Looking for career advice from those in IT

[alexis524]

I've decided to switch career from mortgage finance to IT and need some certifications from my local technical school, or a degree from a college/university. I realize that IT is such a broad spectrum nowadays and I think that since I like to analyze, test, filter, sort, and a bit of troubleshooting, I'm thinking about pursuing either programming, database admin, or network admin to engineer.

My question to the community for those in the industry, is which of the three areas mentioned show the most demand and opportunity? I've looked at salaries and all three average out the same at around 80k, but would like to pursue a specific field with long-term demand. (like everyone else right?)

So your advice on the above is greatly appreciated as well as any tips for education requirements, certs to go after, etc., etc. Thanks in advance

[aaron]

Get CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ certs as quickly as possible, then research and get certified in Microsoft SCCM.

[Stark]

Yeah it would depend on what you're looking to do. What aaron mentioned would probabably get you in at a helpdesk or junior sys admin job, but if you wanted to do more in networking, you'd want to get something like a CCNA instead and head more along that route.

Do you have any leanings?

[Frag Mortuus]

I think that average salary you're looking at is way too high. At least for a starting salary. They probably took an average of the entire industry including people have a lot of experience and those that are just starting. I'm a Network / Server Admin and I don't make anywhere near that amount.

However, I think it all depends on what you're interested in. I love hardware, servers, and networking but absolutely hate software and programming. Certifications are a great thing to get. Because a degree doesn't tell an employer what you are skilled in. My degree says I have a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. However at my school there were three tracks. Networking, IT, and Programming. Certifications are what is really important in my opinion. Plus getting certified in something will only strengthen what you know. You have to study for the cert and know enough to pass the test.

Like Stark said, the Comp TIA stuff will get you an entry level help desk job. But, those are great certs to get if you want to go further with it and become CCNA certified or beyond (i.e. CCNP or CCIE), the COMP TIA stuff will help you learn basic and some intermediary knowledge that will be built upon in more level high network certifications. Get certified in anything server related, server administration is useful to pretty much every company in the world.

Lastly, network security is super hot right now. If you get in with some security knowledge, you will be a lot more appealing to employers. I can't stress that enough.

Also, I would recommend getting a bachelor is something tech related. Computer Science, Information Systems, etc. The IT world isn't like it used to be. These days employers want someone with a four year degree. 10 or 15 years ago anyone with knowledge or experience could get a job in IT and it would be a great job. Now those without a good degree have to start out at the bottom and hustle hard to get into the great jobs. Where as with a degree you will be at the top of the pile for applicants. Maybe get some certs, get an entry level job then work it while youre in school. That way once you get out you have both experience and a degree. A friend of mine did that same thing and when he and I both applied for the same job right out of school, he got it and I didn't.

Just my $.02. Hope that is helpful.

[alexis524]

Thanks for the replies so far guys, I really do appreciate it.

As far as narrowing down which path, is networking, programming, or database admin still to general? If I had to choose, it would either be programming or database admin since I think both fit my personality. More than anything, if I'm going to invest in education, I want to make a wise choice in picking an IT path to follow that will be demanding for some time. I know we all don't have crystal balls and it's near impossible to predict these sort of things, but the reason I reached out here is that you all are in the industry and have your finger on the pulse of what's trending and in demand.

I do like the programming side where learning languages and coding is involved with trial and error and finding what's wrong where, and on the other hand, I love information and the tracking and compiling of too.

I appreciate you being honest too and letting me know that the salary I mentioned was on the higher side. I just did a search on career builder in Philadelphia, which is the closest largest Metropolitan area to me, under each job title of database admin, programmer analyst, and network engineer and came up with that average.

I'm thinking that I may go for my CompTIA certs first, maybe attend my counties vocational school to learn some languages for coding, and try to land something entry level while I go for an Associates, and if need be, a Bachelor's in Computer Science. Where that will take me, not sure. I see that a SQL DBA pays well, but am reading it's hard to get into a job as one. Is an Oracle DBA any easier?
For those programmers out there, should I specialize in one or two languages, or is it not too terribly hard to learn and retain all the popular languages used today?

So for so many questions, I have alot today, and just trying to get a game plan down so I can get started and not look back. Thanks again for your insight.

P.S. Please, please help me not to be discouraged over the fact that this very well may be a 4 year trek for me since I do not have any college credits earned. There is one college in my area that offers accelerated degrees, a BS in Information Systems with me being able to complete my General Studies portion in about 22 months with only one night/week of class time. I really wish there was a faster way to do this, but I have to start somewhere right???

[skate323k137]

CompTIA certs really aren't looked at that highly. I'm a sysadmin / security admin and I don't have any of them. Mind you if I wanted to go more into networking I might get a network+ for the hell of it.

Database administration would be a great field to go into. It's in high demand and I don't see that changing any time soon. My brother is a DBA and makes excellent money. Oracle is a plus if you want to go for the big $$$

Often you can get a sysadmin job with little to no experience or certs depending on where you live. Web hosting is easy entry-level employment, and will pay you enough to go to school to get what you really need. Just having experience in that field will open a lot of doors.

Find a company that's more interested in what you know than the certs you have; they'll be more fun to work for in the long run anyway. At the end of the day if you actually enjoy working in IT and you're good at it, finding a job is not very difficult.

Regarding your programming question, learn one or two languages well. Trying to learn a ton of them will probably burn you out very quickly.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Knowing how to code is pretty much indispensable if you want to understand how computers work, so I'd recommend learning at least C no matter what you do.

[Lokkenjawnz]

Just going to throw my 2 cents in here. I've got an IT job and I have zero certs in anything, however I've been working with computers my whole life, and am studying for a CS major, so there is that.

So I guess, don't worry quite so much about the certs themselves, though they're very useful in showing your skills on paper, they're not always great at actually preparing you for real world work. I've seen plenty of guys with extensive certifications who don't know how to change and adapt and keep up with how IT actually works in practice. Honestly, as far as learning what to do, and how to handle it, try fixing a family member's computer. Try doing it remotely, or try fixing a particularly annoying family member's computer that'll give you real world experience in not only fixing an issue, but dealing with the person on the other end, which is a skill that too many IT guys never get, and those are the ones who leave the field because they can't cut it. You have to be a people person when you're dealing with this kind of stuff, as frustrating as it may be.

Good luck though, it's a pretty fun field if you're nerdy!

[deathsled]

I also have no certifications of any sort. I have a degree in business management. I work as a network/systems admin/engineer at a medical research company. Before that I was at Cisco. I grew up the son of an IBM employee so I've had PCs for as long as I can remember.

My least favorite coworker is a recent hire who apparently a few years ago decided "hey I think I'd like to go into IT" and has been trying to get all book smart with computers ever since....

[Frag Mortuus]

These are all great replies, but they are all mixed.

The reason I said to get certs and a degree is solely to show what you can do on paper. Starting out that is very important and should be the highlight of your resume. However, as you gain experience your certs will take a back seat. Eventually you will be able to list your previous experience with various accomplishments, which should outshine your education and certifications. I mentioned obtaining these things because you need to make your resume stand out in the beginning as well.

Also, with any job, interview skills help a lot. Being able to think in your feet and give strong answers to off the wall questions will give your interviewer an idea of your ability to make quick decisions and adapt to changing environments.