Career decision

Hi,

The IT industry is one of the most fast growing, evolving, and changing industry. Hence it is extremely difficult to apply any simple formula for success. TIMING has been a critical factor for success in this industry. If you have the right skill at the right time, you have hit the jackpot!

You have asked if taking a degree would help you land on a job. The realistic answer anyone can give is "May be". As against other industries, IT looks for the technical skills than degrees. If a company has an opening in J.D. Edwards, and if they get two resumes - one with no degree but J D Edward experience and the other with a Master's degree in COmputer science, the person with no degree would get the preference.

The skills plays the vital role most of the time. That does not mean degrees are not valuable. They definitely are! They get you ahead of the competition on a level field. If you have a degree from a ranked University, their placement offices can be extremely helpful in getting you a job.

You have mentioned that you have Technician Certificate. You can look for jobs in companies like CompUSA where there is always a demand for good technicians. You can work on certifications to enhance your technical skills. A Computer Science degree is more like a growth factor. If you want to get into leadership/management, a degree will be a positive catalyst.

Hope this helps!

It is also very important to get some cheap seasoning. If you have not yet taken a technical position but are seeking one, look at intern options and work study options. I took my first network admin position for a local manufacturer for $12.00/hour! After 3 months, I recieved college credit and took my first IT position for 40K. Irony caused me to have to leave that position in 4 months, (Crooked boss...) so I ended up in a support position shortly there after for almost 50K! I have held various positions at that same company and worked in two other companies for a few years and I have moved up significantly. I have been in the industry directly since 95, but have moved into the security industry as it is the more "in demand" role right now.

My path may not work for you or anyone else, but I would suggest being honest and direct with prospective employers. Tell them the truth about your goals and desires. If you are seeking a higher level position, say so. I have moved up rapidly as a result of ambition and the willingness to do without sleep on more than a few occasions.

One other thing, don't be afraid to travel, and mention it! Getting a higher paying position can sometimes mean a small thing like being willing to travel 50%. Same position for two candidates, one traveling one not can be as big a difference between 40K and 80K! It is harder to find traveling people, especially people with the discipline and presence to work in the field with end user customers.

Take a few chances and be willing to start small, that is the gist of my advice.

Being a fresh graduate, you should take a basic job from the ground. Don't care the wage or job-nature.

This is because you should gain work experience to enhance your resume. You can get IT knowledge from textbooks but never IT practice from them.

IT does not mean machine and digital only, it involves human interaction a lot, which you can't learn from any certificate or academic institute.

Employer also prefers to seeing your work-experience than your certificates, which meant nothing to them.

Hi there,

Further to the point another person made, you need to get some experience on your resume.

One way to do that is find volunteer work for a local charity doing PC setup or repair. My local library is always having trouble with the Internet terminals - perhaps you can volunteer to help out at your library doing troubleshooting and support.

I would not recommend getting any further in debt with continued I.T. education at this point. Use our various suggestions and get a few years of PC support experience under your belt.

At that point, you should have a better idea what other career paths are available by looking at the rest of the I.T. department where you work. Then you can decide what area to specialize in and take night school classes (maybe even paid for by the company).

Good luck, Pierce

I work part-time as a tech at a very large school district. We have 20 level 3 techs, and some network adm. We have had many people restart/start their careers here and move on up and out. It doesn't pay much because it's in education, but it can be a valuable jump start.

Also, when moving from training to the real world, don't be suprised if you end up going into totally different areas than you were expecting. Most people I graduated with did not end up in the exact fields they were studying. Just an idea...