What are you working towards? Need advice? Want to know how to use certs to get jobs? Post it here.
If you've got a tech career:
>Job Title
>Years of Experience
>Degrees/Certs
>How did you find/get job
>Pay
>Location
>Infrastructure guy
>2.5 in IT
>CCENT
>106,000
>Canadoo
Need more certs so I can leave my shit company.
>>52681356
>Job Title
"Shipping and Logistics Stock Seeker"
>Years of Experience
4
>Degrees/Certs
Associates in Network Administration/ "IT fundamentals" cert. (Below A+ on the chart of certs. HAD to get it to complete my Capstone)
>How did you find/get job
Don't work in IT. Currently a very well paid union-ized warehouse worker whose job pays $6k a year for school.
>Pay
$50k For moving boxes all day with killer benefits.
>Location
'Murica
Hey, I've got an MTA and an A+ and I was thinking of working from home as my first tech job, since there's nothing nearby.
Is telecommunting an okay way to start to get some experience while I'm working on higher degrees? I'm looking at Support.com since it seems like they'd hire pretty much anyone. If someone's ever worked for them before I'd like to know what it's like.
Or would it be better to just bite the bullet and move for an irl helpdesk/tier 1 job?
>Ebay Reseller
>12
>None
> ~375k average
>US
>>52681705
What company do you work for? I work at an amazon warehouse and the general feeling in my FC is that we're all underpaid and over worked.. Wish I had a union job :(
>>52681883
Amazon is one of the worst warehouses I've seen. They definitely are underpaid and overworked. I've worked at a few major CDC's and I'm not sure if I could be paid enough to work for Amazon.
>>52681356
>Network architect/lead
>13
>Diploma in Internetworking, CCNA, various industry training
>It was the 80th job i applied, i did not give a fuck at this point, gave me job after i spoke gibberish tech terms to techs
>180k AUD
>Sydney
>>52682437
You're living the dream.
>>52681777
Check'd
So i'm not enjoying my current job and want to work my way up the IT ladder but not sure where to start. I know the A+ cert is a common first cert but is there any others I should get? Should I just get the A+ try to find a helpdesk job and then go for more certs? I'm really not sure what I should do.
>>52681356
>IT-Support at a small company. Was supposed to be their technician, but they gave me the shitty end of the stick
>1.5
>AP degree in Network
>Ad
>Shit
>None of your business
Just got a job offer at the biggest ISP and hosting company in my country, and I'm going to take that deal.
My pay will still be shit, but my career possibilities will increase tenfold compared to where I am now. Already been told they will pay for my first cert, so now I just have to find out which one I want.
>>52682939
CCNA in Routing and Switching is a good place to start. Add another in Security later once you gained some experience.
Windows: MSCA (pref. MSCE) in Server 2012/2016 to begin with (just get 2012 if it's cheaper, you can always upgrade, and the changes is minimal). Add an MCSA in SQL, 365 and Exchange, and you'll be pretty golden.
As for Linux administration, I'll let someone more qualified answer that.
Just finished CERT IV in Networking and I think it was CISCO IT Essentials. Starting Diploma of IT soon.
I have no idea what to get into, I kinda like web design, Java and SQL, although I'm still pretty new at all of them.
>>52683295
Linux+ is obviously the 'entry-level' cert.. but if you're able I'd recommend RHCSA and RHCSE. They're a nice filler cert and are fairly difficult for even admins, but I don't imagine it'll raise your pay much.
>>52681631
>CCENT
>106k
How? Wanna help a fellow Canabro get in on that shit?
>Miner
comp+
neetwork+
scurvy+
linux+
job?
>lel
Junior Admin/Help desk
Just under 2 years
3 year diploma
Online
35k
Canadia
Pay is kind of shit but it's a government job and easy as shit.
How much training on top of a 2 year course doing networking for a CCNA in R+S would a person generally need for a CCNP? I've heard some say the CCNP isn't much harder and you should be able to pass with two year courses.
There are lots different certs, don't know what to do.
I'm 20 and want to be a sysadmin, what should I get?
>>52684350
I think they recommend a few years experience before taking the CCNP exam. I don't believe that's a requirement but I would imagine it helps a lot. The difference with the CCNP from what I have heard and seen is you need real equipment to cover all the material. Network simulators don't have all the features needed. While packet tracer is more than enough for a CCNA.
Are there any CCNPs in here that can shine some extra light on this because I'm curious myself.
>>52684435
Okay, thank you.
My college pushes really hard for hands on, so we use a lot of actual equipment. Each of us were issued a 2960 switch and 1941 router to do configuration in.
>>52681631
FB Datacenter?
>Software engineer
>work: 2.5y, freetime coding: 8y
>none, got some 1/3 of uni done.
>Friends
>25000€
>Finland
It's a shit pay, but I come by and love the stuff.
I do webdev back+front, embedded C for a measurement device, some glue code with Python, consulting system architectures and coding practices plus sysadmin all the servers.
Should I go back to school?
>>52686371
>should I go back to school
Why would you? You're literally doing what people go to school for.
>>52681777
revenue =/= income
>Job Title
Solution Architect
>Years of Experience
20
>Degrees/Certs
CCIE R/S, misc Cisco DC specialization certs (Sub CCIE)
>How did you find/get job
Headhunter
>Pay
~ 200k USD
>Location
US - Midwest
>>52686634
I'm curious, how hard was the CCIE and how long did it take for you to get?
I'm interested in software development. I wanna go back to school but online and work on getting certs. I'm interning right now for a video game company doing c++ work.
Does anyone have a list of certs to get for someone interested in being a code monkey and making software? I'm happy I got the internship but it's all done online and I just don't feel like they give me enough to do. Plus no pay.
>>52686690
Very hard. Took me about 18-24 months and I failed twice (first time by a large margin, second time much closer). Self study, home physical lab (this was 2001 - way before VMs, VIRL etc). As soon as I passed my whole lab was up on eBay. I bought it on credit cards, and when I got my first raise after passing I worked to pay it off ASAP. I didn't want to feel my job 'owned' me - so I didn't even ask them to pay for any of it.
I would study ~ 3-4 hours after work on weekdays. I would try to study on weekends as well, but not quite as disciplined (a mental break can be a healthy / positive thing).
Nowadays - there are bootcamps. Just drop the cash and pass. Some of these place are good, and hopefully you have experience and passion beforehand. But the flip side is I've seen some bootcamp CCIEs in recent years that don't really know what they are doing.
I would still recommend it to anyone with the passion and drive. Everyone learns differently - so make sure you check out all the ways you can learn and practice nowadays.
>>52686825
What kind of pay increase did you see once you were certified? You can give me percentages not actually figures.
>>52686856
At the time our company had a 10k salary bump for CCIE or JNCIE. My experience was a lot less at that time as well, so I wasn't where I am now.
A lot of times once you make X in a company - it's hard to get it bumped unless something explicit is in place. I've seen newly minted CCIEs have to quit to go somewhere else to get the bump they deserve :(
From the first hit on google for 'average ccie salary':
The average CCIE earns $110,000 to $175,000 a year, with some earning more than that based on the CCIE they have, additional qualifications, and the location.
So a "junior CCIE" (kind of a contradiction) would be just over 100k.
One other thing to keep in mind - reseller/IT consulting/VAR/whatever you want to call them pay different (typically more) than a non-IT firm (i.e. Healthcare, Insurance, Manufacturing etc).
>>52687076
Did you ever go to a 4 year program or more for this?
>>52687076
Yeah it makes total sense. Your current employer will never give you a 50% or even a 25% pay increase just like that. You'd either have to be placed into a new job or a new company entirely. That's interesting though. I heard the CCIE was difficult, but not this difficult. I pondered at the CCNA about a year ago but got somewhat bored with the material. It would look good on my resume but I can't motive myself to study.
>>52681631
Wtf I have a ccna. Ill trade jobs with you
>IT Support
>9 months
>CCNA/AAS in networking
>school
> 45k
>North east coast US
>>52687133
I went to college for a little over a year - and was frustrated and bored. I dropped out to work at an ISP very early on. It was a gamble but I got immediate hands on experience which I've built on since. Certainly not the right path for everyone, but it's what I did.
I know it gets a lot of shit on here for CS vs. IT - but I would probably be in a university IT program if I was 20 years younger. They seem to better than they were back then. I was in CS 20 years ago and I realized that I didn't want to code heads down for a career. Nuts and bolts, cabling, switching/routing/security and sysadmin appeal to me much more. Good for the people in CS that dig it though - we need good CS people as well.
>>52687164
In terms of difficulty - I (very roughly) tell people if CCNA is 1x, CCNP is 3-5x and CCIE is 20x.
My advice to people studying CCIE is simply - 'learn everything' :)
Another important point - is that in the lab you are there to get points and pass. You will do things you don't agree with design wise, but you have to let this go. You are simply there to get the points and pass (even if it's not how you would do something in the real world). I had a huge issue getting over that (hence failures).
Got my first cert today.
its an MTCNA and im a student.
>>52688176
How do you feel about Microsoft certs? I'm really considering getting my MCSA server 2012.
>>52688091
You sound like 40 year old me.
Should I continue my second year of college where we get hands on experience and theoretically easily enough knowledge to pass our CCNA R+S, or should I just take my CCENT at the end of this year?
How big of a jump is it from CCENT, to CCNA, to CCNP, to CCIE in R+S? Any learning curves in there?
No idea. I just study CS because I thought it would be interesting. I'm probably going to be some programming slave.
>>52688176
>>52688242
Never mind the second part, read your other post.
>>52681356
>Job Title
Technical Analyst / Jr. SysAdmin
>Years of Experience
5
>Degrees/Certs
Working on MCSE & AA:Server Administration
>How did you find/get job
Internal Job posting tip off
>Pay
48000
>Location
IN, Murica'
Pay scale is below the norm but that is understandable considering no degree.
>>52688222
My personal bias is that I'm not an MS fan - but I'm mature enough to realize they play a big role in enterprise IT. So there is certainly still a need. Furthermore - if you truly know your shit - even in a discipline I don't have a taste for - you still get my respect.
I would do your research and try to see how many hits / salary #s you get searching on that cert vs. say some of the VMWare certs. Unfortunately IT is fickle and moves in buzzword filled cycles. MCSE was super hot 15 years ago. VMWare I feel has taken a lot of that spotlight nowadays.
>>52688334
Interesting you mentioned vmware because I was leaning towards that as well. Virtualization had always piqued my interest. The VCA-DCV cert is one I was eying.
I am a student right now taking an A+, Net+, and an intro programming course. I already am feeling a bit overwhelmed. Am I just being a bitch or did I take on too much? Any advice?
>>52681356
>Job Title
Tier 1 network technician for an ISP
I communicate with field technicians and sometimes customers.
>Years of Experience
1
>Degrees/Certs
A+ , working on my CCNA now
Also I should mention I'm currently studying networking in college and my employer works heavily with my school schedule
>How did you find/get job
My friend worked there and he gave his boss my resume
>Pay
12$/hr I can only work 24hr a week so I take home about 1.2k a month which hurts the wallet
>Location
United States
>>52688403
You sound like you are spreading yourself kinda thin. Those are 3 different disciplines, and also at different levels I would say.
Can you scale back to 2 or even 1 ? Do them in series not parallel. Obviously this will take more time - but it's really about all you can do I think.
If you are green to tech / IT - you really want to start with A+. Do you feel you could skip it ? Just do Network+ and the intro to programming ?
>>52688403
Question I would ask is which three focuses do you enjoy the most?
Networking
Servers
Programming
Though they bleed into each other each can have their own respective role inside an enterprise environment.
RHCE master race reporting in.
Exams with multiple choice questions are by default useless, thanks to braindumps.
>>52688403
Honestly, that's very odd. Neither Net+ nor A+ are very difficult, programming could be where it's draining you.
