What do I qualify for?

Ok so I am just wondering what you guys think that I qualify for. I am starting to send out resumes around Boston and want to know what jobs to go for.

* 2 years experience

-1 year PC tech at a consulting company
-1 year help desk internship at a respected insurance company

* Associates degree in information technology

* CCNA cert

Any information would be helpful.

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Comments

astorrs

Are you asking what kind of job you would qualify for or do you have one in mind and want to know what an appropriate salary is?

tbenson340719

I guess I would feel comfortable starting out in help desk (either I or II) but not sure how much to ask for in terms of salary (keep Boston in mind).

Mishra

I would shoot for the most responsibilities and not worry about salary.

CCNA is usually a shoe in for a NOC job around here. Might be a good place to start if you are looking to go into networking.

nicklauscombs

with your diploma, experience and CCNA cert you should easily be able to land an upper level help desk position or lower level network tech/admin position. Also if you have any IT friends in the area it may be easy to come up with an average salary range for the jobs you apply for. Might be worth it for you to pursue a few other certs (A+, Net+, Microsoft, etc..) to help you stand out.

tbenson340719

Another thing I am worried about is my age. I just turned 20 recently and fear that employers will look down upon my age (not that they would know). Most of the people that I have worked with are in their upper 20's mid thirties and its kind of intimidating.

snadam

tbenson340719 wrote:

Another thing I am worried about is my age. I just turned 20 recently and fear that employers will look down upon my age (not that they would know). Most of the people that I have worked with are in their upper 20's mid thirties and its kind of intimidating.

dont feel bad. I started when I was 19, and easily was the youngest person in the company by 10 years (actually, Im still one of the youngest at 24). As long as you cooperate with the 'elders', you should be fine. Personally, I think its a great experience builder in the maturity category. Youll be 20 something and know how to communicate with people double your age. Thats hard to do; especially in tech talk.

blargoe

Mishra wrote:

I would shoot for the most responsibilities and not worry about salary.

CCNA is usually a shoe in for a NOC job around here. Might be a good place to start if you are looking to go into networking.

+1

At this point in your career, if you worry too much about making as much money as possible you'll probably miss the boat in potential skills development that will pay off in the longer term.

liven

blargoe wrote:

Mishra wrote:

I would shoot for the most responsibilities and not worry about salary.

CCNA is usually a shoe in for a NOC job around here. Might be a good place to start if you are looking to go into networking.

+1

At this point in your career, if you worry too much about making as much money as possible you'll probably miss the boat in potential skills development that will pay off in the longer term.

+1 and then a +1 for the first +1.

Have you ever worked in an office or dealt with customers that were not your friends? That is a skill set in its own wright.

You got to start somewhere, and if you have no experience it will be hard to start making 50k out of the gate. The first job is usually the worst pay and responsibility wise, but if you work hard you will prove yourself and people will notice it. If not move on, but not untill you have more marks on your resume.

You have a good base, now get some experience and see where that takes you!

paintb4707

snadam wrote:

tbenson340719 wrote:

Another thing I am worried about is my age. I just turned 20 recently and fear that employers will look down upon my age (not that they would know). Most of the people that I have worked with are in their upper 20's mid thirties and its kind of intimidating.

dont feel bad. I started when I was 19, and easily was the youngest person in the company by 10 years (actually, Im still one of the youngest at 24). As long as you cooperate with the 'elders', you should be fine. Personally, I think its a great experience builder in the maturity category. Youll be 20 something and know how to communicate with people double your age. Thats hard to do; especially in tech talk.

Agreed.

Don't worry about age. I'm the Admin for my company and I'm actually 19 myself. Easily the youngest employee of the entire company. The first impression is killer at such a young age. When I first started my employment I knew that most people didn't like me. It's like what the hell is this kid doing here? He probably doesn't know anything.

When you're working in a corporate environment at such a young age, be prepared to step it up a notch. The dress code here is casual... however I still wear slacks and a button down to work every day so that my co-workers would take me seriously.

As time went on and my co-workers learned more about me outside of the "ignorant kid" stereotype, they grew to like me a lot. People that I thought I would never get along with ended up being some of the nicest people I've ever met.

RapidFire

paintb4707 wrote:

snadam wrote:

tbenson340719 wrote:

Another thing I am worried about is my age. I just turned 20 recently and fear that employers will look down upon my age (not that they would know). Most of the people that I have worked with are in their upper 20's mid thirties and its kind of intimidating.

dont feel bad. I started when I was 19, and easily was the youngest person in the company by 10 years (actually, Im still one of the youngest at 24). As long as you cooperate with the 'elders', you should be fine. Personally, I think its a great experience builder in the maturity category. Youll be 20 something and know how to communicate with people double your age. Thats hard to do; especially in tech talk.

Agreed.

Don't worry about age. I'm the Admin for my company and I'm actually 19 myself. Easily the youngest employee of the entire company. The first impression is killer at such a young age. When I first started my employment I knew that most people didn't like me. It's like what the hell is this kid doing here? He probably doesn't know anything.

When you're working in a corporate environment at such a young age, be prepared to step it up a notch. The dress code here is casual... however I still wear slacks and a button down to work every day so that my co-workers would take me seriously.

As time went on and my co-workers learned more about me outside of the "ignorant kid" stereotype, they grew to like me a lot. People that I thought I would never get along with ended up being some of the nicest people I've ever met.

How did you get that job! Like did you goto college? Work exp? Cause I'll be graduating HS the 30th and Id like to achieve what you have.

paintb4707

RapidFire wrote:

paintb4707 wrote:

snadam wrote:

tbenson340719 wrote:

Another thing I am worried about is my age. I just turned 20 recently and fear that employers will look down upon my age (not that they would know). Most of the people that I have worked with are in their upper 20's mid thirties and its kind of intimidating.

dont feel bad. I started when I was 19, and easily was the youngest person in the company by 10 years (actually, Im still one of the youngest at 24). As long as you cooperate with the 'elders', you should be fine. Personally, I think its a great experience builder in the maturity category. Youll be 20 something and know how to communicate with people double your age. Thats hard to do; especially in tech talk.

Agreed.

Don't worry about age. I'm the Admin for my company and I'm actually 19 myself. Easily the youngest employee of the entire company. The first impression is killer at such a young age. When I first started my employment I knew that most people didn't like me. It's like what the hell is this kid doing here? He probably doesn't know anything.

When you're working in a corporate environment at such a young age, be prepared to step it up a notch. The dress code here is casual... however I still wear slacks and a button down to work every day so that my co-workers would take me seriously.

As time went on and my co-workers learned more about me outside of the "ignorant kid" stereotype, they grew to like me a lot. People that I thought I would never get along with ended up being some of the nicest people I've ever met.

How did you get that job! Like did you goto college? Work exp? Cause I'll be graduating HS the 30th and Id like to achieve what you have.

I found the job posting through an online career fair from my school portal. I was actually hesitant at first... the job title was intimidating and I thought I wouldn't have a chance. Keep in mind, I only had about 7 months of help desk experience at the time and in middle of pursuing an associates. Turns out I was exactly what they were looking for, someone either in middle of a degree or freshly graduated with minimal experience and intention to learn on the way.

Taught me a valuable lesson. If you see a job posting that strikes you, just go for it. If you don't apply then you would never know if you could have got the job. The admin experience I'm gaining at such an early stage of my career is priceless and I'm thankful every day for it.