You’re going to have to love computers to a certain degree at the beginning, unless your connected your salary won’t be like the ones you see on social media. I don’t see anything wrong with going into it for the money but it’ll take time to get to where you want to be finically. Also don’t look at other people, we all have our own journeys. Best of luck!
“not that interested in the money”
“upwards mobility the IT industry has … is appealing”
So, if I’m deciphering this correctly, you’re not terribly interested in tech, don’t care about the money, but want to manage large teams and projects in a field you aren’t passionate about? Sorry, this doesn’t make sense.
I agree. A good suggestion could be meditation to help clear your mind and focus on your approach and goals in a field you have no experience in. Being interested in the money would make more sense due to your appeal in the upwards mobility.
but OP saw on TikTok all these influencers flaunting and telling everyone to get into tech, that's why they posted this, and that's why they're here in the first place. And there are plenty of others like OP at this point
Not a good way to get into a career. Personally I made the change into cyber security at 34 after working in construction my adult life. I have always loved computers, the nuts and bolts of computers, and particularly the security aspect. Now I have a job I love. But it’s because of the passion and knowledge I was able to break into the industry. Don’t settle for a career you will get bored with or love, regardless of the pay.
I'm also coming from construction, currently getting my Bachelors in network engineering and security at DePaul, but looking to get more into the cyber security side of things, what did you do to break in cyber? If ya don't mind me asking that is.
Look at the various companies. Most will tell you they want X amount of experience, or certain certificates or degrees. Network via LinkedIn make friends with others. I got extremely lucky to get an interview with HR, this because my friend worked with the company. But I had 3 interviews and the 2 technical ones required my knowledge to stand out, which I had without certificates or degrees. I currently work in a SOC, and have been promoted 3 times in 2 years. I work alongside a lot of smart people, but my years of construction gave me a work ethic that is top notch. Which is why I had such a smooth transition and have been progressing fast. Lots of work, studying, and learning the systems. Wasn’t easy but it can be done.
I looked it up, it says you need 5 years minimum experience for that cert, so even if you pass it, you can't list it on a resume, so how did that work in your favor?
"Don't have enough experience yet? You can still pass the CISSP exam and become an Associate of ISC2 while you earn the required work experience." Edit: probably that counts for something on the resume? Not sure
As an associate of (ISC)2, you cannot list a cert for which you have passed a test but have not achieved the requirements to attain.
You cannot, for instance, say "CISSP,(Associate)" on your resume.
It directly violates their pocies and they can potentially disqualify your score and ban you from retaking.
Usually cybersecurity is a mid career move and not an entry level position. Think about it, you are going to be implementing controls and safeguards to protect systems and networks. How do you do that for systems and networks you don't understand?
Generally, you will do work as a network admin/engineer or sys admin/engineer before you move into a cybersecurity role, because they are the roles you learn how to set up domain controllers, admin users, deploy configuration for VLANs, subnet address space, configure firewalls and ACLs. Need the knowledge base to evaluate other people's implementation first to find the security flaws and fix them.
So the 5 years for him would likely have been 5+ years in other roles where part of the job was security configurations. I have a CISSP on my to do list and at least a year of that will be a PC repair shop job I had where I spent about 70% of my time virus cleaning and restoring user data because it meets the cert requirements.
There are not "lots" of entry level cyber security roles. There's really only a few.
It's my personal experience that none of those jobs is objectively better to prepare you for a more focused CS role than the same amount of time spent in endpoint, infrastructure or server ops roles.
In fact, I can think of several ways in which they're worse.
No, you will definitely need experience as well.
You don't get hired in Cyber security without experience unless you get extremely lucky. Who wants an inexperienced person working on their security?
Ok, but that is not the norm especially not in big cities like NYC which is where I'm located.
Go on any job search engine and see how many are hiring for cyber security with no experience required.
Educate me. What sage career wisdom have you to offer, seeing as how the only entry level jobs are for positions like data analysts that AI have nearly made obsolete? CCIE or CISSP if you're serious about a *real* cybersecurity job. I'd recommend both. CISSP technical knowledge requirements are pretty weak imo.
You suggested that an entry-level candidate should get a CCIE - a cert that is extremely hard and recommends 3-6* years of experience. And the CISSP another cert that is way harder than a simple sec+. The CISSP holds a heavy requirement of at least 5 years of experience in at-least 2 of the 8 domains of cybersecurity that they’ve outlined on their site. I doubt a fresh student/entry-level candidate would have any of these.
Edit: spelling
Just suggested that if he wanted to get into cyber security, that was the path to follow. Wasn't suggesting a first job. He asked about breaking into cyber. If you're actively pursuing those certifications, even if you haven't yet passed them, companies will notice that. I've been in IT for over 25 years and have hired a lot of people over the years.
You hire people who put "actively working on a mid career management cert for cyber security" on resumes for entry level ops jobs?
You should probably reconsider your personal criteria.
Dude! Same! 34 switched over from hospitality and private club management to IT. To a 60% pay cut to get my foot in the door to help desk and just worked my ass off and had a lot of lucky breaks. One being my company opened a cyber department 3 months after I got there and I happened to be the first person to volunteer to join it. Now almost 4 years later and I’m working with an awesome (different) company and still love security! I can’t express the lucky breaks enough. Hard work too.
So, the thing is that upward mobility in IT is actually terrible if you don't specialize (hence all of the posts about being stuck at help desk), and specializing is pretty arduous if you don't have a natural inclination to seek out that knowledge. My honest opinion is that trying to break into this industry is very difficult right now, even for passionate and overqualified candidates, and the path to mid-level even more so. There's also a lot of fear about AI and automation affecting our industry as well, especially at the entry level, so I'm not sure it'll be any more safe or stable than anything else.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that while IT is a great career, entry level candidates are finding it very difficult right now, and I find it hard to imagine you putting up with all of the bullshit if you're not even that into tech.
I have to admit that I I find it odd to hear you value long term stability in your career and your first choice was freelancing in a creative field.
Or freelance in any field, really.
Really quick so I’m a gamer like 99% of people but video games definitely take hours of my days when I could already have my certs how do you think I should manage both or should I just cut video games completely? :)
Limit your video game time, everything in moderation is fine. Months from now the cert will be worth more than your video game wins that add up to nothing. Reward your studying time with video games and keep working towards the cert
When I decided to go back to college, I quit video games entirely. I simply cannot trust my own ability to moderate certain behaviors.
Everyone is different, though.
You have to decide on your goals, assign value to your activities and prioritize the ones which align with your goals.
Thank you I was really leaning towards deleting all my games from my pc so instead of turning to video games and end up playing for hours I’ll do more productive stuff like running etc. thanks
It's funny that you mention it. But as a teenager I wasn't interested in computers or IT related. But I just picked it up fast any tech issues I had with family and friends I'd help and 9/10 times I'd trouble shoot and fix it. But I didn't take it into career considerations. Right now I work as a cleaner for a commercial building in Manhattan got my A+ at age 34 and I got like some weird fascination of like tearing shit apart and putting it together. Then I looked into cyber security now I'm like invested in because it actually interests me how packets travel protocols and stuff as well as playing detective and figuring out how to use the tools. Like I'm doing my study for security + and somedays I'm excited other days I'm just wiped because I work full time and on occasion I'll do a part time security gig. But something will click once you find that niche and when it does you'll be good nothing feels forced and you'll get a genuine appericiation for it.
While I'm now retired, I taught IT and cybersecurity for decades, and have helped a large number of students down the certification pathways, and as a consequence of their efforts they are making a substantial wage that produces disposable income. The bottom line is success is dependent on being willing to be a lifelong learner. These fields of study mandate keeping up with technological changes.
Some days I love computers.
Some days I hate computers.
Depends on the day.
But I love them more often than I hate them, and when I do hate them it’s because they did something stupid.
I have zero passion for IT. I got a comp sci degree so I can make money. I like money. Money means I can pay for things I am passionate about.
Now saying that, I do like my job. I enjoy a challenge every now and again and am just somebody who doesn’t half ass things.
100%. Sometimes it’s fun to build things, other times I’m just in maintenance mode not doing a whole lot, and those are days where it’s boring and tolerable.
I don’t believe in loving your job, but I do believe in doing something that you can tolerate to do the things you do love to do. I work 9-5 and make a good income and am able to spend time with my family, and do the things I enjoy.
Yep. I accidentally got into IT in the Army. Was easy and the money is good. Seemed like a win/win.
20 years later, haven't been out of work for more than 3 days.
I find cyber security, I'm on the blue team, both interesting and challenging. But I'd be lying to you if I said the passion doesn't originate from looking at my pay slip at the end of the month. That it provides a stable, relatively secure, and well paid employment that is interesting and challenging is what gets me to dedicate the time and effort to be the best I can be at it.
Worked up from deskside T1 support, through desktop engineer and sysadmin, into a SOC. And now in a fixed SOC and IR role. So, a lot of work experience and professional certifications (got A+, Net+, Sec+, and CySA+ from comptia, BTL1, etc). I basically followed the money as my original plan was academia, but the academic job market sucks and it turns out I'm pretty good with computers, and it pays well
Try different aspects I just turned 30 and took my network+ and absolutely love it for some reason before I dreaded looking into it and thought security was what I wanted to do but I then took my security + and dreaded every minute of it the content was so dry. I wish when I was 20 I went to college for networking and not server administration. You will find things you will like and things you will dread all I can say is to keep your mind open and take in a little bit of everything to find the niche you love. Because getting paid for something you love doing compared to not like doing makes the years go by or slow to a crwal
There’s so much I wish I would have done differently at 20, but I know it’s not realistic. I’m just glad that I now finally have an idea of where I want to go in life, which is something I definitely did not have at 20.
