What to do next?

Well I just quit my job of three years. It was my first fulltime IT postion. I have a MCSA, A+, Net+ I have failed CCNA once after taking classes (Back in 2003). I need a job within 3-6 months. I have the opputunity of taking CCNP classes this fall for cheap if I pass CCNA before August.

Should I 'fold them' and quit the IT field, I feel all the sitting in front of the PC studying is taking a toll on my health (Age 26)?

Should I press on the networking side of things?

Should I stay with the Microsoft track and tack on MCSE and some MS certs?

I live on the east cost within 3 hours of Washing D.C., but I never get call backs on applications. Most of my expericence over the past three years has been basic IT support on a wide scale Printers, Firewalls, MS Servers, Basic Cisco Configs.

How can I improve my odds at getting another job without starting all over on the career ladder?

Thanks in advance for any ideas or similar expericene stories.

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Comments

tallicaman99

Should I press on the networking side of things?
Other than your studies in 2003 for CCNA, have you kept up with the material? if not, to me, it would be like starting fresh on the material again. I think it would depend on what type of job you are looking for. Although I don't have Cisco certs, I believe they expired every 3 years or so.

How can I improve my odds at getting another job without starting all over on the career ladder?
Make sure your resume/cover letters are up to date. With 3 years experience under your belt, try to emphasize all your experience from the job!

Should I 'fold them' and quit the IT field, I feel all the sitting in front of the PC studying is taking a toll on my health (Age 26)?
I'm 27, (28 in July) - I can't say I'm burnt out yet, but I just started Grad school in Jan, so we'll see.
I'm a Computer Tech with basic desktop/networking support. I'm always learning new stuff at my job & trying to keep up to date w/ Certs. I believe there has to be an equal balance of life, work vs. play.

GOOD LUCK!

leefdaddy

Why did you quit your job? Do you still enjoy working in IT? If so I'd look into taking the CCNP classes... We can't tell you what you do or don't like...

Sie

Good Morning jeanathan

Sorry to hear your situation, Can I ask why you left your previous job? Was it down to the employer or the job itself?

You need to think what excites you and what you have a passion for, what was it that brought you to the world of IT in the first place?

Unfortuantly this is one of those situations where we cannot tell you what to do or what to think, but I would recommend sitting down and thinking things through. If your passion is still in IT and it still excites you stick with it, you'll find something to get your teeth into and something you enjoy.

Maybe you should take some time to brush up on your interviewing techniques and CV, this would enable you to get more call backs from jobs you apply for?

Should you take the CCNA & CCNP? My first answer is yes, but thats because I love to learn, for you it depends what area of IT you want to persue (if you are continuing in IT) whether it be in Servers etc or Networking and that depends on what your interests lie in.

26 is still a young age in the world of IT and you can achieve your goals if you set your mind to it, really the only answer I can give you is work out where your heart lies and go out and get it!!

nel

jeanathan wrote:

Well I just quit my job of three years. It was my first fulltime IT postion. I have a MCSA, A+, Net+ I have failed CCNA once after taking classes (Back in 2003). I need a job within 3-6 months. I have the opputunity of taking CCNP classes this fall for cheap if I pass CCNA before August.

Should I 'fold them' and quit the IT field, I feel all the sitting in front of the PC studying is taking a toll on my health (Age 26)?

Should I press on the networking side of things?

Should I stay with the Microsoft track and tack on MCSE and some MS certs?

I live on the east cost within 3 hours of Washing D.C., but I never get call backs on applications. Most of my expericence over the past three years has been basic IT support on a wide scale Printers, Firewalls, MS Servers, Basic Cisco Configs.

How can I improve my odds at getting another job without starting all over on the career ladder?

Thanks in advance for any ideas or similar expericene stories.

Hi mate,

As others have said why did you quit your job? im a true believer its "easier" to get another job whilst your in a job in the same field.

That said, If you enjoy IT then stay in the field, if you dont and hate it then it maybe time to face the music and look elsewhere starting from scratch. None of us can decide this for you, only yourself can do so.

