IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[Dre23]

I currently make 110k in the midwest as a network engineer, If anyone needs help or advice let me know

I have my CCNP RS, and 5 years exp, 27 years old.

I'm happy to contribute!!!

I do feel network engineering is the safest IT field for the next 5-10 years and poised to make for easy promotions and growth. At every company I've been in the network engineers are usually in their late 40's mid 50s and poised to retire, This will open up many opportunities in the near future for anyone with decent experience in the field.

Man that's my goal there, I work as an It tech been doing this for close to a year. Studying for my CCNA taking that this summer while taking the Security+ in the fall. Looking to get into a networking security role. Taking a paycut and also not being challenged has me wanting to leave already.

 

[psgchisolm]

You

Yes i need help. I graduated with a bachelor's degree in Computer Information Systems in May of 2017. Since then I have been stuck at a call center making 14/hr. I have been applying to entry level help desk positions for the past 2 years, but jobs and recruiters from staffing agencies don'd hire me because they say I have no experience. Currently I'm in NC. Should I relocate to a state like TX or another major city? Any advice you can provide would be helpful.

You got any certs?

 

[Dre23]

What happened to bdizzle??

 

[psgchisolm]

What happened to bdizzle??

I think he got out of IT and works with taxes now. Idk how active he is on this site but he's active in the DMV group chat.

 

[Dre23]

I think he got out of IT and works with taxes now. Idk how active he is on this site but he's active in the DMV group chat.

Bet thanks homie.I was wondering what happened with him.

 

[King45]

You

You got any certs?

No certs

 

[GollyImGully]

This was exactly same exact shyt. No company would give me a shot until i started lying on the resume

I made up all types of b/s stories and scenarios in interviews. Had me feeling like

But because I fully understood the tech I was able to finesse :wow02:

I always tell brehs its alrite to lie just make sure you know your shyt.

What field are looking to specialize in? Security? Networking? AWS? Microsoft? VMware/Virtualization?

While an entry Level help desk position will help give you hands on experience, I would recommend finding the niche you want to go down and working toward it, Skills that use A+ and basic computer troubleshooting are dime a dozen and less applicable in this day and age. The things you've learned at the call center will be the same things you learn at a help desk. I'm sure they also touched upon every single niche I mentioned above in your degree program.

So my advice is to find your specialization and work toward the starter certs in that area, because you wont be making much more then you are at help desk. If anything search for a NOC job, that will give you a more well rounded skillset before diving deep into whatever.





For the first 2 years I also had this issue and I feel your pain......until I lied on my resume about my "experience" and proved that I had it during my interviews.

I would lab all day long and knew how to design Active directory environments, Navigate linux, BUILT more fukking networks than I could fathom in Packet tracer and GNS3. But because I had no "Real Life Job experience" on my resume I was constantly getting turned down.

So I invented fictitious scenarios that i did for my job with the aforementioned technologies, Went into every interview I had and aced them, At one point and time I literally had 3 jobs offer and recruiters getting feedback from the technical interviewers saying I was the blew the other candidates away. I know my shyt but no one would give me a shot. I don't recommend doing this but if you DO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW YOUR shyt, OR ELSE YOU WILL BE OUTED EVENTUALLY BY SOMEONE WHO IS TECHNICALLY LEAGUES AHEAD OF YOU. Also never be afraid to say you don't know during the interview.

 

[psgchisolm]

Someone probably mentioned it in this thread. But if you have a .edu account you can get an azure student account and either lab it up on there or download a variety of OS's and software and lab it up offline. It's summer time brehs and the bbq is done. It's time to eat

 

[Mirin4rmfar]

What field are looking to specialize in? Security? Networking? AWS? Microsoft? VMware/Virtualization?

While an entry Level help desk position will help give you hands on experience, I would recommend finding the niche you want to go down and working toward it, Skills that use A+ and basic computer troubleshooting are dime a dozen and less applicable in this day and age. The things you've learned at the call center will be the same things you learn at a help desk. I'm sure they also touched upon every single niche I mentioned above in your degree program.

