Information Technology (IT)

[sjuelz]

Good thread I'm currently going back to school (BSIT) I have Sec+, A+ certs with a TS/SCI clearance. I have around 6 yrs experience working help desk / desktop support / exchange adminstration and looking for a career change more of a system administration role, what is the next cert that I should obtain ?

 

[dathbgboy]

Think yall could give give me some input on this new program at PITT?

http://www.business.pitt.edu/katz/ms-programs/MIS

Only 9 mos and looks promising. Getting a MS in CS wood be tough considering I need 3 prereq courses. Only downside to this is if have to take the GMAT which I heard ain't no joke.

 

[capital sb]

Think yall could give give me some input on this new program at PITT?

http://www.business.pitt.edu/katz/ms-programs/MIS

Only 9 mos and looks promising. Getting a MS in CS wood be tough considering I need 3 prereq courses. Only downside to this is if have to take the GMAT which I heard ain't no joke.

Looks fine the MBA class portion seems good, but to obtain a MS with 0 experience you may still have a hard time landing a job.

Need an internship or something under your belt. Sometimes people are seen as overqualified with a MS looking for entry level.

 

[4318michaeljohnson4318]

Good thread I'm currently going back to school (BSIT) I have Sec+, A+ certs with a TS/SCI clearance. I have around 6 yrs experience working help desk / desktop support / exchange adminstration and looking for a career change more of a system administration role, what is the next cert that I should obtain ?

Depends on the company have you looked into AWS cloud engineer training? Not quite the old fashion sys admin but potentially something you may be interested in. Also Dev ops training would allow you to be future proof for now.

Keeping it old school Microsoft solution based certs would be good but keep in mind with hybrid infastructures with azure most books might be outdated.

 

[j2thadub]

i'll jump in, about to graduate with a CS degree in december.

i'll be doing open source projects all summer if any NTers wanna collab.

Github

 

[d nice]

 
i'll jump in, about to graduate with a CS degree in december.

i'll be doing open source projects all summer if any NTers wanna collab.

Github

Bout to hit you up soon man. I've been learning and doing some small projects myself, but I haven't fully dived into Github yet.

 

[dathbgboy]

Think yall could give give me some input on this new program at PITT?

http://www.business.pitt.edu/katz/ms-programs/MIS


Only 9 mos and looks promising. Getting a MS in CS wood be tough considering I need 3 prereq courses. Only downside to this is if have to take the GMAT which I heard ain't no joke.

Looks fine the MBA class portion seems good, but to obtain a MS with 0 experience you may still have a hard time landing a job.
Need an internship or something under your belt. Sometimes people are seen as overqualified with a MS looking for entry level.

I get it, but I'm out of options, every job here wants 3+yrs exp and degrees in CS or Business Management. I don't have either and literally have been at this for 2 years trying to get into a BA/PM role. Don't know what else to do at this point, system wins

 

[capital sb]

luckyluchiano how did you get your BA position?

I don't know anyone personally that started as a PM, people work their way up to those positions usually.

 

[luckyluchiano]

luckyluchiano how did you get your BA position?

I don't know anyone personally that started as a PM, people work their way up to those positions usually.

Got a JR BA Gig . When I first Graduated College I worked in Wireless Sales and my plan was to apply for internal gigs on the IT side, but I worked for an huge telecom and going from Retail to Corporate is damn near impossible if you arent in the same city as HQ, and even then you wouldn't be around the type of people you need to meet. I made Good money in Wireless but knew I`d get stuck so a yr after College is when I got my JR BA GIg.

@Dathbgboy sounds like you need to leave your city or Get into a fluff (but accredited) Masters program and try to get into a Consulting Company since they tend to do most of their hiring with recent college Grads.


Side note: Anyone of you take the ITIL exam? I just blew damn near 700 bucks taking it and flunked 3 times lol. I Didnt study I just went off of my knowledge from me working in an ITIL environment, and I just finished up a Service Delivery Course which touched on ITIL a tad so I figured it would be a breeze. Test isn't hard I just suck at test that arent Lab based, and the questions are worded funny. I`m probably going to give it another stab in a few days, after I review this ITIL book I have to get more insight into the areas I`m not really knowledgeable of.

