What do I need to get a tech job?

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nighthawk101

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 20, 2004
Messages
137
I realize this is a very basic question, but I would just like a direct answer to this and some advice, if you have it. I've been going to school working on a history degree for over 3 years now and Ive decided its just not for me. Im not enjoying it and I dont want to do anything in the history field.
I would like some sort of tech job but dont know exactly what certs or anything that I would need. What is a good starting point and how long does it take to get that cert? In addition, what type of job opportunities would I be looking at with those certs?

Thanks!
 
I"ll let the more experienced and trained guys fully answer you questions but I will say this from my own experience:

Be prepared to start as a lowly tech in the back room cleaning up spyware and viruses on mom and pop computers and slowly working your way up. And certainly don't expect to get paid decently until you have a few years of experience under your belt and/or certifications.
 
lowly tech cleaning up stuff on mom and pop computers as in I will have to do that for a while before I will get hired to do anything? Or I can work somewhere and will have to start with BS jobs for a while?
 
nighthawk101 said:
Or I can work somewhere and will have to start with BS jobs for a while?
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Hit the nail on the head!

The question is far from simple IMO. What do you define as a "tech job?" Technical Support? Network Administrator? Programmer? Website Developer?

Regardless of how YOU define "tech job," you need aptitude and the ability to follow instructions when on the ground floor. You need to be able to accept the idea that sometimes, your boss or customer may not know what they are doing / talking about, and until YOU prove to them that they can trust your judgment, you need to do what you are told for your boss or constantly hold back smart-ass comments to your customers.

There are just so many different ways to get a foot into the door in this field, but almost all of them revolve around knowing someone or being noticed. A resume can get you looked at, but unless you stand out or your name has been dropped, it can be difficult.

Also, depending on the type of job you are going for, don't pad( You never should anyways ) your resume unless you want to take responsibility for your actions if you irreparably damage something your resume says you should be able to handle. ;)
 
Personally, I'd start looking at entry level, level 1 type jobs (answering phones, helpdesk stuff), as those are probably your best bet. They're 'good' starting points and hopefully you'll be able to decide where in IT you'd like to venture into. If you're new, I'd look at A+, Net+, etc to get started. Yeah I'm sure people will spew that those won't get you anywhere, but if you're new they'll help you build a foundation coupled with level 1 helpdesk work and they're not too difficult to obtain fairly quickly.

When we hire people, we want people that have a hunger to learn. We'll teach you everything you need to know, but desire to learn goes a long way and is all attitude without experience. If you can show you're willing to learn, some place might take a chance.
 
Also if there is a place you woudl like to work and you dont qualify for th eposition you want ...maybe they have somethign else tere that you do qualify for. My point is that once you get into a company it is easier to get the job you want after you have been there a while. Character goes a long way.:cool:
 
I guess this is the main thing I dont understand. Again, I know this is a n00b question, but where do you get hired? Haha I know thats retarded. But I mean, obviously some places dont need any IT people. When you are looking for an IT job, do you normally start looking at a small company who needs help maintaining their computers or what? Again, thanks for all the help.
 
Inacurate said:
Hit the nail on the head!

The question is far from simple IMO. What do you define as a "tech job?" Technical Support? Network Administrator? Programmer? Website Developer?
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Any of those would be great. I would mostly look at tech support, web developer or network admin though.
 
nighthawk101 said:
I guess this is the main thing I dont understand. Again, I know this is a n00b question, but where do you get hired? Haha I know thats retarded. But I mean, obviously some places dont need any IT people. When you are looking for an IT job, do you normally start looking at a small company who needs help maintaining their computers or what? Again, thanks for all the help.
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Here's a place to start.

I'm not sure of your location but you can refine it. http://seeker.dice.com/jobsearch/se...&FREE_TEXT=helpdesk+level+1&Ntx=mode+matchall
 
Is that the best rout to go? A helpdesk job and then move up? In addition, are certs normally needed for a helpdesk job or do they teach you all you need to know there?
 
I think a helpdesk/tech support job is a great place to start. You get to learn not only technical skills, but also the people skills that have to go along with being in the IT industry. Any big job site like Dice, Monster, CareerBuilder, etc.. will have jobs like this listed. Better if you are in a bigger metro-style city. Where are you located? If you're in the Round Rock/Austin area, I can maybe lead you in the right direction of those kinds of jobs. State agencies also need helpdesk folks, so that's something to look into for safe/stable employment.

