Breaking Into IT Fields: for Dummies

[KyokushinKarateMan]

Can we get a thread that specifically discusses the best routes for getting into the various IT fields. I, like many others, have tons of questions that do not get addressed in the main IT Career theead(stickied).

Personally, I’m stuck at whether I should go the community college route, online route with MyComputerCareer.com(keep hearing it on the radio), Devry or some other “IT School”, or UDEMY?

And what type of programs should I learn? Developing? Securities? Tech support?

Simply put, I’d like to enter the IT field that will have me making close to 6 figures within 5 years or less.

Is that within the realm of possibility?

 

[Obreh Winfrey]

Do you have an idea of what you want to do or are you fishing for options and trying to make a decision from that? "IT" is broad and a catch all term used (generally) by people who don't know better. You could get into development, InfoSec, infrastructure, etc. and each of those have further subdivisions within them. If you nail down what you want to do then you can get a road map.

 

[The Minister Of Culture]

Can we get a thread that specifically discusses the best routes for getting into the various IT fields. I, like many others, have tons of questions that do not get addressed in the main IT Career theead(stickied).

Personally, I’m stuck at whether I should go the community college route, online route with MyComputerCareer.com(keep hearing it on the radio), Devry or some other “IT School”, or UDEMY?

And what type of programs should I learn? Developing? Securities? Tech support?

Simply put, I’d like to enter the IT field that will have me making close to 6 figures within 5 years or less.

Is that within the realm of possibility?

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THEM!

I had my boy who got out the air force go there and literally its a degree mill and a lot of employers in the IT field I've talked to say they throw a resume away immediately if they see mycomputercareer on it.Homie damn near wasted all his GI Bill on them

I agree this is a good thread to be made shyt like this need visibility the main thread is always clogged up and for beginners you get lost in the thread.

Also a lot of the 6 certs brehs aint really dropping game to brothas tryna get they foot in the door

 

[Silkk]

You don't know how to search the the big ass IT thread breh?


Any question you have has 99% likely been answered in therr

 

[The Minister Of Culture]

You don't know how to search the the big ass IT thread breh?


Any question you have has 99% likely been answered in therr

its true that thread has info but for a beginner that shyt is so convoluted with advanced and intermediate info that dudes like OP can get confused. there should be a standalone beginner thread.

 

[Silkk]

its true that thread has info but for a beginner that shyt is so convoluted with advanced and intermediate info that dudes like OP can get confused. there should be a standalone beginner thread.

You can literally just go in the thread and search for keywords and view the results...

There's nothing confusing about that. If someone can't do that then they just don't want to know bad enough.

 

[xXMASHERXx]

its true that thread has info but for a beginner that shyt is so convoluted with advanced and intermediate info that dudes like OP can get confused. there should be a standalone beginner thread.

You can literally just go in the thread and search for keywords and view the results...

There's nothing confusing about that. If someone can't do that then they just don't want to know bad enough.

I agree with you both. I think that thread can be a little intimidating for new people trying to get into the field, but at the same time there is a wealth of information in there and learning how to find that information is going to be a skill you will need to develop to be successful in IT.

 

[xXMASHERXx]

Can we get a thread that specifically discusses the best routes for getting into the various IT fields. I, like many others, have tons of questions that do not get addressed in the main IT Career theead(stickied).

Personally, I’m stuck at whether I should go the community college route, online route with MyComputerCareer.com(keep hearing it on the radio), Devry or some other “IT School”, or UDEMY?

This is hard to answer because there are many paths in IT and many ways to get to them. My route to where I am is not the same as someone else's. I went the college route(state school) but work with people went to Devry.

And what type of programs should I learn? Developing? Securities? Tech support?

What you should do is research what the different roles in IT are and see which ones interest you the most.

Simply put, I’d like to enter the IT field that will have me making close to 6 figures within 5 years or less.

Is that within the realm of possibility?

It's possible but will require a lot of work and some luck.

 

[Sonny Bonds]

If you're at a point in your life where going to college makes sense for you, then do that. And try to get an internship and/or work at your school's computer lab(s).
----------------------------------------------
If you can't go back to school:
- Get your A+ cert
- Get your Net+ cert
- Working at Geek squad, Apple Store, etc while doing the above steps helps your resume
- Apply to help desk jobs
- If you still can't get a job try getting a Windows 10 cert
- Keep applying up help desk, IT Support roles, and desktop support roles
- fin.

 

[Obreh Winfrey]

Path to Becoming a Software Engineer

Enroll in a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science course at an accredited university. You can find a list of them here: Download Data Files . It doesn't matter too much where you go because the curriculum will be more or less the same. If you don't want to be saddled with student loan debt then buckle down and get scholarships. That's basically free money and a pretty low number of students take advantage of them. When I was in high school all of the AVID kids had scholarships and most of them had $50k+ by the end of the school year. And that's to say nothing of the people who also landed full ride scholarships. Pay attention when the algorithms courses pop up. They're generally non-essential in day-to-day work as an SE, but you'll need that knowledge to make it through the interview process. Once you start the algorithms courses you need to study often and continuously. I'm talking at least 30-45 minutes per day, 5-6 days per week, up until you have a job offer in hand. Try to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA and constantly apply to internships. Those two things will push you ahead of most of your competition. The languages you'll want to focus on are Java, Python, JavaScript, and C++ (to a lesser extent). Create a GitHub account (or GitLab, their offerings are a little better IMO) and keep it updated with your class projects. The idea is to show that you did more than just exist for 4-6 years. Start building a resume and your LinkedIn profile. Try to update them at least once per month because its an iterative process and it takes a very long time before you get something solid. The summer leading into your final year is when you need to start applying heavily. Apply to college grad programs and apply outside of the area you live. I applied literally all over the country and even internationally. If you've been doing what I've told you to do (stay studying algorithms, keep iterating over your resume, applying frequently) then you should have at least 3 on-site interviews and possibly a few offers. In the interview process you don't always have to have the correct answer, you just need to show you're a good fit for the team. Don't tell people what you think they want to hear. Be forthcoming about your shortcomings but show that you're able to make up for that. The socially awkward person who strains to have person to person interaction is less likely to be hired. When you get an offer, negotiate.