 

[dathbgboy]

luckyluchiano how did you get your BA position?

I don't know anyone personally that started as a PM, people work their way up to those positions usually.

Got a JR BA Gig . When I first Graduated College I worked in Wireless Sales and my plan was to apply for internal gigs on the IT side, but I worked for an huge telecom and going from Retail to Corporate is damn near impossible if you arent in the same city as HQ, and even then you wouldn't be around the type of people you need to meet. I made Good money in Wireless but knew I`d get stuck so a yr after College is when I got my JR BA GIg.

@Dathbgboy sounds like you need to leave your city or Get into a fluff (but accredited) Masters program and try to get into a Consulting Company since they tend to do most of their hiring with recent college Grads.


Side note: Anyone of you take the ITIL exam? I just blew damn near 700 bucks taking it and flunked 3 times lol. I Didnt study I just went off of my knowledge from me working in an ITIL environment, and I just finished up a Service Delivery Course which touched on ITIL a tad so I figured it would be a breeze. Test isn't hard I just suck at test that arent Lab based, and the questions are worded funny. I`m probably going to give it another stab in a few days, after I review this ITIL book I have to get more insight into the areas I`m not really knowledgeable of.

Yea, I know nobody's jumping right into PM that's why I've been looking into JR/Entry Level BA/Project Coordinator gigs but they still want 3+yrs exp here I've been looking in Raleigh and Charlotte and willing to take the gamble of moving down there and moving my wife and kids down later but no dice yet.

That's why I posted the link to the MS program for Pitt. Can be completed in 9mos and all that jazz, just gotta take the GMAT, do well and sell myself heavy.

 

[nazdrowie]

anyone have insight into tech writer/editor gigs?

I'm currently a Product Editor but don't work with tech-related documents, often see a good amount of openings for tech writers/editors in the dc-area which I'm close too...

 

[luckyluchiano]

Yea, I know nobody's jumping right into PM that's why I've been looking into JR/Entry Level BA/Project Coordinator gigs but they still want 3+yrs exp here I've been looking in Raleigh and Charlotte and willing to take the gamble of moving down there and moving my wife and kids down later but no dice yet.

That's why I posted the link to the MS program for Pitt. Can be completed in 9mos and all that jazz, just gotta take the GMAT, do well and sell myself heavy.

True, think is it would be tough on the fam I`d think moving them all on the salary of an Entry Level gig. Affordable Cities are probably only going to pay you 35-40k and cities that pay more cost more.

The rule of thumb I have noticed is your big/known Fortune 500 companies are going to want 2-4 yrs for entry level jobs because they often fill them with Interns/people who do their 2-3 yr Development programs, your smaller companies tend to be more flexible but they also pay less.

When I first Graduated I was applying to any and everything IT related, but now that I have experience its harder to look for jobs since at that stage you want to look for stuff that align with your career path.

I`d say if you dont mind spending the money get the Certified Scrum Master Cert ASAP, you can learn everything about Scrum online in a few hours but having the CSM cert will help you get some interviews and past resume Bots since Agile/Scrum is the in thing now.

 

[juice man]

@Dathbgboy I'm in Charlotte currently working for a large financial company center city as a contracted PM. To get into the PMO world, make strong connections. I'm probably the exception but I only hold an Associates, with a few certs under my belt, under age 30.

Started out working help desk, networked with the execs (people love talking about themselves), moved into higher HD roles, decided to take the path of PC/PM, leveraged connections, worked 1099 on multiple contracts as a PM, here now on W2 though. Quick write up prob left something out.

 

[dathbgboy]

Yea, I know nobody's jumping right into PM that's why I've been looking into JR/Entry Level BA/Project Coordinator gigs but they still want 3+yrs exp here I've been looking in Raleigh and Charlotte and willing to take the gamble of moving down there and moving my wife and kids down later but no dice yet.

