Attempting to begin a (hopefully) career in IT! Need all the advice I can get.

Greetings to all!

I have been perusing these boards for the past few days gathering as much knowledge as I can absorb trying to ascertain my prospects of pursuing a new career in a field I am generally fascinated by, and have been since my pre-teen years back in the 80's. Many thanks to the contributors of this valuable resource! Please allow myself to introduce, um, myself...

I am a 37 yr. old man living in Minnesota who has tinkered with computers since the days of the Apple II and the C64. Since then I have generally kept up with consumer technology(in the microsoft vein of course), but never engaged in any formal studies. I have always been the "go to" guy for all my friends, family, and employers when they have computer problems -- I have even built several computers from the ground up, and don't consider it difficult at all. As a friend of mine once said, "It's like LEGOs, only for adults!" I couldn't agree more.

Economic conditions have forced me to enter "find a new career" mode, and IT was naturally my first inclination. My question is simply

:

Where do I begin?

I'm not sure I have a preferred specialty I would like to study, and judging by the content of many of your posts, being a specialist isn't necessarily the way to go anyhow. Considering my age and current employment situation, my short-term goal is to enter the job force as soon as possible and train along the way. Any feedback would be great! Thanks in advance.

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Hypntick

c64 wrote: »

Greetings to all!

I have been perusing these boards for the past few days gathering as much knowledge as I can absorb trying to ascertain my prospects of pursuing a new career in a field I am generally fascinated by, and have been since my pre-teen years back in the 80's. Many thanks to the contributors of this valuable resource! Please allow myself to introduce, um, myself...

I am a 37 yr. old man living in Minnesota who has tinkered with computers since the days of the Apple II and the C64. Since then I have generally kept up with consumer technology(in the microsoft vein of course), but never engaged in any formal studies. I have always been the "go to" guy for all my friends, family, and employers when they have computer problems -- I have even built several computers from the ground up, and don't consider it difficult at all. As a friend of mine once said, "It's like LEGOs, only for adults!" I couldn't agree more.

Economic conditions have forced me to enter "find a new career" mode, and IT was naturally my first inclination. My question is simply:

Where do I begin?

I'm not sure I have a preferred specialty I would like to study, and judging by the content of many of your posts, being a specialist isn't necessarily the way to go anyhow. Considering my age and current employment situation, my short-term goal is to enter the job force as soon as possible and train along the way. Any feedback would be great! Thanks in advance.

Welcome to TE!

Now on to your question. Really the places to start in IT are somewhat few, help desk, deskside support and small mom and pop shops. For help desk and deskside support I would suggest some certs, A+ and Net+ at least. They may not count for a whole lot down the road, but they're a good way to get your foot in the door.

I've only done help desk myself. Provided it's not just password reset city you'll gain support skills for a variety of systems and hardware usually. You also get to discover just how lovely end users are to talk to.

Once you spend a few years there you'll be in a better spot to get into higher level spots, which is exactly where I am now. Working on higher level certs and a BS degree to help that process along.

veritas_libertas

Start with the A+ and find whatever IT entry-level job you can find. From there decide where you want go. Some of the choices are:

System Administrator (Microsoft, Linux, etc.)
Network Administrator (Cisco, Juniper)

From there you know what kind of certifications you need to pursue.

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/mcitp.aspx#tab2

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/learning_career_certifications_and_learning_paths_home.html

skyline

Certs are important in IT however not having the experince to back them up are useless and quite usually refered to as a Paper Cert.

With so many areas to branch off to in this field you somewhat need a ballpark of what aspects interest you and pursue that avenue. For example. If you enjoy networking and working with the phsycial equipment then Cisco (CCNA, CCSP, CCNP) Juniper (JNCIA, JNCIS, JNCIP) would be a more suitable road. If you enjoy working on servers then might look into Microsoft (MCSE, MCITP). Or perhaps sercurity (CEH, SSCP, CISSP) I can list many more but I only gave 3 as an example. Comptia is a good beginner's guide, however that is all it is. They cover areas in a very wide scope and some very old technology.

In the beginning you will have to put in your time for **** pay, as I'm sure you are quite aware of. Don't be afraid to move on when you find yourself getting bored or feeling like you maxed out. Helpdesk is a great starting point to help own your troubleshooting skills and people skills, but you don't you want to be there anymore then 12months otherwise you will be spinning your wheels. Treat it for what it is, its a stepping stone.

In the end you'll have to decide what area interests you and choose a path to go down. You can download vmware and .iso files to learn hand's on.

Hope this helps!

c64

Thanks for the replies.

Exactly what I'm looking for, a foot in the door. I have an acquaintance who is currently in the field (10 yrs. experience) and he recommended the A+ cert to start as well. He knows me fairly well and assumes I should be able to handle that pretty easily. I was supposed to meet him for lunch today and borrow a bunch of his study materials, but he just started his new job today and had to cancel.

I spent the last 6 years in sales, so my customer communication skills are actually pretty good. If I have to grind it out on a help desk with meager pay for a while, I'm TOTALLY alright with that.

Looking down the road, will my lack of a college degree be an insurmountable obstacle? I was under the impression from my friend that experience and obtaining proper and ongoing certification should be enough to cover the educational requirements for (some) advancement. I am quite confident in my ability to learn and create good impressions in the workplace.

veritas_libertas

c64 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

Exactly what I'm looking for, a foot in the door. I have an acquaintance who is currently in the field (10 yrs. experience) and he recommended the A+ cert to start as well. He knows me fairly well and assumes I should be able to handle that pretty easily. I was supposed to meet him for lunch today and borrow a bunch of his study materials, but he just started his new job today and had to cancel.

