Breaking into the IT Field

[keyboard150]

Hey there,

Haven't been posting in quite awhile, mostly because I've been in school working on a degree. I've progressed enough where I am ready to find a job in the IT Sector.

Here is my story:

I'm working on a degree in Information Technology: Network Design and Management.

I have the following certifications:

A+
Network+
Security+
CIW Associates
CIW Web
CIW Javascript
CCENT


In the coming months, I will begin working on Project+ as well as my MCTP in Windows 7 Config, and the MTAs.

In the next year, I will be working on MCITP: Enterprise Administrator


I have three years experience supporting a school community in break/fix, software installs, active directory, Web site management, hardware installs, software/hardware training, etc. Support was done over the phone, in person, and remotely.

I have my initial bachelors in Music Education, and a Masters in Educational Computing. I think when employers see this, they just stop reading my resume, but I'm not sure.

I feel I'm pretty qualified for something right above entry level, but I'm having trouble even getting interviews, and it's funny---there are quite a few IT jobs around Buffalo.

Any suggestions by anyone on how to grab an advantage here?

[hyz]

Key - try contacting some contracting firms, and post your resume on Monster and other job site boards. A lot of IT jobs start out as contract and then the people get hired full-time - good luck

[keyboard150]

Hyz--

Thank you! I already have my resume on Monster and Career Builder. I've gotten a few interviews, but it seems like I get stonewalled either due to my resume, or because of the amount of money I make?

Let me ask you guys this: My idea position right now would be a Jr Network Administrator. I feel I have enough years of experience to qualify for this, yet, I'm starting to feel that since I didn't work on a help desk in the private sector, I keep getting passed over for the JR Network positions. Should I be a little more forward in my pursuit of those jobs than I am with the others?

[FMD]

keyboard, maybe your just lazy? Its all over the place that jobs are plenty, theres lots of work out there... its just that those who are unemployed, are lazy, and dont want to work.... is that true?

[keyboard150]

keyboard, maybe your just lazy? Its all over the place that jobs are plenty, theres lots of work out there... its just that those who are unemployed, are lazy, and dont want to work.... is that true?

You're right. I can't understand why those damned resumes aren't delivering themselves.

[hyz]

One more place to check (if you haven't already) is buffaloniagara.org, register with them and sign up for job opening emails. I usually get a couple emails a week from them with IT job openings

Once again Good Luck!

[ERIEMAN]

If you want an honest assessment from an industry professional....

The only thing that flies in IT is experience. You can amass all of the certifications you want, but you will find it very difficult to find anything beyond an entry-level job without actual experience. With your level of experience, you should focus on finding a user support position to show on your resume that you have gotten your feet wet in a business environment. Honestly, the Network+, A+, and SEC+ certs have become pretty meaningless in a post-MCSE Bootcamp world. They do not give interviewers any indication of your abilities, nor do they provide assurance that you have the capacity to learn beyond the basics.

I realize you say you have experience in a school environment, but that, frankly, does not count for actual enterprise experience.

Bottom line - I don't want to discourage you from applying for one, but don't feel entitled to a SysAdmin job when you're at the level of a user support person.

[WNYresident]

Personally I would never let anyone touch my servers unless I knew they had physical experience. Certs don't mean much to me because all it means is someone went through a class. It's not a bad thing to do but it's not the same as having real experience.

I remember some guy calling me multiple times trying to figure out what the "beep" code was because his computer would not boot up. He's trying to explain to me 3 long beeps, 2 short, one long... or maybe it was 2 long beeps 1 short etc... He spent the whole weekend trying to figure it out. I said did you just pop out the ram and pop it back in or try another power supply? He said no because that can't be the problem. He is getting an error in beeps and he's A+ certified so he knows what he's doing. He ended up bringing it down.. I pull his ram out, snapped it back in and he was done. That was it. Fired right up right in front of him.

[mikenold]

Personally I would never let anyone touch my servers unless I knew they had physical experience. Certs don't mean much to me because all it means is someone went through a class. It's not a bad thing to do but it's not the same as having real experience.

I remember some guy calling me multiple times trying to figure out what the "beep" code was because his computer would not boot up. He's trying to explain to me 3 long beeps, 2 short, one long... or maybe it was 2 long beeps 1 short etc... He spent the whole weekend trying to figure it out. I said did you just pop out the ram and pop it back in or try another power supply? He said no because that can't be the problem. He is getting an error in beeps and he's A+ certified so he knows what he's doing. He ended up bringing it down.. I pull his ram out, snapped it back in and he was done. That was it. Fired right up right in front of him.

I worked with a guy that has every cert that his Father could afford to pay for. He would get a computer in and order a main board, memory, processor, and maybe a couple more parts and most of the time he was able to fix the PC. Of course, many times he just didn't get the right part and he would start over. He didn't last very long as the insurance company paying the bills started to question the amount that he was charging to get repairs done. I couldn't believe that he didn't seem to understand the first thing about PC repair. Experience is everything!