Also, look for small mom/pop computer shops. I did some of that too along with tech support, and i'm glad I did. They pay/hours won't be good at most mom/pop computer shops, but it's a step in the door for the future.
 
Ha, yeah being in a bigger metro area would help. No where near the Austin area, although that would have been great to get some help. Im in Lexington, KY.
 
I was doing office assistant work out of college. A good friend of mine hooked me up with a job as a field IT technician. My friend knew the boss at that small IT company. I ran around through out the city, but I gained really good experience. I left after about 2 years and move on to a bigger place supporting in house users of about 300. I oversee 3 offices with my co-worker. We maintain both the servers and desktops. You are going for a degree in History eh? Guess what? I have a degree in Poli Sci. Sometimes you get lucky and happen to know a few folks to get your foot in the door. As for looking for IT jobs, try craigslist. I see quite a few jobs available even in this bad economy.
 
I got into computers with no formal training at first. I started getting seriously into computers as a hobby, upgrading, building, etc. A small software company that made point of sale/accounting software was looking for a tech to install their software on PCs and ship out turnkey networks. In the advertisement...."Experience preferred, but willing to train the right person" I took the second half of that sentence to heart....as I felt I was the right person, I had no computer training (coming from the law enforcement field)

Starting pay was low...but I knew it would have to be. I hit the job hard...at my one year anniversary they gave me a 20% pay raise. Only....on that very week I had accepted a job at a national computer chain..so gave my notice.

At this second job....I started out working back in the service area...where customers brought in their PCs for repair, and new orders came in...building PCs for people, helping image workstations for their big business deployments....and starting to help the senior engineers build servers.

The senior engineers had a need for assistance on some of their bigger jobs...so I tagged along...gaining experience in business networks...and it went on from there...pretty soon was out on the road full time...everything went up from there.
 
nighthawk101 said:
I guess this is the main thing I dont understand. Again, I know this is a n00b question, but where do you get hired? Haha I know thats retarded. But I mean, obviously some places dont need any IT people. When you are looking for an IT job, do you normally start looking at a small company who needs help maintaining their computers or what? Again, thanks for all the help.
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It really depends. It's going to be hard getting into any positions that is going to give you a ton of exposure... unless of course you worked for me, which would put you on the fast track (minus the pay, lol).

What you want to do is look at any jobs out there that offers some form of IT, take the job, suck it up, and if you do good and you show ambition, most likley the company will promote you when the next position opens up... or it might just open more doors for other careers.
 
So basically places like dice or monster are the places to like for low level IT jobs? Have you all found that have an a+ certification or net+ cert helps at all or do most low level it jobs train you on the spot?
 
Persistence is key. I'm a system/network administrator (one of three) for a medium sized business now (250 people). When I was hired, I had no real IT experience on paper and no certifications to my name. Just don't give up and you'll eventually land a job somewhere.
 
nighthawk101 said:
So basically places like dice or monster are the places to like for low level IT jobs? Have you all found that have an a+ certification or net+ cert helps at all or do most low level it jobs train you on the spot?
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Real world experience will give you an advantage over an A+ cert. Don't get me wrong though. Get all the certs you can. Some folks are book smart and can pass tests easily, but does that really mean they can perform well at the job?
 
nighthawk101 said:
So basically places like dice or monster are the places to like for low level IT jobs? Have you all found that have an a+ certification or net+ cert helps at all or do most low level it jobs train you on the spot?
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Willingness to learn is probably the best key point.

And yes, Dice, Monster, Newspapers,etc are all good places to look for starting jobs.

Your higher-level jobs working with the bigger production stuff (servers, etc) tend to be not advertised in the "lowly" medias. That's when networking comes into play, and how folks get into those jobs.
It's really 10% knowledge and 90% who you know. Sucks, I know, but if you've got people skills it helps you out alot. You could be the smartest guy in the world but a jackass to employees/customers, and be stuck doing back-closet work.
 
