IT Guyz

[mattofvengeance]

I'm getting extremely tired of my job. I work part time at UPS, and I make ok money being that it's part time, but I need more guitars, I need my own place, and I just flat need more money, so with my interest in computers, I've decided to seek a career in IT. I'm going to visit a tech school today (Tech Skills in Fort Worth) that Dave (asmegin_slayer) suggested I go to. I was just curious if you guys had any additional advice and tell me what your jobs are like. Any information is appreciated. Thanks!

[JJ Rodriguez]

Sometimes my job is slack as hell, sometimes it's busy as fuck. I work for an IT company that gets contracted out to various companies, and I sit on site with the client, which happens to be government for this project.

It all depends on what part of IT you want to go into, server management, applications development, network support (Cisco and shit), etc. I'm doing desktop support, my main goal is to get into server support at some point, but I'm kind of waiting to see if they unionize that role to make my move.

If you start out on a Helpdesk doing support on the phone, you might burn out quickly. I fortunately skipped that part of my career progression and couldn't be happier about it

If doing desktop support which is a likely starting point, you'll probably deal with a lot of stupid shit on a daily basis, ie people's PC's not booting up, you go down, plug in the power and boom, it turns on. Shit like that happens a lot

Of course, your mileage may vary.

[lurgar]

The more you learn about and the more you work with computers, the more you realize that most people have no idea what they're talking about. This will include people in your own field.

There will be days when you encounter problems that nobody else will understand and you will need to explain the gravity of the situation to a higher up who thinks your entire department doesn't contribute anything of monetary value to the company.

You will, at some point, get a user who swears up and down that they need some software installed. When pressed, you will find out that they don't know the name of the software, don't know what it does, don't know who else has it, and don't know what job function they can't perform without it.

Being a "computer guy" (regardless of what you specialize in) means that when you touch a home user's computer, you own it. If their cheapie emachine mobo dies 4 months after you cleaned out their spyware, YOU will be responsible because "it was working fine until you touched it."

Make sure you work towards being specialized. You may think that you're pigeonholing yourself, but really, if you want to move up, you're going to need to concentrate on some specific skills.

Really, IT isn't that bad of an industry, but when you're in it, you're stuck in a spot where you understand something intimately that most people having an extremely passing knowledge of. You will need good people skills and will need to know how to deal with slamming your head against your desk when something stupid comes up.

Good luck.

[JJ Rodriguez]

Originally Posted by lurgar

Being a "computer guy" (regardless of what you specialize in) means that when you touch a home user's computer, you own it. If their cheapie emachine mobo dies 4 months after you cleaned out their spyware, YOU will be responsible because "it was working fine until you touched it."

This +1 fucking million. That, and even if they DON'T blame you, they'll be calling you up and you'll probably feel obligated to fix it since they're probably friends/family.

Also, you have to watch the IT crowd. It's mandatory viewing for all folks in the IT industry.

[orb451]

Hey Matt, I was in a similar situation about 9 years ago, tired of my job, not making a lot of $$$ and wanting to put my computer tinkering skills to professional use. Like others have said (and wisely) there are ups and downs to choosing this field as a possible career.

I've worked field service going to companies, and going to people's homes. I've done the desktop support thing, I've done server administration, network administration and so on. The best advice I can give you, 9 years in, is to diversify your skill set.

One thing you'll notice quickly about IT careers is that the skill set or litany of "stuff" they want you to know is usually quite long. Regardless of what position you're applying for. Please don't turn into one of those guys that thinks a cert from school x/y/z is the end of the road for education.

That was my mistake. I thought getting an MCSE was like the be all end all. It's not. It's not even remotely close. Learn UNIX. Not just "Linux". UNIX. Learn the design philosophy that makes it great for servers/networks. Sure, grab Ubuntu Linux or another easy to use distro but also grab FreeBSD. You'll learn more in a weekend of installing FreeBSD and trying to get it to talk to other machines on a network than you will spending years behind the wheel of Microsoft's stuff. The command line is your friend.

Don't get evangelical about your O/S or favorite gear. Learn that the right tool for the job can vary a LOT. FreeBSD is NOT the holy grail, nor is Linux, nor Windows, nor Mac OS, etc. They each bring something to the table. But getting them all to talk to one another is VERY much worth learning.

Another thing to be mindful of is general direction. What "general" direction do you want to go? Are you looking to be an IT Manager at some point, who has the IT grunts running around the office fixing stuff? Nothing wrong with that, just know that desktop support (phone or in person) might be your starting point. Are you trying to go into development? If so, what kind? That is, is it software dev? Is your stuff going to run on any platform or just a one or two?

To me the ultimate IT person knows a bit from multiple IT subfields. They should know a little bit of coding (or a lot depending on circumstances - C++, Perl, Java, HTML), They should know MS' stuff (XP Pro, Home, Win2K, Win98 and of course Vista, Win7, Server 2003, and newer versions). And they should know networking, TCP/IP, DNS, Routing. Lastly they should also know UNIX/Linux and how to use, install, configure and maintain them (all OS's for that matter).

I think a lot of IT schools will get you on the latest and greatest stuff. In case you don't know, most companies do NOT use the latest and greatest from ANY software/hardware vendor. They stick to what works. That may be NT 4.0 on the servers and NT or Win2K on the desktops. So don't get caught up in the stuff they teach you if it's all Win7/Vista/Server 2008... learn the older stuff too, it's VERY important. And yes, same applies in the UNIX/Linux world as well as far as versions go.