So my advice is to find your specialization and work toward the starter certs in that area, because you wont be making much more then you are at help desk. If anything search for a NOC job, that will give you a more well rounded skillset before diving deep into whatever.





For the first 2 years I also had this issue and I feel your pain......until I lied on my resume about my "experience" and proved that I had it during my interviews.

I would lab all day long and knew how to design Active directory environments, Navigate linux, BUILT more fukking networks than I could fathom in Packet tracer and GNS3. But because I had no "Real Life Job experience" on my resume I was constantly getting turned down.

So I invented fictitious scenarios that i did for my job with the aforementioned technologies, Went into every interview I had and aced them, At one point and time I literally had 3 jobs offer and recruiters getting feedback from the technical interviewers saying I was the blew the other candidates away. I know my shyt but no one would give me a shot. I don't recommend doing this but if you DO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW YOUR shyt, OR ELSE YOU WILL BE OUTED EVENTUALLY BY SOMEONE WHO IS TECHNICALLY LEAGUES AHEAD OF YOU. Also never be afraid to say you don't know during the interview.

I had the same issue for a year trying to get into the Cyber Security field. I was loading up on some of the highest paying certs until I was given the opportunity. I literally know Cyber Security like the back of my hand and all through self learning. I was working on wide area Network Infrastructure construction before(not under the hood) and I was taking major L's due to lack of experience but one job reached out to me because I knew Cloud Networking and gave me six figures lol. I am taking advantage and learning other areas of Cyber Security. I am going to add Palo Alto and Container Security to my resume by next year...

My title is very general now I can practically lie about anything I self learned by doing at home labs but they won't know since I will know my shyt. Now these mofos stay in my linkedin...back then they didn't want me, now I am hot they all on me .

 

[Mirin4rmfar]

I'm looking to specialize in Security. Right now I'm studying for the Security+. Thanks for the advice on doing labs to learn, that's what i'm going to do to get experience.

1) Get your security plus and apply to a Security operations center.
2) Get a good understand of firewalls and IDS/IPS(Palo Alto or Cisco)

and eat..after a year in the soc you can bounce to more security I.T role. Lost of people start in the soc handling incident tickets.

 

[FastEddie215]

Just got 33% off of a year subscription for LinuxAcademy last month. Is that enough to pass the Linux RHCSA? Going to use it for AWS and DevOps as well after

 

[8====D]

Bought the CompTIA A+ & N+ book yesterday. Reading a chapter or two a day!

Time to join the IT Coli Breh Club! Wish me luck veteran brehs.

 

[Sohh_lifted]

Yo whats good bruhs? I have been peeking into this thread, I'm currently working for an online retailer with customer outreach, social media outreach, emails etc. (entry level shyt)

My company is offering us scholarships to continue our education (obviously with a position/career within the company). I got my AA a few years back, and since most of the jobs my company offers are tech related, I might as well take advantage but I am limited in the paths I can choose.

I checked out a local state college that offers a bachelors program in Security & Network Assurance and theres another program for Database Administration.


Any advice y'all boys can share?

Got no certs, nothing of the sort, this would be a new career path and I just wanna be six figures like yall lol.

 

[JT-Money]

Yo whats good bruhs? I have been peeking into this thread, I'm currently working for an online retailer with customer outreach, social media outreach, emails etc. (entry level shyt)

My company is offering us scholarships to continue our education (obviously with a position/career within the company). I got my AA a few years back, and since most of the jobs my company offers are tech related, I might as well take advantage but I am limited in the paths I can choose.

I checked out a local state college that offers a bachelors program in Security & Network Assurance and theres another program for Database Administration.


Any advice y'all boys can share?

Got no certs, nothing of the sort, this would be a new career path and I just wanna be six figures like yall lol.

It's gonna be damn near impossible to make 6 figures unless you can write code. So you better take some kind of programming class.

 

[Sohh_lifted]

It's gonna be damn near impossible to make 6 figures unless you can write code. So you better take some kind of programming class.

Programming languages and concept is apart of the curriculum and I remember some coding from a brief class I took years back.