TechieSooner said:
It's really 10% knowledge and 90% who you know. Sucks, I know, but if you've got people skills it helps you out alot. You could be the smartest guy in the world but a jackass to employees/customers, and be stuck doing back-closet work.
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Definitely the most important part.
 
Great... who you know. Ha. That = zero people in the IT field. Alright, well I guess I'll have to start asking around a lot then.
 
You could post where you live and see if anyone would like to meet with you and talk about it. There's a ton of people on this forum!

If you're in the Phoenix area I'd love to grab a beer and talk about the help desk or network engineering field.
 
nighthawk101 said:
So basically places like dice or monster are the places to like for low level IT jobs? Have you all found that have an a+ certification or net+ cert helps at all or do most low level it jobs train you on the spot?
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It depends specifically what area you are looking for. Larger "corporate" places...yes. But local smaller businesses.....in the newspaper, or just walking into places and dropping off a resume, is what works.

Need to really find an "area" of IT that you want to get into though...and begin your path from there.

One area that is absolutely EXPLOADING in demand, (and has been for many years now)...is small business network consulting. There are tons of places that do that sort of VAR/consulting for small businesses...and we're swamped! I can drive around town and pass half a dozen of those rivals within 10 minutes.

What we do, SMB consulting, is provide IT services for small to medium businesses. The target client is a business that has from 10 - 100 PCs onsite...large enough to warrant a server, but small enough of a business that they don't have their own in-house IT staff.
 
One thing I haven't seen anybody say, but is absolutely essential, is you have to have people skills. You need to be able to talk to people and understand what they are telling you, and you need to be able to communicate back what you are going to do ( and that you understood them ).

I have seen some of the most technically skilled technicians spend hours doing the wrong thing, pissing everyone off in the process, because they didn't take the time to talk to the customer/client/user.

Another skill I'd begin fostering now is that of documenting your work. All the skill in the world means nothing to the next guy who has to clean up after you. Again, a high degree of skill means nothing if you don't follow through with the boring part of the work.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
One area that is absolutely EXPLOADING in demand, (and has been for many years now)...is small business network consulting. There are tons of places that do that sort of VAR/consulting for small businesses...and we're swamped! I can drive around town and pass half a dozen of those rivals within 10 minutes.

What we do, SMB consulting, is provide IT services for small to medium businesses. The target client is a business that has from 10 - 100 PCs onsite...large enough to warrant a server, but small enough of a business that they don't have their own in-house IT staff.
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↑ This.


To the OP: If you have some PC skills (which I assume since you're on [H] ), can learn some networking, learn the basics of Windows Server or Linux, and have good customer skills, you can do well.

Need practice first? Volunteer to help out a church with their small network. They usually can't pay anyway, but the experience will be good. You can then put it on your resume.
 
Glad you are coming to your senses... History... There are 2 history graduates in our customer service department making 25k/year... Not really a high paying degree.
 
XOR != OR said:
One thing I haven't seen anybody say, but is absolutely essential, is you have to have people skills. You need to be able to talk to people and understand what they are telling you, and you need to be able to communicate back what you are going to do ( and that you understood them ).

I have seen some of the most technically skilled technicians spend hours doing the wrong thing, pissing everyone off in the process, because they didn't take the time to talk to the customer/client/user.

Another skill I'd begin fostering now is that of documenting your work. All the skill in the world means nothing to the next guy who has to clean up after you. Again, a high degree of skill means nothing if you don't follow through with the boring part of the work.
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Hey, I said something like it!! :D I just didn't spell it all out like that...but yes, what you said makes a lot more sense than what I said, which is a perfect example of how differences in communicating can mean a world of difference.

Another piece of advice to take away from this nighthawk, see how I'm not harping on XOR about repeating what I said, in an easier to understand way? Communication is key, but so is learning. I looked at their post and realized what was said, is what I was thinking about and trying to relay across to you. I learned from it.

You never ever want to stop being open to learning from ANY source, regardless of their abilities, background, job performance or ethics. Even the person who performs the worst there are things you can learn from then. How NOT to do something, how not to say something.

Always be aware of what is going on!
 
What you need is your head examined. Tech is gonna take a hit with the shit economy. My advice? Go be a nurse!
 
