Need Help Breaking Into IT Industry

Greetings everyone,

I am 29 and am looking to change careers into the IT industry. I have my Bachelor's in Business and Master's in Psychology (should I put the Master's on my resume?). I have years of experience teaching and in social work/psychotherapy. Most all my jobs incorporated PC based billing systems and/or MS Office. However, I am very tired of the social work arena.

I am currently volunteering at a computer training program for the community, through a non-profit company. I am assisting the main instructor in classes about basic PC skills through Office skills.

I have applied at a couple places who want a paid intern/entry level worker. I am looking for entry level work, possibly via a help desk position (I don't have the brains for programming).

Anyway, I have always been considered “techie” by everyone I know and have had PCs as a hobby for most of my life. I know pretty much all the basics except more advanced networking. I have always been working on friend's/family's computer most of my life as well.

Anyway, do you peeps have any suggestions as to how to find an entry-level position somewhere?

And, I would like to get A+ certification. I was thinking about using trainsignal.com subscription service for instruction videos, along with the most popular A+ book CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, 8th Edition (Exams 220-801 & 220-802) by Michael Meyers.

I am open to any suggestions as how to make my training material more effective. Any free videos that are comparable to trainsignal.com?

Thanks!

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Comments

Master Of Puppets

Welcome to the forums! Go on youtube, there are a lot of great videos there. If I were you, I would leave the Psychology degree on. Other than that I think you are on the right path - until you can get a paid internship/job, the volunteering is a great way to help you gather some experience. A+ and N+ are always a good start.

Ivanjam

@hawkpacific - hello and welcome to the TE community. You seem to be taking all the right steps to get into the industry: experience by way of volunteer work and an internship and certification via the A+. Mike Meyers' AIO is a great choice for the A+! You could also look into Professor Messer's free A+ videos: Professor Messer, CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, Linux, Microsoft Certification Training prior to subscribing to Trainsignal (go for their free 3-day trial first).

milieu

I would always put your degrees on the resume. Even if it's not relevant to the job, it's something you have accomplished. Just be ready to discuss in interviews why you are looking for something different.

You want to look for an area where your degrees and experience help you transition to the new position.

For instance, technical training might be a good way to go. Teaching networking or technical classes would be another idea. I know you said you weren't into programming, but user interface design or user experience might be an area where your degrees would really help.