IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)
- Thread starter fendi_mane
- Start date
This how we getting certs nowI understand I felt the same way but decided to say fukk it and suck it
?
I know I was in the wrong 
Yeah I know some brehs making
just playing the contact game.Do you pay a lot out of pocket for insurance and are the costs worth it to you?
GollyImGully
Too many wavy women, gotta log outta IG
speak on this my brother
howd you make that switch to starting your own MSP?
Howd you build your clientele?
Nah, I mean I usually just get insurance through the contract company. Just like getting it in a full time/salary role.Yeah I know some brehs making
Do you pay a lot out of pocket for insurance and are the costs worth it to you?
Silky Johnson
The Master Investbreh
While on a contract, was at an end users desk one day that was in accounting. I'm working on whatever the problem was and just shooting the shyt as usual when he hit me with the "wow I wish I making your kind of money at your age"speak on this my brother
howd you make that switch to starting your own MSP?
Played it smooth like it pays the bills. He replied with "for $100/hr" you can pay more than some bills
At the time my recruiter agreed to pay me $28/hr so that math was killing me
.
From then on I looked into starting my LLC so I can bill Corp to Corp when head hunters called
.
Short term contracts I billed C2C for a while until I worked out a full time joint on some temp to perm ish. My wife was pregnant so I needed the benefits. I keep my C2C work for weekends and some quick licks.
Howd you build your clientele?
Freelance sites like upwork, fieldnation (before it got trash) ATS, Craigslist and social media.. Make sure you get liability insurance. A policy isn't that expensive.
My years in management gave the foundation to write a proper SLA and talk that talk. Specify the scope of work and deliverables. Stick to the SLA and SOPs that are agreed upon and you'll never go wrong. Some clients will catch feelings when you won't do extra shyt but they'll be aight. It's not personal it's business
Client referrals are a major key. Know your stuff, do a great job, be professional and likeable. I was taught to Always underpromise and over deliver as a salesman. My services are on budget and on time. Communication is key to managing the client expectations and their experience. Great experience = repeat sales.
I also learned to charge slightly more than market rate when youre first starting out. You want the customers that value your service and can afford to pay. Discount rates = discount shoppers looking for a deal.
Lastly, document everything. I have a personal KB that's probably thousands of pages by now. Technically, I can handle any situation but not all of them are worth my time. (ex: I hate printer work and NOC shyt. Just not my thing). Learn what you're great at and sell that first. Then sell the next two things you're good at. Dubb everything else until you have ya top 3 things you're great at.
Take your time and build up them skills for the first 5 years. By year 10 you should be good to out on your own and make the real money
my boy on FB had nothing but good things to say about upwork
Rhyme n Tekniq
Superstar
Yo WTF just happened!
I was unemployed most of last year trying to obtain the A+, super struggling. It was tough getting an entry level job, even the shyttiest of tech support roles was denying me. I thought I had a sure lock in for HP Enterprise but that fell through or the recruiter just lied.
Finally got the A+ but it was the holiday season so NOBODY was looking to hire me, luckily my school director gave me a 1099 job imaging PCs and setting up workstations for classrooms for $15 an hour
January this year got my first legit job as an asset management specialist in a business enterprise setting @ $18 an hour.
It was cool at first but as time went on I could tell they had no intentions letting me progress into something more technical, even when I volunteered cause I was hungry for knowledge, they tried to keep me on shipping and receiving BS.
Today I got an offer for a software support -----> system admin role(Eventually after training ) for $28 an hour. An 10 MF'n dollar an hour increase. I just skipped over Level 1 heldesk that I TRIED, but couldnt get to save my life, yet this company comes along with a major bag. Life can be funny sometimes, Definitely counting my blessings right now . What's crazy is I totally thought I didnt get it, since my interview (in my eyes) was awkward and I was on stuck for some of the questions thrown my way. Hiring manager expressed that my lack of of experience with this particular area was ok and was actually Ideal since he wanted someone he could train and support getting certifications.
Feels like a weight has been lifted off me. I been putting pressure on myself to hurry up and get this CCNA: R&S and Sec + , so I could get a better gig paying.....well what Im being offered now. So there's no immediate rush to knock'em out now since Im about to be at the pay level I thought the CCNA was gonna bing me (Only have the A+) . Im still in cert chasing mode, but I can take my time now. Next year is MCSA/MCSE---> RHCSA---> and a reputable cloud cert (Any tips are apprectiated)
Bout to make some real money and im about to touch all types of tech and shyt in this new role.
Its one thing to be inspired by them motivating stories the coli brehs drop. But when you actually go through it and experience the shyt for yourself
bout to stay my ass put for the next two years, stack up on certs and Exp. fukk it, I'm pushing my chips in; I won lol
(An no this aint not indian recuriter BS scamming, Its a reputable company that supports internal customers LOL)
I was unemployed most of last year trying to obtain the A+, super struggling. It was tough getting an entry level job, even the shyttiest of tech support roles was denying me. I thought I had a sure lock in for HP Enterprise but that fell through or the recruiter just lied.
Finally got the A+ but it was the holiday season so NOBODY was looking to hire me, luckily my school director gave me a 1099 job imaging PCs and setting up workstations for classrooms for $15 an hour
January this year got my first legit job as an asset management specialist in a business enterprise setting @ $18 an hour.
It was cool at first but as time went on I could tell they had no intentions letting me progress into something more technical, even when I volunteered cause I was hungry for knowledge, they tried to keep me on shipping and receiving BS.
