Is it too late to start a career in IT at 28?
tx105954027
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Hello Everybody
I have been lingering and browsing threads on TechXams since Oct, and today I decide to post my question on my career change to IT which I have been hesitating to ask for quite a while.
I am now 28, bachelor and master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and having been working in a server design, engineering and manufacturing company as a mechanical engineer for nearly 3 years. Our company is one of major vendors of rack mount servers and jbods for today's several gigantic hyper-scale cloud platform service providers (AWS, MS, you name it). However, as a small-mid scale private company, it is low technology, poor management and I find my future unpromising.
My work frequently requires me working on servers and jbods and therefore makes me quite familiar with enterprise level IT hardware. I build servers, update firmware, run benchmark tests in Windows and Linux, and find myself becoming more and more interested in these IT infrastructure stuff. As a try, I began to study for Network+ and Storage+, frustratingly realizing that although I have been working in an IT infrastructure group for 3 years, my knowledge in IT is quite limited. Most of the materials in the study guides have I never heard of. My work experience doesn't even make me qualified as an entry-level IT guy.
In the early days when I started researching IT career path, I hoped I could become a virtualization/cloud engineer and could also work directly alongside large-scale physical data centers (I love to watch and touch the physical equipment, feeling the beauty of tech industry, which is also my childhood dream). But now, it seems an intimidatingly long road for me to go. Even two of the QC kids in our company, graduating with AS degree in IT and having 1 year work experience, are already CCNA. I feel myself far behind.
In this situation, what should I do? Start from some basic certs and look for entry job like data center tech? Or wait until I knock out some higher level certs like VCP6 and CCNP? Any suggestions are sincerely appreciated.
I have been lingering and browsing threads on TechXams since Oct, and today I decide to post my question on my career change to IT which I have been hesitating to ask for quite a while.
I am now 28, bachelor and master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and having been working in a server design, engineering and manufacturing company as a mechanical engineer for nearly 3 years. Our company is one of major vendors of rack mount servers and jbods for today's several gigantic hyper-scale cloud platform service providers (AWS, MS, you name it). However, as a small-mid scale private company, it is low technology, poor management and I find my future unpromising.
My work frequently requires me working on servers and jbods and therefore makes me quite familiar with enterprise level IT hardware. I build servers, update firmware, run benchmark tests in Windows and Linux, and find myself becoming more and more interested in these IT infrastructure stuff. As a try, I began to study for Network+ and Storage+, frustratingly realizing that although I have been working in an IT infrastructure group for 3 years, my knowledge in IT is quite limited. Most of the materials in the study guides have I never heard of. My work experience doesn't even make me qualified as an entry-level IT guy.
In the early days when I started researching IT career path, I hoped I could become a virtualization/cloud engineer and could also work directly alongside large-scale physical data centers (I love to watch and touch the physical equipment, feeling the beauty of tech industry, which is also my childhood dream). But now, it seems an intimidatingly long road for me to go. Even two of the QC kids in our company, graduating with AS degree in IT and having 1 year work experience, are already CCNA. I feel myself far behind.
In this situation, what should I do? Start from some basic certs and look for entry job like data center tech? Or wait until I knock out some higher level certs like VCP6 and CCNP? Any suggestions are sincerely appreciated.
Comments
Can you afford to jump ship and go into an entry-level IT position? If not then your best option is to get some good certs focused on whichever area you want to go down and lab like crazy. You can edit your resume now to make it look like IT work. With the certs and knowledge from that and labs, you should be able to get into a junior admin type position down the road. Self-study is going to be your best friend here.
Net + and Security + are both good certs. You could study for those in your off time to get a feel for what your future will be like.
If you are able to take an entry level IT related position helpdesk/desktop support then it would be a great building block for the future. Once you have a little experience and an entry cert or two it will really provide you some idea of where you will want to go from there.