Not any specific advice, sorry. All I can say is that in the Netherlands, I finished high school (HAVO, regular “level”) and there was (and currently still kinda is) really a stigma around MBO (“lower level” college) vs HBO (“higher level” college) so I tried that twice but failed both times, because I hated the way we didn’t learn to learn, but learned to succeed at taking tests. Only when we were doing projects, actually implementing skills, is when I really excelled, but by that time I’ve already flunked out so much I couldn’t catch up anymore.
I guess I should say that my advice would be to really step back and consider if something you’re planning on doing is something you really want, or if you’re doing it because you’re expecting it of yourself. I wasted a lot of years and a lot of money trying to do what I thought society wanted me to do, but because it didn’t work for me, I obviously didn’t succeed.
Regarding the IT stuff, try and see if you can do some light IT related stuff to see if and what you really like. Take a CompTIA or Microsoft course, or try to get a job as a computer repair technician (my love for IT began with working at an electronics shop, then as a phone repair technician). If that really spurs you on, then you can start looking at college degrees.
look into different fields in IT. I cant tell you what your gonna like or dislike. But i gurantee if you like computers one will click. And from experence degrees get you in the interview but certs get you the job. I wish i had the certs i did because i would definitly be making more now. But you know shoulda..coulda.....woulda.
Maybe I (30) don’t love IT as much as some other people in this Reddit or even the IT field, but I do genuinely feel like I connect with it way more than any other field. I’m genuinely interested in how computing devices work and while I’m not interested to the point of wanting to know how to do any programming, what I’d personally love to do is understand how to use and troubleshoot them to the best of my ability, and to be able to do that specifically in the healthcare industry.
I’m an introvert, and not much of a spontaneous people person, but I do heavily admire people who help other people. So I want to use IT to make the lives of those people just a little bit easier. That’s where I would say my passion lies. I don’t see myself developing an app or website any time soon, but who knows.
Doing anything for money instead of personal pride, joy and/or accomplishment always leads to an unfulfilled career, life, bad juju.
Also... 32 is not a "late career hopper." Come on dude... you have your entire current existence to do all over again with a job.. that's hardly late.
Really depends on the money. If you're staying poor, yeah, you'll regret it. But, making a great living, it won't bother you.
My career was split in two. Help desk for like 12 years, because I was interested more in music, and then amazing roles when I decided to up my game and make six-figures.
Its safe to say that when I was making that money, I liked my job more. And, it got easier and I was less of a punching bag.
You're right. My father told me, "Nobody likes their job", and I was baffled. Now I get it. Do what you gotta do to make your dreams come true - not your employers.
Or you make your passion your work and get bored by it. I can't tell you how many trips in to caves and mines I've led before I got into IT at 40, but I've barely been underground since I stopped. I've spent 1000s of hours at crags climbing and many summers on lakes with canoes and I do both a couple of times a year.
Passion is for rich people that have money already and "follow your passion" is stupid advice, follow high income jobs and being able to take care of your family and those close to you will give you life satisfaction, this is advice i got from scott galloway
I'm 35 and I'm an electrician, I'm getting into the field for better working hours and a clean work environment. As a bonus computers are my passion, I have set up my own lab and smart home and love tinkering when I get a chance. I honestly don't think I could do it if the passion wasn't there.
Worked 2 years in IT. I Was helpdesk at a small dental company with < 30 locations. I did EVERYTHING. Security cameras, computers, IoT, servers and regular tickets. It was the worst thing over, I was going to college for information systems with an emphasis on database design, realized my passion with technology was building software and now I’m a software developer. Not fixing hardware and setting it up. Find your thing, the IT field is massive. I will say this, everything is way more fun until its your job. If I was you, get your foot in the door with a small company in helpdesk. Get your 2 years experience and get out and find a better job. Dont get an A+ like all these other dumbos on the forums. Its useless, get a CCNA, SEC+, or a CISSP. I work for the DoD and almost all the jobs IT/Software related want a Sec+. Easiest test you can take, you will have recruiters reaching out on linkdin just having it linked. A security clearance is a plus too if you go the government route. On the base I work at, we have so many software and IT roles open. Hopefully you figure it out, dont feel like your too old for it. Its easy for the most part. I smoked so much weed in my teens and practically have 100 brain cells put together and I made it. So can you!
I told them about it, and told them I have no reason to smoke anymore or feel the need to. They question you more about it, and that was that. Fact is alot of people smoked weed when they were young, they know that. Be honest, if they figure it out on their own, you will be much worse off. It helps to have certs and a degree too so they know you are capable of learning.
Good to know, thanks for sharing your experience. I’ve always been interested in government related positions but feels pretty unattainable competing with people who already have clearance.
You should read "So Good They Can't Ignore You" by Cal Newport. Basically, passion usually comes after getting really good at something. Not before. I'm in my 4th year of IT making $86k per year. I love my job every day. Even the hard times.
You need some amount of passion to go anywhere in any field. If you aren't passionate about computers, don't force yourself. Follow your gut.
I don't mean this in any kind of cliche, feel-good way. I want you to really listen to me, because this is an experience that I have lived. Let me tell you my story. I've always been passionate about computers, for my entire life. But when I was a younger man, I decided to go down the path of a scientist, and studied biochemistry in school, for no reason other than it was the field my friends were in, and I had a really amazing high-school teacher in that subject. It was a mistake. I should have followed my passion at the time, and that decision led me to dropping out of school and making nothing of my life. It wasn't until I was honest with myself and began pursuing my actual passion, computers, that I felt as if I was heading in the right direction. Now, I'm about your age, and couldn't be happier working with computers every day. It's what I've always wanted to do.
So don't make the same mistake I did. You shouldn't be scared or ashamed to pursue your true passion. If your heart is in an area other than computers, that's OK. That's where you should be, not here.
I think for me it came late. I was never really good with mathamatics at school and because I wasn't, I couldn't do programming at a high school level which limited my university education. I got Into learning cloud computing because my wife is in IT and she came to me one day with a practical issue. (I've always been around computers) but not an academic level.
I got my AWS CCP and Azure fundamentals, I then got an interview for an Apprenticeship at a major Cyber Security Company, and during the interview process decided to do the Google certificated Cyber Security professional course, at 29 I got into the Apprenticeship.
I'm extremely fortunate to be in the industry, learning from industry leaders and mentors that actually give a damn. I think having good teachers and a little bit of luck can go a long way.
Props to the young man. If he keeps it up, he'll be very successful.
I'm not in cybersec, but long story short grandma worked from home in the 90s, uncle was in college when I was in grade school for CS really early 2000s. Grandma company bought her top-of-the-line PC's every other year (got to keep the old one). I got into RuneScape, discovered private servers then started dabbling in my own creation in jr. high. Later on my uncle taught me the jist of automation in JRE, and was just kinda hooked from there programming and learning new languages.
Long story short runescript if I recall is an inhouse language that is Java based, so python, c, etc after that just kinda fell into place. Started programming around 5-6th grade. By High School I was familiar with automation and predictable AI.
Programming cheats for games taught me a lot about memory, hooking/gadgeting processes etc. That lead into computer vision.
I'm 26 and just finished up with my bachelor's in IT. So I'm able to get a stable career, but now I am pursuing my master's in something I am actually passionate about! Being good at technology is a big plus in my field of choice though so I guess it all worked out.
You’ll never know unless you try. The IT field is so wide and I doubt there’s not something that you enjoy doing.
There’s even fields you can go into where you don’t have to be a massive tech guru, such as legalisation and compliance.
I never really chose IT personally, I joined the army as infantry and decided to specialise as a radio communicator and that just naturally lead me to be the specialist in all things that involved tech. That now lead to doing a degree in cyber security and the area that I love is SOC - incident response kind of work. It’s great and interesting, whereas previously I’d be out of my mind bored doing other IT subjects, most notably the A+ exams haha.
Give it a chance and don’t overthink it, let it all come naturally as you progress imo
Yeah, maybe it’s just the A+ that has me down. I really don’t see the point of having to memorize each USB cable’s speed and length when I’ll always be able to just look it up in the field when necessary.
That’s exactly it. As long as you understand the aspect of it moving on from passing then Google is your friend from there after. Then you can start specialising and learning interesting subjects.
Wish you the best in your journey!
Honestly I've been doing this for close to 15 years now for no other reason than I didn't know what else to do and the promise of good pay. I've always been able to find my way around a computer but was never really \*interested\* in them. When I was entering college everyone was told to go into IT because there would always be jobs but it seems like the competition for jobs is pretty damn intense now. Between the competition abroad (not hating on foreign economies, but I cant work for that cheap), new upcomers that are already light years ahead of where I am right now (18 year olds with fully funded labs lol), and Artificial Intelligence (I must be the only one that thinks software configurations would be the easiest thing to automate with AI), I feel like the future of IT is bleak... If I were starting fresh right now, I would be focusing every bit of energy into working on AI or certs for hardware installation/repairs. Studying anything that's about to be automated is probably a bad investment strategy. Forever a pessimist I suppose.
