Another IT newbie in need of some guidance!

Bun

Hello all,

First of all I'm lucky to have found a forums like this with so much knowledge/experience to leech from. So about me, I'm 24 years old, will have my BS degree in Management Information Systems after this Fall semester and I plan on studying for an A+ cert right after I finish school. Not sure what other certs I should get after that one yet... I want it to brush up on my PC knowledge. Only problem is I don't have any real IT experience except working as a student assistant at a computer lab on our campus for five years. In your opinions what does the job outlook look like for someone with an MIS degree, A+ cert, and no experience. Not entirely sure right now but I'm interested in systems/network admin work in the long run. I'm assuming the best place to start is applying for help desk jobs? Are CompTIA's certs the best place to start building IT fundamentals?

Thanks for reading!
Bun

MentholMoose

Bun wrote: »

Only problem is I don't have any real IT experience except working as a student assistant at a computer lab on our campus for five years.

Bun, you have FIVE YEARS of IT experience, and that is how you should sell it on your resume and during interviews. With only a year of experience in a school computer lab, I got a six month desktop support internship, then a junior systems admin position (later promoted to sysadmin). Many of the people I worked with at the lab also got good jobs right out of school. I currently work at a college, and many of my coworkers are alumni who were previously student employees and got hired at graduation.

That experience you have really is valuable, so use it to your advantage. Emphasize anything advanced you did in the lab. Convince employers that it was a helpdesk and desktop support role, and that you are capable of that and ready for more.

Arysta

Bun wrote: »

I don't have any real IT experience except working as a student assistant at a computer lab on our campus for five years.

Never say that experience isn't "real" experience in an interview. Don't lie, but always play up your experience as much as possible when you're trying to get a job. Obviously, employers are going to know you haven't been a sys admin or anything like that yet... they love knowing new hires aren't new to the working world. If you were working with computers and you got paid, it's definitely real IT experience!