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Landed Intership

SWtacomaSWtacoma Member Posts: 37 ■■□□□□□□□□
in IT Jobs / Degrees
A little about myself; I am 20 years old attending community college for CIS and to obtain my CCNA. I am also currently self studying for A+. I felt as though I understand the theory of A+ yet felt very uneasy about practicing my skills. I decided to put myself out there for an internship. The first shop I applied at gave me an intership. Today was my first day ever in an IT work environment(been in the restaruant industry for 5 years....) I have to say I love it so far. This shop has about 10 techs most of which do remote desktop support around the country. The other techs handle all the customers computers that come into the shop.
I spent the whole day dissasembling laptops and putting them back together or switching broken parts for working ones. I also reformatted one of them and reloaded the OS. They tell me that I will be working partly with remote support and partly with physical computers so that I get a good understanding of both areas. My question to all you pros is what can I do at this intership to get the most out of it? Is there any areas that I should try and focus on? My eventual goal is to be a network admin....
Thanks!
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    JackaceJackace Member Posts: 335
    Just learn as much as you can. Push yourself and take on new challenges. You will make mistakes, we all do, but make sure you learn from them and become better.

    What are you hoping to do with your degree and CCNA? I ask because I got a degree in Network Administration and a CCNA, but ended up in the desktop support world. There is nothing wrong with the desktop support world, but it doesn't give you the experience you need to be a network admin.
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    ratchokeratchoke Member Posts: 47 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Jackace wrote: »
    Just learn as much as you can. Push yourself and take on new challenges. You will make mistakes, we all do, but make sure you learn from them and become better.

    What are you hoping to do with your degree and CCNA? I ask because I got a degree in Network Administration and a CCNA, but ended up in the desktop support world. There is nothing wrong with the desktop support world, but it doesn't give you the experience you need to be a network admin.

    I was thinking of the WGU - Network Administration path. Is it something you wouldn't recommend, if not any reasons?
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    NemowolfNemowolf Member Posts: 319 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Jackace wrote: »
    Just learn as much as you can. Push yourself and take on new challenges. You will make mistakes, we all do, but make sure you learn from them and become better.

    What are you hoping to do with your degree and CCNA? I ask because I got a degree in Network Administration and a CCNA, but ended up in the desktop support world. There is nothing wrong with the desktop support world, but it doesn't give you the experience you need to be a network admin.

    I got my first "IT" job working with the Geek Squad. Great learning experience but it didnt get me ready for a role in a corporate environment doing help desk/desktop support. Once i got my feet wet, i worked for my first company for five years without any sign of them giving me a shot to grow into another position like sys admin or networking. while doing the support will get you grounded for the A+, dont let yourself get stuck in the role if you want to expand out of it sooner than later.
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    JackaceJackace Member Posts: 335
    ratchoke wrote: »
    I was thinking of the WGU - Network Administration path. Is it something you wouldn't recommend, if not any reasons?

    There is nothing wrong with the degree. I might even do a masters with WGU in the future myself. My comment was aimed more towards the experience. If the OP wants to be in networking he should try and find an internship that gives him some networking experience. Nothing is wrong with the desktop experience, but based on personal experience it won't help you land a networking job after you graduate.
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    JackaceJackace Member Posts: 335
    Nemowolf wrote: »
    I got my first "IT" job working with the Geek Squad. Great learning experience but it didnt get me ready for a role in a corporate environment doing help desk/desktop support. Once i got my feet wet, i worked for my first company for five years without any sign of them giving me a shot to grow into another position like sys admin or networking. while doing the support will get you grounded for the A+, dont let yourself get stuck in the role if you want to expand out of it sooner than later.

    Exactly. I spent 2 years in this situation myself, and I have spent this entire year looking for a networking job. There is nothing wrong with help desk and desktop support, and it can be a great learning opportunity. Just don't let yourself spend too much time in that area if that is not where you want to be. Unfortunately desktop support doesn't translate over to network support all that well.
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    sratakhinsratakhin Member Posts: 818
    OP, try to find a job at your college. Community colleges and universities usually have a lot of openings for desktop support and such. You can go anywhere from there if you prove your skills and desire to learn.
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    NemowolfNemowolf Member Posts: 319 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Jackace wrote: »
    Exactly. I spent 2 years in this situation myself, and I have spent this entire year looking for a networking job. There is nothing wrong with help desk and desktop support, and it can be a great learning opportunity. Just don't let yourself spend too much time in that area if that is not where you want to be. Unfortunately desktop support doesn't translate over to network support all that well.

    doesnt really translate to anything directly, you really have to get outside the box for the transition. Thats part of why im looking at WGU for my bachelors so i can get out of this path and onto a better one.
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    baseball1988baseball1988 Member Posts: 119
    Congrats to your first internship!

    1. Connect with people (current department and your dream job department)
    2. Ask as many questions as possible and learn
    3. Work as a team
    4. Get references
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    her.yangher.yang Member Posts: 22 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Well if you want to be a network admin, getting your CCNA would be a good first step. This not only shows that you have the skills but also that you're willing to invest time and money into that profession. I would also try to work as closely as possible to the current network admin--don't smooch but let them know that you're interested. It's not much but next time a network position opens up, there's more of a chance that he'll remember you as opposed to someone else. Good luck!
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    WhiteoutWhiteout Member Posts: 248
    Congrats! Just curious do you live in Tacoma, WA?
    Never stop learning.
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    someasiandudesomeasiandude Member Posts: 85 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Congrats on the new gig! Is it paid internship??
    A.S. - Computer Networking Student (Spring 2014)

    CompTIA A+ (passed 10/2012) ----> CompTIA Net+ ----> CCENT :study: ---> CCNA ---> ???
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