help me change careers?

W

wadec22

2[H]4U
Joined
Jul 26, 2005
Messages
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I noticed a lot of good feedback for another user asking about degrees, so I thought you guys could maybe help me out.

I graduated in '03 with a BBA in Management in Information Systems. However, two years into my schooling, I was offered an amazing promo at my retail work place. I finished out my degree while working at the new postion. Anyway, I stuck with the retail position even though I have a degree in IS.

I recently saw an opening about 50min from where I live:
http://www.eastriver.coop/careers/descriptions/it_analyst.pdf

There are not a lot of these positions around my location. Looking back on things I think I may have gone the wrong direction. I really wish I worked with computers everyday. So, onto my questions:

- Any idea what kind of questions I can expect their focus areas to be?
- Anyone have any advice based on what they do for a living?
- I know there are many factors (area of country, companies, experience, etc.) but does anyone have ANY idea what a position like this MIGHT pay?

I am about to turn 27 and I want to make sure I do the right thing before it's too late! Thanks for any advice or info guys!
 
To answer your questions:

- Not really, my guess is that most first interviews will be more focused on your previous experience and more general topics with a high-level look at your technical qualifications, the second interview would be where they get into more technical questions, which would be determined by the type of equipment they use and the skills they are looking for.
- Experience is key. Even if it was an internship when you were in school or something you did for free it matters. To me it sounds like this may be your weak spot, if so you need to push the fact that you're a team player, self-starter, willing to learn, etc (you are, aren't you? ;))
- You said it yourself, there are too many factors to answer that with any degree of certainty. Based on the area of the country it shows they service, maybe around 40k, depending again on the specific skill-set they are looking for.

My advice to you, and anyone else looking to switch careers into IT is this: be prepared to start at the bottom. Almost without fail you will have to end up doing help desk type support first before you can progress upwards. If you can find a company that has those opportunities internally that makes it that much easier for you. The vast majority of degree's don't properly prepare you for more advanced technical positions so even with a degree you may get an interview but it's going to be tough going to land the job.

I don't want to rain on your parade, just give you a bit of insight into what you're looking to head into.

Good luck.
 
wadec22 said:
I noticed a lot of good feedback for another user asking about degrees, so I thought you guys could maybe help me out.

I graduated in '03 with a BBA in Management in Information Systems. However, two years into my schooling, I was offered an amazing promo at my retail work place. I finished out my degree while working at the new postion. Anyway, I stuck with the retail position even though I have a degree in IS.

I recently saw an opening about 50min from where I live:
http://www.eastriver.coop/careers/descriptions/it_analyst.pdf

There are not a lot of these positions around my location. Looking back on things I think I may have gone the wrong direction. I really wish I worked with computers everyday. So, onto my questions:

- Any idea what kind of questions I can expect their focus areas to be?
- Anyone have any advice based on what they do for a living?
- I know there are many factors (area of country, companies, experience, etc.) but does anyone have ANY idea what a position like this MIGHT pay?

I am about to turn 27 and I want to make sure I do the right thing before it's too late! Thanks for any advice or info guys!
Click to expand...

What is your training in networking systems and infrastructure? (ie taken any cisco classes, have certs, etc?) I would look for the candidate to have strong networking skills and possibly some programming experience as an indicator of their software troubleshooting abilities.
What experience do you have in a technical environment? If you have some good stories to go with this one, it will make it a long way and give a great impression.
As far as pay goes, I'm not familiar with the area of the country, but I would expect a base salary anywhere around 35-45 around here (rust belt).
 
StarTrek4U said:
To answer your questions:

- Not really, my guess is that most first interviews will be more focused on your previous experience and more general topics with a high-level look at your technical qualifications, the second interview would be where they get into more technical questions, which would be determined by the type of equipment they use and the skills they are looking for.
- Experience is key. Even if it was an internship when you were in school or something you did for free it matters. To me it sounds like this may be your weak spot, if so you need to push the fact that you're a team player, self-starter, willing to learn, etc (you are, aren't you? ;))
- You said it yourself, there are too many factors to answer that with any degree of certainty. Based on the area of the country it shows they service, maybe around 40k, depending again on the specific skill-set they are looking for.

My advice to you, and anyone else looking to switch careers into IT is this: be prepared to start at the bottom. Almost without fail you will have to end up doing help desk type support first before you can progress upwards. If you can find a company that has those opportunities internally that makes it that much easier for you. The vast majority of degree's don't properly prepare you for more advanced technical positions so even with a degree you may get an interview but it's going to be tough going to land the job.

I don't want to rain on your parade, just give you a bit of insight into what you're looking to head into.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Nice post, agree pretty much 100%.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. At least now I have a better idea of what to expect.
 
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