In a Rut!

Alhaji265

Hello TE!


I am in a kind of mental jam (please pardon me for being emotional) but I am 24 and will be 25 in a few weeks. My DST position was elimnated in Sept. 2011 because that wanted someone "higher up" (in which case they shouldn't had hired me), completed a Cable technician project in last month and look for a perm. job.


I want to know, how do you guys get yourself out of a rut? I know people have it worse then me but I feel like I am in a mental daze?


Last (but def. not least) please give me advice and TELL me what I don't want to hear, as far as constructive criticism.


Thanks TE!

Slowhand

The best thing I could think of for your situation is to set a goal and shoot for it, particularly if that goal is a study or cert-related goal. You want to get yourself moving forward and also protect yourself from being booted out from another job because you're not qualified/certified/experienced enough in the eyes of your employer. Maybe now would be the perfect time to start off on that cert you've been meaning to do, or perhaps go browsing around the forums and figure out which one would be a good starting point to kick-start your career again, as well as boost your confidence.

nicklauscombs

if i'm reading right and you are currently looking for a job why not do some volunteer IT work (nonprofits, churches, etc...) to help fill in the job gap?

alxx

well what do you want to do ?

Where do you want to end up and what sort of position ?

SteveLord

nicklauscombs wrote: »

if i'm reading right and you are currently looking for a job why not do some volunteer IT work (nonprofits, churches, etc...) to help fill in the job gap?

I think too many here have this false belief that volunteer work is really easy to find. Whether you're being paid or not, that's still an additional liability for whoever ultimately owns that equipment. How confident can that person/business be in someone who is handling generally expensive and sensitive equipment?

Great in theory, but not realistic IMO.

powerfool

As Slowhand said, said a goal and go for it. Start off with something smaller to get yourself a "win" and then build up from there.

DevilWAH

Small steps, easy to take and can add up to big leaps far faster than you think.

I only got in to IT at 27ish, few years as helpdesk and was stuck in a rut, so got on Google and started learning, just to get rid of the bordam at first. But soon found networking and not really looked back.

Look at it this way, if you are stuck in a rut, then as long as you do nothing you will still be stuck in that rut.

So go out learn a few things, get some certs maybe, or just study and do something that will benefit you knowlage and / or experience in your career. And keep looking for optunities to move forward into. Just don't do it the other way round, wait for a job optunity to come up that you think you will learn in.

Every bit of knowlage you gain, cert you have, experience you gain, will help when looking for your next position, Keep developing your self and the good jobs will come. In the end I spent 2 years in a dead end job gettign a few certs, bored with every moment of it. But then one day after many rejections I got an interview, was offered a job with the pay I felt I should have, the responsibilities I wanted and the ruts ended.

I think the worst thing you can do is sit and hope it will end, you have to dig your self out, so don't focus on the rut, but like others have said, set goals and work on them. Don't try to rush, take each in turn and work steadily until you have achieved them.

Lets say for example you want to go cisco path, how about one exam every 2 months. starting from scratch you could be CCNA in 3 or 4 months, if you still can't get your job, carry on with CCNP maybe, that's another 6-9 months. And yes that may be the best part of a year away being stuck in the rut. But I would be shocked if you don't start to see opt unities opening up during that time, and I can assure you you won't feel so bad as you see every few months a new goal being achived.

Alhaji265

alxx wrote: »

well what do you want to do ?

Where do you want to end up and what sort of position ?

I want to start off in HD or DST and move into management role after going for my BA.

Alhaji265

DevilWAH wrote: »

Small steps, easy to take and can add up to big leaps far faster than you think.

I only got in to IT at 27ish, few years as helpdesk and was stuck in a rut, so got on Google and started learning, just to get rid of the bordam at first. But soon found networking and not really looked back.

Look at it this way, if you are stuck in a rut, then as long as you do nothing you will still be stuck in that rut.

So go out learn a few things, get some certs maybe, or just study and do something that will benefit you knowlage and / or experience in your career. And keep looking for optunities to move forward into. Just don't do it the other way round, wait for a job optunity to come up that you think you will learn in.

