal. Many say that you need experience before getting that Network/Systems Admin/Engineer job, but you can't get it unless someone gives you an opportunity to get it first.

Take advantage of the extra time you have at work self-studying for additional certifications and maybe even some college. Your certifications/education will land you that interview, and then you have to prove that you are worth the opportunity. Strive to learn the material rather than just getting the certification, and you will find yourself doing more than Help Desk in no time!!

Unfortunately I don't have a ton of extra time. Weekends are spent with my girlfriend since she goes to college almost 2 hours away and I just became an Aunt 2 months ago.

royal

famosbrown wrote:

royal wrote:

There's some consultants that I work with and they were trained by our company to get their MCSE and have limited experience working on real server technology. They were mostly in help desk position. When they finished training, they were due for a raise. They were expecting pretty high raises because, "They have 4 years of experience in IT." That's 4 years in help desk, not 4 years in server technology which is quite different. Don't count help desk as IT experience. As dynamik stated, it's just necessary to go through to really start getting your IT experience.

Exactly...this is a great point made by Royal. Many say that you need experience before getting that Network/Systems Admin/Engineer job, but you can't get it unless someone gives you an opportunity to get it first.

Take advantage of the extra time you have at work self-studying for additional certifications and maybe even some college. Your certifications/education will land you that interview, and then you have to prove that you are worth the opportunity. Strive to learn the material rather than just getting the certification, and you will find yourself doing more than Help Desk in no time!!

A good example of this is my situation. When I went through college, it was mostly Cisco focused. I had a Windows class or two, but the instructor wasn't all that knowledgeable and I ended up helping most of the students. I also studied server technology on my own, and my current job hired me even with no help desk experience because they saw I took it on my own to get some Microsoft certifications, A+, Network+, and had great referrals from professors.

Because of that, I bypassed help desk, got hired for consulting, and got trained by my company and they got me my MCSE.

So what I'm saying is, work hard during college, study hard, try to do an internship or if try to do some server stuff at work if you currently hold an IT position, and then you may just get your big break. And if you don't, it'll come sooner than most due to your already existing knowledge.

vCole

I'm just having a hard time staying focused.

AlexMR

FadeToBright wrote:

I'm just having a hard time staying focused.

If somebody told you it was going to be easy they lied to you. Get yourself together and kick ass!!!

sprkymrk

FadeToBright wrote:

I'm just having a hard time staying focused.

That happens to all of us, for instance... uhhhm... Hang on, I forgot what I was going to say.

:P

vCole

Also hating my job doesn't help.

nel

FadeToBright wrote:

Also hating my job doesn't help.

everyone gets like that at some stage.

i like to read success stories....just to keep me going.

cisco_trooper

Don't forget to give yourself a break every once in a while.

I'm studying for the CCNP BSCI and have gone through ALL of the material and then some. When it came time to review I had had enough and decided not to touch it for a couple weeks, and I didn't. Now I'm feeling a bit refreshed and will be able to focus.

No one can go 100% effort 100% of the time. Downtime is crucial to retention.

Best of luck.

vCole

Work is horrible because of my coworker. He likes to belittle me & take over my projects/jobs.

I've already talked to my manager about it. I practically sit at my desk all day & do nothing. I'd much rather be extremely busy then bored to tears.

shednik

Dynamik wrote:

Yes. I work and attend school full-time while still studying for my certs. It can really wear you down. Whenever I'm feeling worn out I just remember that there are other people doing the same thing and they have kids. That makes me feel like what I'm doing is easy.

All last year I worked a full time Desktop Support/Jr Sys Admin role while taking 12-15 credits at my university. With a new born and my six year old step son life wasn't easy for myself and my wife, but I knew things would get better after I finished this past December. I was right about a week after I finished I received an offer for a great company. Yes there were many times I felt extremely burnt out and wanted to give up, but I knew there were good things to come. thats what kept me going.

FadeToBright wrote:

Work is horrible because of my coworker. He likes to belittle me & take over my projects/jobs.

I've already talked to my manager about it. I practically sit at my desk all day & do nothing. I'd much rather be extremely busy then bored to tears.

Not to sound rude of come off really harsh but we've all had horrible jobs it's the bottom jobs that are the worst and you have to push through and work your way up. You don't have to let him take over your projects, and if you don't have work to do all the time speak with your boss about it. Ask for some extra work or anything that could be done to make the place more efficient. It may end up being BS work but it will show your boss you're going out of your way to do a great job. if he doesn't have much other work for you see if there is any training material to take advantage of, or bring in a book and take advantage of the down time. I know in my first position any down time I was able to study or read as long as the job go done.

Just my 2 cents

cisco_trooper

FadeToBright wrote:

Work is horrible because of my coworker. He likes to belittle me & take over my projects/jobs.

