How to Grow Professionally: The Best Part about TE

You know what I really like best about TE? Let me first say that the technical help and knowledge sharing is excellent, and that alone makes the forum great. But the really big killer is the ability to see the members grow and evolve professionally.

What I would suggest to any person who wants a better job or even is just trying to break into IT is to join TE and look through the previous posts so that you can actually see the skill levels and personality types of the people who are continuously improving themselves and their careers. I think it’s amazingly revealing about how the world works and can help you get ahead and move yourself forward by learning from those who are successful here.

It’s just very cool to see people mature, improve and be successful over a period of years. If I could ++rep you all, I would.

Thanks web master and admins for this site.

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earweed

+1 on this. The members here are basically very helpful and encouraging. I spent a lot of time when I first got here going through old posts and liked TE the more I read. I (along with veritas libertas) have been pushing TE on the WGU boards just as much as we push WGU here.

bertieb

Couldn't agree more Robert

RobertKaucher

earweed wrote: »

+1 on this. The members here are basically very helpful and encouraging. I spent a lot of time when I first got here going through old posts and liked TE the more I read. I (along with veritas libertas) have been pushing TE on the WGU boards just as much as we push WGU here.

What I want to know about WGU is from people who have a degree from it. 3 years after obtaining their degree from WGU, do they believe it helped and how much?

I have just heard too many horror stories about for-profits not being able to deliver on the jobs and salaries they promise in the sales pitch.

Bl8ckr0uter

This is an epic thread. I think you are right. I am not doing IT for my health, I want to get paid. Career development is pretty difficult in some fields but especially difficult in IT because there are no clear paths really. I liked your post in the other where you said certs are only part of the career plan. relatively getting certs is an easy enough process but developing a career is much much harder.

erpadmin

I was a lurker off and on through various stages of my career (which has always been IT...apparently, I can't do anything else...

This board has ALWAYS been helpful to anyone who needed it, and not have crap you see in other places. (It's moderated very, very well). Guys (and gals) here are professional, but without the bore of professionalism (a very good mix of light-heartedness and business).

If not for guys like Veritas and Earweed, I probably would neither have considered WGU or stopped lurking. I really didn't think WGU was that real of a school until I found other distance learning sites that said it was. Plus, the regional accreditation was the real sell for me, because that means I can go to a B&M school for masters after I graduate.

However, I have always tried to give as much as I have taken in life. TE is no exception. I've been around the block a couple of times and if I know/did something, I will try to share it. I will also confirm knowledge if I personally went through it or know of others who did. I can't give TechExams.net millions of dollars to thank them (as much as I'd really like to), but I think the best way I can thank them is by participating and adding to the collective knowledge and wisdom that is TechExams.net

Seriously, thank you all!

RobertKaucher

knwminus wrote: »

This is an epic thread. I think you are right. I am not doing IT for my health, I want to get paid. Career development is pretty difficult in some fields but especially difficult in IT because there are no clear paths really. I liked your post in the other where you said certs are only part of the career plan. relatively getting certs is an easy enough process but developing a career is much much harder.

I think anyone interested in career development in general should look at Brent Ozar's blog. Even though it is maily focused on SQL Server he gives advice that is applicable to any IT field.

erpadmin

Much like only you can prevent forest fires, only you can determine where you want to go in IT.

Like most folks here, I started at the desk. After a few years there, I broke into systems administration and even within systems administrator I had to determine what path I wanted to go. Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP, hence the name) implementation/maintenance, I found, was the golden ticket. ERP implementations gave me such wonderful things to learn such as project management, change management, SQL Server administration and nTier applications to maintain the environment. The beautiful thing about the ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle/PeopleSoft, etc. is that there will ALWAYS be work...if you have a system for 4-6 years, chances are you're upgrading and doing the methodology all over again.

Some network admins I know, they got their CCNA, then CCNP and got into the VoIP game. There is definitely money in that niche too, and they are always finding work. On top of maintaining regular data networks.

Seriously, the path is where and what you make it in IT.

Now it's off for me to be managing projects, and a degree plus my experience will help me get there. (I'm hoping...but I wouldn't have placed that bet if I didn't feel strongly about it).

thenjduke

I have met some great friends here and I have to tell you that it is nice to see everyone grow and how they share their expierence.

xenodamus

+1 to everything.