Today I got an offer for a software support -----> system admin role(Eventually after training ) for $28 an hour. An 10 MF'n dollar an hour increase. I just skipped over Level 1 heldesk that I TRIED, but couldnt get to save my life, yet this company comes along with a major bag. Life can be funny sometimes, Definitely counting my blessings right now . What's crazy is I totally thought I didnt get it, since my interview (in my eyes) was awkward and I was on stuck for some of the questions thrown my way. Hiring manager expressed that my lack of of experience with this particular area was ok and was actually Ideal since he wanted someone he could train and support getting certifications.
Feels like a weight has been lifted off me. I been putting pressure on myself to hurry up and get this CCNA: R&S and Sec + , so I could get a better gig paying.....well what Im being offered now. So there's no immediate rush to knock'em out now since Im about to be at the pay level I thought the CCNA was gonna bing me (Only have the A+) . Im still in cert chasing mode, but I can take my time now. Next year is MCSA/MCSE---> RHCSA---> and a reputable cloud cert (Any tips are apprectiated)
Bout to make some real money and im about to touch all types of tech and shyt in this new role.
Its one thing to be inspired by them motivating stories the coli brehs drop. But when you actually go through it and experience the shyt for yourself
bout to stay my ass put for the next two years, stack up on certs and Exp. fukk it, I'm pushing my chips in; I won lol
(An no this aint not indian recuriter BS scamming, Its a reputable company that supports internal customers LOL)
Last edited:
Billy Preston
All Star
Yo WTF just happened!
I was unemployed most of last year trying to obtain the A+, super struggling. It was tough getting an entry level job, even the shyttiest of tech support roles was denying me. I thought I had a sure lock in for HP Enterprise but that fell through or the recruiter just lied.
Finally got the A+ but it was the holiday season so NOBODY was looking to hire me, luckily my school director gave me a 1099 job imaging PCs and setting up workstations for classrooms for $15 an hour
January this year got my first legit job as an asset management specialist in a business enterprise setting @ $18 an hour, IT was cool at first but as time went on I could tell they had no intentions letting me progress into something more technical, even when I volunteered cause I was hungry for knowledge, they tried to keep me on shipping and receiving BS.
Today I got an offer for a software support -----> system admin role(Eventually after training ) for $28 an hour. An 10 MF'n dollar an hour increase. I just skipped over Level 1 heldesk that I TRIED, but couldnt get to save my life, yet this company comes along with a major bag. Life can be funny sometimes, Definitely counting my blessings right now . What's crazy is I totally thought I didnt get it, since my interview (in my eyes) was awkward and I was on stuck for some of the questions thrown my way. Hiring manager expressed that my lack of of experience with this particular area was ok and was actually Ideal since he wanted someone he could train and support getting certifications.
Feels like a weight has been lifted off me. I been putting pressure on myself to hurry up and get this CCNA: R&S and Sec + , so I could get a better gig paying.....well what Im being offered now. So there's no immediate rush to knock'em out now since Im about to be at the pay level I thought the CCNA was gonna bing me (Only have the A+) . Im still in cert chasing mode, but I can take my time now. Next year is MCSA/MCSE---> RHCSA---> and a reputable cloud cert (Any tips are apprectiated)
Bout to make some real money and im about to touch all types of tech and shyt in this new role.
Its one thing to be inspired by them motivating stories the coli brehs drop. But when you actually go through it and experience the shyt for yourself
bout to stay my ass put for the next two years, stack up on certs and Exp. fukk it, I'm pushing my chips in; I won lol
(An no this aint not indian recuriter BS scamming, Its a reputable company that supports internal customers LOL)
Good shyt bro - keep grinding
Rhyme n Tekniq
Superstar
Always. IT life got me like a kid in a candy store. So much I want to learn. Hell for the longest I was intimidated by programming languages and shyt, now I can honestly say Im willing to dive in if the path I wanna go down deems it necessary for career progression. Self study has made me a better person as far as discipline goes. Always having a goal to achieve, a reason to get outta bed beyond the rat race. To honestly I feel like this come up i'm experiencing , I've obsessed over it so much to the point I willed that shyt into existence.Good shyt bro - keep grinding
I thought I was driven before, but I just feel 1000 times more driven now. I finally know what its like to get that hustle bug, tirelessly working towards my goals with not an ounce of quit in me, fueled by all the game dropped in this thread. I cant even right now....like seriously I was never gonna give up but I just got one gigantic second wind to push harder.
Trust bruh, I'll def keep grinding. In fact fukk a grind mode, it's a grind life for me. I literally feel like "money making" Mitch in Paid in full, I love the game too much. The thrill of chasing the bag and having a purpose in life. Dog I love this shyt. Im going as absolutely far as this shyt takes me. To prove I aint just lying and riding a temporary high, Im gonna check in with this thread every time I hit a milestone in my career and even in between just to share some game and keep the morale high.
This thread single handedly set me on the path to righteousness LOL. The power of information is real. I've read this thread front to back at least 10 times since january of last year. When I get tired of studying, I take a break and read through this thread, When I'm eating, I read through this thread. and the great thing is, even if I skip over some info I dont think is relevant to me ATM, It will eventually speak to me when i've reached a certian point when I browse through again. This thread is my IT Bible. Thanks everybody that contributed, for real.
xzenothunder
Banned
I want to get paid good money to solve problems,
I have my ccnp but have no idea where to go from here or which field to specialize in.
I have my ccnp but have no idea where to go from here or which field to specialize in.
xzenothunder
Banned
fukk it, I'm going for my CCIE. May as well be 1 of a few thousand people on the planet with it.
xXMASHERXx
Superstar
The first question you need to figure out is what path you want to go down. If you really know your shyt you come make money in any path in IT but do you really want to be doing a job you hate for the next 20-30 years?