A career in computers, help me please.

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psychofunk

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 14, 2004
Messages
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Hello all,

This might be a little long but I need your help and am trying to give you an idea of who I am. I have had a few careers in my life, none of them ever in computers. I spent the first 10 years of my adult life in the fast lane burning brain cells and chasing women. Around 1999 I stopped my wild life and got my first computer, 3 non working computers that I pulled apart and turned into one working computer. From there I started to learn about troubleshooting issues which lead to reinstalling an os which led to overclocking which led to home networking and the internet which led to virus & malware fun.

As I learned I became the computer guy for my friends and family as well as the guy the IT guys from my work would have do stuff. Now, I am not some super genius kid who has computers hardwired to his brain, nor do I have any experience with programing nor websites. What I know and can do is quite simple to any person who really knows computers, but I am not afraid and am very capable.

I moved from L.A. to Sacramento 2 years ago and started going to community college with the final goal of becoming an engineer in mind but had to stop because my wife is in the car biz and her check was no longer sufficient to support the family while I went to school. Getting a job in my my most recent career area was a bit of a struggle and I bumped into insurance which I liked and I am currently selling commercial trucking insurance. However, I am getting real tired of the dishonest agents and clients in this business and it is a bit of a struggle being a new agent who is honest with the sub par markets I have available to me and almost no training. To make a long story a little less long, my pastor and I were talking and I am finally going to give a career in computers a try.

I am here to ask for the advice of anyone in computers for guidance on what options there are out there and how to proceed. I realize there are quite a few choices but I need to get some kind of focus and to set a goal and attack but I am unsure of where to start. I need something that I can do fairly quickly. Even if I have to eventually get a degree I need something that I can get into to carry me through to getting the degree.

Just pulling things out of thin air but I guess there would be 3 major choices - hardware, software and making the two play nice aka IT/Net Admin. Hardware and software are both definitely going to require a degree but what about IT, I know you need the certifications but what about the degree. Hell, I don't care if I am GeekSquad, i just need to figure out what I need to get started, you can't tell me that those guys hold a degree - I am not trying to be insulting, I am just saying the image does not say degree. The quick and dirty is what i need and then I can continue my fight towards my engineering degree or perhaps a mcse or cnna or abc or whatever.

This may be an impossible question, but if it is then ask me everything else you need to know to help me and I will gladly answer or just tell me what your particular job is and what would be required to get into it. Hell we can get Jerry Springer-esque and I'll tell you my deepest darkest if it will help. Holy crap, all this writing maybe I need to write a book - anyways, thanks for taking the time to read and comment, I really appreciate it.

Jerry
 
That's a very hard choice you're making. It sounds like you've already met with wise counsel, so I wont try to give you any particular advice, but maybe you'll glean something from my experience and career path:

I started out working at a retail store as a bench technician. I worked on all the A+ kind of stuff- Computer hardware, installing Windows, and eventually cleaning up virus and spyware infections when those became more prevalent. Then I bounced around on a few tech-related jobs, and eventually landed a help-desk position at a local IT company. I worked very hard to learn the job and ended up picking up a few certifications on the way; the most important of them being the CCNA. I was promoted to Network Engineer a year after starting the help-desk job.

Now I mostly work on anything that has a Cisco logo on it. Phones, firewalls, routers, and switches top the list. It can be a little daunting at times because no one else at my work is more knowledgeable than me in Cisco. No matter what, I personally have to solve the problem and provide the solution. I'm also the last line of help-desk support. Usually the techs before me have torn the problem apart already, so they tend to be pretty tough issues. Unfortunately, stress has become a big battle in my life, but my employer is working with me to reduce the load.

Don't get me wrong, I get a lot of reward from my job as well. For starters, there's nothing like the feeling I get when I've been working on a problem for hours, and I've just managed to fix it by piecing together a hundred clues and 12 different Technet articles. Furthermore, the pay would even be great for someone 10 years older than me who holds a degree. Even better, there's still a lot of room for my paycheck to grow. For that, I'm very thankful. I don't mean to fool you though; I started out making $9/hr at the retail store. It's been 7 years since then.

I hold these certifications, and I passed them in this order:
A+
Network+
MCTS: Vista Configuring(70-620)
CCNA
CCNA: Voice

A+, Network+ and the Microsoft cert got me about +$5000 a year. The CCNA and CCNA:Voice have been worth much more - about +$20,000 a year. I definitely plan on continuing with the Cisco certifications. I was struggling for a while trying to decide if I really wanted to continue with Cisco, or just turn to a different vendor like VMware or Microsoft. I'm really glad that I've gotten back on the Cisco track.

