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Full Time Employee - Wanting to step up the game a bit
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I have a 2 year college diploma. I have 6.5 years in the IT industry. 1.5 years of that in the telecom industry doing nothing very specialized.
5 years working on a help desk with tasks that include computer setups, repairs, troubleshooting, backups, data migration, phone system (adds, changes, moves), antivirus server (client deployment, server maintenance), cabling new offices and whatever else comes with cabling responsibilities. That's really about it. After these 5 years I feel my resume really only shows someone with a limited skillset. I feel incompetent as what I have for skills which I believe are not very specialized at all. In fact, no one on my team really has any specialized skills or certifications. I have not had the opportunity to touch Active Directory on the job this entire time.
I have been to a multitude of interviews with other companies and a lot of these interviewers seem quite incompetent themselves. Some of them cannot think on their feet. There was only one job out of the last 10 interviews I've had that I really really wanted to get hired for - Systems Administrator. I was not hired. I asked the HR person and the reason was the other candidate had much more prior experience making them the better fit for the position. To top it off, this job would have only been a 5 minute drive
Currently, I am working towards getting the 70-640 Microsoft exam for Server 2008 R2 - labbing on my I7 with ESXi. After that I figure I'll go back to my Cisco studies and complete the ICND1 I failed a while back. I am also reading through books on Network Attached Storage so I have a great deal of knowledge about how they work.
Now I look online for job opportunities and I either see complete crap which I have no interest in applying or the job description requires someone with this this and that skill/cert which I do not have. I have applied to companies in the middle range... after getting a voicemail to setup an interview, I'd scope out their office... and many a time I would simply not call back based on my background check on them in person - because my intuition tells me they're going to offer me less than I'm currently making and to top it off.. less responsibility.
I want a job where there's a good learning curve and I can learn specialized skills that will have some kind of value on my resume as well as in the bank. I would like to become some type of systems administrator with plenty of responsibilites - enough to list me as a valuable asset to any company. It appears to be a pipe dream while I run cables and fix a meaningless slew of simple user issues. Basically I would like to specialize in something where there is a good demand, but it is niche enough to pursue as my own.
I have thought of working for telephone systems installers as they have specialized technical skills in knowing each feature/function of a phone system, and that in itself could prove itself to be a valuable skillset if I were to have a side gig doing such installs. Though I know I'd start at the very bottom and god only knows how long it'd take for me to be shown all the ropes enough to open up my own gig.
Aside from that I am working with rural water systems (wells, pumps, filtration systems) and housing construction on weekends. I have been doing this weekend work to help money keep coming in and have been at it for quite some time. In contrast to the IT work I do, I feel completely new to the trades which means I am constantly learning new things. It's a good thing. But it also tells me I don't know much at all about trades and have a lot to learn. But it's good experience I can use later on in life.
Now I could jump into a trade but I'm afraid of starting at the bottom and ultimately I really don't think I want to become a plumber or an electrician. lol I was one phone call away from flying to Saskatchewan to pursue oil rigging/service rigs ($26 an hour to start with $39 overtime... 12 hours a day 7 days a week, for 23 consecutive days with 3 days off after the 23 days - now tell me that is not a pay cheque regardless of the type of work it is). I stopped myself and decided to give certifications one more shot.
So yes, I work 7 days a week and have been doing it for quite some time now. Even long weekends. (I don't get time and a half for weekend work because it's completely separate from my IT work)
I am strongly thinking towards opening up a side corporation to do computer repairs for residential and small businesses. Now I know the IT market is heavily saturated with these already, but if I can fish out a few clientele at $50+ an hour (avg is $65-70), how can I possibly lose? Especially if I cater to people in the evening and weekend hours when most shops make themselves unavailable.
My issues with the residential clients are:
5 years working on a help desk with tasks that include computer setups, repairs, troubleshooting, backups, data migration, phone system (adds, changes, moves), antivirus server (client deployment, server maintenance), cabling new offices and whatever else comes with cabling responsibilities. That's really about it. After these 5 years I feel my resume really only shows someone with a limited skillset. I feel incompetent as what I have for skills which I believe are not very specialized at all. In fact, no one on my team really has any specialized skills or certifications. I have not had the opportunity to touch Active Directory on the job this entire time.
I have been to a multitude of interviews with other companies and a lot of these interviewers seem quite incompetent themselves. Some of them cannot think on their feet. There was only one job out of the last 10 interviews I've had that I really really wanted to get hired for - Systems Administrator. I was not hired. I asked the HR person and the reason was the other candidate had much more prior experience making them the better fit for the position. To top it off, this job would have only been a 5 minute drive
Currently, I am working towards getting the 70-640 Microsoft exam for Server 2008 R2 - labbing on my I7 with ESXi. After that I figure I'll go back to my Cisco studies and complete the ICND1 I failed a while back. I am also reading through books on Network Attached Storage so I have a great deal of knowledge about how they work.
