Looking for a good place to start!

Bigbill810

Hello everyone!

I'm looking for a good place to start an IT career. Allow me to give you a little background on myself and my goals:

I am 33 years old; have had an active interest in computers since I was 15. My best friend's father worked for Pratt Whitney as a technician. He came home one day with two 8088's and was throwing them out. I took them and with his guidance was able to build a working computer from the two dead ones. It didn't last but for a few days, but the beast was born. Since then, I've been freelance building and troubleshooting for family and friends...the usual things we do. I learned some programming, but turned out not to be my thing. Then someone suggested a Teach yourself CCNA book. The beast was re-born. Turns out I love hardware and networking seems fun to me.

I have been in retail since I was 16, and been a retail manager since 22. The money was good at that age, and easy. Well, now I'm 33 and still a manager. I hate it, I wanted to get back into my original passion. In August of 2012, I got a Pell Grant and started my first semester at Nashville State CC. It became more clear that I had made the right choice. I finished the semester with the 2nd highest grade in the class and the top score on the final exam. The final consisted of building a tiny network of 2 PC's, a router and a switch...making my own crossover/straight cables and configuring the whole thing. Teacher laughed at me because I was smiling the whole time. He even got on me for helping a classmate.

Now that you know all of this; I would love to know what kinds of jobs to go for to start accruing professional experience? At this point, I'd say my ultimate goal is to be a Network Engineer with a security focus. I'm setting my ultimate goal at CCNP Security for now, as I spend time in the field I'll change that to be CCIE Security (hopefully).

Is help desk the only way to get started?
Should I shoot for a PC Technician job over help desk?
Is there any type of job I should focus on to keep my career heading in the networking direction?

Thanks for your time and responses!

jdancer

Try to look for internships, even it's unpaid, in the networking field. Sure, you can start at the help desk, but it seems you really want to be in networking. Try to stay in that field. Everyone starts at the bottom.

tycoonbob

Based on your signature, you are definitely on the right track with certifications.

I personally think that a Desktop Support position is the ideal place to start out in IT to get any experience. With an A+, you should be able to find something, especially in a larger city. While there, continue working on your certifications and such, and once you get your CCNA there is a chance you may be able to do a transition to the networking team at the same company. That is what I would call ideal...but sometimes you have to take what you can get.

Best of luck to whatever you decide to do!