Promising IT fields?

Just wondering if there are any promising IT fields out there which are non-Cisco and don't require a formal college degree? Preferrably something that can be obtained through self-study.

I had wondered about computer programming (among other things), but I imagine that most employers - if they require a programmer - will require a college degree in that particular discipline.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

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Comments

wweboy

I think anything in the IT is self study. That in my opinion is the great thing about this field but its another thing trying to justify your pay or reasons you should be hired by a manager.

By no means am I saying you need to get a college degree or anything I think if you work hard on your certfications and what not and prove you know hte stuff you should find no problems landing a job.

What do you like to do you mentioned programming .NET is big has been for awhile. I'd also maybe look into doing your A+, Net + and maybe a few Microsoft exams or if you want ot be unique Linux exams it seems if you know Linux you will get paid quite well.

Good luck and just work hard everything in the IT field can be self taught.

Dr_Atomic

wweboy wrote: »

I think anything in the IT is self study. That in my opinion is the great thing about this field but its another thing trying to justify your pay or reasons you should be hired by a manager.

By no means am I saying you need to get a college degree or anything I think if you work hard on your certfications and what not and prove you know hte stuff you should find no problems landing a job.

What do you like to do you mentioned programming .NET is big has been for awhile. I'd also maybe look into doing your A+, Net + and maybe a few Microsoft exams or if you want ot be unique Linux exams it seems if you know Linux you will get paid quite well.

Good luck and just work hard everything in the IT field can be self taught.

Well, I know A+ and Net+ might get you a job a the Geek Squad making $10.00/hr., so I don't want to pursue them. I have a family to support. I don't think I've seen anyone asking for just Linux - but maybe I'm wrong. What have you seen?

human151

linux is hot. I know many companies that run one flavor or another on their back end.

skrpune

Degrees are by no means required, but they do open up a lot more possibilities. Do you have any experience? No degree and no experience and no certs would make it difficult to get much more than a very entry level position, and even those tend to go to folks with some certs or some experience. Get a couple entry level certs under your belt and it will open up some more doors for you.

UnixGuy

Programming, UNIX/Linux administration, SAN administration...all are hot fields

Kris SP

UnixGuy wrote: »

Programming, UNIX/Linux administration, SAN administration...all are hot fields

Haha. Unfortunately programming and Unix/Linux are the areas that force you to become real uber-geeks. Bye bye life.

Sorta kidding around but well, not that far from the truth.

UnixGuy

Kris SP wrote: »

Haha. Unfortunately programming and Unix/Linux are the areas that force you to become real uber-geeks. Bye bye life.

Sorta kidding around but well, not that far from the truth.

Some people get really interested and become uber geeks. But from what I see, knowing the administrative tasks and get some 5 yrs experience, you will be fine, very in-depth knowledge is not really necessary....so you can have a normal life (almost)

Dr_Atomic

Kris SP wrote: »

Haha. Unfortunately programming and Unix/Linux are the areas that force you to become real uber-geeks. Bye bye life.

Sorta kidding around but well, not that far from the truth.

But programming is a field where an employer is almost certainly going to want you to have a college degree in it, and I simply don't have the ability to do that right now.

Btw, any field requiring self-study will mean "bye bye life" for a while. I'm not worried about that part. I'll have to tr-oll the job boards and see what other things are being asked for in addition to Linux/Unix. I have no doubt that employers want about a dozen other disciplines to go with it, in addition to a minimum of 5 years experience. Entry-level jobs just don't exist on the job boards any more.

I could go and get this knowledge/certification and know it inside-out, but when it came time to find a job with this knowledge, I'd still be jobless.

Aldur

I think that almost any subject in IT can be obtained through self study. I've only gone to one training class my entire career, for the Juniper switches, and I have gained every other certification that I have through self study.

Granted I'm gonna take any training that I can get my hands on but if it's me who's fronting the bill for the it I find that self study is the way to go

Very true that with self study you do have to put alot of time and effort into it and you basically have no life. Especially if you're going through college getting a BS degree like I was. Funny thing is it sure seems like I have just as much free time after college as when I was going to college

BigTex71

Don't forget DBA!

sambuca69

BigTex71 wrote: »

Don't forget DBA!

Hard field to break into, no? At my last job (5 years ago) I did some SQL DBA stuff for about a year. (They let go the current tech, and I jumped on it) I tried finding some junior DBA stuff, but hit nothing but walls.

I did enjoy it though.. would have loved to have been a DBA.

GAngel

sambuca69 wrote: »

Hard field to break into, no? At my last job (5 years ago) I did some SQL DBA stuff for about a year. (They let go the current tech, and I jumped on it) I tried finding some junior DBA stuff, but hit nothing but walls.

I did enjoy it though.. would have loved to have been a DBA.

It's a very tough job to do well. Junior DBA stuff is what a sys admin does pretty much.

ColbyG

Why "non-Cisco"?

GAngel

ColbyNA wrote: »

Why "non-Cisco"?

Mind numbing and tedious for some. Like being an accountant with computers

Firemarshalbill.com

Ya gotta start somewhere go for the CompTIA entry level certs - the good thing about them is that alot of the knowledge you learn in studying for them transfers to the hire level certs so you are not wasting your time.

veritas_libertas

Firemarshalbill.com wrote: »

Ya gotta start somewhere go for the CompTIA entry level certs - the good thing about them is that alot of the knowledge you learn in studying for them transfers to the hire level certs so you are not wasting your time.

I'm learning that right now with my CCENT studies. The Network+ has set a nice foundation for my studies.

Aldur

ColbyNA wrote: »

Why "non-Cisco"?

Because you can go Juniper!

I kid I kid

Some people don't link routing/networking in general. To me the other stuff, DBA, Sys Admin, etc... is boring as hell and routing/networking is like playing around for me.

Kaminsky

Aldur is right if your into networking. Lots of money in Juniper these days. Far more money than the equivelent certs in Cisco.

Sys Admin -> high level Oracle DBAs is very good money.
Sys Admin -> Cirtix/VM is good money and will become more lucrative in the future.
Sys Admin -> SANs storage.
High level Unix build and admin is becomeing more and more sought after.

You've really got to look at the future of IT and how you would best fit into it rather than look at what is hot right this minute. A lot of future IT will be thin client to remotely hosted applications and data storage. Networking/Comms will provide the infrastructure to get there.

Turgon

Less design work about generally as less spending on IT infrastructure, however better there than support IMO

Bright areas..

DBA
Storage
Juniper
MPLS
Voice Unified Comms
F5, Bluecoat
Some Wireless
Citrix higher end, Virtual Data Centre
Some security stuff either highly technical or with clearance and aware of particular inhouse standards, not books, learned working for clients, government etc.
UNIX design
Financial software development
People with experience leading highly skilled teams responsible for masses of stuff.

Less money in file and print, mostly Microsoft stuff and general Routing and Switching (with some exceptions), same for PM really, too many mediocre PM about. Good ones will get on but the market is competitive. Require bags of experience as a PM and clients looking at that very closely now.

Banks you will go well if you have put lots of time in with them, Defense if you have the clearance. Competition high in both areas though.