Now I look online for job opportunities and I either see complete crap which I have no interest in applying or the job description requires someone with this this and that skill/cert which I do not have. I have applied to companies in the middle range... after getting a voicemail to setup an interview, I'd scope out their office... and many a time I would simply not call back based on my background check on them in person - because my intuition tells me they're going to offer me less than I'm currently making and to top it off.. less responsibility.
I want a job where there's a good learning curve and I can learn specialized skills that will have some kind of value on my resume as well as in the bank. I would like to become some type of systems administrator with plenty of responsibilites - enough to list me as a valuable asset to any company. It appears to be a pipe dream while I run cables and fix a meaningless slew of simple user issues. Basically I would like to specialize in something where there is a good demand, but it is niche enough to pursue as my own.
I have thought of working for telephone systems installers as they have specialized technical skills in knowing each feature/function of a phone system, and that in itself could prove itself to be a valuable skillset if I were to have a side gig doing such installs. Though I know I'd start at the very bottom and god only knows how long it'd take for me to be shown all the ropes enough to open up my own gig.
Aside from that I am working with rural water systems (wells, pumps, filtration systems) and housing construction on weekends. I have been doing this weekend work to help money keep coming in and have been at it for quite some time. In contrast to the IT work I do, I feel completely new to the trades which means I am constantly learning new things. It's a good thing. But it also tells me I don't know much at all about trades and have a lot to learn. But it's good experience I can use later on in life.
Now I could jump into a trade but I'm afraid of starting at the bottom and ultimately I really don't think I want to become a plumber or an electrician. lol I was one phone call away from flying to Saskatchewan to pursue oil rigging/service rigs ($26 an hour to start with $39 overtime... 12 hours a day 7 days a week, for 23 consecutive days with 3 days off after the 23 days - now tell me that is not a pay cheque regardless of the type of work it is). I stopped myself and decided to give certifications one more shot.
So yes, I work 7 days a week and have been doing it for quite some time now. Even long weekends. (I don't get time and a half for weekend work because it's completely separate from my IT work)
I am strongly thinking towards opening up a side corporation to do computer repairs for residential and small businesses. Now I know the IT market is heavily saturated with these already, but if I can fish out a few clientele at $50+ an hour (avg is $65-70), how can I possibly lose? Especially if I cater to people in the evening and weekend hours when most shops make themselves unavailable.
My issues with the residential clients are:
- the majority of people don't have legit software installed
- the majority of people don't have the serial key/installation media
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the_Grinch
Member Posts: 4,165 ■■■■■■■■■■
First, I don't think you should look down on the skills you have and the work you currently do. We all have to start somewhere and that hands on experience will help you in any job you work in. Second, you might have to consider taking a "lower" position in a bigger company in order to move up. Companies love to hire from within because part of the learning curve is always knowing the company and how they do things. So by taking a helpdesk position at a company that has a server admin team, you get in, prove yourself, and then move up. I took a pay cut when I left my previous company to come to my current company, but is was ultimately for the best. Where I was at, I wasn't going to be able to move up and I had acquired just about all the skill I was going to get from them. So when the chance came to get a lot more experience, work with networking/server equipment, and truly learn things that out weighed the pay cut.
In regards to doing a trade, if that is something you really want to do and you can I say do it. In regards to starting your own computer business on the side, I've toyed with this idea, and ultimately decided against it. As you said, competition can be stiff so you really have to analyze that. But the bigger point is it tends to be a pain. I've done work for friends and racked my brain on some issues that I just could not solve. They'd keep calling me back and it just really turned into a hassle. You work with the stuff all week, the last thing you want to do is work on it over the weekend or at night. I enjoy being able to come home and just play with my stuff, if I break it no one complains and I get to have some down time.
Given your experience, have you looked at positions as like a field tech lead? I see positions all the time where companies are doing large desktop deployments and your experience is the kind they look for in their leads. Might be something to think about.WIP:
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Given your experience, have you looked at positions as like a field tech lead? I see positions all the time where companies are doing large desktop deployments and your experience is the kind they look for in their leads. Might be something to think about.
Field tech lead? I'm really really leaning towards the server/network specialist type work. I already deal with large desktop deployments. The issue I see in working in help desk is the damned revolving door. Co-ops and full timers keep coming and going, some actually make it out to different departments but the majority stay for a little and then leave. The whole training cycle thing is re-curring and I don't enjoy it one bit anymore. I really do need a change.
lol, the honest truth is I don't like where my experience has gotten me. if i didn't spend 2 hours driving a day, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. I really do need a change for the better.