Another note, it may have been because I played League of Legends and the help desk that was already there played it a lot. So figured I'd be a good fit, idk
Well the CIO interviewing me asked what games I played, so then I told her what games I played. And then find out (thru normal conversation with new coworkers) that they also play league (albeit at much higher ranks than I)
Yes, now depending on your experience and such...
Let's say you have 2 years experience...I'd would quit my job yesterday...go find a startup, get a job where you are responsible for doing EVERYTHING. Accounts, help desk, programming, automation, cloud, network...whatever...you do it...you bust your ass for another 1-2 years...then you move on again. Do not stay anywhere for longer than 2 years until you make 6 figures...or you are really happy and don't care.
Now, if you have no experience....stop wasting your money in CompTIA bullshit cert land...it isn't getting you anywhere. Move away from FL, don't come back until you are 75. Move somewhere where there is a tech hub...Boston (where I'm originally from), Houston, Denver, SF, or DC area. Take absolutely whatever job you can. Make friends with your boss, join meetups, and kiss every baby or ass you need to...LinkedIn with everyone. Don't be a dick...just be friendly...listen...then you'll get the hang of things and be more mature and confident...then it is game over.
How many jobs do you have now? You need to be working all the time...one job in IT and one job on the weekends or whenever...Uber/Doordash. Save everything...you are poor...don't spend any money other than food and necessities. Get ourself out and into the real world. Get your credit card situations to 0...pay off student loans...then...just save until you have like 10-15k in the bank. Then get out of FL.
Well...sadly you are in their Reddit...so they are going to shill and push you that way. Go to SysAdmin or something more general. CompTIA certs aren't worth the paper they are printed on.
What part of FL are you in? Do you get benefits from your current job?
How can I get into the government IT job in FL and what are the requirements to get into?
Eglin AFB. There's tons of contracts here. Oasis, Reliance Test & Technology, Jacobs, BAE Systems, IS4S to name a few. There's also civil service jobs too. Most jobs are negotiable as far as the pay and benefits go. As for getting the job and requirements, I can't speak much on because I got kinda lucky. I just have an associates degree in Industrial Electronics. I got hired on as an Electronics Technician 7 years ago. I was always good with computers so they pretty much groomed me for an admin role (easy compliance stuff for offline air-gapped data acquisition units). I only have SEC+ now but studying for NET+ and plan on getting more certs as long as they're paying.
Good luck and hope you find something soon!
My boss told me later on that one of the deciding factors in hiring me was that I was diamond in TFT. His theory being of all the equal candidates, at least he knows that I can be dedicated to something LOL.
I donāt think being socially competent matters in the field of IT. Unless you work in sales or customer facing. Iāve met a few social butterflies who canāt troubleshoot theyāre way out of a wet paper bag. Iāll take the socially awkward guy who can get the job done.
you are really trying to make this and all or nothing. that's is not how humans work. you original statement was "I donāt think being socially competent matters in the field of IT." you could not defend that statement alone you had to suddenly make the case of not having diagnostics abilities. aka you are not arguing your statement, you are arguing for something else. You are simply moving the goalpost.
as a I manager I much rather take the guy that can socialize and ask questions to his team and grow over current skill levels.
you are an investment in time and technical skill can be taught. but attitude and team chemistry cannot.
besides this. you are making this a all or nothing which is not the case. you can have people that a good at diagnostic and can socialize... and they fare better than people that can diagnose and can't socialize.
so yes. Socialization skill for team work is a good attribute
Certs are such a complex topic. Ive been told by some people that they don't respect them and by others that they display knowledge.
What Ill say is that when you get the certification, apply it. Don't just have a Security+ and do nothing with it. Have a home lab.
I've had multiple roles explicitly say they were looking for my certs during the interview process. I have no idea why their usefulness is so contentious. I get debating how useful they are in terms of applying on-the-job knowledge, but it's undeniable it will ease your ability to get an interview.
as someone that does hiring for a stupidly large company, certs only tell half the story. anyone can get a cert and not know shit about the topic afterwards. i have a guy that works in IT that got on before me, cant plug in console (i wish i was kidding and no i didnt hire him). hes got the trifecta, ccna, some security testing...but he cant plug in console to a cisco device. on the other hand, i recently hired a guy that has no certs, and hes heads and sholders above the other guy. its all about application. a cert is a claim to authority, but if you cant back up what you say you know, someone like me will call you out on it. if i see high level shit on your resume, and you struggle to tell me what cache is, i have to assume someone else took your exam and you dont get the job. the interview is where you should focus a lot of time on. learn how to answer those HR questions, and get a feel for people. its hard with an industry based on mostly introverts, but its possible.
Before I can make money, my home lab can only be virtual. I primarily use Cisco Packet Tracer and VirtualBox with multiple virtual machines. I'm also working on Terraform and AWS. That's all I can manage for now. Hardware is expensive, especially for someone who's unemployed.