That's why I posted the link to the MS program for Pitt. Can be completed in 9mos and all that jazz, just gotta take the GMAT, do well and sell myself heavy.

True, think is it would be tough on the fam I`d think moving them all on the salary of an Entry Level gig. Affordable Cities are probably only going to pay you 35-40k and cities that pay more cost more.

The rule of thumb I have noticed is your big/known Fortune 500 companies are going to want 2-4 yrs for entry level jobs because they often fill them with Interns/people who do their 2-3 yr Development programs, your smaller companies tend to be more flexible but they also pay less.

When I first Graduated I was applying to any and everything IT related, but now that I have experience its harder to look for jobs since at that stage you want to look for stuff that align with your career path.

I`d say if you dont mind spending the money get the Certified Scrum Master Cert ASAP, you can learn everything about Scrum online in a few hours but having the CSM cert will help you get some interviews and past resume Bots since Agile/Scrum is the in thing now.

Yea, I'm looking into the certs now. Still studying for the CAPM. Been looking at Agile though people think that it's pretty much dead (read a dumb article about it) so the little projects I've been running PM on, I've been following the Agile method as opposed to Waterfall.

@Dathbgboy I'm in Charlotte currently working for a large financial company center city as a contracted PM. To get into the PMO world, make strong connections. I'm probably the exception but I only hold an Associates, with a few certs under my belt, under age 30.

Started out working help desk, networked with the execs (people love talking about themselves), moved into higher HD roles, decided to take the path of PC/PM, leveraged connections, worked 1099 on multiple contracts as a PM, here now on W2 though. Quick write up prob left something out.

How's the market down there? Is it a job seeker market or employer market? Where I'm at right now is a heavy employer market because all the jobs are leaving and none are coming in unless you look at the Google jobs for Sr. level positions. Been looking at Charlotte and Raleigh for relocation, checking out the temp agencies and what not.

 

[juice man]

The job market is up and down here. Big on finance and contracts in the city. I do have some good connections, send me what you're looking for, if serious, and I will see what I can do.

 

[d nice]

Anyone here in Web Dev?

 

[AZwildcats]

Anyone here in Web Dev?

yeah

 

[dathbgboy]

The job market is up and down here. Big on finance and contracts in the city. I do have some good connections, send me what you're looking for, if serious, and I will see what I can do.

PMed you bro.

Anyone here in Web Dev?

If you need job info, can't help you, but if you need general info, I can help

 

[yeah]

Anyone here in Web Dev?

yeah

Mostly application stuff these days, but I've done web development. Whats up?

 

[mr j 858]

So I recently went through the interview process for a Desktop Support Engineer job. The job is a direct hire permanent position in the $50K to $56K pay range, medical, dental, vision, 2 weeks paid vacation, they pay for a gym membership up to $30 a month, some travel would be required.

First off the company's corporate recruiter called me about a week ago and saw my Linkedin profile. Which honestly I don't provide any details and just list my past work experience, which I have lot since I've been working in IT for the past 15 years.Also I look at it this way if an employer is really interested in you or even if they are fishing for candidates they will get in contact with you either through: email, Linkedin DM, or a phone call, from there if they are seriously interested they will ask for your updated resume and move forward with a phone screen or might even want to do a face to face in person interview right away.

