Looking for a Mentor

I want to try a different approach in going forward into the IT industry. As someone who is still getting their feet wet in school, I am looking for someone who is established in the industry that can give me guidance over the long term. Hope this doesnt come off like an advertsiment in the singles section. I appreciate the information I can get off the forums that I use (and I will continue to utilize them), but I don't know anyone in the industry. Nobody I can bounce things off of in more of a personal approach. Not looking to take up every minute of someones time, just want someone who can give sound advice. My goal with IT is to be a Network Administrator. I am about a year out from completing my Bachelors in CIS. I live in Western New York and am in the process of changing careers at age 35.

Thanks to all,
Steve

Find more posts tagged with

SAVE $250 on Your Boot Camp — Use Code "EXAM26"

Exclusively for TechExams members for Infosec Boot Camps starting before April 30, 2026

View Boot Camps

Comments

grauwulf

Hi Steve,

One of the really tough things about our particular business is how much the business differs between regions and sectors. For example; advice from a gov'y SA in DC may not be as useful as advice from a help desk person in a company you may want to work for. My recommendation would be to do a little networking at school. If you're a full time student maybe take an internship to help you to meet some folks and get to know some businesses. When you find someone you work well with the relationship will grow organically.

If you have questions feel free to float them here too. Crowd sourcing may not get you the most accurate answers but it can help to give you more information for your decision making process.

erpadmin

grauwulf wrote: »

Hi Steve,

One of the really tough things about our particular business is how much the business differs between regions and sectors. For example; advice from a gov'y SA in DC may not be as useful as advice from a help desk person in a company you may want to work for.

As someone who's done both private and public sector IT work, I kinda agree and kinda disagree with this. You have varying degrees of accountability in either, but there is accountability nonetheless. The important thing to remember is that the work is more-or-less the same. The demands are different, but overall the work/skillset [should be] the same.

To Steve, concentrate on the goal of being a Network Administrator. Learn what that job entails. If you're shooting for a BS in CIS, try to get your hands on internships (private or public sector...completely up to you.) You don't want to focus on pay...you want to focus on work/experience. Trust me...the money will come later. No one is going to pay you $90k+ because you have a BS and no experience. However, you will get the opportunity to fill a bout jr. role for about 3-5 years.

There will be work, but if you are up to the task, and if your goals are simple, you can do it.

stevo7624

Thanks for the input guys. I still would like to have some friends I can turn to with questions if I need to. Unfortunately, I probably wont be in a good position to do an internship. With my current job, and being a father of three, and school, an internship would be hard to fit in. The mentor idea comes from my current job where I am a manager. I act as a mentor for many young employees and talk with them frequently and try to offer the best advice I can to them when they need it. I have had many of them tell me how much those conversations have helped them. Whether it was bouncing an idea off me, asking specif questions about situation I have dealt with, etc. It seems to have worked for many of them. I am just looking to find that with a someone in a similar role that I want to be in. I think the forum definitely has its place, but want to build up a situation where I know I can get a response from someone who is familiar with me. I do enjoy reading the responses everyone gives though.

Thanks,
Steve

hackman2007

I like the crowdsourcing option personally.

Generally posting here if you have a question or need advice is a better idea. The community acts as quality control. Members that post bad/horrible advice most likely won't be posting advice for very long or will be called out on it by someone.

And it's always nice to have advice from more than one perspective.

drkat

Hi Steve,

I'm in Rochester so we're pretty close feel free to contact me