Where were you in your career at 25?

I'm a few months away from 25 and I was wondering what my fellow TE memebers were doing at 25? This is a very vague question, anything regarding to life, work, etc..

For Example:
*Were you confused about what you wanted to do?
*What job did you have at 25?
*What degree/certs did you have?
*Is there any advice you received through-out your career that you wish you knew at 25?
*What you would of done different if you could go back in time?

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Comments

Akaricloud

Wow, there is a lot to live up to in this thread. Maybe in two-three years I'll be able to join the rest of these amazing stories when I turn 25.

elderkai

I'm not there yet, but I'm currently studying for the CCNP and interning at a promising ISP. =D

staticz

*Were you confused about what you wanted to do?
I'm on the fence. Feeling pretty overloaded right now, but I love what I'm doing.

*What job did you have at 25?
I'm 25 right now and am a Network Engineer for a hospital system. I manage 8 sites with 5 more coming on in the near future.

*What degree/certs did you have?
Three Degrees - Bachelor's in Computer Systems, Associates in Web Development and Associates in Technology Management.
Cisco CCENT

*Is there any advice you received through-out your career that you wish you knew at 25?
College doesn't actually teach you much. Business politics hold more weight than any technical proposal would

*What you would of done different if you could go back in time?
I think I shot up through the ranks too fast. Some would see that as a good thing but managing 8 sites with 1 hour of total downtime per quarter is nerve racking.

SteveO86

*Were you confused about what you wanted to do?
Nope, Networking/Cisco is what I enjoy
*What job did you have at 25?
Sr Networking Engineer for a MSP
*What degree/certs did you have?
AS Degree (Networking), CCNP, CCIP, CCDP, CCNA:S/W (Worked on CCDP/CCIP while I was 25), various other non-Cisco certs (MCSA,MCITP,CWTS, others listed on my Blog)
*Is there any advice you received through-out your career that you wish you knew at 25?
Not sure where to start with this one.
*What you would of done different if you could go back in time?
Nothing really. I was learning new stuff, working in a interesting environment. Granted I was working over 80 hours a week but you know it's paid off. Be more confident and more demanding with my salary negotiations.

[Deleted User]

*What job did you have at 25?
I'm not yet 25 but I work as a Systems Administrator. I get my hands on a lot of different technologies so that throws a lot of wrenches in to the direction that I want to go. If this thread is still around in 1-2 years, I'll post back with where I am and see how it differs from where I thought I was going.

*Were you confused about what you wanted to do?
I don't have a clear vision of what I want to do at 23. I do believe that I have a short term plan for where I want to go next though.

*What degree/certs did you have?
Currently have an Associates in Network Design and Administration. As far as certs go, I've got Security+, MCITP:EA, and CCNA.

*What you would of done different if you could go back in time?
I feel like I'm in a good place now. I know that I need to dedicate more time to progress at home but that's been my downfall. I've identified it and now I need to make progress towards changing it and getting better at what I do.

networker050184

*What job did you have at 25?

Network Engineer at an ISP.

*Were you confused about what you wanted to do?

Nope, knew what I wanted to do and was already doing it at that point.

*What degree/certs did you have?

No degree, CCNP/CCIP.

*What you would of done different if you could go back in time?

Probably not much. Would have liked to started working towards a degree, but still haven't even started yet!

vr2312

I am 25 now... And here it goes

A) Yes i am confused on what i wanted to do, what i am doing and what i will do

ArcSight Content Deveoper/Administrator in a reputed Financial Organization'
C)CCNA and ITIL v3.0 and an Engineer
D)In-Appropriate but i receive advices and suggestions every day. If you start listening to all of them, you will end up in a spider web
E) I would have not done CCNA and focused more on InfoSec and not on Network Security

MrAgent

*Were you confused about what you wanted to do?
No. I knew I wanted to work in IT.

*What job did you have at 25?
Systems Engineer working as a contractor for the Dept of State

*What degree/certs did you have?
None. I had 7 years of IT experience at this point, including military experience and a clearance. I hadnt even thought of getting certs.

*Is there any advice you received through-out your career that you wish you knew at 25?
I wish I would have started college earlier than I did. I didnt finish my BS until I was 32 (im 35 now) and start on a masters program.

*What you would of done different if you could go back in time?
Other than starting college earlier... nothing really. I was making great money at that point.

Zorodzai

*Were you confused about what you wanted to do?
Yes, I had no direction at all. I actually didnt get any real direction in my career until about a year ago when I decided I didn't want to do desktop support for the rest of my life.