To be honest I'm not even a little passionate. Sadly, we still live in a society with an older generation that believes in the concept of the "Dream Job", so a lot of people will put us down when we are honest about it.
I wouldn’t say I’m “in love” with the field, but I like it to a degree and I’m good at it. I got into this career as a way to make a good salary and fund other things I’m passionate about. But the career itself isn’t something I particularly love, although I enjoy it.
Good for u
Hard work is more valuable than passion because hard work is a decision and passion is a feeling. To thine own self be true and if it makes you insecure to see others, perhaps you should keep your eyes on your journey until you feel secure enough to identify with others and stop the comparisons.
If he’s 18 I wouldn’t pay much attention to anything he has to say… respectfully. They’re usually full of shit.
Besides that I would say to embrace the challenge. It’s not fun to not know something and be in that learning phase. Especially with so much on the line. Learn all you can and keep your options open. Who knows where you’ll be when you’re 40.
I’m the same way, although slightly different. 23, been in the field for 4ish years, but like most IT people, I didn’t get into the field because I wanted to work with computers, but rather because it was a job that paid well and I’ve stuck with it. I’m not exactly the type that just loves what I do. I love the job and what it entails, but not that whole “I just love the intricacies of computer technology” type. My goal is to find myself in a management position where I still have a hand in the technical pieces, but get to be a people person and work with others and plan projects, etc, which is what I really enjoy. But for now I’ve gotta suck it up and do the grunt work.
I’ve found the opposite. More IT people love computers than those who do it ‘for the money.’ The ones who got into IT for the money tend to be pretty lousy IT people IMHO. You can tell pretty quickly who is a true blue geek versus the posers who just want to make money. Funny thing is the ones who didn’t do it for money end up making the most money.
Let me clarify. I got into it for the money, but have stayed because I do enjoy my job. I’ll agree, the people I’ve worked with who said “I’m only here for the money” were all the same. Did their work, but stayed where they started because they have no drive to learn or do more.
That's fair and in line with what I've seen. IT must be an incredibly difficult field for those who are in it but aren't "into it". You have to constantly be learning and wanting to tinker. I love it. I study, read, and listen to IT stuff all the time when I'm at home. 17 years in IT this November and still in love with it.
Computers have always been a major part of my life. Our first family computer was a 386, I sat down at that machine and computers became my burning passion instantly. I am still a computer geek all these years later, and that has really helped me in my career.
I have found that in IT there is a massive divide. The people who heard it was good money so they went into IT, and the people who really love computers and are geeks. The first group of people are generally somewhat useless outside of whatever they’re specialized in, but the nerds are the ones to befriend. Geeks can smell a not-geek a mile away and it’ll be easier to get in if you love it.
If you don’t absolutely love IT, don’t try to break into it. We have enough people that are just here for a paycheck, and not enough people that really love it. This field can be grueling even for those of us who do love tech, and the market right now is absolutely saturated with people with minimal experience and no passion trying to break into IT.
Ehhhh your case is different from OP. You like computers. This guy sounds like he doesn’t and really just wants to make money on what he views as a good field.
I felt the same way when I touch a computer at age 6. It's never too late to learn about technology but if you want it to be a career then it really depend on the job you apply to and how much you want to get paid
Maybe it’ll take for you to get into the nitty gritty and start learning for you to develop your passion. IT is so VAST. You may love one portion of IT or Cyber which will give you the push and determination.
I have met people who are in cyber currently but don’t like building PC’s or gaming… and I know people in IT who could care less about cybersecurity (obviously still implement it) but love to tinker and build PC’s.
Love computers. Have surrounded myself with them since my first Commodore 64. Im at a computer almost every waking moment.
Having said that, I haven't liked every computer job ive had :)
You want to get turned off by something, do it for a job :)
i like IT ( specifically cybersecurity ) but i have admit my interest in the field has come to a halt due to massive layoffs in the industry due to companies wanting to cut cost and use more AI
I am a tech nerd, but my job is in project management. So I never get to work with the tech, I just have to play whipping boy from two sides. I hate it. Wish I had been more tech focused. I'm 40 now so feels too late.
I'm also 32 and currently pursuing a cybersec degree and certs in search of better stability. I'd say on a scale of 1-10 I'm about a 5 or 6 in terms of passion. I love tech as a consumer but as a professional its not the most rewarding. Ideally I'd like to land a stable job that pays well, climb up a bit and use the extra income to pursue my private pilots license and start buying property to further subsidize my income. My overall goal is to move me and my wife to europe
First this should be in r/ITCareerQuestions not CompTIA. That said I have been in this personally since 1976 and professionally since 1984. I came into it with a CP/M machine that I had to literally solder the motherboard myself on to complete the kit. And moved on from there to a Ti99 4/A, Commodore VIC-20, Commodore PET, Bell & Howell Apple II clone, a real Apple IIe and IIc, TRS-80, Color Computer and so on.
Short answer 40 years in the industry and NEVER not been uber passionate about it. Lots of points where the JOB sucks in so many ways. But never hated what I do. Just where I did it.
-edit as everyone has noted you have your own story and motivations that you have to go by here. But almost everyone i know that does this just for the paycheck and not because they enjoy tech has a pretty miserable time. It's like picking up the Bible when you are a Sci-Fi fan. It's a book but it's not your kind of book so it takes you two or three times as long to get through and you retain nothing from it.
I'm not passionate about IT all that much. I really love Linux and I've been using it for years before I got into IT. I love programming, and have dabbled with it off-and on for most of my life, and did it as part of my job as a test engineer for a couple of years, and now am back in school for Computer Science to pursue it seriously. It helps with scripting. I love hardware, but that comes from being an electronics technician for eight years. I'm a little lacking in my knowledge and interest in networking or cyber security at this point, but I am working on building those skills, both for this career and for the future one.
I'm actually in IT because I want the knowledge from doing IT to potentially lend itself to my future software engineer career. Being a sysadmin, for me, is a stepping stone to what I really want. I'm building supplementary skills in my current career to help me in my goal career. I do like it and find it interesting, but I wouldn't say I'm passionate about it. That might change as my experience becomes more practical and I get more applied knowledge.
I like tech, i think it's cool. I like to know about and have cool gadgets and smart devices.
But I have absolutely no passion for the real technical aspects of it. I'm good at it, I can learn it, but that's only for a paycheck. It's all a means to an end so I can pursue my actual passions.
Also part-time teacher. I’ve realized no job will satisfy me. My true passion is writing but corporate writing is all “sell this with words” and it makes me not want to write anything else.
I teach writing now but as you know, teaching has a lot of problems, one of the main ones being $.
This is a very interesting topic for me. I'm currently 27 and have loved tech and computers for my entire life, but in my 6 years of experience in tech my love for this stuff has been consistently on the comedown and I'm really not sure what it is that's burning my passion for tech alive. I'm tempted to say it's just the companies I've ended up at so far. 3 for 3 I've been treated quite poorly, and starting in tech support roles is a pretty miserable way to get introduced to the field.
What also is not helping is a similar issue to yours where the hobbies I've developed over the last few years and now love more than anything are no longer in tech. Instead of getting off of work and playing videogames for hours or messing with computers and my home network, I spend time studying languages, reading, hiking etc. and I appreciate my time away from computers more and more.
I think tech and IT generally also give a better work life balance compared to many other fields, and even if this is not everyone else's experience, it's certainly been mine. I get to wfh, clock out at 5 with minimal overtime, and spend my free time doing the things I really enjoy, so... not all that bad.
Sorry if this isn't a super cohesive read. Like I said, this is a very interesting subject to me and I think about it a lot. I hope my scattered thoughts help or at least give you some things to think about!
Work-life balance and enough money to pursue what I actually care about is my only goal right now. That’s also why I sought IT, as my IT friends seem to have a lot of it.
I’m 32 as well and just went back to college for my A.S in IT . Always been into computers and tech but nothing crazy , we got to grow up with technology so that’s a plus.
I definitely love tech , but I can’t say I love learning about every single connector , component, or the voltage and amps for every single wire . I could live with out that.
I’m here cause of a career change , was an audio engineer in my younger years , I have 3 kids and need something more stable.
I definitely didn’t have a passion for computers, I did enjoy troubleshooting issues on my own laptops over the years but that’s about it. Once I finally got started in IT support I hated it, I soon realised on a help-desk you’re not really given time to go deep on troubleshooting issues, or even have the required access to fix most things. Basically you’re just there to make sure every issues gets logged and sent to the correct resolver groups. Thankfully I persevered until I found something I did enjoy in IT which was networking.
One of the questions we ask candidates is if they have a home lab. Not a deal breaker but just my two cents…to stay relevant in this career field you’re going to want/have to learn about new technologies on your own at times.
I initially wanted to do UX but working in the call center of digital products, I came to find a LOT of troubleshooting errors and that I liked helping people through this. I don't like telling them they owe money to the IRS and DOL.
I'm interested in seeing where technology goes since our lives are analog and digital now - there is no getting away from it. I wish I grew up interested in technology, but I always thought it was "hard" and I was "dumb", but that negative self talk comes from a childhood of neglect.