I spent the last 6 years in sales, so my customer communication skills are actually pretty good. If I have to grind it out on a help desk with meager pay for a while, I'm TOTALLY alright with that.

Looking down the road, will my lack of a college degree be an insurmountable obstacle? I was under the impression from my friend that experience and obtaining proper and ongoing certification should be enough to cover the educational requirements for (some) advancement. I am quite confident in my ability to learn and create good impressions in the workplace.

College is not a requirement to be in IT. I have plenty of coworkers who do not have a degree. Does it help? It certainly does and we are going to see a demand for it more and more.

skyline

veritas_libertas wrote: »

College is not a requirement to be in IT. I have plenty of coworkers who do not have a degree. Does it help? It certainly does and we are going to see a demand for it more and more.

*Raises hand* No degree here

c64

Good to know. Thanks again for the replies, I'm very excited to get started in a line of work that I actually have genuine interest in!

SteveLord

Let's start with an important question before we all start highfiving each other.

You'd be expecting pay to start off anywhere from $9-$16/hr. Can you live off that for a while? As previously stated, you'll likely start at the bottom and have to work hard or wait till other people leave to move up (depending on the job.)

NetworkingStudent

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Start with the A+ and find whatever IT entry-level job you can find. From there decide where you want go. Some of the choices are:

System Administrator (Microsoft, Linux, etc.)
Network Administrator (Cisco, Juniper)

From there you know what kind of certifications you need to pursue.

MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional) | Training Courses for IT Professionals

IT Certification - Cisco - Cisco Systems

+1 The job market is very competitive. Anything you can do to make yourself stand out, including a degree will help.

I live in Minnesota and I have a A.A.S IT degree, and I have the big three Comptia certifications A+, Sec+, and Net+. A lot of the companies I have interviewed with don’t care that much about your certifications, or your education, they want to know your experience. What can you do for my company that the other guy can’t? Not only that, but once you get the interview, you’re still competing with 10 or more other candidates ad the best one gets the job. At least this has been my experience.
I think Geek squad is hiring:

I think this position might be a good fit for your skill set. I have heard that geek squad is more of a sales job though. This might help you get in, because you have previous sales experience.

Counter Intelligence Agent (CIA) counter intelligence, cia, in-store, agent, precinct, career, job - Geek Squad

Best Buy - Maple Grove: Store 329 - Maple Grove, MN – Job Fair

Staples® EasyTechsm PC Experts
Love computers and helping solve problems? Staples EasyTech is an exciting new in-store tech support service. Join our team of technicians and make technology easy for our customers. This is another good position to start off in.

https://wfa.kronostm.com/index.jsp?locale=en_US&APPLICATIONNAME=StaplesNonReqExt

Good Luck

c64

Ahh yes... The low pay will not be a problem, I am more keen on the experience. Thanks for "keeping it real"

Also, thanks for the links! I was thinking the same thing. Cheers

VAHokie56

c64 wrote: »

Looking down the road, will my lack of a college degree be an insurmountable obstacle? I was under the impression from my friend that experience and obtaining proper and ongoing certification should be enough to cover the educational requirements for (some) advancement. I am quite confident in my ability to learn and create good impressions in the workplace.

The only college education I have is an associates degree in Agriculture...the lack of an "IT Degree" did not stop me from getting a very challenging and great paying Network engineer position, I would not worry about going back to school at this point in your life. Go for the certs and experience...that's my 3 cents

-DeXteR-

Greetings to the IT field

Well every1 have summed up for you the way the scenario is right now .
the only thing i would like to say is - " The world is the big place,nothing is too late in life , every1 get's their oppurtunities . You just got to be ready to suck all those knowledge along the way while gaining experience in the roller coster ride called LIFE

c64

-DeXteR- wrote: »

Greetings to the IT field
Well every1 have summed up for you the way the scenario is right now .
the only thing i would like to say is - " The world is the big place,nothing is too late in life , every1 get's their oppurtunities . You just got to be ready to suck all those knowledge along the way while gaining experience in the roller coster ride called LIFE "

My philosophy exactly... And what a ride it has been. What a ride indeed.

Bokeh

Nice to see another TE member from my neck of the woods.

I agree, the A+ is a great start. I would look on Craigslist as well, I have seen plenty of entry level positions, some having to do with break/fix, some partial sales (listing computer items on Ebay, etc). Anything to get your foot in the door.

CenturionMario

Another from the Twin Cities, here. I am also trying to get my foot in the door, although I have almost a year of experience.

lezy

I'm glad to come here today. Thank you guys for all your posts here, they encouragment me the more. I have A+ cert with only national certificate in PC Engineering and Networking. I got my comptia A+ cert but I didnt value it because I do not have a degree in IT, my dream is to have a degree in IT but for now I cannot go for it because of lack of funds. Now, I read in one of the threads here that I can still get my foot into the IT door with my A+ cert WITHOUT a degree, that encouraged me. Thanks guys.

I am in South Africa, will be sending out my resume and hope I get a call for interview. Working on my N+ now! I welcome any more advises and encouragments.