Anyways this job interview process went like this:

-Corporate recruiter saw my profile on Linkedin and sent me a DM asking if I was interested in the job for Desktop Support Engineer.I messaged her back saying I was interested.She responded and setup a phone screen interview with her.Did the interview and it went well enough where she asked me to do a phone interview with the IT manager.
-Second interview with IT manager was 2 days after the phone interview with the corporate recruiter.IT manager was cool and told me upfront he was looking for someone hungry & motivated and was willing to work long hours and asked if I was willing to travel for work sometimes, where I was at in my career and what I wanted to be in a year or 2.IT manager mentioned how the company was big and that there was plenty of opportunites to move up within the company and not just in IT.He mentioned the reason why they were looking to fill this job was because a person on the team got promoted to a project manager job with the company. Interview lasted about half an hour on the phone and went well.I was contacted a day after the 2nd phone interview by the corporate recruiter and was asked to come in for a face to face interview.
-Third interview. Showed up 20 minutes early at the company building, checked in at the front desk and waited until I met the corporate recruiter. Interview started with 2 members on the current desktop support engineer team. One guy had been with company for 10 years and the other guy had been with the company for about a year.They were chill and honestly didn't ask to many or detailed tech questions and were more asking questions to see how I'd get along with them and the rest of the team.That part lasted for half an hour. 2nd part of the interview was a one on one with the IT manager.He was chill and asked some behavioral questions and asked what was an ideal work day for me. That interview lasted another half an hour.

I thought the interview went well and before the in person interview started the corporate recruiter told me up front that after this interview that it would take 3 to 4 days before I'd hear back from her with feedback and if they are going to offer me the job.

That was yesterday so yeah I'm really just waiting to hear from them on Thursday or Friday and hopefully I get a job offer.

 

[Teknoman]

Good luck on the job. However, I would have been turned off by the dude saying he wants someone working long hours. Im assuming the position is salaried too.

 

[mr j 858]

Good luck on the job. However, I would have been turned off by the dude saying he wants someone working long hours. Im assuming the position is salaried too.

It's salary non-exempt. Which I would still get overtime.

Trust me. In my past work experience I worked on department of defense contracts and every time I needed to work OT hours the IT manager who always was a GS government employee would complain. Reason being is they are salary-exempt and get no paid overtime.

 

[W)taps]

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone of yall can give me some tips on entering the IT world.

Im currently working at desktop support at my university and since im graduating with a degree in history, i thought i'd get into the IT field.

I'm the highest position a student can be at my job (student lead) and im also apple certified (if that means anything lol 

)

Im a senior and i'll be graduating this coming December. I live in MD so I guess I have some options since DC is pretty close.

Can anyone recommend me some advice for a noob like me?

Here's my linked in if anyone wants to view it. It be great if someone get critique it as well

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-park-7831a311a

 

[mr j 858]

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone of yall can give me some tips on entering the IT world.

Im currently working at desktop support at my university and since im graduating with a degree in history, i thought i'd get into the IT field.
I'm the highest position a student can be at my job (student lead) and im also apple certified (if that means anything lol  )
Im a senior and i'll be graduating this coming December. I live in MD so I guess I have some options since DC is pretty close.
Can anyone recommend me some advice for a noob like me?

Here's my linked in if anyone wants to view it. It be great if someone get critique it as well

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-park-7831a311a

Since your doing desktop support. That's a good start to have on your resume experience wise. I'm assuming it's a work enviroment of both Windows PC's & Mac.You'd be surprised but having Apple cert is a big plus and does help your resume nowadays.But if your looking to continue working in Desktop Support for awhile looking into getting A+ certified also.

Also since your in the Maryland/DC/Virgina area. That place is always a hot area for IT jobs in the Department of Defense sector.A big cert to have for any government job be it GS government civilian or government contractor is the Security+ cert. It's a required cert for any DoD related job.

From here it's all up to you which direction you want to go.

Be it:

-Networking: Study Cisco and get certified with a CCNA to start.
-Network security: A good start would be Security+ cert and if you really like it and want to stay in it work on the harder certs like CISSP.
-System Administrator: Study the Microsoft certs, learn MS Server, MS Active Directory, MS Exchange and also big one now is knowing MS Lync Server.

MIS side. Not really sure whats hot and in demand now.I'm assuming it's still: Java, Pearl, MS SQL, MS .NET, and one that I see popular now is ruby on rails.

 

[headdetective]

Currently work IT support for the Department of Defense.

Security + is definitely a necessity.

I feel that once that cert is obtained, many many doors will open.