Beginning a Career in IT -- Where Do I Start?

This forum is a wealth of information. I've been reading it for a long time, but have finally felt compelled to register and start a thread.

A little background: I'm 27, and have been working in healthcare for the past 7 years. Nothing hands on, but I've basically done more back end stuff (such as billing, demo updates, insurance verification).

I don't have a career; these have all been a series of jobs. I've worked for 3 different companies and I currently work for a very large hospital system that is throughout California, Arizona and parts of Nevada. I've been in my current position and with this company for almost 2 and a half years. The department I'm in now is going to be essentially spun off to a competing company at the end of this year, and I want to get out before then (if I could stay with my current company, I'd be happy).

IT is the field I would be satisfied and be happy in. The issue I'm seeing is, I don't know where to begin. I've been reading Michael Meyers' CompTIA A+ 8th Edition book off and on, but I've not taken the A+ exam yet. There's always positions posted on the internal job site for help desk positions (which, by reading, seems where I should start) but are always either Tier 2 or Tier 3.

I have 40 credits at the local CC, non-IT related (all gen ed). It's taking me a long time to finish my classes. I read about WGU this evening, and will sift through the posts there to see if I should continue my education there.

So, is my best course of action simply:

Get A+ Certified
WGU (BS in IT)
Apply, apply, apply

Or, if there are other suggestions, I'm open to hearing them. I have zero experience in IT but given my healthcare industry background I would help could give me an edge in some industries.

Thanks for your help/advice.

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Comments

stryder144

Honestly, I think you've got a pretty good handle on things. A+ is considered the most basic, foot-in-the-door cert you can get. Others suggest at least studying for, if not taking the exams for, Network+ and Security+. All three of them give you what is arguably the widest foundation you can possibly get, IT-wise. Think mile-wide, inch deep overall.

You might want to do the A+, then slip in the CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician (HIT) certification, if you want to stay in the medical IT field. After that, I'd apply to WGU and start working on the bachelor degree. They have a BS IT in Healthcare Informatics. Might be something to look into.

Good luck and enjoy the journey.

Xyro

I would go:

Get A+ Certified
Apply, apply, apply
Work
WGU (BS in IT)
Change Employer
Certs.
Change Employer

Employers #2 & #3 and also which certs. depend on which area of IT you end up most interested in.

My Other Self

Thank you both for the advice.

Does anyone recommend applying for any of the various Tier 2 help desk positions that are currently posted within my company's intranet, or is that aiming too high? I'm guessing I should wait for a Tier 1 job.

At this point I should be ready to take the A+ exam by June. I don't want to get ahead of myself by any means.

TomkoTech

Overshoot. But be prepared to learn. And sell your ability to find solutions on your own, while knowing when to ask for assistance.

My Other Self

That shouldn't be an issue. I pick up tasks and things rather quickly. The plus side is I didn't realize how much my current job can transition to a help desk role relatively seamlessly until now. I've been updating my resumé and honestly a lot of what I do day-to-day is having to walk people through their system related issues or fix it myself if they can't.

Appreciate the advice so far, guys. Thanks.

Jon_Cisco

If your looking to leave your company because the position is going to be spun off it cant hurt to express your interest in remaining with the company and transfering to IT. It might get you no where but you have lost nothing for trying.

Good Luck

My Other Self

Jon_Cisco wrote: »

If your looking to leave your company because the position is going to be spun off it cant hurt to express your interest in remaining with the company and transfering to IT. It might get you no where but you have lost nothing for trying.

Good Luck

The IT positions I plan on applying for (at this time) are not local in my building. It's been known for a little while now that eventually my department would be spun off but nothing was concrete until last week. It's motivated me to light the fire underneath to get me going. I've been sitting on the A+ cert book for 6 months, when realistically I should already have had the cert.

I think they're aware people in my department will be leaving over time, but I absolutely will mention that it's my goal to stay within the company because realistically there's a ton of room for growth and the benefits are unmatched to any company I've worked for previously.

markulous

Xyro wrote: »

I would go:

Get A+ Certified
Apply, apply, apply
Work
WGU (BS in IT)
Change Employer
Certs.
Change Employer

Employers #2 & #3 and also which certs. depend on which area of IT you end up most interested in.

I like this answer, at least for the first few. After getting an A+ I would be cranking out apps and getting an entry level help desk. Getting that experience started is more important than getting school started. Likely, a switch in employment would need to happen before you graduate. My first IT job only lasted 3 months because it was such a low-level job.

My Other Self

Well, I applied for the two positions today. I'm not really holding my breath (one was posted over a month and the other a week already), as I'm sure plenty of other qualified applicants may have already sent in apps. I have my resumé posted on Dice and Monster now as well. Hopefully I'll be able to find something in the next few months.

I should also add if you're in California and are willing to look at my resumé (or send it to someone you may know who is looking for someone), please feel free to PM me.

razar

I would say try and figure out what IT field you want to work in long term and try and focus on that. Do you want to work as a systems/server guy/network/storage etc etc?

It took me a while to realise that I had more interest in networks than anything else and if I could change anything over my IT career to date then I would have started studying networks a lot earlier than I did. But it took me being in a generalist Sys Admin position where I was the "jack of all trades master of none" type to realise this.

My Other Self

razar wrote: »

I would say try and figure out what IT field you want to work in long term and try and focus on that. Do you want to work as a systems/server guy/network/storage etc etc?

Networking and servers are of the most interesting to me. After my A+ I'm going to get the N+. Just don't want to get too far head of myself, otherwise it will take me forever to finish anything.

razar

My Other Self wrote: »

Networking and servers are of the most interesting to me. After my A+ I'm going to get the N+. Just don't want to get too far head of myself, otherwise it will take me forever to finish anything.

That's true, it sounds like you're on the right track. If you're interested in servers then you should try and learn virtualisation/VMware, and maybe consider doing a vcp or they have an entry level cert now called the vca.

Even in networking it's possible that things could be changing in the next few years with the rise of SDN. So there's different paths that you might want to look at like voice/security/service provider as well as the standard routing and switching.

I know in the US it's different to the UK (where I am) but over here it's not necessary to have a degree. While it does help to have one, you have as good a chance of landing a job with relevant certs and experience.