Does anyone here work in the IT (Information Technology) industry?

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I'm a little bit older than the usual college graduate but will be graduating from my IT program this May and am in search of an IT internship or job locally here in Minnesota. By the end of this semester, I will have completed my AAS in Information and Telecommunications Technology and have A+ and CCNA certifications. I understand that this isn't much of an "advanced degree" but am seeking any advice that some of you guys who work in this field may have for finding a "right" job. My main area of focus in school has been CCNA and my main area of interest right now is Networking.

A few months ago, I posted my resume online and through quite a lengthy process, was hired by a Temporary job agency. My initial thought was to get a feel of what's available out there and maybe gain a little experience while finishing up school and I accepted a job in Level 1 Help Desk Support. After 3 weeks there, I found myself having to convince myself to go to work everyday. The job became more and more miserable because it was absolutely everything BUT what I thought and imagined any IT job would be like. A combination of travel time, pay, work environment, and advancement opportunities in that immediate department convinced me to quite the job after just 3 weeks of work.

At this point, I'm a little concerned about being able to find a good match for a workplace once I finish school in the next few months. I am no slouch in being able to learn and adapt to anything IT-related quickly and have made anything IT-related my life for the last 15 years. My question is, how have some of you advanced in your IT careers and what advice do you have in helping someone new to the industry find a real job in the Networking department?
 
I am an IT guy. Let me first say you have to be ready to start at the bottom. A help desk job is what you will need to do. It is crappy but that is the starting point for most IT jobs. It is rough to find a networking job out of college as you lack the experience companies want now days. You didn't get too specific on your degree. Is it an associates? If so i would recommend you go on for your ba as you will be very hard pressed to find anything in the field other then help desk with an as. I would suggest all the mss and Microsoft certifications you can get. I would also make sure you are A++ certified. They will all help. But without the experience it will be rough. I know it sucks working hd but i think you should have kept the job as tech jobs are hard to come by. Good Luck! If you ever move down to the omaha ne area let me know i can put in a good word for you in the Methodist health systems.
 
A bunch of us here work in the IT field...

Right now, I'm busy whining to omslaw and Bots about my IT job, so I think I should refrain from the pep talk :banghead:

I will say this - there are days when I love it, love the fast pace, the constant challenge and never-ending drama that goes with technology. It's a moving target. The bad in that is that you'll oftentimes be so overwhelmed with so much, you can't remember your name, your job title, what your REAL job even was or what it was you were hired to do :rofl: It's not a boring field, that's for certain...

'eh, I talked myself back in to the pep talk - I would rather be busy and effecting change than not. Just prepare for never ever being caught up or on the cutting edge. You'll be chasing the cutting edge and fighting to implement it.

My advice to you - get a job, if you can, working for a corporation with a lot of money that goes toward IT infrastructure and you're golden. Don't go the route I did with gov't IT, where the best you get is duct tape, whatever is on the back of that white van that just pulled up marked "free candy" (no lie, we get stuff from "the oyster house", that mystical, mythical, magical place where all equipment no one wants goes to die), and 101 uses for crap we can salvage until it's best use becomes a foot stool.

Enjoy the IT field man! If nothing else, it will pay the bills and you will use your brain, as soon as you get out of tier 1 support! :D
 
In Minneapolis area you want to see if there are any openings at all with Target, Best Buy, St Jude's Hospital Systems or any Hospital Systems Administration type roles...Work Tier 1/2 help desk for 3-5 years and you will earn up enough credit/experience to get an entry level Network or Administrator type role if your lucky. Market sucks right now and is exceptionally saturated...More and more work is being offshored to India for 1/10th of the labor costs as the US equivalent. Honestly prepare to hate your job for the next few years, keep your head down, mouth closed and ears and eyes open...Learn everything you can, every technology you can and watch for any advancement opportunities you can get...today way to many graduates job histories read like a grocery store receipt way to many items...if you dont have 3-5 years experience with one company I'm going to toss your resume in the garbage, with IT your degree is pretty much worthless as most if not all applicants have one, I don't want to know what you have on a piece of paper from a college/university I want to know what you know and if you can apply it. Others above are correct, with tech jobs your certs *(certificates) are your best friend, get all the Microsoft Certs you can, keep going with the Cisco training CCNA is entry level every Network Tech has it...get your CCNP right away after your done.

