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My career has hit a wall, need some advice

BoneSpurBoneSpur Member Posts: 33 ■■□□□□□□□□
I would like some honest advice from those that have been in the IT industry for some time.

I am 36 years old, married and have children. I am just like the majority of you on this board, trying to take care of my family by the best means necessary. In 2009, I decided to go back to school and finish my degree. After 19 months straight in various college classes, I finished my BS degree in Management of Information Systems (MIS). I did this for two reasons: 1.) I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. The degree was for me. 2.) My job said that I had to get a degree in order to move up as a manager in the company I work for.

Seems easy right? Well, after finishing my degree with a 3.8 GPA, I was informed that I had to take an ASSET test and pass it in order to even be considered for a management interview. I have always been horrible at taking tests and needless to say, I have failed this test twice now in the last six months. Once you fail it, you have to wait six months before you are eligible to take it again. This is very frustrating.

I have worked in a help desk environment over the last eight years. The first two years were with a help desk that is not technical at all, really just customer service based. I exceeded at this job and was promoted to the training team to train new hires on this desk. After a couple of years, I was promoted to Team Lead and I have been learning the other “technical” help desks. After eight years I am burned out with the help desk world.

I have been doing some research (on this site and others) about how to get into other IT fields. I do still aspire to be a manager. My gift is with people and teaching. That is my comfort zone. I want to get out of that comfort zone and learn something new. I want to really take care of my wife and family. Yes, I will admit this sounds selfish and greedy, but I need more money to pay the bills. I realize the money will not come immediately just because I finish a certification. It certainly didn’t come when I finished my degree.
I need a career path that will get me to the six figure mark. I am halfway there now, but my current career path is going nowhere.

Can anyone offer my some good, sound advice? Have any of you been in this position? We work to make money and should be able to make as much as possible while doing it. I understand you should like your job and career. I have always liked technology, especially networking, wireless tech and wondering how the security side works.

Thank you for reading my ramble.
All the effort in the world won't matter if you're not inspired. - Chuck Palahniuk

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    humbleboyhumbleboy Member Posts: 14 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Have you given any thought to leaving the company? I'm sure your "stuck" there because if you left you would have to take the same position at a new place. What kind of questions are on this test?
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