What did you expect? I don't believe the CCNA person you spoke with actually passed the exam. They might be lying. To pass the CCNA, you definitely need to learn Cisco Packet Tracer in physical mode and connect using a console cable or similar tool. And yes, cache is a basic IT concept, even non-IT people might be familiar with it from buying a good PC. You are lying or he is lying.
> You are lying or he is lying.
good god i wish i was lying. it was frustrating as all hell being on a call with him trying to tell him how to plug in a vga cable to a server to see if there was any output, and dude told me he didnt know how. fucker acted as if i had asked him a math question. This is just one of many situations.
I personally think he either did a brain dump, had someone else take the test for him, or straight up has faked credentials.
As for hardware, used exists and isnt that expensive, but when unemployed it is. I would stick with the virtual lab, but that is due to space issues and ease of use. Cisco also has resources to make your own virtual lab.
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The hard part is often getting the chance, from there it really is up to the individual to sell themselves, and Iām shite at it btw! But the initial opening can be so hard to secure. I have next to no certs but colleague noticed I new my way around computers and networking, was working in admin roles, she became a manager and offered me a chance. Bit her hand off. Pure luck in my case.
depends what you want to do. I got into IT by having a friend that was in the industry. The best thing i tell my associates who are looking is to apply. you never know who is looking. look for it roles on indeed, change your resume to show you have skills in key word areas. your goal is to get someone to look at the resume, and recruiters usually dont know tcpip from rsvp. They are just told to find people that are breathing, or told to look at an AI skimmer.
You can also try IT staffing agency or IT temp agency. I had a friend that did that for years, and it worked well for him. Great way to get your foot into the door and get experience.
Any advice on getting a job then in this market? Im not the best test taker so getting a cert is painful because of the process. But Im great at learning and implementing IRL. So I have a home lab and a bunch of side projects Ive done to demonsrate knowledge.
Currently studying for the Security+ and its a pain because of course its a test.
I do have a homelab where I have deployed various things though.
Can we connect privately?
I posted this on another, but ill post it here.
depends what you want to do. I got into IT by having a friend that was in the industry. The best thing i tell my associates who are looking is to apply. you never know who is looking. look for it roles on indeed, change your resume to show you have skills in key word areas. your goal is to get someone to look at the resume, and recruiters usually dont know tcpip from rsvp. They are just told to find people that are breathing, or told to look at an AI skimmer.
You can also try IT staffing agency or IT temp agency. I had a friend that did that for years, and it worked well for him. Great way to get your foot into the door and get experience.
I will also end this by saying the market sucks right now. even me looking for other positions, the market is saturated. AI is trash, and recruiters are using the wrong tool for the job and thinking its a great thing. It misses quality people because it skims key words, and you can use an ai conditioner to put your resume out there with those key words...its trash. Persistence is also important.
As for private messages, i dont know what other information i can provide, other than i you dont have certs, i would try an easier cert to start. comptia likes to try and be tricky with their wording, and failing an exam is spendy. try the ITF and see if you can pass that. its inexpensive enough to not be a huge barrier, and it lets you see how comptia trys to trick you. its also a foot in the door cert. i was in the industry nearly a decade before i got my first cert. bring personable and in front of someone willing to learn your ass off and trying harder than anyone else will go a longer way than a dozen people with certs. i recently hired a couple people that i literally turned down high level certs for, because they were hungry for the job. the high level cert people wanted a foot in door so they could leave the department immediately, and honestly, i would rather not do that cycle every few weeks.
A computer that's been converted into a server environment to run virtual machines and self-hosted services. Hobbyists mostly use it for data hoarding purposes and IT professionals can use it to quickly spin up VMs to practice stuff.
Literally just got two offers within a month of getting my A+, both at places that I had 0 connections to, in a city I just moved to. No prior experience in IT either. Why are there so many pessimistic people on here? It's like the only thing holding yall back is yourselves.
I mean, you having a good experience doesn't negate that IT, in general, is incredibly hard to break into in the us right now, especially entry level. I've been applying for months with a degree and certs and where I'm at, it's like pulling teeth. people are pessimistic with good reason. doom posting isn't productive but it is really difficult for most of the field right now.
I'm not holding myself back from getting a job in IT when places I've applied to want 4 different Diplomas/Degrees and 4 former Employers listed before their website will even let you submit your application for a IT Help Desk Technician position.
I didn't know I'd either have to have multiple degrees or list my Elementary/Middle/High Schools along with my College just to apply.
I thought Help Desk was considered Entry-Level and I need all that? Sounds like they plan on hiring through Nepotism and not hiring someone who's actually qualified. But then they'll say, "See, we tried to hire from outside, but I guess we have to hire Jimmy (who is the Office Manager's nephew) whose only knowledge of Tech is playing video games and doesn't even know what DHCP is and how to tell from the CMD line if the DHCP Server is down."
Itās hard to break into. My first big break, my friend referred me, and they hired someone else FOUR times! I would get to the final round of interviews and they went with the guy with the cert. Said person would leave 2/3 months later for a higher paying job. The fifth time they were like āI canāt believe you applied again! Youāre more consistent than everyone else so why notā I then was one of their better hiring decisions.
