advice for an IT newbie

Strong1

I am currently working on my B.S. in IT with a security emphasis(online) I will have several certificates when I finish(A+, several CIW certs, CCNA , CCNA security and a few others ) I have never worked in IT(I'm in my late 30's) but have been messing with computers since the 80's. If the economy approves in 2 or 3 years what are my realistic prospects for a good paying IT job? I live just north of the Atlanta metro area and would like a job paying over 50k. I know experience is the key. Is this within the realm of possibility? What other certs would you recommend. I would like to eventually get into penetration testing, but will probably just start with general IT. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

NinjaBoy

Strong1 wrote: »

...If the economy approves in 2 or 3 years what are my realistic prospects for a good paying IT job? I live just north of the Atlanta metro area and would like a job paying over 50k....

This comment is being made based on the UK market.

Is it possible to get a $50k (approx £31k) job in IT, as your first job in IT?... Chances are next to none. Over here, there are IT managers that aren't even on that. On the other hand there are some IT managers on double + that.

Is it possible to get a $50k (approx £31k) job in IT?... Yes.

Can I guarantee that you'll get a $50k job in 2 years time? No. Even though the IT Field is looking positive, people (inc IT staff) are still being made redundant now. The most recent one was the mergered between T-Mobile and Orange.

There are lots of IT professionals out there (in the UK and the US) that have still not gotten back into IT from the recession, so you'll be up against them. Saying that no-one can predict the future, so it may be that there'll be a boom in the jobs market.

-Ken

Turgon

Strong1 wrote: »

I am currently working on my B.S. in IT with a security emphasis(online) I will have several certificates when I finish(A+, several CIW certs, CCNA , CCNA security and a few others ) I have never worked in IT(I'm in my late 30's) but have been messing with computers since the 80's. If the economy approves in 2 or 3 years what are my realistic prospects for a good paying IT job? I live just north of the Atlanta metro area and would like a job paying over 50k. I know experience is the key. Is this within the realm of possibility? What other certs would you recommend. I would like to eventually get into penetration testing, but will probably just start with general IT. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

You will be hitting the job market with an IT degree and certifications to your name. These are the positives and should not be seen as a problem. Employers like graduates. The issue is you will be no different than thousands of other wannabees hitting the job boards as many people now invest in degree level IT qualifications and certifications through educational channels. Cisco has been taught in some high schools for a number of years now with the Academies.

There will be 50K jobs for a few but these will be fasttrack opportunities. For the rest it's bump and grind on the low wage for quite some time. That's if you can get a job. The workforce is becoming overqualified and under experienced. At the same time the division of labour within IT is moving at breakneck pace so the hands on opportunities are just not there like they were in the good old days of 1995 - 2002 when so much stuff had to be thrown together in a hurry and IT departments and IT support were less rationalised and had much more of a free role. This might in some senses mean that the requirements to be uber hands on may become more relaxed in time when recruiters stop being greedy and ask for everything and wake up to the fact that the entry level roles do not require it. But there will still be lots of competition for those jobs because everyone starting out wants one. For me I think getting in is the easy part (although difficult). Getting on will increasingly become more difficult.

The baby boomers are not retiring. The middle managers cant get the jobs they have waited for because of it. The upward mobility is stagnating at the moment leaving people stuck in roles hanging on to their jobs and not creating natural gaps to be filled by new people to get on. I dont see that dynamic changing much over the course of the next ten years.

However there may be a tipping point come 2015 in terms of how the IT industry hangs together. I expect there will be some big changes by then technologically which will alter things. A lot of companies will break up or be bought outright. Some will simply not be able to compete anymore. The super datacenter is coming which will take a lot of infrastructure out of shops completely and all the jobs with them. Support will continue to be dumbed down. Meanwhile there will be more offshoring and outsourcing until then which makes operations a dicey place in which to work, although the experience is essential in my opinion before you try to make the leap into design which is where the money and careers actually lie.

I would look for some hands on experience now with a smaller shop on a parttime basis if you can get it. It will help your CV. Just be aware that in many roles today in larger shops you have CCNPs hanging on the cube walls but many holders just dont get to 'play' with the production devices first due to change control and secondly because design responsibilities are usually handed off to a separate team. So its often alarm monitoring, IOS upgrades, basic port and VLAN provisioning that goes on rather than the good stuff that the CCNP teached the holder. Not all CCNP's affected in this way but many of them. Just using CCNP as an example here as the same applies elsewhere.