When you say you have been applying for jobs, what kind of IT jobs? I assume your helpdesk level 1 or 2 maybe? So have the other jobs been at the same level your working at or more of a step up? Also what area of IT were these jobs? i.e. programming, networking etc

I ask all these because i am in a similar situation. I love IT and how it keeps moving and is always a challenge but i dislike my current job very much. I have also been applying for other jobs which are a step up but i have found little response. The MAIN REASON i believe is because of my qualifications and experiance. i would love a networking gig but realistically not only do i not have the experiance i dont have the qualifications to try and even get a foot in the door. So to rectify this i am going ccna>np>mcse.

If this sounds like a similar situation to yourself then look at your certs...mcsa,a+,net+. No disrespect (as i have the same certs) but these are not sufficient to get the step up i am dying for, could this be the same for you?

All i would say about the ccnp classes are if you want a networking role then that is the way to go. but if you dont want to start specialising in networking then i wouldnt go beyond ccna maybe. The ccnp track is a hard one and not to be taken easily - so i have been told.

If you wanted a sys admin role it maybe best to go for mcse,ccna,*nix certs like LPI,linux+ or RHCE.

If you could answer some of the questions asked maybe we can help you more.

jeanathan

Thanks for all the responses

I left my current job because it couldn't pass the get out of bed test. Which is to say I didin't want to go to work in the morning anymore because it was not what I wanted to do. When I started my job there was a decent amount of work avalible and the projects rolled in pretty quick. However, within the past year or so the other IT Consultant lost his cert., a CCNA, and I started getting assigned non IT task alot by my boss who was now just a BS in computer science and not very good at IT. Health was a concern too I had been sitting at a desk by a phone, unable to leave the office room to get exercise for 8 hours a day.

Are there any jobs like IT/Networking/Sysadmin where I can stay more active while maintaining a high level of knowledge? Should I go for a job in Desktop support or Network Engineering or something like that to be more mobile? Does anyone have a job like this, or is it just a dream?

The idea of sitting in front of the computer 8 hours a day or by the phone 8 hours a day in an office cublical with two 15 mintue breaks is depressing to me.

As for my CCNA I have forgetton all the basic router/switch stuff and the frame relay ISDN stuff. I still have an excellent knowledge of TCP/IP, subnetting, Cisco ASA devices, and the OSI model. It just seems overwhelming the amount knowledge you must conquer of the entry level cert.

One thing I can say for sure is I do not want a job as phone support full time or in programming full time.

Mishra

If you want something computer/IT related that makes you mobile I would consider:

Jobs in the cable industry like
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?IPath=ILKV&ff=21&APath=2.31.0.0.0&job_did=J8H69K76B53X10XL7PL

Small scope consulting jobs

Jobs involving travel (like doing desktop repair for businesses that have multiple offices or national travel)

Management can sometimes me "mobile" as you have to check up on multiple locations or be in meetings all the time moving you around from place to place. But this is iffy for you I think.

I would just make sure that if you are trying to go for more of a non desk job in IT then 80% of the time you aren't going to be paid the same as a fellow system administrator working for the same company. I get up and around quite a bit because I'm a sysadmin and I work in a factory like setting and have to support end users. So when there is a problem I'm always walking a while to get to the location to speak to a user. However I don't think thats what you are looking for, you want something that keeps you psychically and mentally occupied with multiple things and I think the jobs listed above are a good fit.

nel

When you say keeping active i assume you dont mean a gym session? If you do i think a gym instructor is what your looking for

Sadly with alot of jobs, but not all, many people will sit in front of the computer 8 hours a day regardless of there position. I find my job like this as i do alot of remote work aswell. So if i get a job within our building i tend to make a habit of visiting the pc on foot just to get out and about. I even get up ever hour or so and just have a walk about (looking busy of course

) to get the legs moving again.