I have the most fun when I'm working with Cisco devices, and as I mentioned, the certs bring in big money. If I could start my career over, I would start it with Cisco certifications. I'm also slowly looking for a new place to work, but preferably with more Cisco engineers, so I can learn from them. I'm definitely not in a rush to move on. I want to make sure that the job is perfect.

I hope that helps you in your decision, or at least gave you some entertainment. No matter what, I wish you luck. Let me know if you have any questions about me or the industry and I'll try my best to answer.
 
The quick and dirty is what i need
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That's not realistic. IT has progressed a lot as a career field since the 90s. You can't just take a couple classes and expect to pull any kind of decent salary due to all the highly skilled people pulled in from overseas now.

You can always start with A+ and Net+ then progress into the more advanced and specialized certifications. Those should be able to land you something that can at least keep food on the table as you build experience.

My personal path (my first cert was around 1999) was A+, MCP, MCP+I, MCSE (1st time), MCSA, MCSE (again), CCNA, CCNP (stopped with CIT left due to workload and travel), RHCT, and now completely restarted CCNP again on the way to CCIE R&S, my near-term goal for the year. I really got my start in IT around 1994 though, it just took me a while to see the value in certifications (and for them to gain popularity and acceptance).

With a couple certs under your belt it should be pretty easy to land a tier 1-type job even though it maybe staring at a monitor all night waiting for tickets or taking calls. I'd aim for anything that gives you an opportunity to learn and grow versus doing simple tasks at some mom-and-pop location.

My $0.02.
 
As stated by people above, you really should look at getting a degree otherwise you leave yourself with a longer road to get to the place you want. The experience you speak of possessing is great but not enough to get you a "IT" job. Here's my story to possibly help.

I started as a PC tech at Circuit City when I was 16 while also attending a speciallized highschool for computers (got my CCNA, Security +, Network +, and some pre-forensics courses). Two years later in my senior year I became lead tech. After the business closed down I ran into some luck and got a contract based job as a tier 1 onsite tech and networking infastructure maintence guy (physical stuff like minimal fiber and CAT5/6). After this I picked up a spair job at Staples as a technology manager to help pay the bills.

From there I got my big break and got a job at a pharmacutical company doing serious work. They started me on helpdesk and started loading me up with huge projects. This included reconfiguring a Extreme Networking core, cisco PIX boxs, Windows 200/0/3/8 servers and managing SQL and Oracle databases.
Soon I switch to a company doing unix and networking.

One thing you have to realize is the entire time I was going to cert classes and college (NJIT). I study new technology and help on some development code and projects on my free time. You simply cant jump into this stuff quickly unless you are a brainic programmer that can program the space shuttle computers.

Go into this stuff expecting to not go far fast.
Buy computer books (I like O'Rilley alot !) and read them
Go to classes
BE PATIENT!

(my2cents)
 
It seems that certs are definitely key in this. What is a reputable school to get these certs from? Does it matter? How long do they typically take? The entry level type jobs that I would gain access to, what kind of money are we talking? Would I be better of waiting tables while I go back to college to get my degree?

Thanks,

Jerry

p.s. thanks for all of the advice, I appreciate it all.
 
From my personal experience: Getting only a degree in I.T is totally pointless... with no experience in the field, a degree is usually nothing to an employer in my area.

I live in a major US city, and only have 1 associates degree (2 year). I can easily make twice as much more money fixing computers myself than any job offer. I just have to find the business myself... meh.

Certs are there, they cost a lot out of pocket, but there's ways around to getting them cheap. Certs usually assure the employer you are trained well in that certain area, while I.T degrees are being handed out daily to any joe blow whom doesn't necessarily know a lot.

This really isn't a good time for going into IT... really. Especially with outsourcing to India... horrible... Dell pays NINETEEN (yes 19) arabs on tech support in India instead of paying for 1 american here... only because its cheaper. 19 guys instead of 1? Same exact cost for Dell.

If you ask me, finance seems to be where to go... you can basically commit crimes and get away with it by a slap on the wrist (see bail out)
 
I'm hardly in a position to offer any advice since I'm only 2nd year in a BCSc program at a local university, but definitely where you want to start is with a CompTIA A+ certification. Its the base level "I've taken a side panel off once or twice and I'm not an idiot" certification, and you can pick up the knowledge required to pass the exam just by hanging around on these forums.