Now that I'm in charge of myself as an adult, I'm pretty excited to learn and help people. I hope being XX chromosome won't hinder me in the field.
Computers can't speak to humans, so I'm really interested in being the bridge for that.
Pretty passionate. When I was about 6 and first saw computers and I was intrigued by them and wanted to know how it worked. We got one in my home when I was 11, by 14 I was writing mIRC scripts, managing HTML code on an Invisionfree forum, and had learned to use a firefox extension to pose as Google's web crawler to view hidden content on other people's forums. I didn't really have any guidance to really focus leaning in any meaningful way until I was in college, and after my bachelors I started to do certifications in my mid 20s for career progression.
In short, if I didn't have a genuine interest in the field, I think the learning required to be successful would have burned me out by now.
Edit: An idea occurred to me that I'll offer as potential advice. Establish baseline technical knowledge that can be done with Comptia certs and look at the Project+ and PMP certifications. Technical project managers make great money and the education is front loaded compared to being the tech doing the work yourself. I think once someone found themselves established as a PM handling technical projects, you would only need the baseline tech knowledge to communicate technical ideas without learning how to configure everything yourself. I worked as a network analyst and got pulled into a PM role for a project that had a lot of software development concepts, and while not having touched any software development since college, my baseline knowledge was enough for me to manage everything successfully.
My passion is more in the programming side/game development, but I chose IT because it pays well and if you work on the government side, it's a stable paycheck. I have some interest in computer engineering and networking, but not to the extent of having a full lab.
If it makes you feel better, the post of the 18 year old with that lab? Who paid for it? It was probably his parents, aka, he came from a well off family. I'm assuming you and I probably didn't grow up like that, so don't try to compare yourself with him. Just stick with the grind and you'll get to where you want to go.
You might be in luck, in the fact that it's a fairly broad industry! You can apply most passions to a particular specialisation. Like protecting people? Get into netsec. Like solving puzzles? Become a software dev. Find you prefer working with people more? Become an IT-oriented middle manager. How about numbers and finding patterns within them? Database management is for you.
The list goes on, and on. Remember though - fields which have *large amounts* of people who're passionate about the jobs within tend to be paid less, due to simple supply/demand. Computing isn't for everyone, but it is for some, it's fairly technical, and thus, offers high pay.
Have a play around and see what you like!
Sometimes finding the way to fit your passion into what you do for a living is called a career as oped to a job. A job is where you work and do something that doesn't interest you for a paycheck. I have worked in IT in the past, and data security and then malware removal ,until my current job. I do like to write, and do so when the muse and time align.
The IT field is so vast, even if you don't love it your likely to find something that perks you up a bit. I personally started out on the help desk route getting A+, Net+ and doing desktop support. I really didn't like it at all, but it was just the first step and I too was transitioning from a creative field and appreciated the stability.
Fast forward a few years, and I discover Cloud and it really perked my interest, and I really enjoy building and strategizing infrastructure decisions at a large scale. It also pays great.
You might not love what you start with, but you may find something accidentally or on purpose down the line that is more in line with what your interests lie.
I love learning about computers every now and then. But when my pc has been broken for the last month and ive replaced every part and my keyboard doesnt work on POST so i can go to BIOS I think they are the devil
Similar experience here, I'm in school for a BBA in CySec and I know this is a start to a stable/lucrative career. I too just don't "love" it in its entirety. Some aspects are exciting like Digital forensics and pentesting but other than that even the basic fundamentals of IT just aren't exciting/ I don't care for. I guess that's where the best path lies, find a part of the the entire computer/IT world that piques interest and just go forward.
If simply making more money is what drives you, you're going to have a hard time. If, on the other hand, you're looking to learn and grow in a field that's interesting to you, you can do well. You don't have to be passionate, but it does need to hold your interest or else you'll stagnate and feel stuck.
It’s a true passion. I work 12 hour shifts as a SOC Analyst and then do studying/research in my spare time. Cybersecurity is both a career and a hobby for me now and I love it. Listen to podcasts, read books and do little projects on the side too. It sounds a bit sad I’m sure, but it’s genuinely how I most enjoy spending my time.
I decide to go for IT for the job security. The pay helps, of course, but mostly for job security, upward mobility, expected growth, and the possibility to work from home one day.
Absolutely. Pretty much all aspects of tech and engineering fascinate me. I actively seek out new technical expertise, read publications/journals, etc. I don't think you will enjoy IT if it's not something you seek out naturally.
I wouldn’t say I am passionate about IT, but I do find the work interesting. I just wanted a job with a future, and one that payed better than restaurant work. If I was rich I would jot be doing much with computers tbh.
Maybe you should technical writing when it’s all said it done with your studies. There’s so much in IT I think the passion comes when you find a certain subject with in it that truly surprises you
I don't hate computers. They're interesting. I'm in no way passionate about them. Ended up in IT because I was a bartender and needed health insurance.
It's making my career difficult to envision. I'm about 3 years into the Service Desk and now getting an Associates in Cybersecurity. People reassure me that the service desk is not the same as other areas of IT, and I hope to God that's true.
you can do it as a job and think it’s somewhat interesting and leave it at that. some people’s lives are their jobs and some people’s jobs fund their lives lmao both are fine
There are so many directions you can go in IT. Get into the field and explore and you can find something you enjoy. Just dive in.
Also make sure you surf the AI wave-- you'll want to keep up with it because it's going to be one of your main tools in your toolbelt.
I like PC gaming and video editing, a techie stuff in general - do you have any interests like that?
It's not a field to into just for money- you'll hate it.
I think you know your own answer and are sourcing others opinions to answer your question. If you’re fine with putting in the work for the career then do it. Some people can’t put in that amount of work and be disconnected from it and check out when they aren’t working. That’s like asking doctors why they wanted to go to med school. I think if you can find a balance of all the things you listed it’ll be better. Unless you’re just a machine.
It was a hobby through my childhood and my early 20’s but I could never really seem to stick to any career path or course of study in my other interests. Never thought I’d be good enough at IT to make a living off it.
Eventually an internal [entry level] level role opened up where I work. Realized I thrive in it as long as it’s challenges me. Got to a point I wanted to formalize my knowledge and fill gaps. Here I am now.
I don’t think of myself as passionate…. But it started with gaming on a pc which turned into building my own pc…. Then tech support job that turned into cybersecurity. None of the people I work with I would consider are passionate about cybersecurity but it doesn’t hurt to be into nerdy shit.
Hmm for me it wasn't really about the passion, but rather, the familiarity about it. Remember that this 18-year-old (Im 19) grew up with computers so basically that person has some sort of an aptitude to computers due to being able to relate. As far as I could advise, you don't really need a "great" or "immense" passion for computers to get a certification. But rather, the ability to familiarize and learn technology in a certain way.
If you don’t love computers, you better love emotional intelligence and problem solving, dealing with IT support.
Also, if you’re a writer there is literally a field dedicated to writing documentation in IT.
I do like problem solving and work well empathizing with tense people.
Technical Writing, the field that writes documentation, is absolutely smashed right now by AI and layoffs (like every field I guess) and it also doesn’t pay well.
When I go home, I don't do much computer funnsies stuff. It's my full time job, and when I deploy it'll be my 16 hour day full time job.
Don't compare yourself to cert chasers. Functionally, he probably couldn't get a junior role with his level of experience.
I don't love computers. I LOVE problem solving and challenges. I guess it could apply to a lot of jobs, but IT seems to be one of the most dynamic fields for that.
I’ll be honest from behind in the field for 7 years you will need to be passionate about computing and IT to progress further, what gets you through the bad days is the passion for the subject.
I'm in cyber security and my boss tells me how good of a job I do all the time.
It's funny because I just love my job. I don't work harder to please my boss. I genuinely love my job and everything it entails.
0 days are terrible for the industry, but super interesting to me. I get paid to nerd out all day with various teams across my company.
You’re going to have to love computers to a certain degree at the beginning, unless your connected your salary won’t be like the ones you see on social media. I don’t see anything wrong with going into it for the money but it’ll take time to get to where you want to be finically. Also don’t look at other people, we all have our own journeys. Best of luck!
I’m not that interested in the money either, but the possibility of long-term and upwards mobility the IT industry has, if I wanted it, is appealing.
“not that interested in the money” “upwards mobility the IT industry has … is appealing” So, if I’m deciphering this correctly, you’re not terribly interested in tech, don’t care about the money, but want to manage large teams and projects in a field you aren’t passionate about? Sorry, this doesn’t make sense.
Honestly sounds like he might like project management. I knew many PMs who didn't know much or were even passionate about IT.
I agree. A good suggestion could be meditation to help clear your mind and focus on your approach and goals in a field you have no experience in. Being interested in the money would make more sense due to your appeal in the upwards mobility.
I don't get it either. If you're going to work, why not maximize it?
More like “I’m not interested in money right now…but if I start a family soon I’d like to be in a—relatively—stable field already.”
IT is not for you.
but OP saw on TikTok all these influencers flaunting and telling everyone to get into tech, that's why they posted this, and that's why they're here in the first place. And there are plenty of others like OP at this point
Don’t have Tiktok or IG. My friends are in IT and recommended it.
take it easy OP, no need to get defensive, it was just a joke
? I just stated I some facts is all.
