which direction to go in IT?

I am studying for my a+ certification (New York). I am currently in college (taking a break). I would like to know which is the most lucrative direction for a newbie to go in? which field has the most job growth and a future in general (I am 22). I was speaking to a IT guy on the train and he was telling me that there are many different ares (Help desk, Networking, applications, system admin, database admin). I didnt realize how diverse it can get. Basically I would like to know which direction I should go in after completing this a+ test. I know I wil have to first get some experience and all that. But still, I think it would also be nice to get input from real IT guys as opposed to "statistics".

any help you guys can offer would be great. be as honest as you can. I wanto to hear the truth!

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hackman2007

This is a really tough question to answer.

My first advice is, do something you like and the money will follow (within reason).

DBA's can make a ton of money, but so can a lot of different other focuses.

What do YOU want to do? I suggest you look at areas you are interested in and go from there. Almost all areas of technology can make you boatloads of money.

GAngel

All of them pay extremely well if you become an expert. There is no magic path that pays more. The more senior and the more specialized the higher your earning potential. You could be in a senior net admin role and make 40k or a junior helpdesk on 75k. (Time, opportunity, circumstance)

If you're only interested in the money side the USA is not the place to be. The BRIC countries and to a lesser extent now the ME is where the money is.

Specific skill sets only matter to your local economy.

Fidel CashFlow

hackman2007 wrote: »

This is a really tough question to answer.

My first advice is, do something you like and the money will follow (within reason).

DBA's can make a ton of money, but so can a lot of different other focuses.

What do YOU want to do? I suggest you look at areas you are interested in and go from there. Almost all areas of technology can make you boatloads of money.

Thanks for the input Hackman2007. The thing is I am very new to this field. So,naturally its very hard for me to really see what I like if you get my drift.

I know I dont want to spend my days doing help desk. From what I see i dont like. I would like to do something thats a little more "important" and lucrative. From what others are telling, they are telling me CISCO networking is th way to go. I also hear that system adminstration is (unix,linux, microsoft) is lucrative. I agree that both probably make loads of $$, but the thing I dont know really know which route to take ot get into those respective fields. For example if i go into systems adminstration or database adminstration what does it entail? what do i need to get (certifications) go that route. and networking, what do i need to get in order to go that route? and whats the job entail in general?

I know i can easily look at wikipedia, but i would much rather heare it from a realy IT guy. I hope you can answer atleast some of my questions. if not maybe some else can.

whats is your role hackman? are you in databas administration?

Fidel CashFlow

GAngel wrote: »

All of them pay extremely well if you become an expert. There is no magic path that pays more. The more senior and the more specialized the higher your earning potential. You could be in a senior net admin role and make 40k or a junior helpdesk on 75k. (Time, opportunity, circumstance)

If you're only interested in the money side the USA is not the place to be. The BRIC countries and to a lesser extent now the ME is where the money is.

Specific skill sets only matter to your local economy.

thanks. you are right local economy is indeed important. However, I still thingk New York is still a hot market place when it comes to IT. Also I dont have any plans to move to thosep places you listed.

I kknow i dnot want to do help desk for long. i see myself doing help netowrking or systems adminstration/database administraion. I would like to know which path to take to get into those respective fields and what exactly does the job entail. What is the enviorment like? what type of things will i encounter and what will i be doing day to day? also what certification is best for those respective fields?

any help would be appreciated..

the_Grinch

If you are in NYC you are in a great place for IT as a lot of start-ups are coming to NYC since the talnet pool in CA is starting to dry a little. I think you'll find that you will probably start out as a helpdesk guy somewhere. I did it during college (mainly a field tech) and figured once I got my degree I'd be off the helpdesk and doing something amazing. Graduated almost 3 years ago and I am on the NOC/Helpdesk. It's a right of passage we all must take and for good reason. There is a gap between school knowledge and experience, best way I can describe it is as follows: school knowledge is the car and experience the gas.

Working on a helpdesk or deskside support will help you figure out what you want to do (along with college and certifications). Being where I'm at, I came in thinking networking and now servers are where I'll probably go. Trying to trend what is going to be the big money maker isn't worth the time and you'll drive yourself nuts. Like GAngle said, if you become an expert you will make money. If I could go back I would have gone for Computer Science and became a programmer. The thing with computer science is you can still be an IT guy if you don't like the programming, doesn't always work the other way around. My buddy has a BS in Computer Science, with a concentration in Operating Systems and Networking. He was an ok programmer, but found he didn't want to do that all day long so he did the concentration courses and now he is basically an IT Auditor for the military.

Long winded post, but here is what I would do if I could do it again:

1. Continue with certs (don't stop learning or studying, very tough to get back in the swing of things)

2. Go to school for computer science (if you like programming, you'll make decent cash, if not you have some great concept skills in how an OS operates and probably in networking so you will be fine anywhere)

3. Join a helpdesk (while in school if you can) - I hated it too, but no other way to learn and see what you want to do.

Good luck, keep us updated and keep asking questions!

over9000

I'm not a DBA/System Admin, (working towards going back to school to program), but if you look at even basic job postings you can kind of get a feel for what employers are looking for. (Sometimes HR reps add unnecessary stuff, but it'll at least give you an idea.)

