Mid 20s, feeling stuck in IT support and really needing some career advice...

GB87 · May 2013

Hey guys,

New poster here and from looking at some other posts looks like I may actually get some useful advice!

Let me start off by saying I'm 25, live in the UK and am feeling pretty stuck in my current job! I've been working in IT for close to 7 years and am currently in a senior IT support role with no real idea how to move on.

My first job was as a site-to-site IT engineer supporting around 50 small businesses (Anything from 5-50 staff) with no previous training/certs at all. I learnt a lot quickly in the office on the phone and was soon out on site, doing hardware repairs, assisting a senior engineer on server builds from scratch, working in AD and Exchange etc. This company offered to pay for my MCSA at the time and I did go on a few Microsoft courses but never actually got the qualifications (I was young and lazy)

I got offered another job at a company of around 200 staff as their main onsite IT guy, in charge of doing basically everything both for user desktop support and maintaining their servers. For big projects such as any server uprgades they got a consultant in. I took it due to the money being such a jump and now see that was a mistake and I left the first job too early. I quickly realised they didn't care at all about certs and I just settled into the role.

Fast forward five years and I'm still here, earning just under £30,000 per year. Everything I didn't know 5 years ago, I've taught myself but got no certifications. My official job title is 'Senior IT support technician' as I now have a guy doing desktop support and I stick to what our small company would consider the tougher stuff but on a day to day basis it feels like I'm doing less and less technical stuff and becoming a man manager, which I don't want to do. When going out to look for a job it feels like I know a little in lots of different areas but have no expertise in any area at all.

I think starting to get some certs under my belt is what I should be doing and I think if I knew what ones I should be going for my company would pay for them although they don't really care much about them from a work/pay raise point of view. I don't know what certs to aim for though! Microsoft seems the obvious start although I think I'd like to get more into the networking side of things and potentially specialise in this but we have no Cisco equipment here so I have never had the change to get any work based Cisco knowledge, which always seems to crop up when looking for new jobs.

I know this was a bit of a long post but I'm really starting to feel down and lost in all of this and this does seem a good place where I can get some advice! I am so keen now to get myself current in the industry and hopefully into a job where I will be challenged more...

Thanks in advance to anyone that takes the time to read this and replies!

blargoe · May 2013

I personally would certify what you know (which sounds like Microsoft) first, just to get on the board with some certifications. If you've been working with servers day-to-day, MCSA 2008 is probably a reasonable start - you are going to be familiar enough with the subject matter, but there are probably parts of Window Server you don't work with day-to-day so it could be fun and challenging at the same time.

I've never worked for a company that valued certifications from the standpoint of getting a salary increase, but they all were willing to pay for the actual test (except for my current company). Try to get your company to pay for it, but even if they will not, still go for it. You can set up a decent lab on your personal computer/laptop if you have sufficient disk and memory and go the self study route.

Nytrocide · May 2013

I'm in the EXACT same situation as you, but living in the Boston area. I'm also 25 and feel like I'm in a mid 20s crisis...lol.

I'd love to get more into networking as well so I've started studying for my CCENT certification and then CCNA will follow. Having no networking background prior makes it a little difficult, but not impossible. I've already laid out a plan of getting my CCENT->CCNA and maybe Sec+ after just to see if I'm more interested in security than I am networking. I guess I could always try for my CCNA: Security as well too.

But yeah, every time I post about being in my mid 20s and making this much in a desktop role, etc. you always find that there's someone out there older and less experienced that is just getting into IT, so being in your 20s is a laughable advantage compared to people in their late 40s just making the switch.

Being some people like that are 20+ years older, a lot can happen in a year alone. I intend on going for, and getting my CCENT and CCNA certifications....finally, this year. From there, I'm probably going for an entry level networking job just to get my foot in the door as far as networking, and then once I'm settled in, go for more CCNA flavors or my CCNP.

All in all, we're only in our 20s...and while it's easy for me to get aggravated at myself for being a lazy p.o.s, it's not like it's game over. My problem is getting motivation...even though I have so many things that could motivate me...I'm just so dead and blah at the end of the day that while studying I seem to doze off or get distracted. Maybe the girlfriend and I will have a kid...that'll force me to be motivated. LOL jk

/endrant lol

swild · May 2013

I have to say that your situation sounds a lot like mine 2 years ago. I am vary happy that I got my BS from WGU, which exposed me to all the different career domains (most I already had a taste of, some were new). Most importantly, it got me my CCNA which landed me my first real networking job.

I'm not sure how it is in the UK, but in the States, a BS opens a lot of doors that you can't open without it. I recommend going for the certs that would lead to the job you want to be doing and skip all the rest. If you want Microsoft, focus on Microsoft. If you want networking, go for Cisco or Juniper.

xocity · May 2013

swild thanks for the post its really motivating

Im currently in WGU and will be taking the ICND1/ICND2 tests in the next 3 months (ICND1 June 10th!) and really hope that I can get away from this level boring stuff. My job now gets exciting once every 2 weeks ish sometimes more when we get some actual server issues but most of everything I do is printer/outlook stuff and its getting tiring. Hopefully when I finish WGU and get the CCNA and so on I can transition into a Networking job.

To Op,
Just keep your head up and get certified on Windows and maybe throw in some cisco in there. With that experience, you can go really far. Good LUCK

Sirbloody · May 2013

I feel like I am in the same boat, I signed up for WGU and I should be starting on June 1st. I just hope my 2 Army MOSes count for something in the transcript department.

puertorico1985 · May 2013

Take the following for what it is. I am 27 years old, and went through a different crisis of not being able to find the right job without the right experience. There are moments in life that define who you are. Even though the situation you are going through sucks, and you do not want to go through it, this is one of those moments. The only way out is to better yourself. There is no sense in looking back at what you could have or should have done. The moment is now. Since you have MS experience, I recommend reading up, studying, and passing several MS certifications. This will open up some doors. If you are serious about networking, read up, study, and pass Cisco/Juniper/SonicWall (whatever is relevant based on your job search findings) certs. MS certs will open some doors. MS certs along with Cisco/Juniper/Sonicwall/etc certs will open up several more doors. A BS degree plus MS/Cisco/etc certs will open a boatload of doors. Keep your head high, focus on what it is you want to do in the near future, and get to work.

Santa_ · May 2013

Nytrocide wrote: »

I'm in the EXACT same situation as you, but living in the Boston area.

/endrant lol

Cheers to that fellow Bostonian. After a work day all you can really think about it having dinner, watching tv and repeating it the next day.

natx · May 2013

what do you want to do? you mentioned you don't want to manage, ok... keep in mind you will be missing out on a big chunk of change.

i'm seeing a lot of IT being outsourced, less dedicated IT staff or perhaps just desktop techs. So if you like the engineering aspect i would suggest you try to find a managed service provider (MSP) like where you used to work. Many of them will require you to have certs in addition to experience which you already have so like everyone else is saying, it might help to have certs.

project management + IT is a really good combination. if you can get your PMP cert and some IT certs, you'll be golden.

by the way, you're making good money for your age, that is great. you just need to figure out what exactly you want and keep setting goals!

Polynomial · May 2013

Nytrocide wrote: »

I'm in the EXACT same situation as you, but living in the Boston area. I'm also 25 and feel like I'm in a mid 20s crisis...lol.

Santa_ wrote: »

Cheers to that fellow Bostonian. After a work day all you can really think about it having dinner, watching tv and repeating it the next day.

zomg Boston buddies! There are so many IT jobs in this area to hop around in.

Mid 20s, feeling stuck in IT support and really needing some career advice...

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