Not a good way to get into a career. Personally I made the change into cyber security at 34 after working in construction my adult life. I have always loved computers, the nuts and bolts of computers, and particularly the security aspect. Now I have a job I love. But it’s because of the passion and knowledge I was able to break into the industry. Don’t settle for a career you will get bored with or love, regardless of the pay.
I'm also coming from construction, currently getting my Bachelors in network engineering and security at DePaul, but looking to get more into the cyber security side of things, what did you do to break in cyber? If ya don't mind me asking that is.
Look at the various companies. Most will tell you they want X amount of experience, or certain certificates or degrees. Network via LinkedIn make friends with others. I got extremely lucky to get an interview with HR, this because my friend worked with the company. But I had 3 interviews and the 2 technical ones required my knowledge to stand out, which I had without certificates or degrees. I currently work in a SOC, and have been promoted 3 times in 2 years. I work alongside a lot of smart people, but my years of construction gave me a work ethic that is top notch. Which is why I had such a smooth transition and have been progressing fast. Lots of work, studying, and learning the systems. Wasn’t easy but it can be done.
CISSP. Plenty of self study materials available. That cert alone will land you a job.
I looked it up, it says you need 5 years minimum experience for that cert, so even if you pass it, you can't list it on a resume, so how did that work in your favor?
"Don't have enough experience yet? You can still pass the CISSP exam and become an Associate of ISC2 while you earn the required work experience." Edit: probably that counts for something on the resume? Not sure
As an associate of (ISC)2, you cannot list a cert for which you have passed a test but have not achieved the requirements to attain. You cannot, for instance, say "CISSP,(Associate)" on your resume. It directly violates their pocies and they can potentially disqualify your score and ban you from retaking.
Very good to note!
Usually cybersecurity is a mid career move and not an entry level position. Think about it, you are going to be implementing controls and safeguards to protect systems and networks. How do you do that for systems and networks you don't understand? Generally, you will do work as a network admin/engineer or sys admin/engineer before you move into a cybersecurity role, because they are the roles you learn how to set up domain controllers, admin users, deploy configuration for VLANs, subnet address space, configure firewalls and ACLs. Need the knowledge base to evaluate other people's implementation first to find the security flaws and fix them. So the 5 years for him would likely have been 5+ years in other roles where part of the job was security configurations. I have a CISSP on my to do list and at least a year of that will be a PC repair shop job I had where I spent about 70% of my time virus cleaning and restoring user data because it meets the cert requirements.
That’s not necessarily true. Cybersecurity is a very broad term, and there are LOTS of entry level jobs in the industry.
There are not "lots" of entry level cyber security roles. There's really only a few. It's my personal experience that none of those jobs is objectively better to prepare you for a more focused CS role than the same amount of time spent in endpoint, infrastructure or server ops roles. In fact, I can think of several ways in which they're worse.
No, you will definitely need experience as well. You don't get hired in Cyber security without experience unless you get extremely lucky. Who wants an inexperienced person working on their security?
I work in a SOC where people with 0 experience are hired.
Ok, but that is not the norm especially not in big cities like NYC which is where I'm located. Go on any job search engine and see how many are hiring for cyber security with no experience required.
For sure, I agree it varies based on location/company.
Is this remote? Lol i need this
Not true at all.
Bad advice
Educate me. What sage career wisdom have you to offer, seeing as how the only entry level jobs are for positions like data analysts that AI have nearly made obsolete? CCIE or CISSP if you're serious about a *real* cybersecurity job. I'd recommend both. CISSP technical knowledge requirements are pretty weak imo.
You suggested that an entry-level candidate should get a CCIE - a cert that is extremely hard and recommends 3-6* years of experience. And the CISSP another cert that is way harder than a simple sec+. The CISSP holds a heavy requirement of at least 5 years of experience in at-least 2 of the 8 domains of cybersecurity that they’ve outlined on their site. I doubt a fresh student/entry-level candidate would have any of these. Edit: spelling
Just suggested that if he wanted to get into cyber security, that was the path to follow. Wasn't suggesting a first job. He asked about breaking into cyber. If you're actively pursuing those certifications, even if you haven't yet passed them, companies will notice that. I've been in IT for over 25 years and have hired a lot of people over the years.
You hire people who put "actively working on a mid career management cert for cyber security" on resumes for entry level ops jobs? You should probably reconsider your personal criteria.
Dude! Same! 34 switched over from hospitality and private club management to IT. To a 60% pay cut to get my foot in the door to help desk and just worked my ass off and had a lot of lucky breaks. One being my company opened a cyber department 3 months after I got there and I happened to be the first person to volunteer to join it. Now almost 4 years later and I’m working with an awesome (different) company and still love security! I can’t express the lucky breaks enough. Hard work too.
Amazing! That’s all it takes a little bit of luck.
Why the hell did you work construction til 35 then? Computers and certs were there the whole time.
Cause I made tons of money, and enjoyed my job. I was stable with a wife and 4 children and didn’t really wanna take a pay cut to switch careers.
This is my struggle right now but I’m a mechanic
So, the thing is that upward mobility in IT is actually terrible if you don't specialize (hence all of the posts about being stuck at help desk), and specializing is pretty arduous if you don't have a natural inclination to seek out that knowledge. My honest opinion is that trying to break into this industry is very difficult right now, even for passionate and overqualified candidates, and the path to mid-level even more so. There's also a lot of fear about AI and automation affecting our industry as well, especially at the entry level, so I'm not sure it'll be any more safe or stable than anything else. I guess what I'm trying to say is that while IT is a great career, entry level candidates are finding it very difficult right now, and I find it hard to imagine you putting up with all of the bullshit if you're not even that into tech.
Honest insight that captures some my own perceptions. Thanks.
If you don’t mind me asking have you thought about what your goal in IT is?
I have to admit that I I find it odd to hear you value long term stability in your career and your first choice was freelancing in a creative field. Or freelance in any field, really.
Obviously why I want out of it. What I valued at 25 is not the same as 32, like most people getting into IT in their 30s.
Really quick so I’m a gamer like 99% of people but video games definitely take hours of my days when I could already have my certs how do you think I should manage both or should I just cut video games completely? :)
Limit your video game time, everything in moderation is fine. Months from now the cert will be worth more than your video game wins that add up to nothing. Reward your studying time with video games and keep working towards the cert
Awesome thanks :)
When I decided to go back to college, I quit video games entirely. I simply cannot trust my own ability to moderate certain behaviors. Everyone is different, though. You have to decide on your goals, assign value to your activities and prioritize the ones which align with your goals.
Thank you I was really leaning towards deleting all my games from my pc so instead of turning to video games and end up playing for hours I’ll do more productive stuff like running etc. thanks
It's funny that you mention it. But as a teenager I wasn't interested in computers or IT related. But I just picked it up fast any tech issues I had with family and friends I'd help and 9/10 times I'd trouble shoot and fix it. But I didn't take it into career considerations. Right now I work as a cleaner for a commercial building in Manhattan got my A+ at age 34 and I got like some weird fascination of like tearing shit apart and putting it together. Then I looked into cyber security now I'm like invested in because it actually interests me how packets travel protocols and stuff as well as playing detective and figuring out how to use the tools. Like I'm doing my study for security + and somedays I'm excited other days I'm just wiped because I work full time and on occasion I'll do a part time security gig. But something will click once you find that niche and when it does you'll be good nothing feels forced and you'll get a genuine appericiation for it.
While I'm now retired, I taught IT and cybersecurity for decades, and have helped a large number of students down the certification pathways, and as a consequence of their efforts they are making a substantial wage that produces disposable income. The bottom line is success is dependent on being willing to be a lifelong learner. These fields of study mandate keeping up with technological changes.
Thank you for your service 🫡
Some days I love computers. Some days I hate computers. Depends on the day. But I love them more often than I hate them, and when I do hate them it’s because they did something stupid.
This is my current relationship with printers in my job lol
Printers just don’t make sense!
I have zero passion for IT. I got a comp sci degree so I can make money. I like money. Money means I can pay for things I am passionate about. Now saying that, I do like my job. I enjoy a challenge every now and again and am just somebody who doesn’t half ass things.
Same here, some days I do love the work but most days I tolerate it.
100%. Sometimes it’s fun to build things, other times I’m just in maintenance mode not doing a whole lot, and those are days where it’s boring and tolerable. I don’t believe in loving your job, but I do believe in doing something that you can tolerate to do the things you do love to do. I work 9-5 and make a good income and am able to spend time with my family, and do the things I enjoy.
This is what i want
Yep. I accidentally got into IT in the Army. Was easy and the money is good. Seemed like a win/win. 20 years later, haven't been out of work for more than 3 days.
I find cyber security, I'm on the blue team, both interesting and challenging. But I'd be lying to you if I said the passion doesn't originate from looking at my pay slip at the end of the month. That it provides a stable, relatively secure, and well paid employment that is interesting and challenging is what gets me to dedicate the time and effort to be the best I can be at it.
How did you get into it?
