Finally a IT job

themagicone

It has finally has happened, I got a full time gig in IT. I've been working a lot on my contracting work and various other things to keep money flowing but they job just sort of just happened. The person run a small IT company out of his home and just has too much work to do him self so he was looking for someone to be an employee and take the load off. He really was looking for someone with a lot of experience in MS products but my networking training was enough. Right away he threw me into something I had no idea on but I grundged through it and did a few other things that I excelled at.

Really nice thing is going to be the hours are really open, I can work my contract work still and do this so it will work good. I just really need to get up to date on servers. Next week he is planning on me migrate a Windows 2003 to Windows 2008, then 2-3 more after that. Going to read up on technet and hopefully everything goes good. This is going to be a great learning experience but its going to be a huge curve to begin with.

NetworkingStudent

Congrats on getting your first IT job!!

jamesp1983

Congrats! Go celebrate!

undomiel

Congrats! My recommendation would be to lab up a mock migration and write out all the steps. It'll help you feel a lot more comfortable when you're executing it live.

cyberguypr

Congrats! Great New Year's present!

networker050184

Congrats! It seems the first one is the hardest to find so you got over the hard part.

erpadmin

Congratulations!!

What I would suggest you do is maybe invest in a Technet Professional Subscription. You can write it off as a professional expense (if you do it before the new year, otherwise you'll have to wait for 2013.) But having access to every Microsoft product (I mean everyone) will be a godsend to you. You may get around having access to Standard products from MSDNAA and dreamspark, but enterprise level apps and O/Ses will come in clutch when you need them. Not to mention you get access to two Microsoft elearning courses that amounts to ~20 hours of training.

In any event, congratulations all the same. Working for a small shop for a year or two will pay in dividends later. You're a lot closer to getting a corporate gig now.

erpadmin

NunoTmp wrote: »

Congrats...So you have all those certifications and had a problem finding a job? Kind of discouraging considering Im studying to get a CCENT/CCNA, A+, and Net+. Good luck man

Most if not all of those certs were earned through WGU. In addition, you have to consider his location (MN). From anectodal accounts, it's rough over there for IT. You have to take into account the job market of where you live and other factors.

In other words don't be discouraged if IT is what you want to do.

networker050184

NunoTmp wrote: »

Congrats...So you have all those certifications and had a problem finding a job? Kind of discouraging considering Im studying to get a CCENT/CCNA, A+, and Net+. Good luck man

Certs aren't going to garuntee you a job. You better be bringing more to the table to help you stand out.

TLeTourneau

themagicone wrote: »

It has finally has happened, I got a full time gig in IT. I've been working a lot on my contracting work and various other things to keep money flowing but they job just sort of just happened. The person run a small IT company out of his home and just has too much work to do him self so he was looking for someone to be an employee and take the load off. He really was looking for someone with a lot of experience in MS products but my networking training was enough. Right away he threw me into something I had no idea on but I grundged through it and did a few other things that I excelled at.

Really nice thing is going to be the hours are really open, I can work my contract work still and do this so it will work good. I just really need to get up to date on servers. Next week he is planning on me migrate a Windows 2003 to Windows 2008, then 2-3 more after that. Going to read up on technet and hopefully everything goes good. This is going to be a great learning experience but its going to be a huge curve to begin with.

Congratulations!

erpadmin wrote: »

Most if not all of those certs were earned through WGU. In addition, you have to consider his location (MN). From anectodal accounts, it's rough over there for IT. You have to take into account the job market of where you live and other factors.

In other words don't be discouraged if IT is what you want to do.

He's in the twin cities so it's not too bad. Actually I'd say it can be rough for entry level IT but from what I've seen there is a fair amount of work for mid level and up. There is a lot of tech in MN.

pham0329

erpadmin wrote: »

Most if not all of those certs were earned through WGU. In addition, you have to consider his location (MN). From anectodal accounts, it's rough over there for IT. You have to take into account the job market of where you live and other factors.

In other words don't be discouraged if IT is what you want to do.

MN is not rough in terms of IT jobs! There's plenty of jobs up here

NunoTmp wrote: »

Congrats...So you have all those certifications and had a problem finding a job? Kind of discouraging considering Im studying to get a CCENT/CCNA, A+, and Net+. Good luck man

If you look at his certs, they're kind of all over the place. There's no real focus, other than perhaps a security track from Security+ and CCNA Security. If I was looking at all those certs on someone's resume, I would be inclined to think they're getting certs just to get certs, and that may hurt his chances.

erpadmin

pham0329 wrote: »

MN is not rough in terms of IT jobs! There's plenty of jobs up here

I did say from anectodal accounts, my friend. I don't personally know the job market over there, and I would imagine there are IT jobs everywhere. That's why I stated the word anectodal.