[keyboard150]

I worked with a guy that has every cert that his Father could afford to pay for. He would get a computer in and order a main board, memory, processor, and maybe a couple more parts and most of the time he was able to fix the PC. Of course, many times he just didn't get the right part and he would start over. He didn't last very long as the insurance company paying the bills started to question the amount that he was charging to get repairs done. I couldn't believe that he didn't seem to understand the first thing about PC repair. Experience is everything!

I worked with people like this, too. I've been building and working on computers long before I got any certifications. I might not be perfect, but I don't depend on the certification for my knowledge. If I don't know something, I find out why. I've got my own cisco switches and routers in my home, and in the process of installing a Server 2008 system in the next few days.

I'm not expecting a system admin position, I know I'm not qualified for that. But with 3 years of supporting in the school environment (which was an enterprise environment, by the way), I think I'm a little more than a Tier I help desk guy. I'm at least a level II with the ability to work as a JR Networking guy under a CCNA.

Plus I have had a little PC repair side business for a couple years. I just haven't indicated that on my resume, although I should.


That A+ guy that Res was talking about is obviously a complete tool. If you don't know what a beep code is, you should at least know how to look it up. That's kind of frightening to me.

[WNYresident]

That A+ guy that Res was talking about is obviously a complete tool. If you don't know what a beep code is, you should at least know how to look it up. That's kind of frightening to me.

I should have added this to my post. In some cases a cert doesn't replace experience. He was not a tool. He just overly thought that the code was going to tell him what to replace instead of trying something easy. He heard the beep and assumed something had to have failed, not that something could be loose. That doesn't make him a tool.

But from experience I know that sometimes things just get loose and you'll get the beeps. I personally don't know what all the beeps mean. Sometimes just unplugging the power cables going to the motherboard or re-seating the ram/processor clears up the issue.

[keyboard150]

You're right. He's not a tool. A lot of times tech guys, especially newer ones tend to jump the gun and skip over the simple stuff....like the computer being unplugged....battery being loose, etc.

The thing with beeps is that they aren't one size fits all to begin with, different manufacturers like to use different beep codes.

[Frank Broughton]

I should have added this to my post. In some cases a cert doesn't replace experience. He was not a tool. He just overly thought that the code was going to tell him what to replace instead of trying something easy. He heard the beep and assumed something had to have failed, not that something could be loose. That doesn't make him a tool.

But from experience I know that sometimes things just get loose and you'll get the beeps. I personally don't know what all the beeps mean. Sometimes just unplugging the power cables going to the motherboard or re-seating the ram/processor clears up the issue.

I call it ZEN Res, don't ask me how I fixed something, all I know is it works now! Many a time very frustrated when stumped and bang something simple fixed the 'puter, Still shaking my head at an old floppy ribbon that would not allow a system to go to bios let alone boot. So still to this day on a dead unit I try replacing cables first. Experience taught me it, not a book.

[keyboard150]

Argh. Well, I spoke with someone today about a Jr. Networking position. I was actually given the opportunity to tell them my experience, but, argh. I need more experience with VMware type systems....I've never really done any virtualization (outside of virtual pc on windows 7..which is a no-brainer.)

I guess I'm just going to have to really bite the bullet and jump down a level and take a help desk position. However, I still should be picky? I definitely can't go and take a help desk position if I'm not going to get experience using hardware and software that will qualify me for the field I really want to go into.

[sharky]

don't rule out temp or contract stuff as a way to get your foot in the door
I got hired for a 3 month part time temp job on a help desk. within a week and a half they asked me to be full time and within a month and a half or so they asked me if I wanted to become a permanent employee when my 3 months were up.

[keyboard150]

don't rule out temp or contract stuff as a way to get your foot in the door
I got hired for a 3 month part time temp job on a help desk. within a week and a half they asked me to be full time and within a month and a half or so they asked me if I wanted to become a permanent employee when my 3 months were up.

Believe it or not, that is what I REALLY want right now is a contract position. That way I can test the waters a bit.

[Linda_D]

Buffalo area employers are notably demanding of experience, which is why I ended up in Albany years ago. Once you get the experience, it's an entirely different story. One place that may hire you without experience is NYS. The state is always in need of Grade 18 programmer/analysts because they are reasonably competitive for entry level pay but the opportunities for promotion, professional growth, and working on new technology are simply NOT there, so lots of programmers will work for NYS until they get a couple of years experience and then move on to the private sector.

You also will probably be working in Albany (ugh). I believe the Grade 18 programming/analyst position is a continuous recruitment position based on your qualifications and experience, so there's no test to take. The info should be on the NYS website.

What you shouldn't do, if you decide to work for NYS, is allow yourself to get drawn into working in a shop using ancient technology. I left state service more than 12 years ago, and some of my former co-workers are working with essentially the same technology that they were when I left. Where I currently work, we are hardly "state of the art" but we're at least into the 21st century. DOH. You do NOT want to trap yourself into getting experience in technology that's not transferrable.