When I found this forum I was overworked and underpaid in a dead end job. I was doing IT work but had started to reconsider my life plans and career goals, asking myself what I was going to do to move up in the world. I had never given career advancement a lot of thought since the bills were always paid. Since becoming a member here, though, I've given my career direction. I have a new job, new goals, and a new hunger for knowledge and responsibility. Reading the experiences of members here and seeing their dedication has made a real difference for me.

earweed

RobertKaucher wrote: »

What I want to know about WGU is from people who have a degree from it. 3 years after obtaining their degree from WGU, do they believe it helped and how much?

I have just heard too many horror stories about for-profits not being able to deliver on the jobs and salaries they promise in the sales pitch.

I think a lot of the for profits are full of hot air with all of their claims of being able to get you that high paying job. A BS will definitely help in advancing the career but wont just land you in that high paying job with no other efforts. I'm finding right now that with my degree I'll be in that awkward stage of not enough experience for the higher paying jobs but overqualified for entry level (just lost out on a job because of this).
WGU is good about this in that they don't promise the high pay and all that the for-profits do but just advertise that you'll get an accreditted education.

pml1

erpadmin wrote: »

Much like only you can prevent forest fires, only you can determine where you want to go in IT.

Absolutely. I was sharing this very thought with a friend of mine earlier this week. I believe that IT careers offer a flexibility and self-determination that many other careers in IT do not. In just about any area of IT, you determine your own potential. If you seek valuable experiences and take the initiative to not just learn but to master concepts on your own, you will advance.

I can't even begin to quantify the value of what I've learned here on TE. A big thanks to Webmaster and all the contributing members of TE!

steve13ad

For me personally, TE breeds a sense of peer pressure, and that "pressure" has gotten my lazy ass back in gear working on certs.

Again, thanks to everyone involved with the site.

rogue2shadow

thenjduke wrote: »

I have met some great friends here and I have to tell you that it is nice to see everyone grow and how they share their expierence.

+1. I found this forum after my last job. Certs were completely new to me though I had always seen them in postings around my area; I just didn't know how to go about "getting" them. This forum helped me create/tweak and furthermore understand a path that will be suitable to my success and evolution. I said it from the beginning and I'll say it again, this forum is invaluable and the knowledge attained here is priceless. In essence, TE changed my life.

veritas_libertas

Another epic TE thread

Robert, you and many others are the reason why I check in each day at TE. One area that I really struggle in at times is how to deal with managment and users in IT, you and other experienced members have given me (unknowlingly) excellent professional advice. I appreciate your advice on books for DBA and Powershell as well.

@TE Members: Thank you so much helping to plan my path in IT. A little over a year ago I was very confused on what I should be doing to make it in IT. My community college didn't prepare me well for the "real" IT world. TE is a place where I can find unusually professional advice.

rwmidl

I started reading TE back in Dec/January when I was begining to work on obtaining my Security +. It was my first cert in many years (I got my MCSE back in 2003 and hadn't done anything sense). I found this site to be very informational - if I hadn't have stumbled across this site I never would have found out about Darril Gibson's Security + book (btw excellent book and I've recommended it to multiple people).

uhtrinity

RobertKaucher wrote: »

What I want to know about WGU is from people who have a degree from it. 3 years after obtaining their degree from WGU, do they believe it helped and how much?

I have just heard too many horror stories about for-profits not being able to deliver on the jobs and salaries they promise in the sales pitch.

Not to get too much off topic. But I finished my BS through WGU in June and it has already given me more credibility in the job I have had for 4 years. Simply having paper from an accredited University along with the Industry certs to back up the experience I already had. Btw, WGU is the only non-profit online University.

Webmaster

RobertKaucher wrote:

But the really big killer is the ability to see the members grow and evolve professionally. ... It’s just very cool to see people mature, improve and be successful over a period of years.

Well put, and I wholeheartedly agree, 'that' is the part I enjoy most as well about TE and shows TE is a success (and indicates how much IT certs can do for you when you use them to actually gain knowledge and skills rather than merely pass an exam).

And thanks for this thread, very motivating!