N2IT

Strong1 wrote: »

I am currently working on my B.S. in IT with a security emphasis(online) I will have several certificates when I finish(A+, several CIW certs, CCNA , CCNA security and a few others ) I have never worked in IT(I'm in my late 30's) but have been messing with computers since the 80's. If the economy approves in 2 or 3 years what are my realistic prospects for a good paying IT job? I live just north of the Atlanta metro area and would like a job paying over 50k. I know experience is the key. Is this within the realm of possibility? What other certs would you recommend. I would like to eventually get into penetration testing, but will probably just start with general IT. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Probably going to have to start at help desk like most people unless you know someone. From there it's a crap shoot. You might instantly be promoted because of your skill set and work ethic, but most of the time it's survival through attrition.

phantasm

Strong1 wrote: »

I am currently working on my B.S. in IT with a security emphasis(online) I will have several certificates when I finish(A+, several CIW certs, CCNA , CCNA security and a few others ) I have never worked in IT(I'm in my late 30's) but have been messing with computers since the 80's. If the economy approves in 2 or 3 years what are my realistic prospects for a good paying IT job? I live just north of the Atlanta metro area and would like a job paying over 50k. I know experience is the key. Is this within the realm of possibility? What other certs would you recommend. I would like to eventually get into penetration testing, but will probably just start with general IT. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

With a degree and a few certs and no experience. Look for something around $30k to start. That's where most people land unfortunately. It will take a few years before you see any real money.

Turgon

N2IT wrote: »

Probably going to have to start at help desk like most people unless you know someone. From there it's a crap shoot. You might instantly be promoted because of your skill set and work ethic, but most of the time it's survival through attrition.

Very true.

eansdad

I would have to agree with everyone. Getting a $50k job w/o experience will be tough. There are a number of ways to get the experience. You could try donating expertise to local schools or nonprofits. You could also go through temp agencies to get short term or junk jobs to put on your resume and gain real world experience. Problem is your going to be competing with people with years of experience that are getting their BS and more certs so everything you can get under your belt will help.

earweed

I too agree with the above. Since the OP is probably going to WGU (like a lot of us here) the only way he could be put on a fast track as Turgon specified would be by knowing someone.
The OPs best option is probably to either find volunteer opportunities for experience or go through recruiters or temp agencies forthose short term jobs that no one with experience usually jumps on. There are a lot of those short term opportunities out there and that may be the OPs way to gain some experience.

Strong1

Thank you to everyone who has replied so far. I appreciate the advice. Luckily I have a decent job already and can take my time to find the right position. I plan on doing some side work to get the experience I need. I also have a few connections that may be able to help me when I finish my degree and certs. Best of all, I'm lucky to live near Atlanta, GA which seems to be one of the better areas of the country for technology jobs. Some say it is on it's way to becoming the new "silicon valley". Thanks again and new readers please continue to reply if you have anything else to add.

N2IT

phantasm wrote: »

With a degree and a few certs and no experience. Look for something around $30k to start. That's where most people land unfortunately. It will take a few years before you see any real money.

Agreed 100%.

XxStrong1xX

I started this post a few years agon under my old username and wanted to give an update to give people new to IT hope. I finished my degree in March 2015 from WGU. A few months before that the company I work for posted for a Network Technician position. I had interviewed with the IT manager in 2013 for a different position and he pretty much told me to try again when I finish my degree. This time I was so close to finishing it and so much impressed the Senior Engineer that I got the job starting at 50K. Which was actually a pay cut but one I was willing to take to get into IT. I have now been in this job 18 months and have just been promoted to Network Engineer after my Senior Engineer was terminated. There has been a substantial pay increase and I have learned so much! To those of you just considering changing careeers or just beginning a careeer in IT, don't give up! I went through many interviews and disappointments to find the job I wanted with my current employer. You never know when an opportunity might arise. As many on here have said; apply for anything that you are intereseted in and have some of the qualificationsm, then wow them in the interview and you never know. And to answer my own thread all these years later, yes it is possible even if it is highly unusual!

cyberguypr

Great story. Congrats! I am so happy to see this wasn't another useless 6 year old respawn.

markulous

EDIT: LOL. Never mind, I just read the OP. Congrats.

nopx90

XxStrong1xX wrote: »

I started this post a few years agon under my old username and wanted to give an update to give people new to IT hope. I finished my degree in March 2015 from WGU. A few months before that the company I work for posted for a Network Technician position. I had interviewed with the IT manager in 2013 for a different position and he pretty much told me to try again when I finish my degree. This time I was so close to finishing it and so much impressed the Senior Engineer that I got the job starting at 50K. Which was actually a pay cut but one I was willing to take to get into IT. I have now been in this job 18 months and have just been promoted to Network Engineer after my Senior Engineer was terminated. There has been a substantial pay increase and I have learned so much! To those of you just considering changing careeers or just beginning a careeer in IT, don't give up! I went through many interviews and disappointments to find the job I wanted with my current employer. You never know when an opportunity might arise. As many on here have said; apply for anything that you are intereseted in and have some of the qualificationsm, then wow them in the interview and you never know. And to answer my own thread all these years later, yes it is possible even if it is highly unusual!

Congrats brother, love seeing these stories of success.