*What job did you have at 25?
IT trainer - part time hustle basically teaching MS Office courses.

*What degree/certs did you have?
MCP/A+/N+

*Is there any advice you received through-out your career that you wish you knew at 25?
- Stop daydreaming and actively work to achieve one's objectives.
- Don't put things off because missed opportunities don't come round twice.

*What you would of done different if you could go back in time?
Been more focussed on finishing one thing before moving onto the next. There was a time I wanted to learn and certify in everything......net result being I was not focussed enough on any one thing to do anything.

UnixGuy

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

*Were you confused about what you wanted to do?

Yes, and still am. (28 yrs old now).

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

*What job did you have at 25?

I was doing Unix (Solaris) support including servers and storage.

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

*What degree/certs did you have?

Pretty much the same certs that I have now (or minus some). I think I went and got the RHCE later to broaden my Linux knowledge

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

*Is there any advice you received through-out your career that you wish you knew at 25?

I wish I used my free time better. I wish I learned Perl and Python in my free time, and I wish I did more programming on the side.

Also, I wish I saved money.

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

*What you would of done different if you could go back in time?

See answer above.

Everyone

Nope, I was doing what I love.

At 25 I was a Sr. Systems Administrator/Lead Messaging Systems Administrator for a major Defense company on a contract with an Air Force Base.

I had no degree. Certs at that time were an old 2000 Pro MCP, Dell PowerVault 136T, and Dell SAN Solutions Provider.

Nope.

Nothing related to my career, lol.

Fast-forward 5 years, and I've done very well. I have an awesome job, my base salary alone is more than double what I was making at 25.

Kinet1c

*Were you confused about what you wanted to do? - Very much so, wanted in to IT but wasn't having any luck getting in.
*What job did you have at 25? - Worked as an Auditor (boring.com).
*What degree/certs did you have? - None!
*Is there any advice you received through-out your career that you wish you knew at 25? - Networking is key, personal networking that is!
*What you would of done different if you could go back in time? - Quit and start learning anything IT related.

It's only 5 years later, 3 of which I've had working in IT. I've a couple of entry level certificates under my belt and my focus has never been more laser targeted in achieving more in 2013.

Mrock4

*Were you confused about what you wanted to do?
Not at this point, but I wanted to do this work since I was 16, so I'm unusual

*What job did you have at 25?
Lead Network Engineer
*What degree/certs did you have?
No degree, CCNA, CCDA, CCNP.

*Is there any advice you received through-out your career that you wish you knew at 25?
I can't say I received really great advice during my career, but I learned a lot that I wish I knew back then.

*What you would of done different if you could go back in time?
Do everything earlier! But life happens.

astrogeek

What job did you have at 25?
At 25 I was standing on a loading dock working as a truck driver, talking to another truck driver about how we both wanted to go back to school to get into IT.

What degree/certs did you have?
Nothing but a bunch of incomplete community college courses from years back.

Is there any advice you received through-out your career that you wish you knew at 25?
Stop making excuses for not doing what you want to do, and just go do it.

What you would of done different if you could go back in time?
I should have enrolled in the CCNA academy program that my high school was offering. The same teacher that taught that same class ended up teaching the CCNA academy at a local community college that I took 10 years later when I finally decided to pursue IT.

Were you confused about what you wanted to do?
I'm still confused, but a little clearer now

TheMontu

I'm 23 now..turning 24 in a a few months.

I've been in my help desk role for 5 years now...finally Just got my Security+ yesterday. (previously only had A+ since age 18 )

Yes I'm confused about what I want to do..at this point I'm setting my sights on system's administration but am also looking at net admin roles.

the reason for taking the Sec+ was that I work in a DoD environment and it's required for me to advance.

my job pays top dollar for my position so that's why I've been lazy for the passed 5 years...but its time to get off my ass. (A mortgage is a good kick in the ass)

Cleverclogs

When my 25th birthday rolled around I was still at my old role on a bank helpdesk. I'd been there at that point for almost three years, although by then only one year as a staff member instead of an independent contractor. At that point we still had around 11 people on the team, which would be reduced to 5 (Including me) by the time I left in 2012. I was attempting to secure work funding for an MCDST course, which they dragged their feet about for over 6 months before deciding there wouldn't be any training funded. Just over a year later I decided to try get out of there, a process which took 25 months due to the state of the local IT market.