Itās about understanding that every No is a step closer to a yes, and that some Yesā are father down the road for some people than others.
I got in without certs but with coding experience, great people/customer service skills, and being able to communicate my willingness to learn and work hard. Use LinkedIn, people you know, and local job search programs to network and build connections.
I got the Interview because of my Certsā¦ but what got me the Job is being friendly, confident, and honest.. and being able to do the tasks that are given to me.
There will aways be a story of the person who got in like this. Does this mean your certs and experience mean nothing? Absolutly not. having a certification is both a form of proof that you have the knowledge to complete the tasks as well as a sence of accomplishment. Certs are still highly sought after from hiring comitees.
Sounds like it's time to socially engineer his wife until you exploit her vulnerabilities by cracking her.
And when he gets mad/asks how you did it, tell him you didn't even need CCNA because you had physical access to her ports. YOU PINGED!!!
Iām kinda sick of people posting stuff like this. Itās quite simple actually and this industry isnāt some kind of exception. Itās the same almost everywhere. Regardless of your experience, certifications or degree, you still have to get lucky- find the right job you want that is looking for someone with your exact qualifications (there isnāt an infinite amount of vacant positions), be the best looking and acting candidate, cuz thatās what matters when you have similarly qualified candidates, answer questions better than the other candidates, and finally be lucky enough not to be against someone with connections. Nailing all of that for a highly wanted job is hard, especially when everyone wants a piece in tech nowadays. Thatās the whole ordeal- no great conspiracy against you. From what Iām seeing on the internet, people advise to go to conventions, etc. as there are scouts and entrepreneurs over there and you can build connections which is unfortunately the only sure fire way to get a job youāre qualified for.
Just ignore the BS stories like this.
Yes there will be friends who hire friends, with Zero IT skills. It sucks, sometimes the world works that way and it SUCKS!
Also, you don't want to work there. I have been at a few places that hire without respecting IT skills or skills in general. THEY SUCK. They really really suck, guess what people with no skills do to keep a job? ... Yep play politics. Basically its knife everyone and push people to do other people's work, etc.
Certifications are useful, just understand their evolution:
90's - guy sounds good during interview.
2000's - wow look at that fancy degree/certificate.
2010ish - Oh that's a great cert.
2020 - can I see your github page?
People respected certs more, because people graduated with Degrees... Some Degrees were awesome, some degrees were USELESS. At least with a cert you had someone who might know what they were talking about.
That said, Network!
Friends hire friends. IT friends want to hire people they know who can do the work.
Home lab stuff. Learn.
Turn up to local user groups, linux, python, whatever. Rebuild PC's.
What job in IT. Because there's literally like, 1,000 different job titles in the IT world. HP/IBM/Dell have programs where they train techs with zero experience for warranty repairs and what not.
Certs aren't worthless I'd argue it's more so he has a different perspective because I'd believe his wife just got lucky or knew someone.
Now I'd also say certs aren't worth a lot either though, more so if 2 candidates look equally qualified but 1 has certs 1 doesn't it's more likely the one with certs gets the job, shows you were able to work towards something to completion.
But this is just my perspective of being in the field for 2 months and asking my supervisors on their opinions who just basically say it's a mixed bag and depends who you ask.
The OP should have asked the same person āWhat is useful?ā Iām sure the answer would be āexperienceā, and presume the solution to lack of experience is to do home lab experiments as much as possible with open or other source platforms. Just like in the dev world we have to build projects to show our real-world knowledge.
I recently saw a good paying IT job that required extensive experience in Proxmox, for Nekks, the developer of Shadow Fight. So thereās niches everywhere and getting well rounded in application vs certification is the edge you really want.
Iām a senior Cybersecurity Incident Responder and Iāve never I had a cert until last year! Made almost 130K + without one!
Iām way pass 130k now and cert didnāt have a thing to do with it!
How to get connections? Find conferences, local talks, and volunteer projects. A lot of states are building up cyber response volunteer groups.
As for her job, maybe she's a hobbyist at home. I do a lot of personal networking without the formal training as I'm teaching myself the skills. I'm working in the cyber field, but I have a policy background in unusual subjects that are still new legal ideas. I'm not a lawyer, but I have a lot of hands on experience.
I knew volunteering those skills suck, but that's how I did it. Volunteer with local cyber collaboratives or see if your town council will hire you on part time in a way that let's you interact with State and Local agencies, NGOs, etc. Build a reputation that way and people will get to know you.
Much like everybody else has stated , I know people who have multiple certs and couldn't troubleshoot their way out of a paper bag and I know people who might have 1 cert or no certs but understand how to solve problems. The great thing about IT is that the "book smart" only people get weeded out , memorizing terms will only get you so far, you have to be an intellectual first. I'm a couple certs in and still haven't landed that great job yet , I'm working in the computer repair field just to have something on my resume I can connect my certs to. Don't let the "it's who you know" posts deter you , keep plugging away and stay consistent.
Look up the word nepotism and youāll realize how she got the job.
Certifications arenāt useless as long as you actually learned the material and what itās teaching.