Programming is honestly the most lucrative because you can easily switch roles from programming to database because you would just have to learn more languages and starting pay is much higher than helpdesk. A guy I grew up with is a .net/C# developer and he just went from one language to another when he needed to switch roles.

I know the basics with DBA stuff starts with SQL (SQL Server /Oracle) and you can work your way from there.

System Admin stuff can vary, (like you said) depending on whether its (unix, microsoft, linux).

Networking guys will probably tell you to start with CCNA if you want to network (CCIE's very hard, but lucrative if you go all the way). I think you can make like 85-100K+ if you keep working at it.

I suggest you take the_Grinch's advice and see what you really like. Avoid the helpdesk if you can, but use it to get some experience.

You have to be very careful if you do the helpdesk route because if you're not constantly pushing yourself to get into better roles, employers can try and pigeonhole you into the same place. ( ie. Every 6 months- 1 year if you feel you're not growing, move!!!)

Reading the basics on some of these languages/certifications or studying something like Windows Server 2008/Linux/Unix will probably help you figure out what you like.

Xantcha

My advice would be to try and get a helpdesk job asap. Then you will gain experience and also get to see the many faces of IT from the inside. From what I've read so far, your questions are typical of someone on the outside of IT that has no experience and wants to jump straight into a role that earns big dollars and a lot of responsibility without putting in the groundwork.

Forget about all the higher level certs at the moment until you get some experience and you find what you actually like to do within IT. It's pointless planning on going down the DBA path when you don't even know if you like working with databases. Get the A+ and then the Network+ under your belt and get your foot in the door first.

Everyone

If you want to be a Systems guy, learn Unix/Linux AND Windows, don't just pick one. Specialize in one but learn the other well too. To be really good, you have to have knowledge that is both broad and deep.

Fidel CashFlow

over9000 wrote: »

I'm not a DBA/System Admin, (working towards going back to school to program), but if you look at even basic job postings you can kind of get a feel for what employers are looking for. (Sometimes HR reps add unnecessary stuff, but it'll at least give you an idea.)

Programming is honestly the most lucrative because you can easily switch roles from programming to database because you would just have to learn more languages and starting pay is much higher than helpdesk. A guy I grew up with is a .net/C# developer and he just went from one language to another when he needed to switch roles.

I know the basics with DBA stuff starts with SQL (SQL Server /Oracle) and you can work your way from there.

System Admin stuff can vary, (like you said) depending on whether its (unix, microsoft, linux).

Networking guys will probably tell you to start with CCNA if you want to network (CCIE's very hard, but lucrative if you go all the way). I think you can make like 85-100K+ if you keep working at it.

I suggest you take the_Grinch's advice and see what you really like. Avoid the helpdesk if you can, but use it to get some experience.

You have to be very careful if you do the helpdesk route because if you're not constantly pushing yourself to get into better roles, employers can try and pigeonhole you into the same place. ( ie. Every 6 months- 1 year if you feel you're not growing, move!!!)

Reading the basics on some of these languages/certifications or studying something like Windows Server 2008/Linux/Unix will probably help you figure out what you like.

Great post! Just what I needed to know.

Fidel CashFlow

Thanks. SO basically if i want to go into the systems admin path, i should get into linux,unix, microsfot server right?

networking is cisco thats a given

and database administration is mostly oracle/sql from i waht i can tell.

what do these guys with these job titles basically do?

erpadmin

Fidel CashFlow wrote: »

Thanks. SO basically if i want to go into the systems admin path, i should get into linux,unix, microsfot server right?

networking is cisco thats a given

and database administration is mostly oracle/sql from i waht i can tell.

what do these guys with these job titles basically do?

I can promise you this...if you are looking into working into IT because you are chasing a "CashFlow" as opposed to you wanting a career in something you enjoy doing, you will fail. Not might fail...will fail.

It's like me wanting to be a surgeon, or nuclear physicist. Sure those people make crazy money, but I know I'd hate it.

Chasing IT because of whatever notion that it's "easy" to get a bunch of money is ludricris.

I can also tell you that when I started in IT, I started out at the bottom and WORKED my way up to systems and database administration. I don't have a Unix background, but I'm competent to know that I can do it if I sit down long enough. I also don't have a CCNA, but I have Network+. I don't have to configure routers to determine if there is a problem with a network....I only need to be familiar enough to ascertain if the problem I might be having is because of the network or something local. Then I can intelligently involve a network engineer.

If you do want to break into IT...focus on what you want to do and not what pays a lot. CCIE pays six figures easy. You don't see me going for it though...because I'm not interested in putting in that kind of work. HOWEVER, I'm not far away from a CCIE salary...though it took me YEARS to get to what I make today.

Keep that in mind. Chase your interests...not what pays.

Devilry

I agree with everyone above.

I made the mistake of chasing the money, and going into law. huge, huge mistake.

Find what you love, even if its not in IT and the pay will follow.

demonfurbie

I would get the comptia certs out of the way, they will show you what area you are intrested in

For IT work id avoid helpdesk or you will be type casted into it, get a normal joe job and volenteer at a non-profit, working at a non-profit will get you tons of experiance on many things , mostly the tech they use is donated so you may work on cisco one day and a linux server the next