Best of luck and hope that helps a bit,

orb.............

[jam3v]

The best advice I can give you is to stay away if you're not already passionate about it. If you're just doing it for the money, there are other jobs you can be unhappy with and make more money.

I saw a lot of people in school who didn't make it because they were there "for the money." Don't let that deter you though. If you can be happy just doing it for the money, more power to you, but no one I've met is that emotionless.

[DomitianX]

I've been in IT for almost 15 years. I have no certs of any kind and very little formal schooling.

I am currently Director of IT for a mid size (300 students, 50 or so staff, half dozen or so buildings) charter school. My advice is to spend lots of time learning a lot about just about everything, but still specialize in something. I spent a lot of late nights downloading various OS's, Exchange (and other mail servers), SQL, BSD, Linux, etc and just built networks at home and figured out all kinds of random stuff getting it up and running. Eventually I just kind of started specializing in a few different aspects while keeping myself open to as much other technology as possible. I spent 5+ years working my way up the various help desk/tech support ladders, got a gig with a small IT group at a company and then got this gig.

Learn Linux, BSD, Mac OS, Windows (all flavors), Networking (TCP, DNS, WINS, routing), Email, wireless, etc. But still have something you specialize in. That way you have a broad understanding of technology in general to keep yourself open to lots of jobs (help desk, SMB jack of all trades IT Guy) , but you still have a specialty to fall back on for those types of jobs.

For me my specialty is SQL DBA and web development. I could find lots of freelance or contract jobs for my specialty while I was working my way up the general IT ladder.

A piece of paper may make it easier for you to get an interview, but it will do very little to get the job. Experience will get you a job, and knowing how to talk about technology without being an ass and other people skills.

I hire interns every year and I would rather have a personable person that knows quite a bit than a big brain asshole that everyone hates. The days of the cheeto eating, mountain dew drinking geek in a dark closet are long gone.

The other thing is if you are going into any type of management role, not a manger per se but managing projects even, get project management experience. Thats a BIG part of any IT guy that isnt doing standard help desk type stuff. Lots of guys know their stuff, but very few know how to manage the projects they are working on.

The flip side is there are guys that go get their MSCE, MCSD, etc and they get a specialty job where they deal with a specific set of technologies all day. There are fewer and fewer of those gigs these days since IT budgets are shrinking and there is a lot of lap over into the different areas of IT. My feeling is you are better off having an extensive broad knowledge but still have some specialties.

[tongarr]

Originally Posted by JJ Rodriguez

Also, you have to watch the IT crowd. It's mandatory viewing for all folks in the IT industry.

+1

Very funny show

[mattofvengeance]

Thanks for all the opinions guys. I had an interview with the school, and I believe I've discovered my course of action. I get like 10-12 months to take as many courses as I'd like at my own pace. I start of with the A+, then one more (can't remember the name), then I can determine whether I want to go Microsoft or Cisco. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go the Microsoft route, but I may take a course or two in Cisco, and definitely one or two in Linux. Thanks again!

[lurgar]

Originally Posted by mattofvengeance

Thanks for all the opinions guys. I had an interview with the school, and I believe I've discovered my course of action. I get like 10-12 months to take as many courses as I'd like at my own pace. I start of with the A+, then one more (can't remember the name), then I can determine whether I want to go Microsoft or Cisco. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go the Microsoft route, but I may take a course or two in Cisco, and definitely one or two in Linux. Thanks again!

It's more than likely going to be the Net+

Also, the MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) still has a reputation of being a certification that got weakened by a lot of people taking boot camp classes. It's not to say that it's worthless or will hurt you, but you will need to realize that it will only ever mean "Must Consult Somebody Else" to a portion of people.

The CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) is more for networking certainly. Having done it myself, I can tell you that the things you learn do apply to other types of networking equipment besides Cisco stuff although if you go to a decent company you're more likely to find Cisco equipment.

No matter what you do, PAY ATTENTION AND RETAIN INFORMATION. It's a lot to absorb at first, but if you can start retaining it, you'll remember later on when a computer has an IP address of 169.254.x.x that it isn't getting an IP address from the DHCP server. Little things like that help a great deal in troubleshooting and make you a much better team player.

[shanike]

definitely go for a career in IT, you'll learn a lot of interesting things and a bright future ahead of you and eventually more gear.

[Mwoit]

Shit, this thread is interesting. I'm currently doing CompSci at university, so I'm kinda looking at future prospectives and this thread has made me think a bit further in my life.

[metal_sam14]

I am an ICT trainee and I am leased out to 3 different schools in my state. The Traineeship wage is fucking terrible, but there is a bright future in IT, you can go into many different jobs with the qualifications, and the pay can get pretty good

[jkspawn]

Originally Posted by JJ Rodriguez

Also, you have to watch the IT crowd. It's mandatory viewing for all folks in the IT industry.

Ive been in IT for 7 years (since I was 16). Like previous posters said, you have to want to do it and have a genuine passion for computers/technology. Master the basics and then pick a specialty. I will soon be studying and taking classes for my CCNA, I want to get into Network Administration.

Also, Jen from IT Crowd