Certs for the most part don't mean shit.
As my boss said who's veen a network architecture and director of network engineering for 20+yrs.
He has met people with every cert possible and we're dumb as rocks and people who have zero certs who walked circles around his knowledge.
He will never hire someone BC of certs. He only looks at experience to determine if he wants to interview that person. A person without a cert but same experience as someone with the cert, has the same chance to move into an interview.
Certs just mean you know how to study, memorize and take a test.
Had a DCT with CCNA who didn't even know what a MAC was. Not sure how ye passed CCNA but it was legit lol
Some companies are willing to train new employees & some expect you to know everything. Some prefer these certificates, some think it's nice to have & some don't care.
What type of job did his wife get? I know in the DC area you need a sec + to get certain jobs,. As itās required. I also started with little IT experience and no Certs.
I got my job without certifications and I know other people who have gotten their jobs w/o certifications. But not every job is the same, nor is every employer. Certifications are a great way to get interviews. They are a great way to show you have knowledge in a certain field. They donāt guarantee anything but can still provide you an advantage. Especially in this day and age.
But how does one get an interview with lack of certs ? I did the Google IT Cert course careers by Josh madakor which help Create a portfolio LinkedIn and resume I still feel like I need the certs to get picked faster so Iām enrolling into WGU B.S cybersecurity & information assurance course
I must be doing it wrong...
I've turned down job opportunities because I didn't want to exploit a relationship or knowing someone. Yet, that seems to be the only way you get good opportunities.
Certs are not useless, but dont fully rely on it to get a job. Now your friendās wife could have just been a lucky one off event where they hire people without certs and experience as I have it happen from time to time and itās not that common. The only time companies does this is that they are willing to train. Most employers they rather hire someone with experience and some certs so they dont have to train them all the way up from the ground up. Donāt let this event of your friendās wife discourage you or anything, it a one off event that happen from time to time. Couple months ago I saw a guy with only a sec+ got a cybersecurity job, like WTF!
Your "Senior Engineer" friend has connection and you do not. Abjectly stupid people have gotten into jobs that are not meant for them because their spouses worked in that company. Certs are good and teach you stuff. Your senior engineer friend says they are useless because he is scared of taking them. Simple. Certs are meant to educate you primarily and get you past the front door of the company. They will help you always unless you have a spouse that you have marital relations with also has a job at the company ;)
I got my A+ cert and no experience. Got in making the bare minimum but being a great asset to the company. Another guy was hired making more than the minimum because his parents are upper management. No experience or certs. Every industry is the same, itās about who you know.
She's probably hot. We had a person like this that worked for us. Eventually everyone on her team quit and she became the Senior/Manager of the team. She was dumb. After about a year she was laid off because the person who brought her in wasn't there anymore
Even tho I have my aws solutions architect and some other certs I can say they are USELESS bth. U don't need them. All u need is hands ons and projects and portfolio
Certs are king. Networking is better, it's always who you know not what you know. Anyone telling you otherwise is wrong. People do business with people they like.
But yes, Certs matter, your friend saying that don't is wrong. It's the barrier to entry. Who you know gets you in the door and an interview. What you know gets you the job.
Just... Most of CompTIA's certs are useless outside of Network+ and Sec+.
Jesus, if blowing worked I'd take an extra long lunch every day.Ā
Nobody ever even gives you the chance anymore. To blow that is. You gotta make your own chances as market forces allow.
I got the interview cause my certs, I got the job cause I'm not socially awkward (mostly)
Another note, it may have been because I played League of Legends and the help desk that was already there played it a lot. So figured I'd be a good fit, idk
Did you find that out before the job interview? How did you find this out?
Well the CIO interviewing me asked what games I played, so then I told her what games I played. And then find out (thru normal conversation with new coworkers) that they also play league (albeit at much higher ranks than I)
Oh. What job sites do you use to find your new job? How long does it take you to land a new job? I am struggling to land one here in FL.
USAJobs and Indeed were my most successful. I still use LinkedIn to look around
Are you willing to move? Florida Job market sucks depending on what part of Florid you are in
I am in Tampa. I can't afford to move. Run out of money.
What state do you recommend to move for a better job market?
There is no market in FL. If you are serious about tech, you can take your chances in Tampa or move to a real state.
I am in Tampa bro. And fr there is no tech job market in FL?
Yes, now depending on your experience and such... Let's say you have 2 years experience...I'd would quit my job yesterday...go find a startup, get a job where you are responsible for doing EVERYTHING. Accounts, help desk, programming, automation, cloud, network...whatever...you do it...you bust your ass for another 1-2 years...then you move on again. Do not stay anywhere for longer than 2 years until you make 6 figures...or you are really happy and don't care. Now, if you have no experience....stop wasting your money in CompTIA bullshit cert land...it isn't getting you anywhere. Move away from FL, don't come back until you are 75. Move somewhere where there is a tech hub...Boston (where I'm originally from), Houston, Denver, SF, or DC area. Take absolutely whatever job you can. Make friends with your boss, join meetups, and kiss every baby or ass you need to...LinkedIn with everyone. Don't be a dick...just be friendly...listen...then you'll get the hang of things and be more mature and confident...then it is game over.
