Would appreciate any advice on transitioning...

ogbucket1901

I would appreciate any advice on transitioning careers. I left the transportation field last year due to poor economic conditions and decided to (finally) finish out my AAS Computer Info degree, which I will have after Monday. From these forums I see many others are facing the chicken vs. egg, job experience problem. I actually want to start at the bottom and work up, I feel this is the best way to truly excel at anything.

1) But I need to know what positions are considered entry level, as far as titles or keywords to look for in postings and classifieds. Any clues/help would be greatly appreciated.

2) I have been trying to keep my resume very clean and simple focusing mainly on certs and degree since my previous xp is not in IT. Should I actually expound on the customer service aspects of my previous positions. I never wanted to shine a light on the transportation jobs because I am afraid that on paper, I may look to be a "dumb grease monkey" who bought some certs?!

3) Does it / would it help to add the "experience" I received from 3 semesters of hands on labs and assisting in small office upgrades and installations. Or are those things too trivial?

---

My info;

I would like to eventually get into Enterprise Networks/Switching Routing

What I have -- Sec+, A+, Linux+ and CCENT (CCNA scheduled for June)

10 years xp as a service writer in a diesel truck garage, 5 years service manager and 2 years truck sales xp. No IT xp, but I was always called on to assist in system installs and upgrades because I knew more than the rest of the staff. Took 3 semesters of the Cisco Acad courses with live labs.

Thanks for any advice and/or productive comments!

MentholMoose

ogbucket1901 wrote: »

3) Does it / would it help to add the "experience" I received from 3 semesters of hands on labs and assisting in small office upgrades and installations. Or are those things too trivial?

I think most people would consider lab work as part of education. However what was the reason you assisted with "upgrades and installation"? If this was volunteer work, or a side job, done at real companies, then it counts as experience.

kiki1579

OG,

You certainly could put your Cisco Acad. experience on your resume. What I would do is put an "education" section - state what school you went to, what it was for, and some of the basic things that you have done there. You don't need to get detailed, but just put your highlights, plus some of the labs you have done. Keep it short, and to the point. If you get an interview, and they want to know more, then is the time to go into detail.

I think it's awesome that you have switched careers, and yeah you will have to start at the bottom, but you have a good head start. As far as jobs, you can look for help desk, or jr. cisco engineer type of jobs. I'm not sure which way you want to go job wise, but it seems you are leaning towards Cisco.

I would look at all the Cisco jobs in your area, and see how many years of experience in the job descriptions. One other thing you could add is an "objective" at the top of your resume. Something stating that you are looking for an jr. cisco engineer type position, or entry level in cisco. I would recommend check out www.devbistro.com for example resumes.

ogbucket1901

Thanks for the resume tips kiki, checking them out now.

So what does the Help Desk job entail? I am confused. If the first rung of the ladder is Help Desk, and you start here because you have limited experience, how much help are you? I guess I am not sure what this job actually does. Is this the guy/gal that has me power cycle my router 5 times before sending out a tech when I don't have Internet connectivity?

Thanks again!