More information here:
http://www.comptia.org/certifications/listed.aspx

Outside of that what you really want to do moving forward I think is just get comfortable using products that seem relevant.

In terms of the development field there's alot of fun and alot of money in web design these days. It seems like everyone is forging their own CSS these days.

edit: @luxor,
the IT pro is being out sourced, companies just aren't interested in trying to host their own apache/exchange/server2008/whatever servers locally, since its just too hard. But when stuff breaks the higher ups wants solutions in minutes, India is still, and as far as I can tell will always be, unable to provide that. The help desk industry is still huge, and as small businesses start going digital even the 5 man company is going to want an IT guy.

and in regards to my program, its funny how there's such a clear distinction these days between be IT pro and the software developer. There's MSDN and there's TechNet. It seems these days to design software we're no longer making it a prerequisite to use the previous versions of the software we're designing.
 
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An A+ can get you a Computer Technician job. You'll need to demonstrate you have a good head on your shoulder and common sense and troublehshooting skills but it looks like you have some of that.

I work with people that have only the A+ and they're doing just fine. So while it may not make your career, the growth with just an A+ isn't very much, it can get you a job and a start in the industry. From there decide where you want to go, after being exposed to it.

A $30 study guide from Amazon and $200 for the test isn't much of an investment if you want to get your feet wet.
 
Here is my experience. Being exposed to stuff is all that matters, unless you have any real world experience all certs and college degrees do is help get you in the door. Real world experience TRUMPS EVERYTHING.

I graduated college with a 4 year degree in telecommunications systems management and have a CCNA cert and it took me 10 months after college to find an entry level position at a company. I now support voip products.
 
Destonomos said:
Here is my experience. Being exposed to stuff is all that matters, unless you have any real world experience all certs and college degrees do is help get you in the door. Real world experience TRUMPS EVERYTHING.
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For getting started at an entry level point, real world experience trumps a degree. For your career and options 10 years later in the field, a college degree means a lot.

Back when I started I wondered why I bothered getting a degree, and for the first 10 years or so, salary wise, it didn't matter either. Now however, its a whole different story. I have a much wider range of opportunity on where I can take my carrer, and my rate of salary growth hasn't topped out like those of some of my non-degreed peers.

That being said, the job market in the US for IT positions that don't require a physical presence is getting tough, and the only way to stay employed for the long haul is to develop into one of the "they will fix it or make it work somehow, no matter what" types. Of course, how do you get the experience needed to get to that level of ability with most of the lower level stuff going overseas into markets that don't have the same cultural drive for excellence is the trick.

Oh, it is lunch so they left to go eat while the server is down and didn't bother handing it off to anybody. So sorry your pipeline stopped moving product. Our expected response from an American support person, it wasn't working so I worked it till it was fixed since it would affect product delivery and missed lunch, I'll leave a few minutes early if I'm not cleared for OT.
 
We very much have that mentality here at my company. If it is down and we can fix it, if it hits 5, I'll be here until it gets fixed. I also rotate "on-call" for a week at a time with the others in the department I work in.

They also bought me a personal laptop to work from home and so I can do on call stuff like i'm at the office. They also pay for my cell plan in full. We actually switched providers today. Tomorrow, I'll be getting a brand new, free iphone 3gs.
 
These threads happen weekly. Can we sticky one giant thread?

PS - I'll pull out my gloves later xphil3 <3
 
Here's xphil3 been anyway? I don't see him around these parts anymore.

Well, my career path was a bit different from everyone else as I learned by craft in the Military / USAF. I worked on computers and networking equipment while I "did my time" and working on computers in my spare time as you have done.

After my enlistment was up, I was able to land a job through a job search site for a Contracting company that had a contract with the Army. What helped me land this job was my knowledge and my security clearance that I earned in the military.

After about three years of being a contractor, I was finally picked up as a DoD Civilian employee as an I.T. Specialist. I love my job. That being said, the only certs I have are the A+, Security +, and some Unix Administrator Certificates. I don't have a degree of any kind (which I'm going back to school now) which hurts if I want to advance into a I.T. Manager position. Right now I'm 30 y/o and I feel as though I'm on the right track.

If you run out of choices you can always join the USAF and work/learn on computers or network that way.