Every bit of knowlage you gain, cert you have, experience you gain, will help when looking for your next position, Keep developing your self and the good jobs will come. In the end I spent 2 years in a dead end job gettign a few certs, bored with every moment of it. But then one day after many rejections I got an interview, was offered a job with the pay I felt I should have, the responsibilities I wanted and the ruts ended.

I think the worst thing you can do is sit and hope it will end, you have to dig your self out, so don't focus on the rut, but like others have said, set goals and work on them. Don't try to rush, take each in turn and work steadily until you have achieved them.

Lets say for example you want to go cisco path, how about one exam every 2 months. starting from scratch you could be CCNA in 3 or 4 months, if you still can't get your job, carry on with CCNP maybe, that's another 6-9 months. And yes that may be the best part of a year away being stuck in the rut. But I would be shocked if you don't start to see opt unities opening up during that time, and I can assure you you won't feel so bad as you see every few months a new goal being achived.

How does small steps really add up?

DevilWAH

well, lets see, 4 exams (CCNA, CCNA Security and first CCNP exam) all self study, doing some scripting in my own time.

a few network projects, starting from assigning managment IP's to all the network devices on site, some thing i decided to do not that was requested by my work, progressing through, other minor projects, (setting up spanning tree, ios upgrades, config back ups) till I was designing and deploying a complete network upgrade for a 1500 user network.

Took 2 to 3 years from deciding to sit down an pick up a CISCO book/video, till that point, and lots of small steps. Walked out of that job to work with one of only 4 Global Cisco Partners and nearly doubled my take home pay over night last year! Now I have a whole world of CISCO at my door

All the certs where self studied in my own time, and up until the last 6 or so months of my first job I had the job tile of help desk engineer. Carrying Printers and PC's by day, and designing networks by night.

I could never have jumped in to designing networks in one step, or get my CCNP over night, but building upon each "sensible" goal in turn as I achieved them, I both had something to keep my mind active as I progressed, and ended up right where I want to be.

Since then I have got my ITIL, learnt scripting/programming, run managed service contracts for global clients. Again more small steps, but they add up and I know in another 6 months to a year, I will be ready to move on again. Yes in terms of pay and and other things the last year has be static, but when I look back and count up on my fingers each minor stop I have made, i soon run out of fingers and toes.. So I know I am still moving forward, and in time the next big step will arrive.

DevilWAH

Alhaji265 wrote: »

I want to start off in HD or DST and move into management role after going for my BA.

you wont end up a manager in a short time span, that is some thing you have to really prove you can do. As a manager you have the potential to ruin a company/team. I would say park the management idea for the time being and find out what field with in IT you want to work in, what do you want to manage? a help desk, a managed service team, a deployment team, a finance team, ops team??? What technology do you want to work with? Microsoft, CISCO, Cloud, communication.....

Saying I want to start with HD and end up a manager is like a scientist saying I want to start as a Lab Tec and end up a manager. A lab tec for what??? If some one came to my for an interview with that line, my initial reaction would be that they don't understand either what a manager really is, and much about the field they are trying to get in to and how it works.

Alhaji265

DevilWAH wrote: »

you wont end up a manager in a short time span, that is some thing you have to really prove you can do. As a manager you have the potential to ruin a company/team. I would say park the management idea for the time being and find out what field with in IT you want to work in, what do you want to manage? a help desk, a managed service team, a deployment team, a finance team, ops team??? What technology do you want to work with? Microsoft, CISCO, Cloud, communication.....

Saying I want to start with HD and end up a manager is like a scientist saying I want to start as a Lab Tec and end up a manager. A lab tec for what??? If some one came to my for an interview with that line, my initial reaction would be that they don't understand either what a manager really is, and much about the field they are trying to get in to and how it works.

I am aware of that (ending up a manager in a short time) but I am planning on focusing on Cisco networking (CCNA then maybe CCNP) and some Exchange.