Your going to work crap jobs for the next 3-5 years to move up and will need to prove yourself, if your just lucky enough to move up in a position do so with pride and remember all the guys doing the crap job behind you, and never forget there are 100 people waiting behind you for your "crap" job...

Good luck...
 
I am very fortunate with my IT career. I had a crap job (pay wise) coming out of school but had a great time doing it - worked for Daktronics over here in South Dakota. Got to travel to London on their dime and see some really cool stuff. From there I transitioned to State Gov work back in my hometown. Pay wasn't great but it was stable. That was right when the whole market crashed and everybody was getting laid off. I was happy just to have a job. I did that for a few years, got some experience under my belt and met quite a few people that were in the same field. I was lured away to the local school district (~2000 students, 1500 computers) for more money. Spent a year there and was lured back to my old job by my old boss for even more money but with a slightly different job description - IT Security. Security is a huge up-and-coming field for the IT crowd. Keep your head down and stick with it. If your good, someone will notice and you will get hired into a better career. In under 10 years from graduating ive doubled my pay and still dont seem to have any left after the check clears.... damn busa..busa..jeep..house...kid...wife...(things that i am really happy to have and are paid for!)
 
I work in IT too. Tier 1 helpdesk support is the worst! However, as ViperWhiteBusa said, it's often a good way to get your foot in the door if you don't have much real world experience. I agree with what has been stated above but would add that if networking hardware is your thing then go down the Cisco certification trail as far as you can afford to go and as long as it interests you. If you're interested in the software side as well then MS certifications and Linux certifications can help you out as well. If you haven't already, check out Microsoft Virtual Academy ? Free IT Training, Online Learning of Microsoft Technologies for free, web based training on a wide range of Microsoft technologies. There are lots of places on line to learn Linux but most of the free ones won't have the polish of Microsoft's Virtual Academy.

Before you take another help desk job, try to find out as many details as you can. Are you tied to a phone? Can you get up and go to a user and check things out yourself? Do they have other levels of support in house (tier II/III) or is it you and then call the vendor? If they have other levels of help desk in house and you sit in the same area or room you can often learn a lot those other people.

Research the company before you take the job. As Vabs mentioned, as you move forward in IT you can be stuck as the jack of all trades guy who takes care of everything or shoe-horned into the area you were hired for (or promoted into) and never given an opportunity to try anything else. Contrary to what some might believe, IT is a WIDE field. There's hardware, software, programming, administration, a dozen different kinds of systems architecture, databases, data scientists, big data, analytics, security, mobile, cloud... you get the picture. Some companies will have all of the above, some will only have a few.

Build your own lab. Keep an eye on Craigslist or surplus sites for cheap computers, servers and networking gear. That way you can go through your lessons as many times as you want and when you experiment it doesn't matter if you break things. Take advantage of free Linux distributions and free software (often time limited) from Microsoft.

Most of all I would say be open to jobs that might allow you to make a sideways entrance into a more permanent job. If a company is hiring temporary installers because they are rolling out a new POS system or doing an equipment refresh (our company had both situations going in different divisions last year) you'll probably get to do some networking (with hardware and cable) as well as networking with the people who are in charge of IT for the company. Locally I heard an ad on the radio that one of our local ISP/phone companies was hiring and training networking people so that might be a type of business to look for, those guys are all about networking.

I guess all of that to reiterate what's already been said. IT can be a great field and there are lots of opportunities overall, there just may not be many opportunities where you are located. Sometimes finding the right job is all about hard work, sometimes it's just being in the right place at the right time.