My 2¢
 
Similar background to the OP here.
I did some computer stuff back in the Basic, Fortran and Watfive years...and then lost interest in computers when DOS was coming around.
I got back into computers in the late Win3.x days...after college, and started getting more into them as a hobby when Win95 was in its diaper years. I blame Quake1 for this. :D Learning to tweak Dos underneath, upgrade video cards, add RAM, tweak dial up connections (how I ended up at Speedguide.Net).

No formal training, landed my first job at a small software house, installing their DOS based (Clipper) point of sale/accounting package on networks, also using Artisoft LANtastic. (puke). Got big time into it..but bored at that job after a year...too "cookie cutter"..same ole-same ole.

After 1 year of doing that, after helping a friend do a 3x overnight job at a big Days Inn hotel...Artisoft network they had, plus PcAnywhere for Dos...he offered me a job, he worked at a big computer franchise. So I took a job in their break-fixit department.

Shortly after that, one of their senior engineers started having me tag along as his assistant. He did big business networks, and I got really into that..helping do server installs, rack cabinets, wide area networks, etc etc. I learned a TON, eagerly soaking up all that knowledge working under him. The company started sending me to CompTIA classes and tests too, on their dime.

Shortly after that, broadband (cable/dsl) started hitting the market more, and smaller businesses were able to dump their mess of dial up modems...with the relatively new product line of broadband routers. I started focusing more and more on these for clients, and learning Small Business Server. Kept myself self taught along the way.

That company went through a downsizing and name change...I stayed aboard.

That company then went through a big battle with the owners (both sides of one family)...I saw the writing on the wall, I had done some work with another guy from another company..did the same work as me, we both worked on a mutual client together, and got along well. His company was also going through a closing.

We'd both been doing this for long enough that we both had a large group of clients...and those clients were loyal and stayed with us...so here we are doing SMB consulting on our own.

Different stuff all the time, varied hours, no time clock punching 9-5 job, meet different people all the time, get to call your own shots on your networks, etc.

My advice....
Take the basic courses..lay a good groundwork.
SMB consulting is a huge exploading market..there's HUGE demand out there, and many little companies that do this work . Land a job at one...gain some "hands on"...and based on all the stuff you'll be doing, see which direction you want to focus on.
 
I agree with others that hands on experience is the key if your looking at client, server, and/or network support. I would start with the A+ ceritification, just pick up a book and take the test, and then try to get an entry level job. Once you get an entry level job they may pay for the other certification tests.

I followed a similar path that started with PC gaming when I was younger (10-12). Tried out various jobs after high school that ranged from welding to electronic assembly. Based on my own experience I was able to land a job as a help desk technician, beating out many of my competitors that had degrees and certs, but lacked real world experience.

I later got a degree and hold roughly 8 certs. I would be very careful putting to much in the degree and certs early with no real world experience. However, if you are looking for a software engineering possition you will need a degree.

I have been very fortunate to still be working and at a level I feel comfortable with. However, I must admit, there are things I dislike about the field.

The IT market is still flooded with people ranging from no experience to Bachelor degrees looking for entry level jobs. Your best bet would be a temp or entry level position and look for a better option while improving your education via certs and/or degrees in the process. That way you improve your entire portfolio as time progresses.

More than likely the pay will not be great, with no benefits, and no job security starting out. Those will improve the further you progress.
 
Education aside there is one thing I will say: If you just want to make $, get experience and specialize. No one is gonna give a shit if you have a degree when you hold an Oracle Master cert or something to that level. You can bet on making 100K+ with something like this.
 
Have you heard the PC Pro ads on the radio? They play constantly around here... Anyway, "Justin from PC Pro" took a six month class in his spare time and now he knows all sorts of great people and makes tons of money!!!

I work for a bank, and banks are known to not pay all that well, but we start entry level Helpdesk positions around $30k. It's not minimum wage, but you're definitely not going to be a high roller. We also have a number of very specialized apps. When I started, basically the only things that were used that I had experience with were "Windows" and "MS Office". We had Exchange, SQL, Citrix, etc. in the backend, but as for user-facing apps, everything else was some semi-custom app designed for a specific business unit. There's basically no way to come into our Helpdesk knowing about all the apps we support, short of working for a similarly-sized bank that just happened to use all the same vendors that we do. And if you knew all that, you most likely wouldn't be going for an entry-level Helpdesk position. Because there's no way to know all that, we actually tend to hire people looking more at their customer service abilities than their technical abilities. As long as the person can learn, you can teach them the technical stuff. If they can't deal with people, it's never going to work regardless of how much they know.