Tech will not be going away unless it somehow becomes obsolete, and I don't think that self-healing is going to happen anytime soon. Companies need tech. Yeah, there are layoffs, but there's still places hiring too. You just have to try hard to get them.
 
mryerse said:
Tech will not be going away unless it somehow becomes obsolete, and I don't think that self-healing is going to happen anytime soon. Companies need tech. Yeah, there are layoffs, but there's still places hiring too. You just have to try hard to get them.
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For sure. I'm graduating from college next may with a BS in Telecommunications Systems Management and I also plan to take the CCNA and get that before I graduate. There are a ton of places hiring right now.
 
Nasty_Savage said:
What you need is your head examined. Tech is gonna take a hit with the shit economy. My advice? Go be a nurse!
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Depends on what area of IT you're in....to be honest....we're busier than ever in the SMB consulting niche. The past 2 months we're pumping out more new servers and workstations than the prior 10 months of the year combined. Actually I think the past 2 months have been the busiest 2 months in at least 3 years. I don't like it this busy. My paycheck does, but I don't...I'm old, I'm not into 60 hour weeks anymore.

I heard the economy is bad out there, and I'm going to be losing a couple of hundred thousand dollars in selling my old home (if I can get it sold)..since moving to where I am now, but business wise...we in SMB are flat out as ever.
 
What's a good way to get into SMB? I've been in corporate for about 10 years now and would like to work closer to home, maybe run my own gig or have a partner. Seems like a lot of work and that it would take time and investments I don't have.
 
Damn, it would be great if you all were in my area, but everyone seems like they are on the other side of the country. Is anyone in the Lexington, KY area?
 
nighthawk101 said:
Damn, it would be great if you all were in my area, but everyone seems like they are on the other side of the country. Is anyone in the Lexington, KY area?
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I'm thinking the same thing... I don't know of any consultants like those here on this board!
 
mryerse said:
What's a good way to get into SMB? I've been in corporate for about 10 years now and would like to work closer to home, maybe run my own gig or have a partner. Seems like a lot of work and that it would take time and investments I don't have.
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Drive around town, look around, hit the yellow pages...there are many around. Go in and talk to someone there..tell them you're wanting to get into this niche...as if they're hiring. It may take 6 months or a year or so...just keep trying.

I can pass several driving from my home to my office....a 10 minute drive. It's an absolutely booming IT niche....just think about it, look around as you drive around. See all those small - medium businesses out there? Real estate firms, accounting firms, law firms, yacht brokers, country clubs, small manufacturing firms, healthcare agencies, non-profit organizations, physical therapy offices, engineering firms, architect firms, electrical companies, gas/oil companies,....every type of small - medium business out there which has at least several computers to say...75 - 100 computers...they need someone to help make their PCs run, setup stuff, email, remote access, servers, etc.

There's a kajillion small businesses out there, you can see that as you drive around. They all have computers, and all need their computers to run. They need someone to help them with this.

This is one niche of IT that is not being hit by the economy as hard as others. To be honest...we're busier than ever. I have too much to do. Last week, as we're swamped with other server installs, I just got asked to quote 2x more server jobs.
 
nighthawk101 said:
Damn, it would be great if you all were in my area, but everyone seems like they are on the other side of the country. Is anyone in the Lexington, KY area?
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Nighthawk, I know its the otherside of the state but I work in Paducah, KY right now as email tech support for POP3, Exchange, and Blackberrys at CSI (computer services inc.).
 
Nasty_Savage said:
What you need is your head examined. Tech is gonna take a hit with the shit economy. My advice? Go be a nurse!
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I'd disagree, it depends on the area. My business is exploding.


Anyways, for the Nurse comment, Nursing is still one of the best career moves a person can make in terms of job stability. It's just that the hours suck for the first couple of years. At least the government pays you for all your education and finding a job takes hours.
 
Ockie said:
I'd disagree, it depends on the area. My business is exploding.


Anyways, for the Nurse comment, Nursing is still one of the best career moves a person can make in terms of job stability. It's just that the hours suck for the first couple of years. At least the government pays you for all your education and finding a job takes hours.
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From what I'm told by recent graduates, this is not longer true. A hospital in SF, for example, posted an opening for two positions and literally had 2000 people apply from all over the country.

That's not the sign of a healthy job market.
 
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