Bachelor's degree in chemistry, a few certs, zero IT experience

I graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 2010 and decided to make a career switch to IT. In the past 6 months I've obtained A+, Network+, and CCNA certificates. I don't have any experience yet but I'm attempting to get a entry level job this summer.

My question is - will I need to get a CS or MIS degree in order to be a more competitive candidate? Or I will be fine without improving the education part of my resume? I've seen many hiring posts that only requires "a bachelor's degree", but I'm not sure if I should assume the posts are implying EE, CS, MIS majors. Hope I won't have to further my debt lol.

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Comments

the_hutch

Not at all. You are definitely more competitive than most attempting to get an entry level position. What kind of work experience do you have? Or are you straight out of school?

Iristheangel

You have a B.S., right? Well, even if it's not technology-specific, it will still show that you have a solid understanding to mathematical and scientific concepts and that you got a degree. I've met people that have graduate degrees in music or other arts but still do great in IT.

At this point, getting another IT-specific degree probably won't be worth getting into all that extra debt. I would recommend getting some real experience at this point. Whether it be help desk, NOC work, or even volunteer work, get your foot in the door. After that, work your behind off at learning more in IT and impressing your bosses to move up into more interesting roles

YFZblu

The CCNA alone would get you plenty of attention - I think you'll be just fine.

sizeon

what is NOC work?

the_hutch

Network Operations Center

the_hutch

As with many terms in IT, its very general and frequently applied to a lot of different things. I've seen some companies refer to their network infrastructure team as the NOC, some the routing and switching group, some a consolidated helpdesk/call-center. I personally try to avoid the term because it commonly takes on so many meanings in IT. But if there is networking involved, its possible that a company will throw the name NOC on it.

N2IT

Like the others have mentioned you are in good shape.

You have a degree, intro certifications (not to many either) and a mid level certification. Looks like you are on a good track.

alan2308

Keep applying for positions and keep your knowledge/skills fresh. Any one of those companies could be the one that calls you back for an interview. Dominate that and you're in.

CiscoKidd

I started out like you, I graduated in 2005 with a B.S. in Physics and decided I wanted to work in IT. After I graduated, I earned my A+ and Network+ certs and was able to get a job doing tech support. Wasn't the bed job but it was good stepping stone. Now I am a Network Engineer working with Cisco, Juniper, and Check Point equipment. If I can do it, you sure can too.

Good Luck!!!!

doobies

sizeon wrote: »

what is NOC work?

its a place with no sun.... where workers hear computers talking to them with loud beeps all day.

seriously tho.. its a perfect place for ccna's.... find a crummy shift(nooob shift)... stick it out a lil while and you'll be good in no time.

ccna??... netplus and a+... your doing better than alot of people... that alone shows initiative and that your good with numbers lol.

drew726

If you had a choice between help desk or a NOC, you should probably choose the NOC. Because you're monitoring network alerts, you get a better idea of how the network infrastructure is like. Both positions will most likely require you to take calls, but at a help desk you'd probably get more calls from end-users versus in a NOC, you'll probably speak with some pretty technical people. The downside is, you might have to do some graveyard work in a NOC. But if you're smart, you'd use your time wisely in GY and spend time studying and learning other things.

bellhead

One of things you can try to leverage after you have some experience is computer and control systems involving chemistry. Working for a power generation company, they have quite a few people who do nothing but work with the computers and the control systems that monitor water quality, Air pollutions, and other things inside a plant, I know quite a few of these guys and they all started out as Chemists who evolved...