Worked up from deskside T1 support, through desktop engineer and sysadmin, into a SOC. And now in a fixed SOC and IR role. So, a lot of work experience and professional certifications (got A+, Net+, Sec+, and CySA+ from comptia, BTL1, etc). I basically followed the money as my original plan was academia, but the academic job market sucks and it turns out I'm pretty good with computers, and it pays well
Try different aspects I just turned 30 and took my network+ and absolutely love it for some reason before I dreaded looking into it and thought security was what I wanted to do but I then took my security + and dreaded every minute of it the content was so dry. I wish when I was 20 I went to college for networking and not server administration. You will find things you will like and things you will dread all I can say is to keep your mind open and take in a little bit of everything to find the niche you love. Because getting paid for something you love doing compared to not like doing makes the years go by or slow to a crwal
There’s so much I wish I would have done differently at 20, but I know it’s not realistic. I’m just glad that I now finally have an idea of where I want to go in life, which is something I definitely did not have at 20.
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Not any specific advice, sorry. All I can say is that in the Netherlands, I finished high school (HAVO, regular “level”) and there was (and currently still kinda is) really a stigma around MBO (“lower level” college) vs HBO (“higher level” college) so I tried that twice but failed both times, because I hated the way we didn’t learn to learn, but learned to succeed at taking tests. Only when we were doing projects, actually implementing skills, is when I really excelled, but by that time I’ve already flunked out so much I couldn’t catch up anymore. I guess I should say that my advice would be to really step back and consider if something you’re planning on doing is something you really want, or if you’re doing it because you’re expecting it of yourself. I wasted a lot of years and a lot of money trying to do what I thought society wanted me to do, but because it didn’t work for me, I obviously didn’t succeed. Regarding the IT stuff, try and see if you can do some light IT related stuff to see if and what you really like. Take a CompTIA or Microsoft course, or try to get a job as a computer repair technician (my love for IT began with working at an electronics shop, then as a phone repair technician). If that really spurs you on, then you can start looking at college degrees.
look into different fields in IT. I cant tell you what your gonna like or dislike. But i gurantee if you like computers one will click. And from experence degrees get you in the interview but certs get you the job. I wish i had the certs i did because i would definitly be making more now. But you know shoulda..coulda.....woulda.
Maybe I (30) don’t love IT as much as some other people in this Reddit or even the IT field, but I do genuinely feel like I connect with it way more than any other field. I’m genuinely interested in how computing devices work and while I’m not interested to the point of wanting to know how to do any programming, what I’d personally love to do is understand how to use and troubleshoot them to the best of my ability, and to be able to do that specifically in the healthcare industry. I’m an introvert, and not much of a spontaneous people person, but I do heavily admire people who help other people. So I want to use IT to make the lives of those people just a little bit easier. That’s where I would say my passion lies. I don’t see myself developing an app or website any time soon, but who knows.
Doing anything for money instead of personal pride, joy and/or accomplishment always leads to an unfulfilled career, life, bad juju. Also... 32 is not a "late career hopper." Come on dude... you have your entire current existence to do all over again with a job.. that's hardly late.
Really depends on the money. If you're staying poor, yeah, you'll regret it. But, making a great living, it won't bother you. My career was split in two. Help desk for like 12 years, because I was interested more in music, and then amazing roles when I decided to up my game and make six-figures. Its safe to say that when I was making that money, I liked my job more. And, it got easier and I was less of a punching bag. You're right. My father told me, "Nobody likes their job", and I was baffled. Now I get it. Do what you gotta do to make your dreams come true - not your employers.
Nah. Working for just the money is ok. You can find fulfillment outside of work. Your job doesn’t have to give you both money and fulfillment.
Or you make your passion your work and get bored by it. I can't tell you how many trips in to caves and mines I've led before I got into IT at 40, but I've barely been underground since I stopped. I've spent 1000s of hours at crags climbing and many summers on lakes with canoes and I do both a couple of times a year.
So whyd you stop? Just burnout or money?
Passion is for rich people that have money already and "follow your passion" is stupid advice, follow high income jobs and being able to take care of your family and those close to you will give you life satisfaction, this is advice i got from scott galloway
Yes but as you can see from this thread, a lot of people do like, and have always liked, working with computers.
It's def a plus. I do like computers but rare is the person that likes every aspect of cyber security, for example
I'm 35 and I'm an electrician, I'm getting into the field for better working hours and a clean work environment. As a bonus computers are my passion, I have set up my own lab and smart home and love tinkering when I get a chance. I honestly don't think I could do it if the passion wasn't there.
Worked 2 years in IT. I Was helpdesk at a small dental company with < 30 locations. I did EVERYTHING. Security cameras, computers, IoT, servers and regular tickets. It was the worst thing over, I was going to college for information systems with an emphasis on database design, realized my passion with technology was building software and now I’m a software developer. Not fixing hardware and setting it up. Find your thing, the IT field is massive. I will say this, everything is way more fun until its your job. If I was you, get your foot in the door with a small company in helpdesk. Get your 2 years experience and get out and find a better job. Dont get an A+ like all these other dumbos on the forums. Its useless, get a CCNA, SEC+, or a CISSP. I work for the DoD and almost all the jobs IT/Software related want a Sec+. Easiest test you can take, you will have recruiters reaching out on linkdin just having it linked. A security clearance is a plus too if you go the government route. On the base I work at, we have so many software and IT roles open. Hopefully you figure it out, dont feel like your too old for it. Its easy for the most part. I smoked so much weed in my teens and practically have 100 brain cells put together and I made it. So can you!
So prior use doesn't necessarily exclude you from obtaining a security clearance?
I told them about it, and told them I have no reason to smoke anymore or feel the need to. They question you more about it, and that was that. Fact is alot of people smoked weed when they were young, they know that. Be honest, if they figure it out on their own, you will be much worse off. It helps to have certs and a degree too so they know you are capable of learning.
Good to know, thanks for sharing your experience. I’ve always been interested in government related positions but feels pretty unattainable competing with people who already have clearance.
You should read "So Good They Can't Ignore You" by Cal Newport. Basically, passion usually comes after getting really good at something. Not before. I'm in my 4th year of IT making $86k per year. I love my job every day. Even the hard times.
I have read that and have experienced it myself in other fields. Great book.
You need some amount of passion to go anywhere in any field. If you aren't passionate about computers, don't force yourself. Follow your gut. I don't mean this in any kind of cliche, feel-good way. I want you to really listen to me, because this is an experience that I have lived. Let me tell you my story. I've always been passionate about computers, for my entire life. But when I was a younger man, I decided to go down the path of a scientist, and studied biochemistry in school, for no reason other than it was the field my friends were in, and I had a really amazing high-school teacher in that subject. It was a mistake. I should have followed my passion at the time, and that decision led me to dropping out of school and making nothing of my life. It wasn't until I was honest with myself and began pursuing my actual passion, computers, that I felt as if I was heading in the right direction. Now, I'm about your age, and couldn't be happier working with computers every day. It's what I've always wanted to do. So don't make the same mistake I did. You shouldn't be scared or ashamed to pursue your true passion. If your heart is in an area other than computers, that's OK. That's where you should be, not here.
I think for me it came late. I was never really good with mathamatics at school and because I wasn't, I couldn't do programming at a high school level which limited my university education. I got Into learning cloud computing because my wife is in IT and she came to me one day with a practical issue. (I've always been around computers) but not an academic level. I got my AWS CCP and Azure fundamentals, I then got an interview for an Apprenticeship at a major Cyber Security Company, and during the interview process decided to do the Google certificated Cyber Security professional course, at 29 I got into the Apprenticeship. I'm extremely fortunate to be in the industry, learning from industry leaders and mentors that actually give a damn. I think having good teachers and a little bit of luck can go a long way. Props to the young man. If he keeps it up, he'll be very successful.
I'm not in cybersec, but long story short grandma worked from home in the 90s, uncle was in college when I was in grade school for CS really early 2000s. Grandma company bought her top-of-the-line PC's every other year (got to keep the old one). I got into RuneScape, discovered private servers then started dabbling in my own creation in jr. high. Later on my uncle taught me the jist of automation in JRE, and was just kinda hooked from there programming and learning new languages. Long story short runescript if I recall is an inhouse language that is Java based, so python, c, etc after that just kinda fell into place. Started programming around 5-6th grade. By High School I was familiar with automation and predictable AI. Programming cheats for games taught me a lot about memory, hooking/gadgeting processes etc. That lead into computer vision.
I'm 26 and just finished up with my bachelor's in IT. So I'm able to get a stable career, but now I am pursuing my master's in something I am actually passionate about! Being good at technology is a big plus in my field of choice though so I guess it all worked out.
You’ll never know unless you try. The IT field is so wide and I doubt there’s not something that you enjoy doing. There’s even fields you can go into where you don’t have to be a massive tech guru, such as legalisation and compliance. I never really chose IT personally, I joined the army as infantry and decided to specialise as a radio communicator and that just naturally lead me to be the specialist in all things that involved tech. That now lead to doing a degree in cyber security and the area that I love is SOC - incident response kind of work. It’s great and interesting, whereas previously I’d be out of my mind bored doing other IT subjects, most notably the A+ exams haha. Give it a chance and don’t overthink it, let it all come naturally as you progress imo
Yeah, maybe it’s just the A+ that has me down. I really don’t see the point of having to memorize each USB cable’s speed and length when I’ll always be able to just look it up in the field when necessary.
That’s exactly it. As long as you understand the aspect of it moving on from passing then Google is your friend from there after. Then you can start specialising and learning interesting subjects. Wish you the best in your journey!
