Want to get into the it field

[lilmaniac2 5,000+ posts]

30k is low for IT anywhere in the US no matter what the cost of living is.
I agree, most IT work is geared toward certifications. Thing is after doing it for a number of years, you realize you don't want to do IT grunt work for the rest of your life. The easiest way to get to a mgt position (of course not the only way) is to have your bachelors + the experience.

If you only get certifications you're gonna be stuck doing that kind of stuff all the time.

30k is not low. Average income for here is 22k. 30k is a very nice living here.

I guess I should have clarified that I don't suggest getting your certifications and quiting. If I could go back and I didn't have all the scholarships I have I would have went to work with my A+ and had a company to pay for my furthering education.

Hopefully I can skip the entry level IT work with my degree, but my best guess is I'll be doing IT grunt work for years that I could have done without my 4 years of sitting behind a compiler.

 

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

30k is low for IT anywhere in the US no matter what the cost of living is.
I agree, most IT work is geared toward certifications. Thing is after doing it for a number of years, you realize you don't want to do IT grunt work for the rest of your life. The easiest way to get to a mgt position (of course not the only way) is to have your bachelors + the experience.

If you only get certifications you're gonna be stuck doing that kind of stuff all the time.

Indeed the on the job experience and certifications are where its at. Most certifications don't mean squat to the worker bees as anybody can garbage in, garbage out. We've fired some cert'd people because while they were cert'd they couldn't apply what they learned in real life scenario's. Management and those doing the hiring like to see em though. Also looks good for the company to show they have cert'd people when they present/bid to their external customers.

I was in lower management for a bit and I have no degree. It sucked balls so I dropped back down to being a worker bee. Maybe upper management would be better, but the lower ranks you just get pulled at by both sides (employees and upper management). When worker bee positions pay just under 100k/yr there is no reason for me to dive back into management.

 

[tsenfw 10+ year member]

That's some incredible pay for "worker bee" positions as you put it. What kind of work?

 

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

That's some incredible pay for "worker bee" positions as you put it. What kind of work?

IT security work. I consider anything that doesn't involve the responsibility of overseeing a group of people as worker bee work, no matter how high or low the skills/pay/responsibilities for the position are. I likes my worker bee work as opposed to management.

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

Forget IT unless you plan to relocate to India....

Been in the field for 15 years and have seen SOOOO many jobs shipped over seas. Guys with 25+ years at a company and one day you're out of a job. Certain sects are still stable, but for the most part it's all over seas now...

 

[tsenfw 10+ year member]

IT security work. I consider anything that doesn't involve the responsibility of overseeing a group of people as worker bee work, no matter how high or low the skills/pay/responsibilities for the position are. I likes my worker bee work as opposed to management.

Do you have cisco or any other certs?

Always wanted into the security field but could never get my foot in the door.

 

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

Forget IT unless you plan to relocate to India....
Been in the field for 15 years and have seen SOOOO many jobs shipped over seas. Guys with 25+ years at a company and one day you're out of a job. Certain sects are still stable, but for the most part it's all over seas now...

I feel your pain man...the offshoring stuff sucks :/

Whats a company to do when an Indian will halfass your job for 1/4 of the pay though //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

Do you have cisco or any other certs?
Always wanted into the security field but could never get my foot in the door.

I was brought on my current team a few years ago for my Solaris skills and just morphed into doin that and security work both. Been on this team for about 5 years now. Already had some basic security skills and got some OTJ training along the way. For certs I currently have my Solaris security admin, Solaris system admin, Solaris network admin, and GIAC GSEC, workin on my CISSP currently.

Oh, and I'm a college dropout //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif