IT Career path

[multi-vitamin]

Hi All,

I'm just getting started in the IT field at 28 years old; I have no prior experience in IT, but I do have business experience. I'm working support right now just gaining experience. Is there a best career path to take? I was thinking of becoming a Network engineer, or a DBA. I'm definitely interested in a large salary in the future, but I also don't want to hate my job.

Does anyone have any advice, or warnings on career paths?

[Annamal]

Look at what the jobs actually entail and figure out which one both fits what you enjoy about IT and has a salary that enables FIRE.

What aspects of support do you enjoy and does anything make you grit your teeth and move past as quickly as possible.

Do you like interacting with people or is it solving complex problems that motivates you?

[mhlavac]

I've been in IT for ~15 years now.  I have a background in Unix/Linux systems administration and more recently have managed teams of tech support staff, DBA's, system engineers, network engineers and application support analysts.

I think it's more important to choose a specialty that you're passionate about and let it show through in your work.  Don't be one of these folks who does a mediocre job in a specialty because it pays well (hint:  systems, network, DBA, etc all pay about the same).

What made you leave the world of business?  A worker who can justify his implementation decisions and present them to his manager based on ROI is rare in the industry.  Keep it in mind and use it to your advantage.

[CletusMcGee]

Since you are posting on MMM, you obviously have already taken my #1 rule of IT careers to heart:  Have an exit strategy.

Make your money while you can, save it, and get out (~15 years?) before your skills are too obsolete to make you employable, or before you are a fat blob who has to be peeled off his dorito dust and mountain dew covered chair. 

10+ years as a software developer.

[2Birds1Stone]

I'm on the sales side of IT. For someone with above average communication skills and a good understanding of many business verticals this could be the fastest way to fire.

You need to learn the technology at a high level, business value alignment, and understand how it all ties in to make a sale.

Top 20% of IT sales reps make $200,000+/year.

The average on target earning for an INSIDE SaaS software sales rep last year was $118k/yr across 300+ companies and that is a pretty entry level position.

[Jack]

The "sales side of IT" is sales, not IT. Although knowing a little bit about IT might help you make a sale, they are nevertheless totally different skill sets.

[big_slacker]

I'm a sr level network guy (CCIE + big network experience). I'll say this, yes there is a lot of $$ to be made. My total comp is around $170k so good for FIRE. Also great opportunities for part time/consulting after FI.

Let me say this though. If you're not passionate, disciplined, ethical and have the mind for this field.... you will not make it to that level. It is not a job where you can fake it, except at the very low levels. Not saying this is you, just know what you're getting into. It's an engineering discipline. :)

With that said if you want to go full steam ahead do your low level certs. I'm not saying the certs themselves matter so don't just focus on the pass (there are cheats out there) but learn the material. Network+, then CCNA. Try to find work at this point even if it's jack of all trades stuff.

After you have some network experience go for the CCNP. This very includes almost all of the knowledge even a sr level person needs, but again a lot of people cheat it. Don't. Learn it! OSPF, BGP, MPLS, switching ARE your job, why would you not want to be an expert???

Get higher level work, preferably for a Cisco reseller. You'll get exposed to a ton of different networks and businesses. You'll get used to project work and pressure. You'll get used to being seen as an authority which is important for later on.

You're probably 3-5 years in at this point and can think about the CCIE. It's a bitch of a test and not absolutely required for FIRE since you can make high 5 figs/low 6 figs without it. It's a significant time investment at 15-20 hours a week for probably a year or so to be legitimately ready for it. And it's $1500 + travel to go take the lab which you'll probably fail a time or two before passing. Once you pass though you've got instant employment at mid 100's in any city in the US and very highly respected.

That's the path I'd take and it is realistic. I started at 30 and was into 6 figures well before 40. Wish I'd known about this site sooner though, lol!

Good luck and feel free to message me if you do want to go the network route, happy to provide more detailed advice.

[Beridian]

I work in the IT field, more specifically in IP voice telecommunications.  Once you have credentials and experience it is fairly easy to find a job and the pay can be rewarding.  The thing that drives me bonkers and makes me hate my job just a bit is the constant change in technology and the constant treadmill of training, certifying, and re-certifying.  These activities occupy a pretty decent chunk of my time and they never stop.  I am now studying to re-certify in Cisco CCNA for my FORTH FREAKIN TIME!  The darn certs expire every three years, some in two, and unless you are a super wizz, re-certifying requires a substantial amount of study time.  The CCNP is many degrees more difficult and also expires.  I have about a dozen manufacturer specific certs I have to keep up with, and new products popping out of the pipe line on a regular basis.

Other than that my job is fairly tolerable and pays well.  Sometimes it gets a bit stressful when you are trying to resolve a major problem and people are screaming, but then there is the satisfaction when you finally do get things fixed.

[Uturn]

Sr level network engineer here.  If you decide to go network, learn networks, not Cisco.  I can teach Cisco commands to a monkey, but he doesn't understand how and why packets behave that way, he is worthless to me. 

[big_slacker]

Sr level network engineer here.  If you decide to go network, learn networks, not Cisco.  I can teach Cisco commands to a monkey, but he doesn't understand how and why packets behave that way, he is worthless to me.

I agree with the philosophy and I should have stated above with my Cisco cert advice is because it's valuable in the industry. It's annoying and time consuming. $400 every 2 years and studying again for a trivial pursuits network edition to recert my IE. Hate it.

 You must know how the protocols work and how packets get from here to there. If you approach it this way the vendor is only about figuring out the cli or gui. But given that Cisco is the 800 lb gorilla you'd be well served to play their cert game.

[imaprogrammer]

You could look into DevOps. It's a great way to learn a variety of different skills.

[zinethstache]

With a business background another path is Business Analyst or Project Management. I've managed developers, analysts and have PMed some really fun IT projects as a Business Analyst. I was MCSE+I back in the day and also got a BS degree in Systems Analysis so I am technical. I find working with the business and developers to be very rewarding. Pay for me is not as high as the Networking poster but well into 6 figures in what I'd say is a mid COL area (outskirts of a HCOL region) and right now I do NOT have direct reports (less of a headache).

My career has allowed my partner to FIRE in 2011 while we execute our final plans for me to FIRE in the next 16 months if not sooner.

I started out as tier 2 support at my current company and have been here for 19 years now (moving around within IT and marketing). So just think of what my salary could be if I'd hopped around. There are lots of stable employers that will pay well to keep good talent. I always wanted stability and enjoy being the SME of my area at work.

Good Luck!

[CoderNate]

No matter what you end up doing, try to talk to someone with a similar job before you commit to anything. I'm a programmer, and my day to day is nothing like what is taught in school. You don't want to spend a lot of time learning about something only to find you hate the day to day.

[sparkshooter]

I'm a programmer, and my day to day is nothing like what is taught in school. You don't want to spend a lot of time learning about something only to find you hate the day to day.

A programmer in Madison, WI who hates their job...sounds like you work at Epic? GTFO.

[somebody8198]

The IT sector is a broad sector of the economy dealing with all types of computer technology. That sector employs engineers, security professionals, research scientists, quants, etc. If someone says that they "work in IT" that usually means they work at a help desk doing tech support. Further complicating things, many large companies like banks etc. have an IT department which encompasses all the software engineers.

Just wanted to clear that up, since this is a common source of confusion. I feel like the computing professions have a serious naming convention problem.

[FrugalKube]

As the others have mentioned getting your certs are a good way to show employers you want to keep learning. So many people I know settle for Tier 1/2/3 support jobs and never want to move on.

[steveo]

I'm a project manager and I can honestly state that I hate it. I echo the comments above regarding have a way out.

[CoderNate]

I'm a programmer, and my day to day is nothing like what is taught in school. You don't want to spend a lot of time learning about something only to find you hate the day to day.

A programmer in Madison, WI who hates their job...sounds like you work at Epic? GTFO.

LOL. Don't hate my job, but I have seen it happen. Mostly just commenting on how different it is from what I learned in school.

[ChrisN]

I'm a programmer, and my day to day is nothing like what is taught in school. You don't want to spend a lot of time learning about something only to find you hate the day to day.

A programmer in Madison, WI who hates their job...sounds like you work at Epic? GTFO.

As an IT person working in a hospital, this made total sense to me.

To the OP: don't get a job in IT in the health care industry, unless you're a sales rep for a vendor. It's not worth the stress.

[Monocle Money Mouth]

You could do Quality Assurance also. It can be tedious at times but you still get to play with computers all day and you can see what path you really want to take longer term. It can also force you to learn some technologies you wouldn't have learned before. My database background pretty much all MySQL, but since I've been in QA, I've gotten to play with MSSQL and Oracle databases too. Our software suite uses HTML forms so I've gotten more comfortable writing javascript to interact with form data that we use for testing.

The downside is the pay in QA is not as good, but it can be a good way to get your foot in the door at a decent company and learn new skills along the way.

[Uturn]

As an IT person working in a hospital, this made total sense to me.

To the OP: don't get a job in IT in the health care industry, unless you're a sales rep for a vendor. It's not worth the stress.

Wow first post.  Must really mean it.  All joking aside, I'm leaving my healthcare IT job next week.  After 5 years here, I've never been more burnt out, and I've been doing this since 1995. 

[russianswinga]

IT rock star administrator here.

1 - have a bachelor's degree, it doesn't matter from where, it doesn't matter in what. Mine is in Russian with a minor in Computer Science

2. Take and pass Microsoft Exams. Start with the 70-410, 411, 412. Those 3 exams get you a $60,000 position at our managed IT company immediately

3. Take more exams and become a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). A full MCSE makes $100K+ here in San Diego.

That's the short of it. Ask me any specific questions and I will answer.

[Spork]

IT rock star administrator here.

1 - have a bachelor's degree, it doesn't matter from where, it doesn't matter in what. Mine is in Russian with a minor in Computer Science

2. Take and pass Microsoft Exams. Start with the 70-410, 411, 412. Those 3 exams get you a $60,000 position at our managed IT company immediately

3. Take more exams and become a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). A full MCSE makes $100K+ here in San Diego.

That's the short of it. Ask me any specific questions and I will answer.

There is nothing wrong with this plan... but it is also totally not necessary.

While I have a degree, there was always "the guy" that was a rock star.  Every where I've ever been: he was a drop out.  TONS of guys are tearing up IT without degrees.

I'll also say the last time I used Windows, they called it Windows 3.1.  (Okay, I've booted a VM to do my taxes, but other than that, never.)  I really don't have much respect for the Windows certs and have seen a bunch of guys with stacks of certs that literally couldn't do anything.  I'm not picking on you.  I'm picking on the cert.  If you're in a Windows shop, they'll want it.  But it doesn't mean much.  In big city, low CoL, you can easily top $100k with no certs/no degree.  (This is going to vary wildly by market.  If you move to little city, that goes away pretty quickly.)

The only certs I've seen that seem to mean much are the Cisco certs.... and that really only matters if you are a network guy.  If you're a network guy, you'll probably want them.

Pick a specialty.  Dig in.  There are usually entry jobs in Help desks, PC repair or NOC.  Tinker in your off hours and become the guy people go.  It won't take long to make your way up the ladder.

[Uturn]

If you want to make it in IT technically, degree is waste of time.  If you want to make it in IT management, that changes things.  I've never cared if someone has a degree or not.  Matter of fact, my current network engineer is a HS dropout and 5 years before I hired him, he was managing a bar.  What matters in the technical side of IT is certs, experience, and hunger.  Hunger being the most important. If you are not educating yourself (ie, making an investment in your own career) then why should I?  The folks that expect me to hold their hand and train them don't move up through me.  The ones that show a desire to learn and be more than they are will get lifted up. 

[FrugalKube]

If you want to make it in IT technically, degree is waste of time.  If you want to make it in IT management, that changes things.  I've never cared if someone has a degree or not.  Matter of fact, my current network engineer is a HS dropout and 5 years before I hired him, he was managing a bar.  What matters in the technical side of IT is certs, experience, and hunger.  Hunger being the most important. If you are not educating yourself (ie, making an investment in your own career) then why should I?  The folks that expect me to hold their hand and train them don't move up through me.  The ones that show a desire to learn and be more than they are will get lifted up.

Hunger is important showing your employer you want to learn instead of just getting by.

Going to get my A+ certs this winter and look into my MS certs after that. I work in the IT industry in Healthcare, work has hinted they may pay for the exams. I have a BA in something none IT related.

[Spork]

If you want to make it in IT technically, degree is waste of time.  If you want to make it in IT management, that changes things.  I've never cared if someone has a degree or not.  Matter of fact, my current network engineer is a HS dropout and 5 years before I hired him, he was managing a bar.  What matters in the technical side of IT is certs, experience, and hunger.  Hunger being the most important. If you are not educating yourself (ie, making an investment in your own career) then why should I?  The folks that expect me to hold their hand and train them don't move up through me.  The ones that show a desire to learn and be more than they are will get lifted up.

Hunger is important showing your employer you want to learn instead of just getting by.

Going to get my A+ certs this winter and look into my MS certs after that. I work in the IT industry in Healthcare, work has hinted they may pay for the exams. I have a BA in something none IT related.

As an aside: I've never seen it where work did not pay for certs or continuing educational classes.  I'd get that straightened out up front.  In fact, often it is more than paying for them.  A good number of them pay for them and give bonuses/raises/promotions/Ipads/etc.  If they're not paying, I'd rethink things or find out what certs/classes they would pay for.

[2lazy2retire]

The "sales side of IT" is sales, not IT. Although knowing a little bit about IT might help you make a sale, they are nevertheless totally different skill sets.

Best way to combine both is in "pre sales" -we get a lot of them through the door here and it seems a reasonably interesting career. On the plus side you get to avoid the cubicle drudgery of average IT admin stuff while also avoiding having to roll out the sales BS to woo customers - kinda the best of both worlds? - of course been in pre sales will require good knowledge of the product been pimped.

[Hamster]

I'm a programmer, and my day to day is nothing like what is taught in school. You don't want to spend a lot of time learning about something only to find you hate the day to day.

A programmer in Madison, WI who hates their job...sounds like you work at Epic? GTFO.

If you think programming it makes your life miserable, you should try being an end user... ;-)

[patrickza]

I love being a programmer, I'm pretty good at it too. What I find sucks was being made a manager. Wish I could go back to building stuff again...

IT is very broad. Find something you like to do in it, and do it really well, then use that to move to a company you want to work for.

[Spork]

I love being a programmer, I'm pretty good at it too. What I find sucks was being made a manager. Wish I could go back to building stuff again...

You totally can.  I've had 4 or 5 geek friends that got drug down the management path and didn't like it -- then went back to being a techie.  If your company doesn't have a technical advancement path -- find some place that does.  Lots of places have "principle engineer" or "architect" or similar tracks.

[HipGnosis]

I've been in IT for 20 yrs.  Started out in desktop/hardware support...
Be aware that most any IT position with a title usually comes with big expectations.  You will be on-call all the time and work some crazy hours when projects that are going on schedule are re-prioritized or suddenly given new requirements from management or accounting or when you do a 'go-live' roll out.
The natural career path for me would to become a network admin.  I've stalled my career just under that for the reasons above (but I've still worked some REALLY long hours on weekends for upgrades and roll outs).  The first network admin I worked for had some GREAT weekend stories; Disneyland, rent speed boats and exotic cars, swim with dolphins, etc.  He said it was because he only got a full weekend off like every 8 - 12 weeks so he was trying to make it up to his family.
And I had my fill of being on-call when I was in the Air Force (where I got my computer training).

[Bearded Man]

I'm in an IT speciality that involves managing servers, databases AND doing programming. I get paid a premium and have a college degree (also working on MBA with CIS concentration) and A LOT of certs. My advice. Avoid programming. Become a DBA or a PM. DBA's are the ones who protect the data, and while there are many developers in most organizations, a lot have typically one or two DBA's. No one bothers DBA's typically, but you do get requests for reports, or backup restores, etc. The only sucky part is the after hours work as upgrades and patching are typically done afterhours. And you are on call.

Personally, I'm leaning toward a Technical Program or Project Manager. It's a "management" position where it requires that you actually know some shit  (compared to the glorified secretaries that pass as PM's these days) but you don't necessarily have to do the shit, you coordinate the efforts of those who do, but the work is technical enough that it requies a technically oriented PM, not just a guy who runs scrums...

I see a lot of PMP's getting promoted to Senior Director positions and VP positions. Even if this is not the path you choose out the gate, it will likely be where you end up, as I myself am tired of technical hands on work and more interested in managing (I'm a team lead).

There is another advantage to being in a management position by the way, besides not having to do the actual work: most management positions are FTE rather than contract. Much more job security.

[Spork]

There is another advantage to being in a management position by the way, besides not having to do the actual work: most management positions are FTE rather than contract. Much more job security.

More than a few of us nerd types see that as a disadvantage, not an advantage.  All politics and reports and BS people problems.  Give me a logical OS or a big pile of code any day.

...and FTE is the norm in many many places for IT.  I did 25+ years of it and never worked a day of contract.  I was always FTE.  (And I saw an equal ratio of management vs worker bees laid off or outsourced over that time.)

[Bearded Man]

There is another advantage to being in a management position by the way, besides not having to do the actual work: most management positions are FTE rather than contract. Much more job security.

More than a few of us nerd types see that as a disadvantage, not an advantage.  All politics and reports and BS people problems.  Give me a logical OS or a big pile of code any day.

...and FTE is the norm in many many places for IT.  I did 25+ years of it and never worked a day of contract.  I was always FTE.  (And I saw an equal ratio of management vs worker bees laid off or outsourced over that time.)

When was this, in the 80's? lol. That's a great unverifiable statement, but it doesn't match the reality of what's been going on in the market place for the past decade. I read the dicussions on Dice and everyone and their mother was complaining about contract work, not to mention there seems to be an article about how the new economy is basically part time or contract work. Yes there are FTE positions, but the majority of those are still contractors since their company is hired to do the work at another company, they are just not 1099. Technically they could claim they are an FTE, and they are, but they are a contractor to their client, and treated as a second class citizen as such. I've seen a dozen contractors terminated for the slightest comment at my work place, yet  I know several FTE's that have been written up multiple times for extremely inappropriate emails to females, and they get to keep their job.

I've had two recent job offers for FTE positions but the vast majority are some service provider, even if they are technically an FTE, they are working as a contractor at a client site.

But to each his own, I'll keep going into management, and I will give you a giant cluster screw to fix over a holiday weekend, and you can walk on shells and be excluded from my companies events and whenever anyone doesn't like something you said, I simply send an email to your company and ask that you be removed from the account. Be my guest, the people problems and the BS is much easier to deal with once you know HOW to deal with it, and studies have shown regardless of industry, managers have less stress, because they are more in control. And it's not like one can learn complex IT things but not how to navigate corporate politics...Once you learn how to play the game, OMG, the world is your oyster.
 

[steveo]

I love being a programmer, I'm pretty good at it too. What I find sucks was being made a manager. Wish I could go back to building stuff again...

IT is very broad. Find something you like to do in it, and do it really well, then use that to move to a company you want to work for.

I partially feel the same way but I think management allows you to bludge more.

[Spork]

There is another advantage to being in a management position by the way, besides not having to do the actual work: most management positions are FTE rather than contract. Much more job security.

More than a few of us nerd types see that as a disadvantage, not an advantage.  All politics and reports and BS people problems.  Give me a logical OS or a big pile of code any day.

...and FTE is the norm in many many places for IT.  I did 25+ years of it and never worked a day of contract.  I was always FTE.  (And I saw an equal ratio of management vs worker bees laid off or outsourced over that time.)

When was this, in the 80's? lol. That's a great unverifiable statement, but it doesn't match the reality of what's been going on in the market place for the past decade.

1988 through this year.  FIRE was July 4, 2015.

[Kaikou]

...

[snappytom]

............ the people problems and the BS is much easier to deal with once you know HOW to deal with it, and studies have shown regardless of industry, managers have less stress, because they are more in control. And it's not like one can learn complex IT things but not how to navigate corporate politics...Once you learn how to play the game, OMG, the world is your oyster.

This is working for me.  Been in corporate IT as a FTE for 32 years, at the current company for 23.  Banks, Insurance, transportation and now a major software vendor.  Did programming for 15 years solid and then got into team leader roles, keeping my hands dirty until the past 2 years and it is now all management activity.  I was totally fried on being the guy who has to "fix it".  The situations involving the people and the business have become far more interesting to me than developing or fixing things,  I only want to consume technology know.  Sure there are stressful projects and situations but overall I feel much more in control of my work life and no longer dread having the phone ring in the middle of the night.  Figuring out how to navigate the politics and being an effective bullshitter is key to making it work.

I plan to retire in about 2 years (age 56) and exit the industry.  Will be FI and vow to never work another office job again.

[Spork]

There is another advantage to being in a management position by the way, besides not having to do the actual work: most management positions are FTE rather than contract. Much more job security.

More than a few of us nerd types see that as a disadvantage, not an advantage.  All politics and reports and BS people problems.  Give me a logical OS or a big pile of code any day.

...and FTE is the norm in many many places for IT.  I did 25+ years of it and never worked a day of contract.  I was always FTE.  (And I saw an equal ratio of management vs worker bees laid off or outsourced over that time.)

But to each his own, I'll keep going into management, and I will give you a giant cluster screw to fix over a holiday weekend, and you can walk on shells and be excluded from my companies events and whenever anyone doesn't like something you said, I simply send an email to your company and ask that you be removed from the account. Be my guest, the people problems and the BS is much easier to deal with once you know HOW to deal with it, and studies have shown regardless of industry, managers have less stress, because they are more in control. And it's not like one can learn complex IT things but not how to navigate corporate politics...Once you learn how to play the game, OMG, the world is your oyster.

I'll also add: the majority of nerdy geek types I have known (and that's a lot, since that's pretty much been the crowd I've hung out with for 50 years) don't really have a lot of capability in the BS/people problem area.  I'll include myself in that list.  And sadly, if IT management isn't a bit of a nerdy/geeky type, they really are going to not do well making technical decisions.

And again: I can't really comment on being contract or being removed from an account.  I've always been FTE as a technical person.  And I've been through *multiple* layoffs/outsourcings unscathed, while quite a few management types were shown the door.  Part of this, probably, was due to being in the security arm of IT.  We were always held close to the chest.  In fact, when well over 100 folks in the department were outsourced, there were 8 of us (security and WAN routing) that were retained -- while our managers were let go.  I will say: pretty much all those people in management that were let go did land on their feet and are still doing fine today.

...and being in security definitely means no walking on eggshells.  More often than not, we were depicted as jackbooted thugs that would fly into a city, walk into a computer room, remove 2 computers and leave.  Our office was right next to the CEO's and he expected pretty blunt words from us.

[GetItRight]

Degree is worthless in IT, though it can make things easier getting into management if that's the end goal. When I look at resumes I prefer self-taught, to me a BS is usually just BS and means a less skilled employee. Cisco certs have value, others to a lesser extent as so many just braindump and the field is saturated with people who have paper certs but are decent helpdesk at best. From a helpdesk/support role it's easy to transition to sysadmin or network admin, dba to an extent I suppose. Depends on what you have exposure to, your interests, and what sort of mentors you have available.

SMB is easiest to gain experience as it's typically a small team where everyone has to dabble in things outside their expertise to an extent. You'll have to move to a larger company to specialize and earn the big money though. In a smaller company you'll always be dragged back into basic support type work because there simply isn't anyone else to do it. Have a plan to advance to what you want to be doing. Don't get stuck in a "career" of helpdesk because you lack ambition, too many helpdesk jockeys with a BS and various certs but can't cut it for more than fixing printers and resetting passwords.

[atrex]

I have a contribution to this thread.  I'm going to make some sweeping generalizations based on my own experiences, and I'll probably make a lot of all-or-nothing statements.  Because I'm in IT, I'm going to suggest you're an idiot directly and indirectly, because I don't believe people can have a different perspective unless they're stupid (which is their fault) (see, I told you I would make sweeping generalizations.)

[obstinate]

I'm not an IT person, so I don't know the territory that well. But, I do have a few friends who started in IT. Based on their experiences, IMO, the NOC is the best place to start out. From there, a dedicated person can transition into site reliability engineering, and then into engineering proper, where the real money is made.

Of course, if you're the type of person that mails it in, your coworkers will make fun of you and you will never leave the NOC. Don't be that person and you should be fine.

[Hamster]

I'm a programmer, and my day to day is nothing like what is taught in school. You don't want to spend a lot of time learning about something only to find you hate the day to day.

A programmer in Madison, WI who hates their job...sounds like you work at Epic? GTFO.

Here's what ZDoggMD has to say about that.