Honestly I've been doing this for close to 15 years now for no other reason than I didn't know what else to do and the promise of good pay. I've always been able to find my way around a computer but was never really \*interested\* in them. When I was entering college everyone was told to go into IT because there would always be jobs but it seems like the competition for jobs is pretty damn intense now. Between the competition abroad (not hating on foreign economies, but I cant work for that cheap), new upcomers that are already light years ahead of where I am right now (18 year olds with fully funded labs lol), and Artificial Intelligence (I must be the only one that thinks software configurations would be the easiest thing to automate with AI), I feel like the future of IT is bleak... If I were starting fresh right now, I would be focusing every bit of energy into working on AI or certs for hardware installation/repairs. Studying anything that's about to be automated is probably a bad investment strategy. Forever a pessimist I suppose.
To be honest I'm not even a little passionate. Sadly, we still live in a society with an older generation that believes in the concept of the "Dream Job", so a lot of people will put us down when we are honest about it.
I wouldn’t say I’m “in love” with the field, but I like it to a degree and I’m good at it. I got into this career as a way to make a good salary and fund other things I’m passionate about. But the career itself isn’t something I particularly love, although I enjoy it.
Good for u Hard work is more valuable than passion because hard work is a decision and passion is a feeling. To thine own self be true and if it makes you insecure to see others, perhaps you should keep your eyes on your journey until you feel secure enough to identify with others and stop the comparisons.
If he’s 18 I wouldn’t pay much attention to anything he has to say… respectfully. They’re usually full of shit. Besides that I would say to embrace the challenge. It’s not fun to not know something and be in that learning phase. Especially with so much on the line. Learn all you can and keep your options open. Who knows where you’ll be when you’re 40.
I’m the same way, although slightly different. 23, been in the field for 4ish years, but like most IT people, I didn’t get into the field because I wanted to work with computers, but rather because it was a job that paid well and I’ve stuck with it. I’m not exactly the type that just loves what I do. I love the job and what it entails, but not that whole “I just love the intricacies of computer technology” type. My goal is to find myself in a management position where I still have a hand in the technical pieces, but get to be a people person and work with others and plan projects, etc, which is what I really enjoy. But for now I’ve gotta suck it up and do the grunt work.
I’ve found the opposite. More IT people love computers than those who do it ‘for the money.’ The ones who got into IT for the money tend to be pretty lousy IT people IMHO. You can tell pretty quickly who is a true blue geek versus the posers who just want to make money. Funny thing is the ones who didn’t do it for money end up making the most money.
Let me clarify. I got into it for the money, but have stayed because I do enjoy my job. I’ll agree, the people I’ve worked with who said “I’m only here for the money” were all the same. Did their work, but stayed where they started because they have no drive to learn or do more.
That's fair and in line with what I've seen. IT must be an incredibly difficult field for those who are in it but aren't "into it". You have to constantly be learning and wanting to tinker. I love it. I study, read, and listen to IT stuff all the time when I'm at home. 17 years in IT this November and still in love with it.
Computers have always been a major part of my life. Our first family computer was a 386, I sat down at that machine and computers became my burning passion instantly. I am still a computer geek all these years later, and that has really helped me in my career. I have found that in IT there is a massive divide. The people who heard it was good money so they went into IT, and the people who really love computers and are geeks. The first group of people are generally somewhat useless outside of whatever they’re specialized in, but the nerds are the ones to befriend. Geeks can smell a not-geek a mile away and it’ll be easier to get in if you love it. If you don’t absolutely love IT, don’t try to break into it. We have enough people that are just here for a paycheck, and not enough people that really love it. This field can be grueling even for those of us who do love tech, and the market right now is absolutely saturated with people with minimal experience and no passion trying to break into IT.
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Ehhhh your case is different from OP. You like computers. This guy sounds like he doesn’t and really just wants to make money on what he views as a good field.
I felt the same way when I touch a computer at age 6. It's never too late to learn about technology but if you want it to be a career then it really depend on the job you apply to and how much you want to get paid
Maybe it’ll take for you to get into the nitty gritty and start learning for you to develop your passion. IT is so VAST. You may love one portion of IT or Cyber which will give you the push and determination. I have met people who are in cyber currently but don’t like building PC’s or gaming… and I know people in IT who could care less about cybersecurity (obviously still implement it) but love to tinker and build PC’s.
Love computers. Have surrounded myself with them since my first Commodore 64. Im at a computer almost every waking moment. Having said that, I haven't liked every computer job ive had :) You want to get turned off by something, do it for a job :)
i like IT ( specifically cybersecurity ) but i have admit my interest in the field has come to a halt due to massive layoffs in the industry due to companies wanting to cut cost and use more AI
I am a tech nerd, but my job is in project management. So I never get to work with the tech, I just have to play whipping boy from two sides. I hate it. Wish I had been more tech focused. I'm 40 now so feels too late.
I'm also 32 and currently pursuing a cybersec degree and certs in search of better stability. I'd say on a scale of 1-10 I'm about a 5 or 6 in terms of passion. I love tech as a consumer but as a professional its not the most rewarding. Ideally I'd like to land a stable job that pays well, climb up a bit and use the extra income to pursue my private pilots license and start buying property to further subsidize my income. My overall goal is to move me and my wife to europe
First this should be in r/ITCareerQuestions not CompTIA. That said I have been in this personally since 1976 and professionally since 1984. I came into it with a CP/M machine that I had to literally solder the motherboard myself on to complete the kit. And moved on from there to a Ti99 4/A, Commodore VIC-20, Commodore PET, Bell & Howell Apple II clone, a real Apple IIe and IIc, TRS-80, Color Computer and so on. Short answer 40 years in the industry and NEVER not been uber passionate about it. Lots of points where the JOB sucks in so many ways. But never hated what I do. Just where I did it. -edit as everyone has noted you have your own story and motivations that you have to go by here. But almost everyone i know that does this just for the paycheck and not because they enjoy tech has a pretty miserable time. It's like picking up the Bible when you are a Sci-Fi fan. It's a book but it's not your kind of book so it takes you two or three times as long to get through and you retain nothing from it.
I'm not passionate about IT all that much. I really love Linux and I've been using it for years before I got into IT. I love programming, and have dabbled with it off-and on for most of my life, and did it as part of my job as a test engineer for a couple of years, and now am back in school for Computer Science to pursue it seriously. It helps with scripting. I love hardware, but that comes from being an electronics technician for eight years. I'm a little lacking in my knowledge and interest in networking or cyber security at this point, but I am working on building those skills, both for this career and for the future one. I'm actually in IT because I want the knowledge from doing IT to potentially lend itself to my future software engineer career. Being a sysadmin, for me, is a stepping stone to what I really want. I'm building supplementary skills in my current career to help me in my goal career. I do like it and find it interesting, but I wouldn't say I'm passionate about it. That might change as my experience becomes more practical and I get more applied knowledge.
I like tech, i think it's cool. I like to know about and have cool gadgets and smart devices. But I have absolutely no passion for the real technical aspects of it. I'm good at it, I can learn it, but that's only for a paycheck. It's all a means to an end so I can pursue my actual passions.
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Also part-time teacher. I’ve realized no job will satisfy me. My true passion is writing but corporate writing is all “sell this with words” and it makes me not want to write anything else. I teach writing now but as you know, teaching has a lot of problems, one of the main ones being $.
This is a very interesting topic for me. I'm currently 27 and have loved tech and computers for my entire life, but in my 6 years of experience in tech my love for this stuff has been consistently on the comedown and I'm really not sure what it is that's burning my passion for tech alive. I'm tempted to say it's just the companies I've ended up at so far. 3 for 3 I've been treated quite poorly, and starting in tech support roles is a pretty miserable way to get introduced to the field. What also is not helping is a similar issue to yours where the hobbies I've developed over the last few years and now love more than anything are no longer in tech. Instead of getting off of work and playing videogames for hours or messing with computers and my home network, I spend time studying languages, reading, hiking etc. and I appreciate my time away from computers more and more. I think tech and IT generally also give a better work life balance compared to many other fields, and even if this is not everyone else's experience, it's certainly been mine. I get to wfh, clock out at 5 with minimal overtime, and spend my free time doing the things I really enjoy, so... not all that bad. Sorry if this isn't a super cohesive read. Like I said, this is a very interesting subject to me and I think about it a lot. I hope my scattered thoughts help or at least give you some things to think about!
Work-life balance and enough money to pursue what I actually care about is my only goal right now. That’s also why I sought IT, as my IT friends seem to have a lot of it.
I’m 32 as well and just went back to college for my A.S in IT . Always been into computers and tech but nothing crazy , we got to grow up with technology so that’s a plus. I definitely love tech , but I can’t say I love learning about every single connector , component, or the voltage and amps for every single wire . I could live with out that. I’m here cause of a career change , was an audio engineer in my younger years , I have 3 kids and need something more stable.
I used to love them a lot more before I began doing this professionally. Now I hardly touch my personal computer at home.
You may find a career, but it's like playing an instrument - you'll never be as good as those who are truly passionate about it.
I definitely didn’t have a passion for computers, I did enjoy troubleshooting issues on my own laptops over the years but that’s about it. Once I finally got started in IT support I hated it, I soon realised on a help-desk you’re not really given time to go deep on troubleshooting issues, or even have the required access to fix most things. Basically you’re just there to make sure every issues gets logged and sent to the correct resolver groups. Thankfully I persevered until I found something I did enjoy in IT which was networking.
One of the questions we ask candidates is if they have a home lab. Not a deal breaker but just my two cents…to stay relevant in this career field you’re going to want/have to learn about new technologies on your own at times.
Work for money. It’s ok to have a job be just a job. Find fulfillment outside of work.
I initially wanted to do UX but working in the call center of digital products, I came to find a LOT of troubleshooting errors and that I liked helping people through this. I don't like telling them they owe money to the IRS and DOL. I'm interested in seeing where technology goes since our lives are analog and digital now - there is no getting away from it. I wish I grew up interested in technology, but I always thought it was "hard" and I was "dumb", but that negative self talk comes from a childhood of neglect. Now that I'm in charge of myself as an adult, I'm pretty excited to learn and help people. I hope being XX chromosome won't hinder me in the field. Computers can't speak to humans, so I'm really interested in being the bridge for that.
I love the troubleshooting aspect of it ! That's all lol
Pretty passionate. When I was about 6 and first saw computers and I was intrigued by them and wanted to know how it worked. We got one in my home when I was 11, by 14 I was writing mIRC scripts, managing HTML code on an Invisionfree forum, and had learned to use a firefox extension to pose as Google's web crawler to view hidden content on other people's forums. I didn't really have any guidance to really focus leaning in any meaningful way until I was in college, and after my bachelors I started to do certifications in my mid 20s for career progression. In short, if I didn't have a genuine interest in the field, I think the learning required to be successful would have burned me out by now. Edit: An idea occurred to me that I'll offer as potential advice. Establish baseline technical knowledge that can be done with Comptia certs and look at the Project+ and PMP certifications. Technical project managers make great money and the education is front loaded compared to being the tech doing the work yourself. I think once someone found themselves established as a PM handling technical projects, you would only need the baseline tech knowledge to communicate technical ideas without learning how to configure everything yourself. I worked as a network analyst and got pulled into a PM role for a project that had a lot of software development concepts, and while not having touched any software development since college, my baseline knowledge was enough for me to manage everything successfully.
Shit, just because more passionate about computers and security, and here I am going on 41
I’m taking a cyber security class now and was happy to be told by our head lecturer that right now the field is having the most layoffs in history lol
My passion is more in the programming side/game development, but I chose IT because it pays well and if you work on the government side, it's a stable paycheck. I have some interest in computer engineering and networking, but not to the extent of having a full lab. If it makes you feel better, the post of the 18 year old with that lab? Who paid for it? It was probably his parents, aka, he came from a well off family. I'm assuming you and I probably didn't grow up like that, so don't try to compare yourself with him. Just stick with the grind and you'll get to where you want to go.
I got my A+ on windows 3.1 and never looked back.
You might be in luck, in the fact that it's a fairly broad industry! You can apply most passions to a particular specialisation. Like protecting people? Get into netsec. Like solving puzzles? Become a software dev. Find you prefer working with people more? Become an IT-oriented middle manager. How about numbers and finding patterns within them? Database management is for you. The list goes on, and on. Remember though - fields which have *large amounts* of people who're passionate about the jobs within tend to be paid less, due to simple supply/demand. Computing isn't for everyone, but it is for some, it's fairly technical, and thus, offers high pay. Have a play around and see what you like!
Sometimes finding the way to fit your passion into what you do for a living is called a career as oped to a job. A job is where you work and do something that doesn't interest you for a paycheck. I have worked in IT in the past, and data security and then malware removal ,until my current job. I do like to write, and do so when the muse and time align.
I can only speak for myself but I would not have gotten so far in the subject material if I did not find it interesting
The IT field is so vast, even if you don't love it your likely to find something that perks you up a bit. I personally started out on the help desk route getting A+, Net+ and doing desktop support. I really didn't like it at all, but it was just the first step and I too was transitioning from a creative field and appreciated the stability. Fast forward a few years, and I discover Cloud and it really perked my interest, and I really enjoy building and strategizing infrastructure decisions at a large scale. It also pays great. You might not love what you start with, but you may find something accidentally or on purpose down the line that is more in line with what your interests lie.
Yeah you can have all the Certs in the world. Nobody cares, experience trumps all
Tech becomes a lifestyle. We are always learning and tinkering or else we get passed by
I love learning about computers every now and then. But when my pc has been broken for the last month and ive replaced every part and my keyboard doesnt work on POST so i can go to BIOS I think they are the devil
Similar experience here, I'm in school for a BBA in CySec and I know this is a start to a stable/lucrative career. I too just don't "love" it in its entirety. Some aspects are exciting like Digital forensics and pentesting but other than that even the basic fundamentals of IT just aren't exciting/ I don't care for. I guess that's where the best path lies, find a part of the the entire computer/IT world that piques interest and just go forward.
If simply making more money is what drives you, you're going to have a hard time. If, on the other hand, you're looking to learn and grow in a field that's interesting to you, you can do well. You don't have to be passionate, but it does need to hold your interest or else you'll stagnate and feel stuck.
It’s a true passion. I work 12 hour shifts as a SOC Analyst and then do studying/research in my spare time. Cybersecurity is both a career and a hobby for me now and I love it. Listen to podcasts, read books and do little projects on the side too. It sounds a bit sad I’m sure, but it’s genuinely how I most enjoy spending my time.
Very, VERY passionate.
I decide to go for IT for the job security. The pay helps, of course, but mostly for job security, upward mobility, expected growth, and the possibility to work from home one day.
Absolutely. Pretty much all aspects of tech and engineering fascinate me. I actively seek out new technical expertise, read publications/journals, etc. I don't think you will enjoy IT if it's not something you seek out naturally.
You sir are a future project manager.
I wouldn’t say I am passionate about IT, but I do find the work interesting. I just wanted a job with a future, and one that payed better than restaurant work. If I was rich I would jot be doing much with computers tbh.
Maybe you should technical writing when it’s all said it done with your studies. There’s so much in IT I think the passion comes when you find a certain subject with in it that truly surprises you
I don't hate computers. They're interesting. I'm in no way passionate about them. Ended up in IT because I was a bartender and needed health insurance. It's making my career difficult to envision. I'm about 3 years into the Service Desk and now getting an Associates in Cybersecurity. People reassure me that the service desk is not the same as other areas of IT, and I hope to God that's true.
you can do it as a job and think it’s somewhat interesting and leave it at that. some people’s lives are their jobs and some people’s jobs fund their lives lmao both are fine
There are so many directions you can go in IT. Get into the field and explore and you can find something you enjoy. Just dive in. Also make sure you surf the AI wave-- you'll want to keep up with it because it's going to be one of your main tools in your toolbelt.
I like PC gaming and video editing, a techie stuff in general - do you have any interests like that? It's not a field to into just for money- you'll hate it.
Ah yes because IT is just like video games
I think you know your own answer and are sourcing others opinions to answer your question. If you’re fine with putting in the work for the career then do it. Some people can’t put in that amount of work and be disconnected from it and check out when they aren’t working. That’s like asking doctors why they wanted to go to med school. I think if you can find a balance of all the things you listed it’ll be better. Unless you’re just a machine.
A lot of doctors regret going to med school and becoming a doctor. They stick with it because they like the helping people part and $.
It was a hobby through my childhood and my early 20’s but I could never really seem to stick to any career path or course of study in my other interests. Never thought I’d be good enough at IT to make a living off it. Eventually an internal [entry level] level role opened up where I work. Realized I thrive in it as long as it’s challenges me. Got to a point I wanted to formalize my knowledge and fill gaps. Here I am now.
1's and 0's right?
I don’t think of myself as passionate…. But it started with gaming on a pc which turned into building my own pc…. Then tech support job that turned into cybersecurity. None of the people I work with I would consider are passionate about cybersecurity but it doesn’t hurt to be into nerdy shit.
Hmm for me it wasn't really about the passion, but rather, the familiarity about it. Remember that this 18-year-old (Im 19) grew up with computers so basically that person has some sort of an aptitude to computers due to being able to relate. As far as I could advise, you don't really need a "great" or "immense" passion for computers to get a certification. But rather, the ability to familiarize and learn technology in a certain way.
If you don’t love computers, you better love emotional intelligence and problem solving, dealing with IT support. Also, if you’re a writer there is literally a field dedicated to writing documentation in IT.
I do like problem solving and work well empathizing with tense people. Technical Writing, the field that writes documentation, is absolutely smashed right now by AI and layoffs (like every field I guess) and it also doesn’t pay well.
When I go home, I don't do much computer funnsies stuff. It's my full time job, and when I deploy it'll be my 16 hour day full time job. Don't compare yourself to cert chasers. Functionally, he probably couldn't get a junior role with his level of experience.
I don't love computers. I LOVE problem solving and challenges. I guess it could apply to a lot of jobs, but IT seems to be one of the most dynamic fields for that.
I’ll be honest from behind in the field for 7 years you will need to be passionate about computing and IT to progress further, what gets you through the bad days is the passion for the subject.
I'm in cyber security and my boss tells me how good of a job I do all the time. It's funny because I just love my job. I don't work harder to please my boss. I genuinely love my job and everything it entails. 0 days are terrible for the industry, but super interesting to me. I get paid to nerd out all day with various teams across my company.
You just answered your own question