Beginning my IT Career Net+, Linux+ and Security+ certified. What should I do?

Hey everyone. I've come here because I'm looking for some help on how I should start off my career. To start, getting in IT is a career change. I've always had an interest in IT and after getting stood-up by a bunch of companies while trying to get help-desk positions, I decided to expand my chances by going to school, getting training, and getting some certifications. After about 150+ classroom hours going through "bootcamps", I am currently Security+ and Linux+ certified, and about a week from now after studying the rest of this week, I'm certain I'll be Network+ certified. I have 7 years of experience in customer service as a waiter, but again, no professional IT experience. I live in Virginia Beach, VA (Hampton Roads) and being that the largest navy base on the East Coast is only 20 miles from where I live, the DoD has a huge presence here and there are a lot of IT jobs that involve it.

To be honest, I know, and at the same time I don't know, what I'm getting myself into. A lot of what I feel I've learned seems applicable to someone in a higher-tier position. I don't think I'll be managing ACL's, creating groups and users, managing permissions, viewing logs on a switch and configuring routing protocols anytime soon, but at this point, I'd ideally like to utilize what I do know and have learned based on the certifications I have. At the same time I wonder how much of what I know will be resourceful for whatever position I'm in. Maybe my cert's are mostly irrelevant and just viewed as a piece of paper? Maybe they really do matter. I'm unsure.

Bottom line: I'm about to post my resume on a few employment websites and really want to send a message that I'm hungry to learn and grow and please don't stick me behind a help desk troubleshooting print jobs all day. lol. I'd love to work almost exclusively in the Linux terminal so I can continue to practice in BASH, and even better, assist Linux admins in building a LAMP stack and doing whatever "leftover" work that they don't have time to do. At the same time, I also want to learn more about Windows Server 2012, Active Directory and would love to do the grunt work of a Sys. Admin, or maybe even a Network admin. I want to get exposed to as many applications as possible and send that message to employers. If worse comes to worse, I'll do help desk, and I understand perfectly well that's where most start off. I just want to gauge my options first.

Anyway, hope this helps. I can post a copy of my resume if anyone would like to see it.

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Comments

kohr-ah

Afternoon,

If you want to do Linux, etc then apply for Junior roles but here is the hard part about IT... You may have to do the help desk role or desktop support role. Everyone has to pay their dues when it comes to IT and unfortunately that is part of it. If you want a more dynamic environment where you are going to learn at an advanced rate then start applying to MSPs (Managed Service Providers) in your area and try to get in there. They will let you touch more things in time.

psheehan5

Mpstyler, Changing careers is a difficult thing and breaking into IT is also very difficult. I would offer a couple of things that you can do if you have the time. First, I would find a professional IT org to join. Since you've got Sec+, you can always join ISSA (Information Systems Security Association). ISSA is of course oriented towards security, but there can be lots of opportunities and networking depending on how active your chapter is. Also, look around and see if there is someone who needs your help. Maybe a local school or church could use a tech dude to volunteer his time. Anything you fix or do for free is still experience that you can talk to in an interview and/or put on a resume. Finally, you may be asked about your interest in IT and how you keep abreast of the latest tech even though you're not in an IT position now. Things like "I built my own computers", I made a computer lab, I fix my friends' computers/networks, I've set up multiple virtual machines and here's what I do with them. Just my two cents.

bpenn

Large navy base... you mean Pax River? My company has a DoD contract at many sites, including PAX, and has been hiring Help Desk (desktop support). You may need an associates degree to start, though (government typically wants an AAS or a BS to even start).

If your goal is to work DoD/Federal, make sure you have the ability to acquire a clearance as that will affect nearly every position.

Mpstyler

bpenn wrote: »

Large navy base... you mean Pax River? My company has a DoD contract at many sites, including PAX, and has been hiring Help Desk (desktop support). You may need an associates degree to start, though (government typically wants an AAS or a BS to even start).

If your goal is to work DoD/Federal, make sure you have the ability to acquire a clearance as that will affect nearly every position.

My problem isn't necessarily finding work, and I don't have a clearance but I can get one. Even before I received my certs, I was putting my resume up on places like monster, careerbuilder, etc. and was receiving replies for help desk positions. They needed me to first get my Sec+. Mostly DoD help desk positions in Norfolk, VA. Now that I've done the hard work of going to school, receiving training and getting my certs, I'm sure work will be plentiful.... I'm just particular about what I want to do. I'd love to do the "underling" grunt work of a Linux Admin, Sys. Admin, Net. Admin, etc. for just the experience alone (not just the pay), and I'm wondering if there is anything I can do related to that aside from being in a call center, aka, help desk. That's really what I'm after. If push comes to shove, I'll do what I have to do either way.

I'm also curious exactly how "relevant" my certs will be in a production environment. Common sense would say that since they are "industry-recognized" you would THINK they would be valuable and show that I've "learned the stuff". At the same time, I've had others say they really don't help in the real world. I'm torn what to believe.