If your looking for a sysadmin or network engineer then the certs i have mentioned previously is a good start. but if you find the ccna abit overwhelming and cant cut it then the ccnp wont be much of an option. So pick up a ccna book and give it a shot and see where it leads.

btw, your saying you want to be more mobile, have you tried looking for field engineer jobs?

remyforbes777

To be honest unless you are racking equipment most of the time or pulling cable then IT is mostly spent in front of a screen. You can do a fair amount of work without having to leave your desk. How is it taking a toll on your health? So let me get this 8 hours in front f a screen, that leaves 15-16 other hours, 8 hours more for sleep, so that leaves 7-8 hours. Why don't you take one of those remaining hours and go to the gym? I wouldn't expect regular exercise as part of my job.

jeanathan

Well I guess mostly I am not sure what kind of jobs I should be going for or avoiding in terms of the amount of consistant time spent in front of the computer. By mobile I mean anything that can take you away from the desk for a bit routinly to help with the stress, if it is driving or walking from office area to office area makes no difference to me.

The job Mishra has sounds similar to the kind of IT work I might enjoy. Where you can walk from task to task which I find helps eleavate some of the stress of IT work. Also driving from site to site I think would be nice. I get regular exercise outside of work, but the Job I just quit had become very much 8 continous uneventfull hours sitting, which I don't want to repeat.

I guess for you network engineers do you mostly sit at a desk and SSH into equipment or do you do a lot of walking to and from the MDF and IDF's and remote site travel? I don't think I would want to do CCNA, CCNP if I am just going to sit and read, troubleshoot, and configure devices from a desk all day.

For you system administrators do you mostly read, troublehsoot, and configure things from a single desk all day?

I think I might like the cabling industy, desktop in person support, large facility or multiple site support jobs, but I am not sure what certification path is appropriate for these jobs

If I want to be self employed and do contract based work that requires high travel what certifications do I want?

I was thinking CCNA, MCSE, *nix certifications and finishing my BS in computer science if have to do what it takes to get another job, but this path seems very vauge, expensive, and money intense which I don't think I will have the hart for at this point.

I had done a lot of small scope consulting working with my previous employer, but I was never sure what certifications to get to the most out of this career field, which is mostly a self-employed track. I must say I like this kind of work though

However, it just doesn't pay as much from what i understand.

Technowiz

Should I 'fold them' and quit the IT field, I feel all the sitting in front of the PC studying is taking a toll on my health (Age 26)?

The questions you are asking ultimately no one can answer except for you because it depends on your own goals and values and that is going to be unique to each individual. The fact that you even asked the above question and say you quit your job because it didn't pass the "get out of bed test" is not a good sign. I think if you were 100% honest with yourself you know your questions have a lot more to do with your lack of motivation than sitting in front of a computer taking a toll on your health. There are plenty of people out there that spend long hours in front of a computer who still eat right, exercise, and are in great health. More often than not when people say things like how some external factor like their job is taking a toll on their health they are making poor choices like eating a poor diet and spending their evenings in front of the tv and that has much more to do with their health than their job. Don't take it as a personal slam, I struggle with the same thing. I'm just making the point that people can and do work in IT and maintain great health. If someone says they got out of IT because it was negatively affecting their health I have to think there is more to it than that and they aren't being completely honest about their motives.

You have to ask yourself why you are in this profession and what you want out of it. I know there are people who do it not because they enjoy it but because it pays the bills and they get by. There is nothing wrong with that. Many people do that across all professions. But IT is probably one of the hardest fields to make it in if you are that way. The constant rapid pace of changing technology means we have to continually learn at a rapid pace to keep up and be good at what we do. It is very hard to do that when you aren't motivated, when you don't enjoy learning or working with technology.

The only one that can answer your questions is you but if you want to come to the answer that is right for you, you have to be honest with yourself about what you want and why you want it and what you are or aren't willing to do to achieve it.

sthomas

It sounds to me like you are looking for some sort of Field Tech type of job where you go out to different locations and work on PC's/Servers so you do not have to be in the same building all day long. I would think consulting companies would be the place to look since they do work for other businesses. You may also try big companies like Dell, HP, IBM, etc....Just keep in mind that the best way to get a good IT job and keep employed in IT is with experience, the more you have the better usually.

jeanathan

Thanks for all the advice. I think I am going to stick to passing the CCNA and decide what to do next afterwards.