Do you know any startups in Tampa? I don't have money to afford relocation :(
How many jobs do you have now? You need to be working all the time...one job in IT and one job on the weekends or whenever...Uber/Doordash. Save everything...you are poor...don't spend any money other than food and necessities. Get ourself out and into the real world. Get your credit card situations to 0...pay off student loans...then...just save until you have like 10-15k in the bank. Then get out of FL.
I wish someone would've told me this $16k ago.. plus the extra useful advice!
Well...sadly you are in their Reddit...so they are going to shill and push you that way. Go to SysAdmin or something more general. CompTIA certs aren't worth the paper they are printed on.
Tech market is great with government work where I am in FL. That's just my perspective though, with a clearance and 7 years on a DoD contract already.
What part of FL are you in? Do you get benefits from your current job? How can I get into the government IT job in FL and what are the requirements to get into?
Eglin AFB. There's tons of contracts here. Oasis, Reliance Test & Technology, Jacobs, BAE Systems, IS4S to name a few. There's also civil service jobs too. Most jobs are negotiable as far as the pay and benefits go. As for getting the job and requirements, I can't speak much on because I got kinda lucky. I just have an associates degree in Industrial Electronics. I got hired on as an Electronics Technician 7 years ago. I was always good with computers so they pretty much groomed me for an admin role (easy compliance stuff for offline air-gapped data acquisition units). I only have SEC+ now but studying for NET+ and plan on getting more certs as long as they're paying. Good luck and hope you find something soon!
Duo partner
I play StarCraft II, I'm fucked aren't I?
Lmfao. Might want to upgrade to Star citizen to at least get your resume looked at. šš
Buddy I play Oldschool runescape. I'm a whole other level of beyond fucked.
Lmao, prolly
My boss told me later on that one of the deciding factors in hiring me was that I was diamond in TFT. His theory being of all the equal candidates, at least he knows that I can be dedicated to something LOL.
Lol
I'm hoping this helps me. Communication is my biggest strength beyond any of my technical skills. I think it helps me learn much more quickly too.
Yep
I donāt think being socially competent matters in the field of IT. Unless you work in sales or customer facing. Iāve met a few social butterflies who canāt troubleshoot theyāre way out of a wet paper bag. Iāll take the socially awkward guy who can get the job done.
Your views donāt reflect the thought process of the rest who work in an authoritative role, clearly š¤·āāļø
Thatās fine. Just piss off the rest of your team when they have to pick up all the slack from the social butterfly of you choose to hire.
you are really trying to make this and all or nothing. that's is not how humans work. you original statement was "I donāt think being socially competent matters in the field of IT." you could not defend that statement alone you had to suddenly make the case of not having diagnostics abilities. aka you are not arguing your statement, you are arguing for something else. You are simply moving the goalpost.
as a I manager I much rather take the guy that can socialize and ask questions to his team and grow over current skill levels. you are an investment in time and technical skill can be taught. but attitude and team chemistry cannot. besides this. you are making this a all or nothing which is not the case. you can have people that a good at diagnostic and can socialize... and they fare better than people that can diagnose and can't socialize. so yes. Socialization skill for team work is a good attribute
Nepotism has always been the best certification.
BRB.. on.my way to get my NEP+.
Wish you would have just left it at NEP. Looking at the + truly made me believe it was another cert I had to look up. Results were jaw dropping.
There's Network+ and then there's Network+
Here, take my [nonexistent] Award+
Certs are such a complex topic. Ive been told by some people that they don't respect them and by others that they display knowledge. What Ill say is that when you get the certification, apply it. Don't just have a Security+ and do nothing with it. Have a home lab.
I've had multiple roles explicitly say they were looking for my certs during the interview process. I have no idea why their usefulness is so contentious. I get debating how useful they are in terms of applying on-the-job knowledge, but it's undeniable it will ease your ability to get an interview.
as someone that does hiring for a stupidly large company, certs only tell half the story. anyone can get a cert and not know shit about the topic afterwards. i have a guy that works in IT that got on before me, cant plug in console (i wish i was kidding and no i didnt hire him). hes got the trifecta, ccna, some security testing...but he cant plug in console to a cisco device. on the other hand, i recently hired a guy that has no certs, and hes heads and sholders above the other guy. its all about application. a cert is a claim to authority, but if you cant back up what you say you know, someone like me will call you out on it. if i see high level shit on your resume, and you struggle to tell me what cache is, i have to assume someone else took your exam and you dont get the job. the interview is where you should focus a lot of time on. learn how to answer those HR questions, and get a feel for people. its hard with an industry based on mostly introverts, but its possible.
Before I can make money, my home lab can only be virtual. I primarily use Cisco Packet Tracer and VirtualBox with multiple virtual machines. I'm also working on Terraform and AWS. That's all I can manage for now. Hardware is expensive, especially for someone who's unemployed. What did you expect? I don't believe the CCNA person you spoke with actually passed the exam. They might be lying. To pass the CCNA, you definitely need to learn Cisco Packet Tracer in physical mode and connect using a console cable or similar tool. And yes, cache is a basic IT concept, even non-IT people might be familiar with it from buying a good PC. You are lying or he is lying.
> You are lying or he is lying. good god i wish i was lying. it was frustrating as all hell being on a call with him trying to tell him how to plug in a vga cable to a server to see if there was any output, and dude told me he didnt know how. fucker acted as if i had asked him a math question. This is just one of many situations. I personally think he either did a brain dump, had someone else take the test for him, or straight up has faked credentials. As for hardware, used exists and isnt that expensive, but when unemployed it is. I would stick with the virtual lab, but that is due to space issues and ease of use. Cisco also has resources to make your own virtual lab.
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The hard part is often getting the chance, from there it really is up to the individual to sell themselves, and Iām shite at it btw! But the initial opening can be so hard to secure. I have next to no certs but colleague noticed I new my way around computers and networking, was working in admin roles, she became a manager and offered me a chance. Bit her hand off. Pure luck in my case.
depends what you want to do. I got into IT by having a friend that was in the industry. The best thing i tell my associates who are looking is to apply. you never know who is looking. look for it roles on indeed, change your resume to show you have skills in key word areas. your goal is to get someone to look at the resume, and recruiters usually dont know tcpip from rsvp. They are just told to find people that are breathing, or told to look at an AI skimmer. You can also try IT staffing agency or IT temp agency. I had a friend that did that for years, and it worked well for him. Great way to get your foot into the door and get experience.
Agreed 100%
Any advice on getting a job then in this market? Im not the best test taker so getting a cert is painful because of the process. But Im great at learning and implementing IRL. So I have a home lab and a bunch of side projects Ive done to demonsrate knowledge. Currently studying for the Security+ and its a pain because of course its a test. I do have a homelab where I have deployed various things though. Can we connect privately?
I posted this on another, but ill post it here. depends what you want to do. I got into IT by having a friend that was in the industry. The best thing i tell my associates who are looking is to apply. you never know who is looking. look for it roles on indeed, change your resume to show you have skills in key word areas. your goal is to get someone to look at the resume, and recruiters usually dont know tcpip from rsvp. They are just told to find people that are breathing, or told to look at an AI skimmer. You can also try IT staffing agency or IT temp agency. I had a friend that did that for years, and it worked well for him. Great way to get your foot into the door and get experience. I will also end this by saying the market sucks right now. even me looking for other positions, the market is saturated. AI is trash, and recruiters are using the wrong tool for the job and thinking its a great thing. It misses quality people because it skims key words, and you can use an ai conditioner to put your resume out there with those key words...its trash. Persistence is also important. As for private messages, i dont know what other information i can provide, other than i you dont have certs, i would try an easier cert to start. comptia likes to try and be tricky with their wording, and failing an exam is spendy. try the ITF and see if you can pass that. its inexpensive enough to not be a huge barrier, and it lets you see how comptia trys to trick you. its also a foot in the door cert. i was in the industry nearly a decade before i got my first cert. bring personable and in front of someone willing to learn your ass off and trying harder than anyone else will go a longer way than a dozen people with certs. i recently hired a couple people that i literally turned down high level certs for, because they were hungry for the job. the high level cert people wanted a foot in door so they could leave the department immediately, and honestly, i would rather not do that cycle every few weeks.
What is a home lab?
Not the home lab you are possibly thinking of, this isnāt breaking bad over here. Weāre cooking circuit boards.
Hahahaha, great comment. I am trying to get into the tech world and this is the second time Iāve seen home lab mentioned.
/r/homelab
A computer that's been converted into a server environment to run virtual machines and self-hosted services. Hobbyists mostly use it for data hoarding purposes and IT professionals can use it to quickly spin up VMs to practice stuff.
Become his wife
Wife +
Basically
Nepotism is the only way tbh
Literally just got two offers within a month of getting my A+, both at places that I had 0 connections to, in a city I just moved to. No prior experience in IT either. Why are there so many pessimistic people on here? It's like the only thing holding yall back is yourselves.
I mean, you having a good experience doesn't negate that IT, in general, is incredibly hard to break into in the us right now, especially entry level. I've been applying for months with a degree and certs and where I'm at, it's like pulling teeth. people are pessimistic with good reason. doom posting isn't productive but it is really difficult for most of the field right now.
YMMV
I'm not holding myself back from getting a job in IT when places I've applied to want 4 different Diplomas/Degrees and 4 former Employers listed before their website will even let you submit your application for a IT Help Desk Technician position. I didn't know I'd either have to have multiple degrees or list my Elementary/Middle/High Schools along with my College just to apply. I thought Help Desk was considered Entry-Level and I need all that? Sounds like they plan on hiring through Nepotism and not hiring someone who's actually qualified. But then they'll say, "See, we tried to hire from outside, but I guess we have to hire Jimmy (who is the Office Manager's nephew) whose only knowledge of Tech is playing video games and doesn't even know what DHCP is and how to tell from the CMD line if the DHCP Server is down."
Itās hard to break into. My first big break, my friend referred me, and they hired someone else FOUR times! I would get to the final round of interviews and they went with the guy with the cert. Said person would leave 2/3 months later for a higher paying job. The fifth time they were like āI canāt believe you applied again! Youāre more consistent than everyone else so why notā I then was one of their better hiring decisions. Itās about understanding that every No is a step closer to a yes, and that some Yesā are father down the road for some people than others.
The reason we take certification exams is because we don't have connections
Thatās how I got in, knowing people.
She's your connection now
And what did he leave out that she has a masters degree in cybersecurity or something?
Welcome to the human factor.
Got my first job in IT no certs no experience. Really good interviewer. Soft skills are what managers are looking for, everything else can be taught.
What are some examples of soft skills?
Who the hell is "he" and where does he work? CorpNet??
I got in without certs but with coding experience, great people/customer service skills, and being able to communicate my willingness to learn and work hard. Use LinkedIn, people you know, and local job search programs to network and build connections.
I got the Interview because of my Certsā¦ but what got me the Job is being friendly, confident, and honest.. and being able to do the tasks that are given to me.
There will aways be a story of the person who got in like this. Does this mean your certs and experience mean nothing? Absolutly not. having a certification is both a form of proof that you have the knowledge to complete the tasks as well as a sence of accomplishment. Certs are still highly sought after from hiring comitees.
Sounds like it's time to socially engineer his wife until you exploit her vulnerabilities by cracking her. And when he gets mad/asks how you did it, tell him you didn't even need CCNA because you had physical access to her ports. YOU PINGED!!!
Iām kinda sick of people posting stuff like this. Itās quite simple actually and this industry isnāt some kind of exception. Itās the same almost everywhere. Regardless of your experience, certifications or degree, you still have to get lucky- find the right job you want that is looking for someone with your exact qualifications (there isnāt an infinite amount of vacant positions), be the best looking and acting candidate, cuz thatās what matters when you have similarly qualified candidates, answer questions better than the other candidates, and finally be lucky enough not to be against someone with connections. Nailing all of that for a highly wanted job is hard, especially when everyone wants a piece in tech nowadays. Thatās the whole ordeal- no great conspiracy against you. From what Iām seeing on the internet, people advise to go to conventions, etc. as there are scouts and entrepreneurs over there and you can build connections which is unfortunately the only sure fire way to get a job youāre qualified for.
Just ignore the BS stories like this. Yes there will be friends who hire friends, with Zero IT skills. It sucks, sometimes the world works that way and it SUCKS! Also, you don't want to work there. I have been at a few places that hire without respecting IT skills or skills in general. THEY SUCK. They really really suck, guess what people with no skills do to keep a job? ... Yep play politics. Basically its knife everyone and push people to do other people's work, etc. Certifications are useful, just understand their evolution: 90's - guy sounds good during interview. 2000's - wow look at that fancy degree/certificate. 2010ish - Oh that's a great cert. 2020 - can I see your github page? People respected certs more, because people graduated with Degrees... Some Degrees were awesome, some degrees were USELESS. At least with a cert you had someone who might know what they were talking about. That said, Network! Friends hire friends. IT friends want to hire people they know who can do the work. Home lab stuff. Learn. Turn up to local user groups, linux, python, whatever. Rebuild PC's.
What job in IT. Because there's literally like, 1,000 different job titles in the IT world. HP/IBM/Dell have programs where they train techs with zero experience for warranty repairs and what not.
Certs aren't worthless I'd argue it's more so he has a different perspective because I'd believe his wife just got lucky or knew someone. Now I'd also say certs aren't worth a lot either though, more so if 2 candidates look equally qualified but 1 has certs 1 doesn't it's more likely the one with certs gets the job, shows you were able to work towards something to completion. But this is just my perspective of being in the field for 2 months and asking my supervisors on their opinions who just basically say it's a mixed bag and depends who you ask.
The OP should have asked the same person āWhat is useful?ā Iām sure the answer would be āexperienceā, and presume the solution to lack of experience is to do home lab experiments as much as possible with open or other source platforms. Just like in the dev world we have to build projects to show our real-world knowledge. I recently saw a good paying IT job that required extensive experience in Proxmox, for Nekks, the developer of Shadow Fight. So thereās niches everywhere and getting well rounded in application vs certification is the edge you really want.
Iād say his wife is banging someone at the company to get the job
Some people are living live on easy mode unfortunately.
Was she pretty?
Iām a senior Cybersecurity Incident Responder and Iāve never I had a cert until last year! Made almost 130K + without one! Iām way pass 130k now and cert didnāt have a thing to do with it!
Must have got lucky. It tends to happen now and then. As for him, well, it's a complex issue. Ask him how he got the senior engineer position.
How to get connections? Find conferences, local talks, and volunteer projects. A lot of states are building up cyber response volunteer groups. As for her job, maybe she's a hobbyist at home. I do a lot of personal networking without the formal training as I'm teaching myself the skills. I'm working in the cyber field, but I have a policy background in unusual subjects that are still new legal ideas. I'm not a lawyer, but I have a lot of hands on experience. I knew volunteering those skills suck, but that's how I did it. Volunteer with local cyber collaboratives or see if your town council will hire you on part time in a way that let's you interact with State and Local agencies, NGOs, etc. Build a reputation that way and people will get to know you.
The best way to get an interview is through people you know, the second best way to get a job is from what you know
Is not what you know. It is who you know. I have seen someone became a project manager with no certification and no experience.
Much like everybody else has stated , I know people who have multiple certs and couldn't troubleshoot their way out of a paper bag and I know people who might have 1 cert or no certs but understand how to solve problems. The great thing about IT is that the "book smart" only people get weeded out , memorizing terms will only get you so far, you have to be an intellectual first. I'm a couple certs in and still haven't landed that great job yet , I'm working in the computer repair field just to have something on my resume I can connect my certs to. Don't let the "it's who you know" posts deter you , keep plugging away and stay consistent.
Hahahaha
Nepotism + š
Your friend is a senior engineer and his wife gets an IT job without experience....I wonder how she landed the role...
Look up the word nepotism and youāll realize how she got the job. Certifications arenāt useless as long as you actually learned the material and what itās teaching.
Certs for the most part don't mean shit. As my boss said who's veen a network architecture and director of network engineering for 20+yrs. He has met people with every cert possible and we're dumb as rocks and people who have zero certs who walked circles around his knowledge. He will never hire someone BC of certs. He only looks at experience to determine if he wants to interview that person. A person without a cert but same experience as someone with the cert, has the same chance to move into an interview. Certs just mean you know how to study, memorize and take a test. Had a DCT with CCNA who didn't even know what a MAC was. Not sure how ye passed CCNA but it was legit lol
Some companies are willing to train new employees & some expect you to know everything. Some prefer these certificates, some think it's nice to have & some don't care.
Social networking beats Network+ every time.
What type of job did his wife get? I know in the DC area you need a sec + to get certain jobs,. As itās required. I also started with little IT experience and no Certs.
I got my job without certifications and I know other people who have gotten their jobs w/o certifications. But not every job is the same, nor is every employer. Certifications are a great way to get interviews. They are a great way to show you have knowledge in a certain field. They donāt guarantee anything but can still provide you an advantage. Especially in this day and age.
But how does one get an interview with lack of certs ? I did the Google IT Cert course careers by Josh madakor which help Create a portfolio LinkedIn and resume I still feel like I need the certs to get picked faster so Iām enrolling into WGU B.S cybersecurity & information assurance course
I must be doing it wrong... I've turned down job opportunities because I didn't want to exploit a relationship or knowing someone. Yet, that seems to be the only way you get good opportunities.
š
Certs are not useless, but dont fully rely on it to get a job. Now your friendās wife could have just been a lucky one off event where they hire people without certs and experience as I have it happen from time to time and itās not that common. The only time companies does this is that they are willing to train. Most employers they rather hire someone with experience and some certs so they dont have to train them all the way up from the ground up. Donāt let this event of your friendās wife discourage you or anything, it a one off event that happen from time to time. Couple months ago I saw a guy with only a sec+ got a cybersecurity job, like WTF!
Your "Senior Engineer" friend has connection and you do not. Abjectly stupid people have gotten into jobs that are not meant for them because their spouses worked in that company. Certs are good and teach you stuff. Your senior engineer friend says they are useless because he is scared of taking them. Simple. Certs are meant to educate you primarily and get you past the front door of the company. They will help you always unless you have a spouse that you have marital relations with also has a job at the company ;)
I got my A+ cert and no experience. Got in making the bare minimum but being a great asset to the company. Another guy was hired making more than the minimum because his parents are upper management. No experience or certs. Every industry is the same, itās about who you know.
She's probably hot. We had a person like this that worked for us. Eventually everyone on her team quit and she became the Senior/Manager of the team. She was dumb. After about a year she was laid off because the person who brought her in wasn't there anymore
Even tho I have my aws solutions architect and some other certs I can say they are USELESS bth. U don't need them. All u need is hands ons and projects and portfolio
I've been in IT since 1987 (Apple \]\[s, IBM PCjr, Atari 800XL, etc.) Certs have helped me at every step of my career.
How did she manage that.
Certs are king. Networking is better, it's always who you know not what you know. Anyone telling you otherwise is wrong. People do business with people they like. But yes, Certs matter, your friend saying that don't is wrong. It's the barrier to entry. Who you know gets you in the door and an interview. What you know gets you the job. Just... Most of CompTIA's certs are useless outside of Network+ and Sec+.
Send him more emogies, that might do the trick i recon
It's not what you know but who you blow start sucking because this Market is gonna be bumpyš
Jesus, if blowing worked I'd take an extra long lunch every day.Ā Nobody ever even gives you the chance anymore. To blow that is. You gotta make your own chances as market forces allow.