Next step??

Arthurg81Arthurg81 Member Posts: 20 ■□□□□□□□□□
in IT Jobs / Degrees
I just passed my CCNA test today. I am trying to make a career change into the IT field so obviously I have no experience in the industry. Have an associates but in unrelated field, but have customer service and management experience from my previous jobs and now have an A+ Net+ and CCNA certs. My question is what kind of jobs could I reasonably start looking for. Any helpful hints on job searches? I would take any entry job for now because I know I need the experience but I really would like a networking position. Also is it reasonable to expect at least 40K?
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  • networker050184networker050184 Mod Posts: 11,962 Mod
    Help desk, NOC, csutomer support. Basically anything that doesn't require experience. Not sure about the $40k and what the entry level market is like in NJ. Someone local could probably shed more light on that.
    An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made.
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  • DoubleNNsDoubleNNs Member Posts: 2,015 ■■■■■□□□□□
    Weren't you posting, asking whether you should take the composite CCNA exam or not? I see you took it after-all. So 1st and foremost, congratulations on the pass!! I'm glad you went thru w/ it since it paid off in the end.

    I'm also in NJ. 40k on your first IT job might be somewhat hard, depending on which part of Jersey youre in. But w/ great interviewing and some patience it is definitely possible.

    Look for "NOC" or" Network Technician", "Jr Network Admin", "Entry Level Cisco" or anything in that vein.Make sure you polish your resume as best as possible and upload it to all the online job ads. With an A+ and CCNA I'm sure you'll be swamped w/ calls from recruiters. (Esp if youre in the North Jersey area, where recruitors may contact you for positions anywhere from Princeton to NYC, or even CT)

    When applying for jobs however, don't be afraid to go for jobs that might seem over your head or requires experience that you don't have. My current role is a "Networking" role requiring 3-5 years of experience. I only had ~ 6 months worth. I aced the interview however, and when I finally started, turned out the role wasn't even all too technical. I was caught up performing high withing 2-3 days. (I'm actually desperately looking for a bigger challenge in the next role I take.)
    Goals for 2018:
    Certs: RHCSA, LFCS: Ubuntu, CNCF CKA, CNCF CKAD | AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, AWS Solutions Architect Pro, AWS Certified Security Specialist, GCP Professional Cloud Architect
    Learn: Terraform, Kubernetes, Prometheus & Golang | Improve: Docker, Python Programming
    To-do | In Progress | Completed
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  • Arthurg81Arthurg81 Member Posts: 20 ■□□□□□□□□□
    @DoubleNNs that's right I was going to update that post, just passed the 200-120 today with a 972 score, could've been a perfect 1000 but I forgot something stupid and only realized it afterwards, damn lol. I had like 50 min left on the clock and could've probably done faster but just took my time. Yeah I'm glad I took the composite test because that's how I studied and didn't break up the objectives. Some people on here almost scared me off but it really wasn't bad at all.

    I'm going to try for the NOC positions but do many of them require overnight hours? I would really prefer not to do that. I'm in central Jersey so I'm going to be looking for at max not more than an hour commute but I really need 40K at a minimum. I thought about the recruiters, does everyone use them?
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  • networker050184networker050184 Mod Posts: 11,962 Mod
    NOCs are usually 24/7 so there might be night work involved. Just depends on how that particular NOC does it's shifts. Some have rotating, some you are either always day or night.

    Recruiters are definitely a valuable tool, but it is important to remember they aren't out there with your best interests in mind. They are just trying to fill a position to get their commission.
    An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made.
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  • Arthurg81Arthurg81 Member Posts: 20 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Now my focus is on a job, but what kind of cert should I focus on next? more Cisco to add to my CCNA or should I look at a Microsoft cert so I can bridge the gap between networking and desktop? Any ideas?
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  • networker050184networker050184 Mod Posts: 11,962 Mod
    I think you have enough certifications right now. If you don't even know which to do next you really should just concentrate on getting a job. No point in starting to work on MS certs then you get a job working on nothing but Cisco gear. I know you want to keep going, but sometimes it pays off to slow down and bit and see where you can get your career headed.
    An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made.
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  • Arthurg81Arthurg81 Member Posts: 20 ■□□□□□□□□□
    yeah you're right, I'm just excited today cuz I passed the CCNA test lol
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  • adam220891adam220891 Member Posts: 164 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Probably looking at closer to 35k to start, OP, but I'm in the southern part of the state, so things might be higher up north. Good luck.
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