I started working for a computer company sweeping floors. I was then promoted to building clones, the promoted to installing software on them, then fixing them. When the knowledge transfer was complete I took a contract position setting up, fixing and repairing machines in offices at $13 an hour. I then moved to a position as a Systems Analyst, acutally I was an admin working with NT Accounts, Exhange Accounts and Novell Accounts, I basically setup users on a network for different applications. All in all it is pretty easy stuff. I ended there at $55,000 a year salerie. I then was asked to do some security admin for a program called SAP. This program is pretty tuff, most of the training is done by the people who wrote the software. I started here at $60,000 a year and now I have surpassed $90,000 a year. There is money in IT just keep with it.

 

I've been in the IT/Telecommunications industry for 5 years, but have had an interest in computers for most of my life... making an average 72k/year plus benefits working for ISPs, a software development company, and an exchange carrier. The issue with both IT and Telco are that what takes 30 people to deploy only takes 10 to administer and maintain. Hence a lot of the layoffs not related to business closures.

Telco offers the most hope, but stick with CLECs (competitive local exchange carriers) rather than the big guys like (around here) Verizon or like PacBell... they offer better money and there are typically less chances of layoffs.

As for certs/degrees/etc... forget the trade school stuff for starters... once you get your foot in the door, most companies will pay for it. Start with something basic - if you're going to stick in IT, start with your MCSA for Windows jobs or a RedHAT or Solaris certification for UNIX folk. The UNIX certs will get you on board for a lot of telco jobs as well, as their interfaces are ANSI based.

I don't want to drone on, so email me if you'd like to know more, etc... fyi, my certs include the following: MCSA/MCSE, RedHAT Certs/ Solaris 5 certs/ A+ certified/ 5Ess; 4A, Sycamore certified (telco equip).. etc. I have no college degree - I actually started school as a Radiation Oncology major! Let me know if you would like more info, etc...

 

I have always liked messing with computers. I am gonna take the A+ test in January i hope. I gotta do a little reviewing. I spent a year reviewing for the test in high school. I took an A+ college class half the day and went to high school for half. I like working on computers it is alot of fun most of the time. Thanks for all the advice.

 

Sometimes, I wonder just how important it is to go to college to learn computers.

Most of the people I know in the business have degrees in totally different fields.

A friend of mine has a degree in achaeology and he's now a database specialist at Stanford University and makes close to $200k a year and just bought a house on the coast for $750k. I have friends who are sys admins making over $100k a year who never went to college. Hell, I know a guy who's starting pay was $90k and all he does is he runs the email system for a big company.

Seems like all you need is the know how and a foot in somewhere. Seems like a degree in IT isn't all that valuable. From what I've seen, taking courses from Cisco and getting yourself certified in networking, etc. will get you in the door of the private sector before another person who has a degree but no experience.

 

Dennis makes a very good point. In many instances when the requirements list a college degree, the potential employer doesn't care WHAT your degree is in, just that you have a degree.

 

I'd say college is kind of a two sided coin. I started working torwards a certification a little less than two years ago in Web Development. At the time everyone was telling me the same thing, don't waste your time with a 4 year degree, get the skills necessary on your own, with a certification, or whatever is necessary, and get a job. A few years ago if you had the right skills you could go get a job starting out at $40,000 all day long doubling that in a few years in just about any specific field in the IT industry and employers could careless what formal training you had, all they cared about is what you could do when you sat down in front of the computer. A guy with even a year of expierence after being 'hirable' regarldess where he learned his skills was absolutely more valuable than a guy fresh out of college with a degree and no expierence, and made quite a bit more money aswell. Well now I'm finishing up my certification, and needless to say things have changed. I work for an IT company (although not in my field), and we get flooded with IT resumes all week. We literally have people in IT coming in begging for jobs! If we were to throw an ad out for an IT job, we would get hundreds of resumes from all over the country from the massive amount of people in the IT industry that have been layed off in the last couple years that all for the most part are doing 'real work' or 'enhancing there skills' and getting by while hoping things turn around and the $80,000 job they had a few years ago becomes available again. Unfortunatly, for a guy like myself just starting out in the industry (working in an entry level job for a company that like most IT companies could go out of business just about anytime) when I go to look for my next job just about any job opening is going to have a LOT of responses from a lot of people with a whole lot more expierence then I've got. So I guess my point is like everything timing is everything, and right now is an extremely hard time to get going in the IT industry. A guy that spent the last few years pursuing a college degree very well may end up in a much better positon than I will with a certificaiton if I'm not able to pick up the expierence that I had counted on to makeup for not getting the degree. A degree gives you something that noone including the economy can take away, and that you will always have to fall back on to get your foot in the door to get a job even if it's not want you want to do longterm and that can be used in many fields. With IT on the otherhand, your basically trained to do one very specific skill. If there is a job for that skill you can make great money. If there isn't, well... You've basically got nothing!

 

One other thing I meant to throw in. Working in IT is about like working your way up a downward moving escelator. Anything you learn is going to be obsolete within 4 to 5 years. If you pickup your skills, and do nothing but go get a job, within a few years your skills are going to be obsolete, and the downward moving escelator will have you right back where you started, on the bottom. On the other hand if you work hard enough after becoming hireable and getting a job and stay on top of things by spending your time going to classes and learning and studying the new technologies coming out all the time, you can get to the top. But again, if you 'stay still' and quit working your way up it won't take anytime to end up right back at the bottom. Needless to say it takes a lot of work and time to get to the top, muchless to stay there. If your going to get into IT, plan on spending time in continuing education classes on a regular basis ongoingly for as long as you plan to spend in the IT industry.
I guess it's the 'payback' for not having to spend the 4 years in school before you get the job!