Myself and several other server admins started on Helpdesk and got promoted up. That works well because you get a sense for how the users see things and use the system. You learn the basics of all the apps they use and have a better understanding of how things fit together when you start working on app servers. I'm pretty sure that we'd never hire someone fresh out of school for a server admin position, regardless of what degree or certs they had. You really need to prove yourself to us, either in a lower position or at another job.

Based on that, I'm going to say that you shouldn't go to school for the next four years to get your degree and a handful of entry certs and expect to walk into a nice cushy job. Like others have said, you're probably looking more at temp stuff to entry-level Helpdesk and working your way up. Go to school, get certs, and learn on your own as you do.

FYI, I mainly handle Exchange, SQL, and some specialty app servers now. I also work with Citrix/Xen, VMware, our other specialty apps, and a number of other things. I have the ability to pick things up quickly, so I tend to get pulled in to back up others on quite a range of projects. I have no degree or certs, but I've been lucky to get into positions that I could move into very easily but which still had room for me to stretch my legs, learning new things and impressing people in the process.
 
I wish I could have gone into the armed forces, I come from an Army family and had planned to become a LRRP but went deaf in the right ear so I am no go for the service, but I guess I would not be in IT there as I don't think there are many computers in recon.

Okay, so if I go the way of certs, I guess I need to start with A+? Then what? Also what is a good brand of study guide? How about a good place to take the test, preferably cheap or better yet cheap cheap?
 
psychofunk said:
I wish I could have gone into the armed forces, I come from an Army family and had planned to become a LRRP but went deaf in the right ear so I am no go for the service, but I guess I would not be in IT there as I don't think there are many computers in recon.

Okay, so if I go the way of certs, I guess I need to start with A+? Then what? Also what is a good brand of study guide? How about a good place to take the test, preferably cheap or better yet cheap cheap?
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I guess you could take A+ then Net+, waste of $ and time IMO.
CCNA, CCNP, RHCT, RHCE would be a good start.

www.prometric.com

Cisco study books are good, tons of answers on that subject if you search the forum here.
 
I did not realize I could go straight to CCNA or the others, I thought there were a bunch of pre reqs or at least there were at the place down the street, which makes me thing maybe they are just trying to get more money out. What are some good reputable schools here in Cali, that prometric place did not have anything for California.
 
You can take the CCNA test but taking the icnd1 and 2 separately (combined gives CCNA) is probably the better choice if your new to networking. Better to really understand what your learning than try to cram for a bunch of different things. I got my net+ a few years ago and I don't think it really helped me at all so it was basically a waste of money.
 
Look into learning programming, ANSI or GNU C, C++, Assembly language. The big push is on embedded Linux programming at the moment. The position of "Systems Administrator", either Junior or Senior level, for UNIX or Linux is not as heavily outsourced. Most companies want a RHCE, computer science degree, or years of proven skills. I am currently pursuing this position, it pays up to $80k a year. You can be a Windows Systems Administrator too, but expect to get Microsoft related certifications if you do. With Linux you could just be a freelance hacker and discuss your skills, background, experiences, and knowledge.

I would say don't bother with web development, PHP, or anything like that - as it's all gone to foreigners. Unless you are REALLY good at Flash and producing really high end content, and very sophisticated code - don't bother.

I wish our nation would outlaw or penalize H1B and outsourcing so it's not very profitable for companies to do. Obama hates America though, he wants all the immigrants to seep in :)
 
The real money is in network engineering. You can end up making over 100k a year with experience and high level certs.
 
Protoform-X said:
The real money is in network engineering. You can end up making over 100k a year with experience and high level certs.
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Software developers make some serious cash, but then again it's about doing what you enjoy right? :D
 
Yeah, they make good money, but the pay rate they get capped at seems to be a lot lower than network engineers.
 
hpirs4n said:
You can take the CCNA test but taking the icnd1 and 2 separately (combined gives CCNA) is probably the better choice if your new to networking. Better to really understand what your learning than try to cram for a bunch of different things. I got my net+ a few years ago and I don't think it really helped me at all so it was basically a waste of money.
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But how do I get the understanding? Class? Books? Experience? And can you guys point me in the direction of some reputable schooling?

BTW, thanks again for all of the responses, I am working for State Farm right now and I am dying, so this is really important for me. I am currently looking at wanted ads for tech support type stuff to see if I might get a chance somewhere. All I need is one person to give me a chance and I will show them what I can do as a worker.
 
psychofunk said:
But how do I get the understanding? Class? Books? Experience? And can you guys point me in the direction of some reputable schooling?

