Need Some IT Career Advice

In 3 months I will have my Associates Degree in Applied Technology forComputer Systems Support and I also have my A+ cert.
The problems I have are I don't have any real work experience in IT but I consider myself very tech savvy, built several computers and all that stuff. In addition I had originally planned to be a Server administrator but after taking the course at school I was bored out of my mind and I realized it wasn't for me. So I am trying to find a career path that I enjoy. I was told Cisco is were the money is so I have been looking into getting my CCNA but I don't know if it is the right career path for me. One thing I found myself enjoying and getting into was running Backtrack 5 on Linux and running airodump commands or john the ripper, DeAuth Attack on my home network for educational purposes. I know I don't want to repair peoples computers or work at a help desk answering phone calls. "Hello, IT, have you tried turning it off and on again"

I just want to get into a career that pays well over time. One of my friends landed a lvl 1 server tech job for a Microsoft server database and they offered him $18 an hour over the phone and all he had was a 2 year degree. I hope to get something like that, even though most IT adds I see on Craigslist only want to pay $12-$13 an hour. I pretty much am looking to get into a field of IT work that isn't over populated and pays well.

Any advice or pointers would gladly be appreciated.

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Comments

FloOz

Some people may get lucky like your friend did and land the job they wanted. However, most people getting into IT have to start from the very bottom which is helpdesk. Put in the time and work and I am sure you will get out of that sort of position quickly.

nosoup4u

You learn a lot from these "low level" jobs especially with no prior customer service or it experience. While I believe it's often referred to as a entry level job I know the service desk employees here are tier 2 and make 50K+, just being call "help desk" is something I see a lot of people smirk at or kinda joke about but often it's a issue with that persons self confidence imo.

I worked as a "IT Specialist" and "System Admin" in the past making half of what some "help desk" people make...

Just some food for thought.

vanquish23

Nice username you have there....

Akaricloud

I have to agree with nosoup4u and say start at the bottom. It's the path that most people take and really does teach you a lot whether or not you believe that now. There is no way I would ever hire someone without real world IT experience to be a server administrator.

From what you've said I would recommend trying to start in Desktop Support. It usually doesn't involve answering phone calls and more focuses on setting up new PCs, troubleshooting more difficult application/OS problems in person and actually getting to know the people you support. Being able to build relationships with users and get hands-on really made it enjoyable for me personally.

Being a Systems Administrator may be more fun than you think. The books/education for it can be a bit dry but on the job it's much more fun. On a day to day basis I work with AD, exchange, WSUS, VMware, Cisco phone systems and voicemail, enterprise storage devices, a render farm, web servers, SQL servers, backup devices, ect ect.. There is always more to learn and dive into which makes every day interesting.

SlayerX

This is a lot of good advice guys I appreciate it. I will take a closer look at my options, desktop support sounds like a good direction and server administrator might be more fun working with it then studying the material. But of course I have more questions I will be posting in here. Thanks again everyone