Good luck.
 
Thank you all for your responses. Most everything of what you guys said are probably reality for my job search. Everything about that job was so crappy. I didn't feel like I was part of anything special and on top of that, I didn't feel that I was learning anything at all. I clocked in at my normal start time, was managed by every minute that I was there, couldn't take a bathroom break when I wanted to because it would affect my "performance/production" numbers, and I didn't have any interaction with anyone else until I clocked out! It felt like I was a robot working on an assembly line.

What I think I'll do is concentrate on getting as many certifications that I can if time allows. I'm going to try to do whatever I can to advance myself in the coming months to at least a level 1 networking job. One good thing is that around here in Minnesota, IT jobs seem to be plentiful in all skill levels. Again, thanks for your time and I'll keep you guys posted on what job I take in the next few months!
 
I don't want to down play certifications at all, but real world, on the job experience is what will get you your best shot as you go through the IT field. I know people that follow both schools of thought - certifications are awesome, and they are impressive when looking for that job, but sometimes you'll find you're caught in a never-ending race to keep up. Technology is ever-changing and sometimes those certifications are tough to maintain.

We very recently hired a network admin right out of school (he's retired military). We'd turned down quite a few for the following reasons - no real world experience in anything of value to our organization. They could have had certifications, I don't know, but if you haven't actually been out there, doing something that can bring value to an IT shop, it's tough. Even our new hire, right out of school had some real world experience that is proving to be a great benefit to us.

Omar (omslaw here, happens to also be the guy that tolerates living with me) is a network manager for a global software company, and I know he would rather hire someone with real world experience over someone that's padded a resume with tons of certifications. That Cisco route is absolutely a plus if your focus is networking, on that I think most agree, but even better is someone that's been out there, been troubleshooting, fixed crazy issues and lived to tell about it. That institutional knowledge comes from getting in where you can, learning everything you can, certifications when you can, but focus on the real world stuff.

If I told you where I started and where I am now, you'd never believe me...not one certification, but I am certifiable :rofl:
 
Like Vabs said, I oversee the team that is responsible for managing the global network for a KC-based enterprise mobility software company with offices worldwide. Oh, did I mention that I do my job from my home office in Virginia? I'm fortunate that I'm in the position that I can do that; I've been with my company for over 16 years now. I was brought in to be their network administrator and now I'm responsible for the team that manages the networks, servers, infrastructure, security, telecommunications, etc...basically allowing everyone else to do their jobs.

Anyway, my views on hiring... I don't care about degrees, certifications, etc., they mean nothing to me if you can't do the job. I recently hired a Systems Administrator and that process was difficult...because no one had any real experience. Some came in quoting the A+ or Network+ test for answers to questions, some came in spouting text from one of their classes...heck, most of them could not tell me the difference between a hub and a switch. So, like the others have said, starting at the bottom is pretty much a must; this is where you'll start to gain more knowledge, understand what the users go through and how to support them. As you progress, you'll work your way up into network administration. Now, if you can get on board with a small company, then you're likely to be wearing all the hats - you may be the only IT person.

The industry is ever-changing and keeping up with the trends is key. My company lives on the bleeding edge; so keeping up with what's going on is a must. One of the questions I ask all my candidates is related to that; after talking about how quickly things change, the technology they've seen that we have in our office, I ask them what they do to keep up? The guys that don't have a good answer or don't do much...don't make the cut. I'm looking for someone who reads forums, tech blogs, tech sites, etc. I'm looking for someone who doesn't just have a Linksys router at home... To truly keep up, it takes a passion for networking. I want that "geek" that has a Cisco switch at home, using VLANs in their own home. Has a server or two or 3 setup and has their own Active-Directory at home, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, etc. I want the guy running Hyper-V and/or VMware ESXi and is always playing with what's coming. To do all this means that you can't expect to just work 8 to 5. You need to leave work, come home and keep at it, always learning something... The ones who live, eat, breathe networking/tech...those are the ones that will move up. The ones that treat IT as a 'job' and only think about it from 8 to 5....those are the ones that usually don't get too far. :2cents:

Anyway - sorry for my rant... LOL Keep at it; you're doing the right things...just keep learning, suck up as much knowledge as you can...and the best thing would be to setup your own network at home. Install all the Microsoft products, learn how they work; learn how to configure them. Play with VMware ESXi/vCenter server. Get Cisco gear (buy it off ebay) and play with it. Or sign up for a virtual lab. (I prefer the former since you can use the gear with your servers). The more you can learn the better off you will be.
 
omslaw said:
Like Vabs said, I oversee the team that is responsible for managing the global network for a KC-based enterprise mobility software company with offices worldwide. Oh, did I mention that I do my job from my home office in Virginia? I'm fortunate that I'm in the position that I can do that; I've been with my company for over 16 years now. I was brought in to be their network administrator and now I'm responsible for the team that manages the networks, servers, infrastructure, security, telecommunications, etc...basically allowing everyone else to do their jobs.

Anyway, my views on hiring... I don't care about degrees, certifications, etc., they mean nothing to me if you can't do the job. I recently hired a Systems Administrator and that process was difficult...because no one had any real experience. Some came in quoting the A+ or Network+ test for answers to questions, some came in spouting text from one of their classes...heck, most of them could not tell me the difference between a hub and a switch. So, like the others have said, starting at the bottom is pretty much a must; this is where you'll start to gain more knowledge, understand what the users go through and how to support them. As you progress, you'll work your way up into network administration. Now, if you can get on board with a small company, then you're likely to be wearing all the hats - you may be the only IT person.

The industry is ever-changing and keeping up with the trends is key. My company lives on the bleeding edge; so keeping up with what's going on is a must. One of the questions I ask all my candidates is related to that; after talking about how quickly things change, the technology they've seen that we have in our office, I ask them what they do to keep up? The guys that don't have a good answer or don't do much...don't make the cut. I'm looking for someone who reads forums, tech blogs, tech sites, etc. I'm looking for someone who doesn't just have a Linksys router at home... To truly keep up, it takes a passion for networking. I want that "geek" that has a Cisco switch at home, using VLANs in their own home. Has a server or two or 3 setup and has their own Active-Directory at home, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, etc. I want the guy running Hyper-V and/or VMware ESXi and is always playing with what's coming. To do all this means that you can't expect to just work 8 to 5. You need to leave work, come home and keep at it, always learning something... The ones who live, eat, breathe networking/tech...those are the ones that will move up. The ones that treat IT as a 'job' and only think about it from 8 to 5....those are the ones that usually don't get too far. :2cents:

Anyway - sorry for my rant... LOL Keep at it; you're doing the right things...just keep learning, suck up as much knowledge as you can...and the best thing would be to setup your own network at home. Install all the Microsoft products, learn how they work; learn how to configure them. Play with VMware ESXi/vCenter server. Get Cisco gear (buy it off ebay) and play with it. Or sign up for a virtual lab. (I prefer the former since you can use the gear with your servers). The more you can learn the better off you will be.
Click to expand...



*drops mic, walks off stage....*
 
GsxrBots said:
*drops mic, walks off stage....*
Click to expand...

