IT Specializations

sagewalkinthere

Hey guys,

I was thinking about career specializations and how the market is flooded with general IT people. I mean, pc maintenance and networking guys are a dime-a-dozen. It's way too easy to find a MCSE or a CCNA that is willing to work for like $10/hour. What kinds of things have you done to set yourself apart from the rest of the crowd, to specialize and make yourself more marketable?

Megadeth4168

Wow... It's either the area you are in or you are talking about people with little to no work experience. Even in my great state where unemployment is hovering around 12%, I see all sorts of jobs for MCSE's and CCNA's for good wages!

I don't think I've met an MCSE making $10 per hour... Everyone I know personally, who has an MCSE also has a good number of years in the industry.

Although I've met some people with just a CCNA making closer to that amount. Those people were all right out of the networking academy though. Give them a year or 2 of real world experience and their value goes up quite a bit.

Anyway, my goal is to keep pushing my self hard in all aspect of IT. I think these days it's becoming more important than ever to have skill sets in a number of technologies from a number of vendors.

dynamik

Learn complementary technologies that are more in demand.

brad-

sagewalkinthere wrote: »

Hey guys,

I was thinking about career specializations and how the market is flooded with general IT people. I mean, pc maintenance and networking guys are a dime-a-dozen. It's way too easy to find a MCSE or a CCNA that is willing to work for like $10/hour. What kinds of things have you done to set yourself apart from the rest of the crowd, to specialize and make yourself more marketable?

If that is the case in Dallas, then you should consider moving. Its not like that in the south, I can say that.

sagewalkinthere

Sorry, that was an exaggeration. My point is that there are plenty of jobs here in Dallas for MCSE's that only pay $40 - $50k. I guess that's ok, but realistically, it would be hard to raise a family on $40k.

I was really just looking for what people had done to set themselves apart.

sagewalkinthere

brad- wrote: »

If that is the case in Dallas, then you should consider moving. Its not like that in the south, I can say that.

Sorry, but I have to point this out: Dallas = not in the south?

LarryDaMan

A good idea is to browse the popular job boards like Find Jobs. Build a Better Career. Find Your Calling. | Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com Jobs - The Largest Job Search, Employment & Careers Site and Dice.com - Job Search for Technology Professionals and Yahoo! HotJobs - Thousands of jobs. Find the right one. and craigslist classifieds: jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, events, forums

You can see first hand how much these positions are paying are what skills employers are looking for. Nothing is ever as bad as it seems and some things are too good to be true. Do some research, but don't expect any certification to guarantee you a great position.