NetworkingStudent

networker050184 wrote: »

Certs aren't going to garuntee you a job. You better be bringing more to the table to help you stand out.

+1

I’m from MN and I can say that it’s tough finding an entry level position. I get interviews, but I haven’t had any offers yet. I have talked to a few recruiters and I haven’t had much luck. Most recruiters don’t want to talk to you if you don’t have any experience. Also, some offer jobs were they can’t guarantee hours or length of contract. This would be great if I didn’t already have a full time non IT job.
Companies will interview people with little or no experience, and it seems like they’re more willing to give newbie’s a chance.

Having an education and certs are great, but employers want you to show them what you can do. Also, a lot companies don’t want to train someone, they would rather have someone that can hit the ground running. I don’t blame these companies for feeling this way either. Since, there are so many people out of work that they can have their pick of the litter.

I’m going to keep applying, volunteering, doing some side computer jobs, and studying for certs.

Note-I wanted to say it’s nice to have a cert, but always be ready to discuss what you learned from the certification. Believe me when I say that some day it will come up in interviews.

themagicone

Dang did I butcher my grammar on that post. Anyway... I have a LOT to learn. I thought I knew enough to get myself around MS Servers BUT I am sadly mistaken. I admitted this to my new boss but he was cool about it. He is going to get me a technet subscription tonight and I'm going to do some installs with SBS 2003/2011 then work on migration stuff. Probably finish up my CCNP that I started then jump on the EA cert.

LinuxRacr

Congrats! Now that you have the job, become a sponge. Soak up everything, and show the willingness to learn new stuff. It will take you far. Remember, when you do make that next step to a larger shop, you want to be able to translate your skills, and abilities (even if unrelated) into solutions for the new employee prospect.

andre81

Congratulations for getting over that first mountain!

Psoasman

Congrats!

JohnnyBiggles

pham0329 wrote: »

If you look at his certs, they're kind of all over the place. There's no real focus, other than perhaps a security track from Security+ and CCNA Security. If I was looking at all those certs on someone's resume, I would be inclined to think they're getting certs just to get certs, and that may hurt his chances.

I'm curious to know the mindset of a potential employer.....

I understand this highlighted point of view on some level.... but conversely speaking, if someone has all those certs, what would make an employer think they're "just getting certs to get certs"? Why else would anyone even get certs other than to: a) have official proof that they actually know something technical/practical well enough to apply that knowledge at a professional (paid) level.... OR... b) use them to, at the very least, attract an employer's attention to get a job? Searchable letters often work better than job experience descriptions on your resume (if you're lucky enough to have relevant experience), I believe!

It just would seem obvious to me that this person is multifaceted and is capable of quite a lot which could be an asset if I (as the employer) need just one of those certs...OR....The other positive would be that he's obviously trying to prove him/herself and make him/herself available for many different types of jobs, seeing that one might not have been adequate enough to score a job quickly after being certified. An all-around techie is still a techie... and if someone offers a good web-designer job or Server Admin before a network security job comes along, and you're certified for it, would you pass it up? You may end up liking Web design more anyway, even though you were prepared for something else. College is the same way. Why do we need English and Biology and all this other crap when I'm going to school for networking? They'll say that it makes you well rounded. Is there any other reason other than to make the school money??

I dunno, maybe I'm just ranting...lol. Pardon. Have a Happy New Year, all.

ptilsen

pham0329 wrote: »

If you look at his certs, they're kind of all over the place. There's no real focus, other than perhaps a security track from Security+ and CCNA Security. If I was looking at all those certs on someone's resume, I would be inclined to think they're getting certs just to get certs, and that may hurt his chances.

I don't know, I view value in generalization, especially at the entry level. A+/Net+/Sec+/MCTS/CCNA combined to me could fill a lot of generalist/MSP/SMB roles. I can tell you being all over the place is helpful in my organization.

Not that I necessarily disagree with your point, either; cert whoring is bad.

I also agree with you that MN is not rough in IT jobs, at any level. Quick Monster, Dice, CareerBuilder and even Craigslist searches show lots of jobs across the board. My organization has been expanding over the last year, and so have our competitors. Everything I've seen indicates that the Twin Cities is a strong, growing region for IT professionals.

nhpr

Not only did you get hired, but you're the #2 man in your organization! You should mention that to everyone... just ignore the part about there only being two people.

Dakinggamer87

Congrats!!