Never been a big fan of programming. It's dry, no other way to put it. Being hands on with Cisco gear and "unusual" computer hardware, and even learning Microsoft OS in college isn't too bad either, learning user and group policies and setting up workplace networks. I'd say IT is superior to CS in terms of workplace happiness, because honestly, IT feels more "trades-esque" and you get to help people, and always learn new shit every day.
>>52688579
This Anon describes why I'm going into IT.
Programming is a fun hobby, but I couldn't handle it as a career.
>>52681356
>Job Title
IT Supervisor
>Years of Experience
7
>Degrees/Certs
CCNP RS | MCSA SERVER 2012 | CCNA VOICE
>How did you find/get job
Internet duh
>Pay
24K per year + House
>Location
Carribean
>>52688616
Glad you're taking IT. Hate to sound like I'm bashing programmers, because I know I couldn't do it, but in my experience, I find programmers are awful employees. No business sense whatsoever. Where I'd argue about device life, how much we'll expand in that life, all that stuff, and choose a piece of equipment based on that, programmers would just say "ALWAYS BUY BEST AVAILABLE THING". They're awful at selling their point to the bosses because they only see things in terms of what's theoretically best, and the bosses don't care about that. What they do care about, however, is money
>>52681356
I'm the IT guy at a law firm. I have a liberal arts degree and no certs, but previous help desk experience. Work in a medium sized Midwestern city. I make $62k/year.
Is that good? For what I'm expected to do I feel like I should be paid more but I don't have any on-paper qualifications.
I'm working on my CCNA but I don't get the point. Once the network is set up why would I ever need to know any of this stuff?
>>52689084
Shit breaks my friend. Knowing how to troubleshoot is a pretty sought after skill.
>>52689014
gay
>>52688403
No, I took an A+. Net+, CCENT, and Microsoft server class at once last semester.
I had to drop the server class so I could focus on the knowing enough for the certification. It still ended up being a lot of work.
>>52689456
That's all introductory stuff dude.
DevOps
0
Year 2/5 of Cyber Eng degree, about to take Net+ cert
Uni promotes a lot of internships
$15/hr
On Campus
>>52689740
Also LA, US
>>52689620
It is but, that was 8 in class a day. Throw that it with 32 hours of work, and comparable times for busy work it's easy to get burnt out.
Only knocked 2 hours off my school days but that was enough to digest and understand the material well enough to get my A+ and probably soon my CCENT.
Consider before I was struggled with concept of connecting to my friends router because he wasn't broadcasting his ssid and I think it's an accomplishment blowing out with certs and a 4.0. Not everyone was encouraged to be technologically inclined as kids.
>>52681356
>frontend web dev
>3 years self study, 1 years professionally
>college and associates in multimedia design, mostly 3d modeling and video game creation stuff. Picked up coding cause it's more fun, and the vidya industry is ruthless
>I applied
>18k gbp
>northwest uk
I actually got the balls to ask for a promotion today, and got it. Been a junior the last year. Negotiating pay on tuesday. Wish me luck.
>>52689960
Be prepared. The easiest way is to compare what your daily tasks are with salaries online. It's hard for them to say no when you have some form of documentation.
>>52688712
>24K + house
So they pay for your house and utilities?
>>52689456
Any advice as to how you made it through? I seem to just have problems staying focused while having to study for long periods of time. Honestly college has been a joke with GenEd courses and this is the first time I actually have to try hard so any advice helps.
>>52688176
I swear both JNCIE and CCIE are designed that way to piss you off. You have to remember to only do the training material answers or the vendors way, always find the vendor way to be 50% uttershit vs real world
>>52688579
I hate programming to be honest. But I have to take at least the intro course for my degree.
Currently looking for IT security work as a new grad... feels bad man.
>>52688712
That's an interesting gig. Can you be more specific about how you found the job on the internet. Regular job board? Specific sites?
Even with free housing I'm not sure that 24k a year is enough. I figured housing + 40k would be good.
How do you like it there? Super cheap living?