I'll speak for me, JD and the mods and say we are all proud to serve this community.

phantasm

I've been a member here off and on but have really settled in over the past couple of months. I've enjoyed a lot of the disucssions pertaining to career advancement as well as the technical discussions. I'm a bit harsh sometimes but in the end some people just need tough love, and I've only been warned once by a mod. lol.

In the end, it's a good place to discuss varying issues with like minded people, and that is hard to find.

Countryboi

TE is great and a buzzkill at the same time....its a lot of information here and really motivates you to get your stuff together.....but its a buzzkill cause i wish i have found this place years ago i would be farther along

Psoasman

+1 This site is great, not full of the usual BS on other sites. The members care and help each other out. It has also been very nice to help other members out and watch them succeed!

apena7

steve13ad wrote: »

For me personally, TE breeds a sense of peer pressure, and that "pressure" has gotten my lazy ass back in gear working on certs.

Again, thanks to everyone involved with the site.

+1

This sense of "peer pressure" or competition is what motivates me to read books, practice, and sit exams because I know that I really can make a career in IT. It inspires me when I read that others have already tread down the same path and have become successful. Plus, it gives me a healthy amount of fear since I know all of you are extremely smart and are working your butts off trying to get ahead and could easily replace me at my job.....oh, I spent too much time here -- back to the books!

N2IT

rogue2shadow wrote: »

+1. I found this forum after my last job. Certs were completely new to me though I had always seen them in postings around my area; I just didn't know how to go about "getting" them. This forum helped me create/tweak and furthermore understand a path that will be suitable to my success and evolution. I said it from the beginning and I'll say it again, this forum is invaluable and the knowledge attained here is priceless. In essence, TE changed my life.

Rogue

Exactly how I feel. I knew of A+ and a few others, but nothing like I know now. After getting several framework certifications and now working on an intermediate certification for ITIL I feel I am going in the right direction. I would consider myself a noob from tech standpoint, but the amount of information and direction I obtain from this board is monumental.

Thanks to Robert for this wonderful post and thanks to all the contributing members who have shared a wealth of knowledge.

-Cheers Patrick

phantasm

I would love to know who gave me negative feedback in this thread. The comment simply states "yes you are too harsh". So to the individual who did not provide me his name, grow some thicker skin, if I've offended you it was probably for a reason. lol.

gorebrush

TE is an excellent forum. I've been a member for quite some time now (5 years), but I've become even more involved since I've finished up the CCNP and started the CCIE thread.

What really surprised me - I joined the LinkedIn group and I had requests from one or two members and they put in their invitation e-mail that they were enjoying reading about how I was progressing with my CCIE.

It is a real motivator to know that people are really taking notice of what I am trying to achieve, and for me that is quite something - at home my fiancée knows I am doing a very big IT exam that not many people pass - my Dad knows that I am taking a CCIE and he understands a little about what I am trying to take on. At work, nobody seems to be able to recognise the skills I have with networking (or if they do, they dont utilise them enough by a LONG way)

So for me, one of the biggest things I've taken away from forums is knowing that people appreciate what I am trying to accomplish, they understand the task I have undertaken, and I really cannot say enough how much I appreciate the help that I get from users. Turgon has to have a special mention here - he has provided some excellent advice and given me the confidence to really get stuck in with it and not to fear the size of it.

In fact now I don't feel intimitaded by such a big exam at all.

My dream was always to go far in IT/Networking/Servers, and without TE, or indeed MCMCSE (another certification forum, I am a moderator there) I wouldn't be in touch with some great, friendly, like minded individuals who all want to succeed.

tpatt100

I come here to look at topics the less experienced people post about. Mostly to get myself motivated because I seemed to have lost a lot of that "early" do or die drive I had years ago.

nel

I like to think of us as one big happy family

well done everyone!

konvict

I joined TE a month ago,im a noob just got my first cert (juniper) 3 days ago,guys here motivate me on how far they av gone en i feel that im not alone,coz i wanna walk this path. Thanks TE.

Ahriakin

When I joined here I was working on my first Cert, the Security+, my career had taken a few steps back after moving to the states and I was just working for my self doing on call stuff.
The knowledge, support and motivation from everyone here definitely kept me moving, I honestly don't know how things would have gone if I hadn't found TE.