If I could go back in time I'd never have taken the full time job in 2008 and would have instead found somewhere else that had a future (Like the role I have now).

xenodamus

At 25 I had been working in IT since high school, but wasn't managing my career path very effectively. I had an AAS and A+, but hadn't done much else to better myself.
,
That was the year I got back on the cert train, went out and found an enterprise job in desktop support, and started my climb up the ladder. Over the next 2 years (now 27) I changed jobs twice, passed the certs you see here, and doubled my salary while going from 2 jobs to 1.

If I could go back, I would have started purposefully managing my career at 21 rather than 25. I just wonder how much more knowledge and experience I would have right now if I had made better use of those early years. I was working in IT, but it was just a job - now it's a passion.

Tackle

Not even 23 yet.
At 25 I'm fairly certain I'll be with another company. Currently have 3 years of a Sys Admin/desktop support type roll.

MCTS and AAS in Network Administration currently with no burning desire to get a bach/more certs while I'm with this company.

Will come back here at 25 if I remember.

xocity

Currently 23
Just 3 certs to my name and about 7 years total IT experience mostly hardware repairs with 1 year of call center.

Im currently a Level 2 engineer at an IT consulting company.

Hopefully by the time im 25 , Ill have my bachelors and some better certs in my name and hopefully a nicer job title.

Cisco Inferno

Also 23. Only have 2 years of professional IT experience. The rest has been through it being a hobby throughout my teenage years.

Finishing my A.A in Computer Information Systems at Miami Dade College at the end of the year.
Then I am seamlessly transferring to University of Maryland - University College (its online) into their Computer Networks and Security Program. This program will load me up with certs as part of the degree plan.

So by the time I am 25, I'll have my AA, will be enrolled or finishing up my Bachelors at a state school and should have my MCSA and CCNA. I'll also hopefully be prepping for my CCNP, and hopefully will be in a great network position.

I also do desktop support for Cargill International. 116Billion in revenue last year. Wouldnt have been able to do that in NYC where I moved from.

newb

Do you guys ever worry that by the time the recession is over and there are more jobs available that you'll be too old and your chances will have diminished?

I'm 23 and I'm already worrying about that lol.

I just finished my MIS degree at the end of last year, but I have no work experience in IT or certifications. I am also coming to the realization that my area is probably not the best location to seek entry level IT opportunities, South Florida is a center for service and tourism business.

I was somewhat confused about what I wanted to do. I liked the topic of IT in general but thought taking that path in college wouldn't be as beneficial as being more well rounded as taking IT with Business courses. Luckily, I found out I am pretty good at and also have an interest in a lot of business topics.

My advice to everyone starting college is to not be ashamed of taking community college classes for an AA degree. I know a lot of people fall into that trap. Why? It's cheaper, you'll have a degree, and you'll have knocked out your general studies courses and you'll not have taken so many major-specific courses that by the time you want to transfer to a BA degree you won't be able to change majors.

xocity

Cisco Inferno and I would agree that yes it may not be the best but its possible to still get noticed and land a nice job in south florida

Cisco Inferno

have you completed any internships? they count heavily as experience.
If not, get on some certs asap.

Beowolfj

25, thats 10 years ago. In a since, I was reborn. Just honorably discharged from a dead end Navel carrier a year prior and into my first year of my associates degree in computer security. Homeless (had to live with family) jobless, (five to six interviews a week, but was alwats 'overqualified' or 'didn't fit in with the company motto'. looking back, i really haven't moved all that far.

for this, I'd like to thank Unkel Sam for taking five years I will never get back with nothing helpfull to show for it; Sally Mea for taking advantage of the begginning carrire erner who has no chance to get paid what the degee costs thanks to the failing economy; and my previous four other employers who thanks to there ability to pull the rug out just in time, there was no hope of securing a financial footing to build on.

I think I'm done ranting now.

Armymanis1

I almost have my bachelors degree IN IT at 25. I have 2 years experience at a help desk and getting drunk right now. I love life!

Polynomial

24 years old. Doing okay, I think. =P

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markspellman

Rkdrummer20

At 25 energy was pouring from every cell of my body and brain....

jvrlopez

2nd job after the military, making $50k/year.

Chitownjedi

Working at a computer based testing company proctoring everyone else getting certifications.

broli720

I'm 25 now. Currently the ISSO on our project dealing with control systems and corporate network architecture. I'm hoping to move off of project and back to the corporate office in the next year or two.