He'd never hire me...I hate technology. He's busy reading every tech article there is and I'm busy downloading every great song I've always wanted :rofl:

However, I now know what to say at my next job interview! Thanks Omar ;)
 
I currently have 18 open requisitions for IT Engineers Senior Analyst. There is a lot of life knowledge in the post above but let me put a small spin on things.. There are companies out there that will invest in your education and certifications. When I interview candidates I always look for the potential in them, what will they be not what they are. I am looking to see if they have the aptitude to pick up the technology, policy & procedures and deal with the stresses of the role. Once I get folks on the team we build great talent, my guys cert up and we invest an unbelievable amount of time and money in them. There are current trends of technologies that will enhance one another so look at getting some of those certifications. A good example of Certifications that go together would be:

1. CCNA > Vmware VCP or VCAP
2. Microsoft MCSA > HyperV
3. Linux LPI 1 / LPI 2 > RHEL

There are so many certs out there and so many configurations that you really need to decide what kind of networking you want to do! Current trends are going to things like Iscsi targeting, virtual networking, I would start brushing up on ONIE or Cumulus or for large scale Bigswitch ....

Set yourself apart by learning one of these new concepts and be prepared to speak to the trend! It's things like this that hiring managers look for, you will learn a ton in the process.

Good Luck!

CAp
 
omslaw said:
Like Vabs said, I oversee the team that is responsible for managing the global network for a KC-based enterprise mobility software company with offices worldwide. Oh, did I mention that I do my job from my home office in Virginia? I'm fortunate that I'm in the position that I can do that; I've been with my company for over 16 years now. I was brought in to be their network administrator and now I'm responsible for the team that manages the networks, servers, infrastructure, security, telecommunications, etc...basically allowing everyone else to do their jobs.

Anyway, my views on hiring... I don't care about degrees, certifications, etc., they mean nothing to me if you can't do the job. I recently hired a Systems Administrator and that process was difficult...because no one had any real experience. Some came in quoting the A+ or Network+ test for answers to questions, some came in spouting text from one of their classes...heck, most of them could not tell me the difference between a hub and a switch. So, like the others have said, starting at the bottom is pretty much a must; this is where you'll start to gain more knowledge, understand what the users go through and how to support them. As you progress, you'll work your way up into network administration. Now, if you can get on board with a small company, then you're likely to be wearing all the hats - you may be the only IT person.

The industry is ever-changing and keeping up with the trends is key. My company lives on the bleeding edge; so keeping up with what's going on is a must. One of the questions I ask all my candidates is related to that; after talking about how quickly things change, the technology they've seen that we have in our office, I ask them what they do to keep up? The guys that don't have a good answer or don't do much...don't make the cut. I'm looking for someone who reads forums, tech blogs, tech sites, etc. I'm looking for someone who doesn't just have a Linksys router at home... To truly keep up, it takes a passion for networking. I want that "geek" that has a Cisco switch at home, using VLANs in their own home. Has a server or two or 3 setup and has their own Active-Directory at home, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, etc. I want the guy running Hyper-V and/or VMware ESXi and is always playing with what's coming. To do all this means that you can't expect to just work 8 to 5. You need to leave work, come home and keep at it, always learning something... The ones who live, eat, breathe networking/tech...those are the ones that will move up. The ones that treat IT as a 'job' and only think about it from 8 to 5....those are the ones that usually don't get too far. :2cents:

Anyway - sorry for my rant... LOL Keep at it; you're doing the right things...just keep learning, suck up as much knowledge as you can...and the best thing would be to setup your own network at home. Install all the Microsoft products, learn how they work; learn how to configure them. Play with VMware ESXi/vCenter server. Get Cisco gear (buy it off ebay) and play with it. Or sign up for a virtual lab. (I prefer the former since you can use the gear with your servers). The more you can learn the better off you will be.
Click to expand...

Vlans on the home network is a bit much don't you think...we need to talk. I need a refresher couse.
 
I'm currently trapped in the Jeep while Omar talks tech........shoot me now! He's trying to figure out how to "gadgetize" our entire home.

"How can I run fiber to the shop from the house? Blah blah blah" :banghead:

Hey look, my headphones! :D
 
5 Vlans
Firewall 1 Client network
Firewall 2 client network
Outside firewall network
Guest Wireless
Server network


Yep all completely necessary.... And the cloud server (digital ocean) for snmp monitoring and sql server for my XBMC.
 
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