I've already talked to my manager about it. I practically sit at my desk all day & do nothing. I'd much rather be extremely busy then bored to tears.

Sounds like it is time to move on. If you are sitting there you aren't getting the experience that is going to get you where you want to go. Jump ship as fast as possible.

People need to realize a job is only a job. You can't take it to your grave, nor should you want to.

vCole

shednik wrote:

Not to sound rude of come off really harsh but we've all had horrible jobs it's the bottom jobs that are the worst and you have to push through and work your way up. You don't have to let him take over your projects, and if you don't have work to do all the time speak with your boss about it. Ask for some extra work or anything that could be done to make the place more efficient. It may end up being BS work but it will show your boss you're going out of your way to do a great job. if he doesn't have much other work for you see if there is any training material to take advantage of, or bring in a book and take advantage of the down time. I know in my first position any down time I was able to study or read as long as the job go done.

Just my 2 cents

I've asked my boss, we've had countless talks about it. It's hard being female & only 21, when your coworker is 27 & male with a ton more experience then myself. It's hard not to let him take things over & my boss knows this. It's not like I can get away either, we share an office.

shednik

FadeToBright wrote:

I've asked my boss, we've had countless talks about it. It's hard being female & only 21, when your coworker is 27 & male with a ton more experience then myself. It's hard not to let him take things over & my boss knows this. It's not like I can get away either, we share an office.

Well if your boss doesn't want to give you work look into the training material and take advantage of that until you can find something better. I would start looking and trying to find a new job though like CT suggested it just doesn't sound like a good situation there.

RATTLERMAN

YOU have to hang on in there... find something to motivate yourself.

At 21 the world is your oyster.. listen to what the other posters said.

Dont let anyone or anything stop you from what you want to do.

DONT GIVE UP

HeroPsycho

Hey, if the dude is taking your projects, you need to bust him on it.

The reality is it is your boss's best interest to stop your co-worker for a variety of reasons:

A. It's gonna make you leave.
B. Your boss is letting your co-worker gather the entire keys to the kingdom, and no one is going to be able to manage anything because he did everything. Your boss is insane to let that happen.
C. Your boss is your manager. He needs to get off his butt and do his job. If he agrees that your co-worker doing everything is bad for the company, he needs to stop that, and it's your job to inform him of when it's happening. But his inaction makes him a bad manager.

With all that said, and I don't mean to sound rough on you, but you need to stand up for yourself and be confident in your abilities. If you're competent to handle these projects, and he's taking the projects away from you, you need to stand up for yourself and your career. None of this "I'm only 21" and "he's got more experience than I do". This is your career and livelihood at stake. Don't let this guy railroad you.

Don't get me wrong, you need to pick your battles sometimes, but someone stunting your career growth is a battle you must fight. Be respectful, but clear and firm that it's not acceptable.

sthomas

FadeToBright wrote:

shednik wrote:

Not to sound rude of come off really harsh but we've all had horrible jobs it's the bottom jobs that are the worst and you have to push through and work your way up. You don't have to let him take over your projects, and if you don't have work to do all the time speak with your boss about it. Ask for some extra work or anything that could be done to make the place more efficient. It may end up being BS work but it will show your boss you're going out of your way to do a great job. if he doesn't have much other work for you see if there is any training material to take advantage of, or bring in a book and take advantage of the down time. I know in my first position any down time I was able to study or read as long as the job go done.

Just my 2 cents

I've asked my boss, we've had countless talks about it. It's hard being female & only 21, when your coworker is 27 & male with a ton more experience then myself. It's hard not to let him take things over & my boss knows this. It's not like I can get away either, we share an office.

Like others have said it is time to move on. Your helpdesk experience will help a lot. I would start looking at Desktop Support/Jr. Sys Admin positions at this point. And of course using your downtime at your current job to get certified while looking for another position is a good idea.

hetty

I would say tag along on those jobs if you can, but if you dont get on with each other, study for certs as much as you can, while maybe looking for something better, like shednik and others have suggested. I agree with HeroPsycho. No excuses for bad treatment, he might have more experience but its not right to exclude you out on jobs. If you cant bag some good tasks to do and that doesnt change id look for somewhere else.

shednik

I'll be honest with you I looked for a long time trying to find a new job it got depressing at time, but I made sure I was still going after certifications and just learning all I could overall. I did get lucky and land a great job but I have to say out of all the members on my team at my last job they all wanted to get better paying jobs and better work. None of them did anything about it and the other one that did left and got a new job as well. So you have to work hard, learn everything you can, a little bit of luck and a good interview thats when things will get better. You need to make your career what it is and it won't happen over night I'm only 22 and am a Network Analyst for a huge company with 170+ in North America alone. So I wish you the best of luck and let us know if we can help along the way.