IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[Obreh Winfrey]

I got an email from this company asking me to answer these questions. I'm just in a desktop support roles and these questions seem above my head. What to do brehs?

I do plan on taking the MSCA server over the winter brehs.

Spoiler

A few questions, are you wanting day or night shift work and what are your salary expectations?

Are you okay with this being a full time internship?

When do you graduate?

How many years of Linux 101 and what can you do in Linux?
o Basic permissions; owner, group, read/write/execute Commands (list files, list directories, make directories, navigation folders, etc.
How many years of Office 365:
o OneDrive initial sync and setup for end users; file sync issue troubleshooting; heavy Outlook 2013 support.
How many years of Active Directory:
o Working knowledge of AD and installing it on servers and in a support role; advanced view features vs. normal view; more than just “unlock” accounts via a checkbox.
Do you have experience with NTFS & Share permissions:
o Managing access to resources in Windows Server 2008/2012; security groups; understand the difference between the two.
Do you have experience with Exchange Management Console:
o Creating mail enabled accounts, Distribution Lists (and mailbox permissions & delegation)
Do you have experience with Basic network troubleshooting:
o DHCP and DNS; IP addressing and connectivity issue resolution
Do you have experience with Windows Server 2008/2012:
RAID Arrays, hardware and file/print administration would be a bonus.

Go for it anyway. I took a couple of assessments a month or two back and felt the same way. But what you need to do is relax, settle in, and realize you know more than you think you do. Just be confident in your experience. The fact you got the email is already a step in the right direction.

 

[TRFG]

Never made any sense to me why they ask entry level people what their salary expectation is.

It's so fukking stupid. Now if they ask me then it makes sense because I am not considering any jobs that pay below $100k.

I plan on telling them "My salary is negotiable, I want to use this opportunity to get more exposure in the field". Would they low ball me tho?

 

[Apollo Creed]

I plan on telling them "My salary is negotiable, I want to use this opportunity to get more exposure in the field". Would they low ball me tho?

Yes they will low ball you. I always say chances are you will take the L on your first gig but that gig should be used to prepare you for next gig and give you leverage now that you know your worth.

 

[Mainevent_7]

Never made any sense to me why they ask entry level people what their salary expectation is.

It's so fukking stupid. Now if they ask me then it makes sense because I am not considering any jobs that pay below $100k.

How do you answer the salary question to make sure you don't low ball yourself?

 

[Apollo Creed]

How do you answer the salary question to make sure you don't low ball yourself?

Once you have experience I think 5-10k more than the market average is a good way to go because worst case you will get a little more than the market avg.

I think cats with 10 or more years experience though would negotiate much more than that though.

 

[Mainevent_7]

Well my company pay raises and bonuses just came out today. My only reaction is
I took an L when I started this job because I wanted to get into the security field but it is time to start looking for other opportunities.

 

[TRFG]

Find out the starting salary in your area for a certain level. If they are paying 65k for a Junior Systems Admin then refer to that rate. If they offer you 55k don't take it. If they offer you 60k ask why and push back and say you have another offer pending that may come in at 70k.

Ultimately in the beginning of your career you won't stay a place long anyways. I averaged 1.5 years for the first 6 years of employment post-college and now I'm looking to coast for a while now that I've broken the 100k mark.

Don't believe anything they say about stock options, bonuses or pay raises. The base salary is what you are going to get 99% of the time. No extras take it or leave it.

Now medical is a different story. If they pay your full medical premium that's work 5k a year (7.5-10k for family).

Thing is this is just for an internship

 

[Apollo Creed]

Thing is this is just for an internship

From what ive seen internships tend to have a hard # for salary they stick to. The focus shouldnbe experience not a salary to live off of imo.

 

[Rozay Oro]

From an employer's perspective, certifications are used to weed out applicants, qualify for vendor discounts, establish knowledge baselines, and meet customer contract requirements. Knowing all of this, you can possibly use this to leverage your way to a job and/or higher salary. If a company is looking for a certain certified employee, it is mostly likely going to be because of one the reasons mentioned above. That is it. No hiring manager is going to be impressed with your certification in and of itself. It is just a checklist item. How it affects your chance of being hired or your salary depends on their ease or difficulty in finding applicants with that certification, or their desire for a particular skill set. Experience really super cedes all. Interviewers spend far more time going over your experiences than what certifications you have. Think of certs in a similar vain as a degree.

As far as interviewing, being able to speak the language of the profession impresses far more than what test you took. If you are also able to convey that you've seen it and done it before, then the job is in the bag. Use certs as a springboard to enhance your experience or knowledge. At the end of the day customers/employers just want you to hold their hand and let them know everything is going to be okay.

Now, if you're trying to get your first job than my advice would be to try to relate whatever knowledge or work/life experience you have to that job (visit forums/speak to people in the profession). Show that it won't take a year and forever for you to get up to speed. It may not be what you want to hear, but that's just how it is.

A lot times it's the "little things" that impresses employers. Talk about SLAs, device info (cost/bugs/upgrades/common difficulties), environments (data center, enterprise, service provider, etc), common troubleshooting techniques, industry trends, etc. Being able to effortlessly discuss the "little things" IMO is what really gives experienced workers an edge. Your mouthpiece is your biggest asset. It's the real moneymaker. Everything else is mostly fuel.

Thank you very much

 

[ViShawn]

Just had my five hours of interviews here today in Austin. I had to sign an NDA for my interview and what I learned.

SLICK office. It seems like they treat their employees well. Catered lunch, very friendly people.

I had some technical interviews ranging from Linux knowledge (mostly on the kernel level), some OSI Layer 7 stuff (it is a search engine), infrastructure planning and programming. I slipped up on the scripting part and ran out of time. Overall good experience IMO.

I slipped up on a programming exercise. I start writing it in Bash, then forgot the right syntax, then tried to write it in Python and ran out of time. Overall everything else I felt good in. They definitely try and drill you to stump you and see how you think under pressure.

They seem to move fast so I hope to hear something soon!

 

[patscorpio]

Ur jobs drug test?

random

 

[Ice_MF_Mike]

Never made any sense to me why they ask entry level people what their salary expectation is.

It's so fukking stupid. Now if they ask me then it makes sense because I am not considering any jobs that pay below $100k.

It is the recruiter or the companys job to get the most for as little as possible. Its a negotiating tactic. If i were them i would do the same. And this is why you never answer this.

 

[Obreh Winfrey]

It is the recruiter or the companys job to get the most for as little as possible. Its a negotiating tactic. If i were them i would do the same. And this is why you never answer this.

Don't they get a commission based off of the salary you're offered though?

 

[↓R↑LYB]

No I don't. I'm kind of in a weird spot because I have a security analyst job right now doing GRC, SSP, risk assessment, and vulnerability assessment. I'm trying to get a more technical role but not trying to take a drop in pay to do so.

Take the pay cut breh. Sometimes you gotta move backwards to move forwards

 

[Ice_MF_Mike]

Don't they get a commission based off of the salary you're offered though?

And they likely get more if they can get you to accept less. Thats the whole point of having a good recruiter. to save the company money. Why would i hire a recruiter who is trying to get folks paid more!