BTW, thanks again for all of the responses, I am working for State Farm right now and I am dying, so this is really important for me. I am currently looking at wanted ads for tech support type stuff to see if I might get a chance somewhere. All I need is one person to give me a chance and I will show them what I can do as a worker.
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Find out if QualxServ(now Worldwide TechServices) does work in your area and if they need any onsite techs.

http://www.wwts.com/

I did onsite Dell repair for 2 years straight for them. There was a bit of IBM mixed in as well, but they gave the IBM contract the boot because it was horrible as were most of the clients.

You are required to take the Dell certs which they pay for but are pretty much open book since they are online and you can find all the info you need from the manuals.

I already had my A+ when I worked for them, but they did give you a certain amount of tie to get it if you didn't already have it.

It is a pretty decent way to get your foot in the door. We got one of my friend's a job with them.. He had only done a small amount of work on computers beforehand, but caught on pretty quickly.

The only drawback is there can be a lot of driving at times if you live in an area where there are a lot of smaller towns/cities strewn about. They do pay for mileage though, although not as much as the government does... and for that you can get a tax credit for the mileage that wasn't paid for.

And if you have to drive over 50 miles one way, you can get a travel bonus which when I worked there would be higher depending on how far you had to go. Farthest I went for one job was over 5 hours one way. I got a $300 bonus for that.. so not too bad.

When I worked there, base pay was $32 per job (up to 1.5 hours - past that and you could call in to get an extra job fee added which would bring it up to $64). A lot of jobs take less then an hour though... like replacing RAM, optical drives, power supplies, etc.

Unless they have changed, full-time jobs there are horrid. The pay is less and you get put on 24/7 on call sometimes.
 
I wish I could go back and change getting a 2 year Network Systems Administration. I got this degree 2 years ago, and still not working anywhere in the Networking field, so all I got is more debt. Every tech position from 94 to now, came from work experience and self teaching. To me at this moment, I got the paper as everyone instructed me in life to do, but, now it just a piece of paper on the wall. As usual, if I never worked in the field of networking, and jobs tell you to have experience, leaves you out in the cold.

I often tried to figure out the factors; Am I living in the wrong city for a two year degree? Is it because the economy is jacked up? I had one project for a month when I worked at a University, while working IT support, 4 years ago. And that was installing throughout the college, Cisco Wireless Access points, opening ports with "Putty", and doing some cable patching. A lot of good that did me in my degree field.. I currently work as a Technical Account Manager for a software security company. That my college degree still didn't get me. It was experience.. So good luck..;)
 
How about some reputable learning and test sources good here in california. the only one that was mentioned did not have anything for california? Or does it not matter?
 
See if there is a Cisco Academy near you. I went through it at a local Community College and each class only cost me $40. If that doesn't work then go buy the books that the Cisco Academy uses and 2 routers / 1 switch and have at it.

That's what I used as experience on my resume and it got me my first IT job.
 
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To the OP, pick something you love doing as a career. Don't pick a job because of the money or you think it will give you direction, you have to have direction, the rest follows. Sounds overly simple yet it's very hard for some people to grasp, including me at one point. I got into IT late as well, did it for several years and to be honest I don't enjoy it anymore. I never loved it, just enjoyed it to a certain extent and was good at it and I figured I would make decent money. I don't have the interest I used to have or the motivation to continue doing it. When that happens you fall behind and stop progressing and you just go through the motions to get a check.

Enough of my pearls of wisdom, blah, blah.

If you think you will love it or at least really enjoy it the advice handed out in this thread is good.
 
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number69 said:
To the OP, pick something you love doing as a career. Don't pick a job because of the money or you think it will give you direction, you have to have direction, the rest follows. Sounds overly simple yet it's very hard for some people to grasp, including me at one point. I got into IT late as well, did it for several years and to be honest I don't enjoy it anymore. I never loved it, just enjoyed it to a certain extent and was good at it and I figured I would make decent money. I don't have the interest I used to have or the motivation to continue doing it. When that happens you fall behind and stop progressing and you just go through the motions to get a check.

Enough of my pearls of wisdom, blah, blah.

If you think you will love it or at least really enjoy it the advice handed out in this thread is good.
Click to expand...

The problem is my love is engineering which is about 4 years out for me. I still plan to do it but need something to carry me that I will enjoy and can make money at.
 
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