Tech. Support for 4 years

anthony113

Did I make a bad decision staying for 4 years as a tech support agent??
I want to move on to higher position ( system ad or network admin) and somehow I wondered why did I stay too long on my job. I have an exam next week on another company and now Im cramming.
Things my current job didn't thought me like MS SQL, IP routing, Linux, shell scripting etc.. I'm not getting any younger , 28 y/o .

keenon

honestly i would say it depends on what your plan was for yourself (if you had any when you got this job)... if it was to do better financially (make alot of money)or career wise(get a good title).. ( well u know the answer).... if this (meaning your current job) was what u liked and money was fine i would say no... to get to net admin or sys admin job anything close to 1 year is enough to get you in the door as a jr. admin, to be honest trying to cram for a new job to get the skills is a catch 22 ( why do i say that is b/c some of the materials may cover things you can run into or have to do on a day to day but the other side is (well you know) the stuff the book can't teach that can be a very bad thing especially if its in a production environment and it needs to be back up for it goes down. i say make the best of a bad situation study what you need to and i have always made it a point to let an employer pay me to study when there is nothing to do

sab4you

A potential employeer could easily wonder why you stayed 4 years in this position - do you lack incentive? are you not a hard worker? No inspiration or desire to grow? (these types of things will come into a potential employeer mind, I am not asking you for these answers).

If your goal is to advance in the computer industry, I would recommend all new tech support people to try and do it for 1 year and then work on moving up. You have to put your time in, but yes 4 years is way too much if your goal is advancement.

But its never too late. You now realize you wish to move up in your career so thats all you need - take your time and move yourself up.

Look at the job you want to move into. Look realistically in something you can do. It doesnt mean you can do it now, but something you can possibly learn and do. Whatever skills you are missing, now is the time to spend working on it.

If the jobs you want are looking for somebody MCSE certified then work on that ASAP. There are many lazy ones out there and I nor employeers care for them. If your busy, you can make time - its an investment in yourself and future. Best tip for the certification studier is to always have your book with you. This way at any downtime you can pop it open and study. Also, lunchtimes were key for my first certification to get me started. At work, lunch, I would leave to my car and simply read for 1/2 hour - 1 hour a day. You can get alot done even in short periods, or you can let 4 years pass by like nothing.

Glad to see you awakening, now is the time to get grinding. You can do it if you want to. Good luck.

viper75

Dude...I do the same thing. I carry my Sybex CCNA book with me everywhere I go at work. I also keep the CCNA FlashCrads book by Ciscopress in my car so that way I can get some more studying every time I'm stuck in traffic.

sab4you wrote:

Best tip for the certification studier is to always have your book with you. This way at any downtime you can pop it open and study. Also, lunchtimes were key for my first certification to get me started. At work, lunch, I would leave to my car and simply read for 1/2 hour - 1 hour a day.

anthony113

thx for all your input !!! I'm actually enjoying my studies. I sometimes sleep at around 4am surfing the net looking for good reading materials aside from techexams of course. It's a great feeling learning new things.
Wish me luck!!

jasoninaz

Actually, if you love what you do than I would not say its a waste of time. I have been in the same position for three years. I was a contractor and then I went full time and then I got the second level position at my desk.
I teach other people on my desk about networking and some troubleshooting issues.

I have a business on the side that I do really well with also. Get your certs I have been lazy getting mine because of daily life stuff. I've started to get back in the grove to certs. But I've come to realize that I need to also go back to school for my degree.

Education is best.

Goodnight

JOblessELement

Check out this job position: http://jobs.careerone.com.au/search/dsp_show_job.cfm?ad_id=1357126&ref=idg

Look at the list of key functions. They forgot to thrown in 'be able to live off an hour of sleep a day'.

Crazy ****.

mikedeek

LOL i wouldnt even know how to start my day...maybe 3 cups of coffee cause its gonig to be a long one