I won't be looking for a job till after I move next spring so right now the plan is to get A+ and N+ certified so that come late spring I can land a lower level IT job (help desk or general IT job). Then I am planning on enrolling in WGU for their BS-IT security degree. I've been looking at jobs and if you have a AS or BS it seems to help you get a foot in the door. Also in doing this you gain a lot of certs including the CCNA, and CCNA Security. The plan is to complete WGU in 3 years so that I will have a BS and also 3 years of xp in the field. I personally don't know as I'll go farther than a CCNA, I may branch off and look at VMware or Juniper certs.
I plan on also building a home lab. I know some people prefer the sims and to each their own but I want to handle the physical hardware. So if everything goes as planned I'll be 34 by the time I earn a BS and am climbing my way up the ladder. One important thing I see mentioned on this forum a lot is be versatile with the jobs your looking for when you start out. Experience is worth more than money for the first few years.
Spanning Tree: BID and Priority | Path Cost Tie
Make sure you realize and accept the fact that you will undoubtedly start at the bottom but with hard work you are not too far behind.
If anything you will have a leg up because with age comes maturity (usually lol).
You are never too old to pursue what makes you happy!! I would definitely look at some entry level certs such as the CompTIA path to get you started before you venture off into the more advanced level (CCNP/MCSE) etc.. You already have degrees so I would put more focus and emphasis on the IT specific skills that you need to develop and grow. You have most likely already met the HR requirements regarding degrees despite it being in a different field/major so I wouldn't worry about it. I have seen many colleagues or members on this forum switch from unrelated professions (business, accounting, etc..) into IT without having to get another degree but more on the side of some certs, experience, and most of all hard work to make the switch.
If you have any questions feel free to message me.
Good luck!!
*Bachelor's of Science: Information Technology - Security, Master's of Science: Information Technology - Management
Matthew 6:33 - "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."
Certs/Business Licenses In Progress: AWS Solutions Architect, Series 6, Series 63
Hi 5 to us old coots! I was either 38 or 39 when I transitioned out of a dead-end desk job into IT cause I didn't see myself making much more than the $15/hour I had been making for the past 6 years.
I don't know whether to be bothered or amused at these "OMG I'm in my 20's. My life is ruined and I'll never be able to break into a new field" threads... AND GET OFF MY LAWN
Current goal: Dunno
"Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect"
Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity
Goals for 2020: OSCP [] eCPPT[] eNDP[]
That made me chuckle ... kudos sir
Engineering is a really good background for IT. It teaches you how to solve problems, what good engineering techniques are, breaking things down, taking modular approaches, not trying to reinvent the wheel, keeping organised and methodical and all that higher level stuff that IT really benefits from, especially at the more senior levels. So you are probably further down that path than some 28 year olds who've been in IT for 10 years.
A lot of stuff in IT changes, and experience with actual technologies doesn't matter beyond a couple of years, since the technology gets replaced. What matters is the softer skills and higher level skills, which I think will transfer for you from your current background.
So get stuck in. Start reading the books, watching the videos, labbing away. Don't be afraid to pick up "complete moron's guide to computers for children", simple books are easier to digest and give you the confidence (as in "Man, this stuff is easy") to pursue. Network+ actually has some of the harder concepts to grasp, because it is so new and fundamental. Once you've been doing it for a while, it's all second nature and we tend to forget how tough it is to wrap your head around for the first time. Don't worry if seems hard, because eventually it will be easy.
And set up a home lab and start trying to do stuff. You'll be surprised how much you can learn when you just start getting your hands dirty, run into a problem and try to figure it out.
If you have the drive to progress, then by all means go for it
Eamonn
Higher Certificate in Science in Computer Services - Limerick Institute of Technology
Certificate Information Technology and Computing - The Open University
Certificate in Computing and Mathematics -The Open University
I'm sometimes involved in the interviewing process for new IT staff for our department. I used to ask technical questions only, but as of late, I'm more interested in someone's personality, ambition, soft skills and attitude. I'm more impressed by someone relatively inexperienced but with a real passion for the subject matter, than someone with 15 years of experience, a heavily padded resume, but no ambition or drive.
Casual reading: CCNP, Windows Sysinternals Administrator's Reference, Network Warrior