As a teacher, you might consider working in IT in higher education. College and university staff do NOT consider people with masters degrees plus other college level coursework to be "professional students". Every college and university has some kind of IT department. There's also an outfit located on Buff State's campus called ITEC (don't know if it's part of Buff State or just located there) that provides technical and other support to lots of SUNY campuses (and maybe others).

Another heads up: Buff State, Fredonia State, and NCCC are all BANNER/ORACLE shops, and Sungard, the owner of BANNER, is converting their software from ORACLE FORMS to Groovy and Grails and all the web technology associated with that, meaning that schools are scrambling to get their staff up to speed. Some of these schools could be looking to add staff because of this. BANNER is probably the most widely used integrated software package in higher ed in the US and Canada, so having experience with it, administering it, installing/managing it, etc. is a very marketable skill. There are also numerous private colleges that use BANNER as well that may be in the same situation. The ones that stick in my mind are Canisius and Alfred U (I'm not sure about Alfred State), but I'm sure there are others.

I don't know if any of these schools accept unsolicitated resumes, but sending one wouldn't hurt. At worst they would toss them. You should probably send resumes to the IT/MIS director rather than Personnel BTW. They will also publish notices of openings in the local papers. There are several private colleges that use BANNER as well that may be in the same situation.

[WNYresident]

Believe it or not, that is what I REALLY want right now is a contract position. That way I can test the waters a bit.

Why don't you focus on web type items. Something beneficial for our community. You would earn some experience working on a real world type item.

[keyboard150]

Why don't you focus on web type items. Something beneficial for our community. You would earn some experience working on a real world type item.

I'm not very good at JavaScript which is why I haven't really gone the way of Web stuff. I can write pages and stuff like that, but beyond that I'm very basic in Web programming.

[keyboard150]

Buffalo area employers are notably demanding of experience, which is why I ended up in Albany years ago. Once you get the experience, it's an entirely different story. One place that may hire you without experience is NYS. The state is always in need of Grade 18 programmer/analysts because they are reasonably competitive for entry level pay but the opportunities for promotion, professional growth, and working on new technology are simply NOT there, so lots of programmers will work for NYS until they get a couple of years experience and then move on to the private sector.

You also will probably be working in Albany (ugh). I believe the Grade 18 programming/analyst position is a continuous recruitment position based on your qualifications and experience, so there's no test to take. The info should be on the NYS website.

What you shouldn't do, if you decide to work for NYS, is allow yourself to get drawn into working in a shop using ancient technology. I left state service more than 12 years ago, and some of my former co-workers are working with essentially the same technology that they were when I left. Where I currently work, we are hardly "state of the art" but we're at least into the 21st century. DOH. You do NOT want to trap yourself into getting experience in technology that's not transferrable.

As a teacher, you might consider working in IT in higher education. College and university staff do NOT consider people with masters degrees plus other college level coursework to be "professional students". Every college and university has some kind of IT department. There's also an outfit located on Buff State's campus called ITEC (don't know if it's part of Buff State or just located there) that provides technical and other support to lots of SUNY campuses (and maybe others).

Another heads up: Buff State, Fredonia State, and NCCC are all BANNER/ORACLE shops, and Sungard, the owner of BANNER, is converting their software from ORACLE FORMS to Groovy and Grails and all the web technology associated with that, meaning that schools are scrambling to get their staff up to speed. Some of these schools could be looking to add staff because of this. BANNER is probably the most widely used integrated software package in higher ed in the US and Canada, so having experience with it, administering it, installing/managing it, etc. is a very marketable skill. There are also numerous private colleges that use BANNER as well that may be in the same situation. The ones that stick in my mind are Canisius and Alfred U (I'm not sure about Alfred State), but I'm sure there are others.

I don't know if any of these schools accept unsolicitated resumes, but sending one wouldn't hurt. At worst they would toss them. You should probably send resumes to the IT/MIS director rather than Personnel BTW. They will also publish notices of openings in the local papers. There are several private colleges that use BANNER as well that may be in the same situation.

Thank you,

I'm already on the list for NYS, however I'm generally hovering around 70-80. I am on a county list as well, where I am at a obtainable number---around 15 or so.

I've interviewed for a position at Buff State. I do have experience developing training materials---in fact Ed Tech was my Masters degree, plus that was a major part of my job when I was doing technology in the school district.

I've got money saved up, so I can probably last a year on a much lesser salary, as long as I can move up the ranks within 2 years or so. I would assume with the experience I already have, I would need about a year to 1 1/2 to get qualified for a JR. Network /Systems position...or at least they would start taking me seriously then.

I'm just going to keep applying around and see what happens. Someone is going to bite eventually. I did get hired by Time Warner a couple years back, but their pay is absolutely pathetic, and they would not guarantee a shift (meaning, wouldn't guarantee I wouldn't be working nights and weekends---which with my other jobs I can't do.) There's no way I'm working for 12 dollars an hour and not being able to get supplemental income from somewhere. That is my one big stipulation.