The "get gutsman an IT job" challenge
I've been debating whether to post this or not for several days but decided to go ahead and see happens.
The gist of the post is that I am looking to change careers and get into the IT field and I want to learn without taking college classes since they are expensive and I already owe plenty in school loans. Ugh....
The ultimate goal here is to harness the power of the awesome members of Nintendo Age in this field to help me learn what I need to learn to eventually be able to take a certification,pass it,and hopefully then find a good paying job.
Since I am basically starting from scratch here,the realistic short term goal is getting a second,entry level weekend job to supplement my income and gain field experience to help me later.
As far as what specific field of IT goes,I am thinking IT security since it's always going to be needed plus it seems to pay fairly well.
Anyway....thoughts,suggestions,etc?
The gist of the post is that I am looking to change careers and get into the IT field and I want to learn without taking college classes since they are expensive and I already owe plenty in school loans. Ugh....
The ultimate goal here is to harness the power of the awesome members of Nintendo Age in this field to help me learn what I need to learn to eventually be able to take a certification,pass it,and hopefully then find a good paying job.
Since I am basically starting from scratch here,the realistic short term goal is getting a second,entry level weekend job to supplement my income and gain field experience to help me later.
As far as what specific field of IT goes,I am thinking IT security since it's always going to be needed plus it seems to pay fairly well.
Anyway....thoughts,suggestions,etc?
Comments
Anyway....thoughts,suggestions,etc?
Uh, don't? You're already entering a pretty oversaturated field (especially IT Security).
You might find you hate anything code-based, entirely.
That's not to say you can't do it, but it's not going to be easy, and you'll be doing a lot of grunt/shit work for under $15 an hour starting off.
I would look into somethihg related to your educational history, otherwise no matter what path you take, you're always going to be at a severe disadvantage
You're a 30 something trying to break into a field full of 20 something's - it's not going to go well for you unless you have exceptional skills, or a multitude of skills.
That's not to say you can't do it, but it's not going to be easy, and you'll be doing a lot of grunt/shit work for under $15 an hour starting off.
I would look into somethihg related to your educational history, otherwise no matter what path you take, you're always going to be at a severe disadvantage
Back when my wife was managing an IT team, she had a guy on her team that was in his late-40's, but had only been doing that kind of work for about 3 or 4 years.
(had trained into it late, after having his younger-self go off the rails with a serious drug addiction)
It might be more realistic to start by looking at things like helpdesk or user testing or something and trying to move up in an organization by demonstrating you have the skills and motivation to do so.
I imagine it would be difficult to jump right in with no degree and no work experience. You could start by checking out job postings that would be interesting to you and start trying to learn the alphabet soup(for example):
Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV)
Qualified Security Assessor (QSA)
Payment Application Qualified Security Assessor (PA-QSA)
Qualified Security Assessor for Point-to-Point Encryption (QSA (P2PE))
Payment Application Qualified Security Assessor for Point-to-Point Encryption (PA-QSA (P2PE))
PCI Forensic Investigator (PFI)
Anyway....thoughts,suggestions,etc?
Uh, don't? You're already entering a pretty oversaturated field (especially IT Security).
I was surprised to read several responses like this. Why do you guys feel IT security is an oversaturated field?
I was surprised to read several responses like this. Why do you guys feel IT security is an oversaturated field?
IT itself is becoming an oversaturated field that takes years to work your way up into in the current market.
I'm having to work a service-desk Tech job right now for $18/h with a couple of MCSE's in point to point and cloud computing in my pocket, an Associates in Networking as well as Network Security, and solid knowledge of Oracle database functionality.
It sucks, but for the most part it takes some years of experience on a resume to break into anything above help desk currently. There are tons of young people that are arguably vastly overqualified fighting for those help-desk jobs for any kind of experience. It's going to be hard to break into it with zero certifications or formal schooling.
There are outliers for sure based on location, but this has been a good portion of my experience in my general area.
Without a related college degree, you're definitely going to need a shitload of hands-on experience, certifications, or both to get in the door. Google skills may help you once you're in the door, but they don't mean a thing during a technical interview.
Of course, everything I just said has been echoed by others. Having been honing my chops in IT professionally for 10+ years, otherwise having fiddled curiously with computers since I was 5, I don't know if I'd go into it if I were starting at my current age (32). Just saying.
https://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Certification-Guide-220-901-220-902/dp/125958951X/ref=mt_hardcover?_encoding=UTF8&me=
This book may be outdated due to the recent re-workings of CompTIA A+
I hate the concept behind A+, and I think it's fairly useless as it promotes itself as general knowledge, but it's outdated and out of use knowledge at best. A lot of hirings use this as a baseline though. (Also a lot of useful information if you're ever in the market for older computers)
https://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Security-Certified-Ahead-SY0-401/dp/1939136024/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496353162&sr=8-1&keywords=security++
Same concept with Sec+, a lot of outdated information, but companies tend to use these as baselines.
I would honestly toss the weekend job idea out of the window unless you're planning to work a call center as most places that have IT staff on weekends are on call, or either put someone more experienced in there so they won't have to call in more staff.
If you're seriously looking at doing this, check your local Technical colleges, they usually have certificate courses that are only 4-5 classes and don't cost a ton out of pocket compared to a full degree.
You're going to need certifications.
Anyway....thoughts,suggestions,etc?
Uh, don't? You're already entering a pretty oversaturated field (especially IT Security).
I was surprised to read several responses like this. Why do you guys feel IT security is an oversaturated field?
Because there are several radio commercials advertising the "need" for IT security folks?
I've been in the IT field for 21 years. I can tell you the ship has sailed on IT security jobs being open and available after whatever cyber degree is being pushed on people.
At least in popular cities/locations, and with no degree/cert/knowing somebody.
And for the places that show tons of IT jobs available, how many are permanent instead of contracted, and how many pay relatively well? All the openings around here that pay well are temp contracts.
Techdirt has a pay what you want sale on for a bunch of online whitehat / security courses
https://deals.techdirt.com/sales/pay-what-you-want-white-hat-hacker-bundle
edit: hmm.. actually 1$ tier only has 2 courses not as good as I thought.
I've been debating whether to post this or not for several days but decided to go ahead and see happens.
The gist of the post is that I am looking to change careers and get into the IT field and I want to learn without taking college classes since they are expensive and I already owe plenty in school loans. Ugh....
The ultimate goal here is to harness the power of the awesome members of Nintendo Age in this field to help me learn what I need to learn to eventually be able to take a certification,pass it,and hopefully then find a good paying job.
Since I am basically starting from scratch here,the realistic short term goal is getting a second,entry level weekend job to supplement my income and gain field experience to help me later.
As far as what specific field of IT goes,I am thinking IT security since it's always going to be needed plus it seems to pay fairly well.
Anyway....thoughts,suggestions,etc?
I may actually be able to help here. My brother was in IT. He took some programming classes and moved up in his company and makes great money. His wife was a teacher and she just quit. He helped her introducing her to similar courses and she is transitioning to IT. It is at his company, which obviously helps, but he could give you an idea how to build a resume that they would appreciate without breaking the bank. Pm me if you are interested and ill put you in touch with him.
Around me it jobs are available but competitive. I would agree with that certification route, if you're mentally disciplined you could make it through a ccna series in a couple months but you wouldn't have time for much else.
I gotta job for ya alright.....
you need your plumbing fixed?