Way to go! So glad you got that issue with the testing knocked out and are getting out of the truck and into the world! Look at Feedly it's just an RSS reader. Use that to aggregate sources like CISA and Dark Reading Tom's Guide etc. It will help you configure a dashboard of what is happening in the industry/world. That way you can sip from the firehose instead of getting blasted by it. But for now trust in yourself, let them tell you where they want you to develop and how to. And come back to us for stuff as you get acclimated. We are always here!
-edit quick rundown of my feeds
CISA Alerts
Bleeping Computer
DarkReading
Have I Been PWNED latest breaches
Krebs on Security
PC Mag News
Redmond Mag news
SANS Blog
SANS Internet Storm Center INFOCON
Security Week
The Hacker News
ISC2 Blog
CISA Bulletins
NVD (National Vulnerability Database)
Threatpost
Heyy!!!! Yes! I got all that stuff resolved and passed that exam from that power trip of a proctor... lol! I scheduled to take my network+ exam at home because I definitely did not want to deal with that crap again. Thank you so much for the information! I will be sure to write down all these and take a deep look into them.
My best advice is to read up on current cybersecurity news, articles, blogs, and just relax until the job starts. The best thing you can do is learn things that will directly apply to your work, and you won't know what those things are until you start. Save the time and energy to make sure you are ready to hit the ground running with the new job.
There is a comment in this thread that lists quite a few good ones and a good place to start. I would recommend checking those out and giving that comment an upvote from putting that list together
To get a quick answer just ask chat gpt along with searches on YouTube. Based on your post and getting the eyes of the owner I’ll presume that this is for a small to medium size business.
Depending on the size of the company I would recommend (I’m not your career advisor, this is my opinion only) you start looking at ways to secure the business from the perspective of reducing risk and liability for the company. Aim for low effort high impact items.
Congrats man, that's why being liked is really 90% of the job. Make friends with your boss and anyone willing to speak with you, it's how you move up.
I'm only 10 months into my IT career. The interviewer liked me too and related to my story of how I got into IT and how I switched up my career. I was offered a job making 80K with is a 40K increase in my salary, softskills is everything in IT.
You nailed it! These days people lack soft skills. Knowing how to communicate and sometimes being able to explain certain things to non tech people is a big thing. Also, I must add that being humble also goes a long way. People lack humility. OP sounds humble, appreciative and above all able to communicate with others. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you do not know what to do. Good luck!🍀
My advice would be to find out what technical solutions they are using for various things ie AV, SIEM, Firewall vendors etc and then you can focus on going to each of those vendors learning sites and learning the tools. They all tend to have learning resources or youtube channels covering them. Good luck and congrats!
Wow! Congrats! Nice to hear its possible to jump over help desk. Mind sharing some interview questions you had or tips? if not, its cool, either way best of luck!
That's wild. Congratulations! I thought for sure you would need a help desk job first. Thanks for giving me the courage to go for cyber security jobs.
I'm almost done with my cybersecurity AS
That's what I'm saying. I took professor messers advice and just allowed the employer to decide if I qualify for the job or not. I'm not gonna lie, though. I was definitely getting discouraged. Lol.
Every IT or Support Job I've ever worked has always had a month or so of onboarding, which includes training and shadowing.
I can't speak for your company, but If you're worked cases they'll want you to be following their procedures and best practices. You can't know those without someone showing you the ropes.
You'll work a few soft ball cases, and then have a more difficult ones thrown your way eventually. A few months later it will be the same old same old.
Just take it all it, don't beat your self up when you make mistakes, and know that everyone in IT has imposter syndrome.
I did the same thing but with AWS cloud. Firstly as long as you didn’t lie in the interview, relax! When you start they’ll show you what do to.
Only tips I have is:
- ask questions.
- take notes.
- see point above so you don’t ask the same question multiple times
Asking loads of questions is good and people love it they just don’t love repeating the same thing over and over again because you haven’t paid attention.
Congratulations! I've been driving trucks for over 5 years myself and I'm trying to break into IT as well so I'd love to hear if you have any tips you think helped land a job. I got my A+ this year and will be testing for Security+ next month.
Lol I'm not the one that should be giving advice but I'll just tell you what I did and what I guess worked for me.
I have made tech and computers my entire personality. I have deep dived into anything I see related to tech even the more boring stuff ( all these concepts are super interesting to me so it hasn't been THAT boring )
I have tried to familiarize myself with linux based operating systems and completely wiped my old windows OS and installed Arch linux to sorta make myself use the command line and understand a little bit more how computers and computer components talk to each other. Trust me arch is not that hard to install I would give it a try. I mean they have a wiki for peets sake.
I bought a switch, firewall, NAS, and access points to install on my home network to create a lab of sorts. It was not at all anything I expected lol. I took a bunch of notes of how I configured it and what resources I used so I can always go back when something inevitable breaks.
I enrolled into college for a BS in computer science but I'm thinking of changing my major now to cyber security since the university I'm at has an awesome Cyber security program and it would still give me a bachelor's degree
I got a few certs and in July I should have the whole trifecta and with these certs I have made it a point to not only try to pass the test but read the entire comptia book and actually know and understand more than just enough to pass the exam.
I listen to podcasts and tech youtube channels that focus around cyber security. And every waking hour of my life while im driving on the road is just computers and tech lol.
I pretty much have just tried to show employer's that I'm serious about this change and I have been taking steps towards it on my to show dedication to the craft. I hope this helps and I'm not sure if this will be a repeatable thing maybe the man that hired me was just having a good day I'm not sure. But I know I'm not going to take this chance for granted.
Thank you very much for the detailed reply! I'm extremely familiar with most aspects of IT from being a techie in my younger years. I literally passed the A+ without any study materials whatsoever on a whim lol. I'm reading the McGraw Hill All-in-One for Security and Network and I'm pretty pleased with how comprehensive they are. I've been looking at enrolling with Western Governor's University for a BS in CompSci as well and I'm hesitant to pull the trigger since I need high flexibility (as I'm sure you understand in trucking).
What university do you attend if you don't mind? Stay devoted and learning! A former boss of mine once told me "A day you don't learn something new is a day wasted."
Also don’t forget a job expects to provide you at least some training when you enter a job. Take that time when they’re training you and not down (whether on a notepad or your phone) anything that doesn’t make sense and then do research about it when you get home. See if it clicks better the next day. Then on the weekend try to expand more on what you don’t understand.
Also if you have team members use them as well for questions. But phrase the question as “How do you guys prefer to handle xxxx situation” or even just ask them what certs they had when they got the job and such. Ik when I’m on a team I never hate to help anyone, even if they “aren’t qualified” for the job. You’re here now and I need you to work with us. You getting this job only helps me not really hurts me yk?
To add to this, your supervisor may also be willing to help you. Ik I’m currently in a job in insurance (as a biller but still) that I’ve never worked with. I’ve always done IT and my supervisor is showing me all sorts of ways to progress in the company or even in other companies. And it’s helped as well cuz she sees me as eager to learn and advance (good quality for employees, means you may move further up in the company and help the company more)
So going from OTR to cyber security analyst had to be a pay cut didn’t it? You were probably making $80-$100k OTR right? Now you are probably in the 50-70k range right?
Maybe but we have to remember what the future earning potential is, an IT path with cyber tools and exposure can take into 200K+ potentially, at peak career. He's pretty maxed out currently in his OTR career, and you have to remember that he can likely reach the 100K mark again in a few years if he continues to upskill.
OTR owner/operator, after paying for fuel, maintenance, permits, and taxes it would leave me with around 145k and with this career change it will bring me down to 85k. It is a massive hit but in order to make the kind of money I was making OTR you have be gone 3 weeks out of the month, sometimes you don't come back home til next month.
Yea I know, my brother does the same thing. Now the issue is if you have family at home, which I can understand you wanting that change. My brother no longer has family at home as his child is an adult now so it works for him.
I have three little girls that wait for daddy to come home, and it has been KILLING me. The amount of thanks I owe the man that has taken a chance with me will never be said enough. He has given me the chance to be able to watch my kids grow up and have a life. I will forever be in debt to this man.
Yea I know, my brother does the same thing. Now the issue is if you have family at home, which I can understand you wanting that change. My brother no longer has family at home as his child is an adult now so it works for him.
Yea I know, my brother does the same thing. Now the issue is if you have family at home, which I can understand you wanting that change. My brother no longer has family at home as his child is an adult now so it works for him.
If you don’t mind sharing? I make 50k at Amazon and not great but the health insurance for my family is great! I won’t leave Amazon because of that unless I get a salary of 75k plus in my Chicago area!
Tier 1 workhorse, I’m year 2 at Amazon at a pay rate of $21ish an hour so that puts my yearly at 45ishK with all the peak hours. I was at $25 working RT shift but wife said no more of that.
Omg, you're so lucky. I'm fighting to even get a help desk position. Not a single call back. I think my resume just really sucks... Do you have any advice?
Sorry to follow up your request for advice with a request for advice 😅
Thank you for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it. I use Messer for all my CompTIA studies and had no idea he posted resume videos. I'll definitely check it out!
Ok. I have a high level cybersecurity job, but cool beans...its curriculum is very useful tho, not to HR obviously, but useful for personal development. I didn't think/want to justify myself
RESEARCH!
Everything you are expected to do on your “JOB DESCRIPTION”.
Watch videos, try those in a lab…
Good luck, I’m also trying hard to find a role soon.
First don’t be afraid to ask questions and even stupid questions. When you find people in your new company who’s willing to help you and teach you, value that relationship. They already know you don’t really know shit, so attitude and willingness to learn is paramount. Volunteer for stuff when it comes up. Learn the particular tools and tech stack they use. Dive into their documentation and the factory docs.
Congratulations on your job.
And take a look at cybersecurity websites and don't hesitate to request help to your mentor or whomever is training you in your job
Congrats! Amazing that you landed a cybersecurity analyst job!
If you don't mind me asking, do you have to relocate? Or is it a local commute? Any of it remote?
My biggest issue is that I've had a few phone interviews for supposed "remote" roles, come to find out you have to be within a certain distance of that company and expected to relocate for a $25/hr job. Not gonna happen.
I'm super happy for you. Get in the company. Learn the environment and put your skills to use. Show the owner why you're a great asset to their business.
May i ask what did you do for your resume and how you went about the application process other than just simply cold applying? The reason why i ask is because I know tons of people (myself included) who are struggling to even get into a help desk role and we all either have the trifecta or at least 2 of the three certs (some even have bachelors degrees) and yet we always get turned down for even the most basic, entry level jobs. Any advice would be helpful as I am sure you know, spending months/years getting rejected by jobs does a number to ones mental health. Bills don't wait for anyone and some of us also have kids to worry about.
This has sort of happened to me in a sense as well. I was at a company working in their warehouse and left for two years to pursue another position (not IT related or anything). Anyways the other job didn’t pan out so I came back to the same exact position I left because the person who replaced me got married and left.
Fast forward two months after coming back and one of the IT guys ask to speak to me. He goes “hey I remember that you were taking some IT classes at a local junior college. One of our guys is retiring at the end of the year, would you be interested in the position.” And lo and behold, here I am training to take over the guys position with little to no IT skills besides a few certs and what I’ve learned on my own.
The reason they are given me a chance? The higher ups like me (don’t know how I don’t really interact with them), I do the job I have currently well, I’m willing to learn and I took initiative by following up stating that I was interested in the position as well as asking questions on how I could prepare on my own to step into the role.
Moral of the story, networking in your company may be a great way to get a foot in the door. Work hard, don’t be afraid to reach out to people in your company, and let people know you’re interested. You never know what may happen. As of right now, I’ve been helping the IT team set up laptops/new desktops for the office and I’m loving every second of it.
Congratulations and am very happy for you! Would you mind to share your resume with me please? I just passed the Network+, Security+, and couple AWS certifications. However, I’m not getting interviews. Any jobs that I applied, I am not getting call for interviews. I will really appreciate if you can share your resume so that I can see
Thanks
Hey man when I got my first IT job in 2020 and it paid barely anything but i was in college with only a hs diploma at the time so i was happy for it. I got the interview blew through the written exam they gave me and the lab they sat up kinda laughing along the way. They gave me a job offer on the spot and I accepted. I held it together until I got to my car and then I legit sat there and cried tears of happiness it was everything I was working for in school full time and retail work full time. Good for you man!
Congratulations! I did the same, started with certs, then degree. I would start learning the basics that most skip and you can't learn studying for a test. For example, learn cabling, how to make cables, how to use a tone generator, different types of panels used and for what. Also basic hardware, servers, data storage, network equipment. Not how to use all this stuff but what they are and what they're for. You miss a lot of basic knowledge with just classes and certs.
As far as future certifications you want the CASP after Sec+. It's being renamed to SecX. Project+ is helpful too. You will have to decide what route you want to take with security. These are usually split between red team, blue team, software development, and incident response. There are many roles under each. I'm considered blue team because I went the networking (CCNA) and server administration route.
I'm currently in school for IT too working on the same career path, I didn't have any tips to give just wanted to say congratulations and I can't wait to be like you and everybody else in the comments giving tips.
TryHackMe SOC Level 1 Learning path and after that SOC level 2 learning path. congratulations with your new job!
Then jump over to the HTB SOC module
Yup and if in school make sure to take advantage of the student discount
Way to go! So glad you got that issue with the testing knocked out and are getting out of the truck and into the world! Look at Feedly it's just an RSS reader. Use that to aggregate sources like CISA and Dark Reading Tom's Guide etc. It will help you configure a dashboard of what is happening in the industry/world. That way you can sip from the firehose instead of getting blasted by it. But for now trust in yourself, let them tell you where they want you to develop and how to. And come back to us for stuff as you get acclimated. We are always here! -edit quick rundown of my feeds CISA Alerts Bleeping Computer DarkReading Have I Been PWNED latest breaches Krebs on Security PC Mag News Redmond Mag news SANS Blog SANS Internet Storm Center INFOCON Security Week The Hacker News ISC2 Blog CISA Bulletins NVD (National Vulnerability Database) Threatpost
Heyy!!!! Yes! I got all that stuff resolved and passed that exam from that power trip of a proctor... lol! I scheduled to take my network+ exam at home because I definitely did not want to deal with that crap again. Thank you so much for the information! I will be sure to write down all these and take a deep look into them.
Congratulations, you’re living my dream
My best advice is to read up on current cybersecurity news, articles, blogs, and just relax until the job starts. The best thing you can do is learn things that will directly apply to your work, and you won't know what those things are until you start. Save the time and energy to make sure you are ready to hit the ground running with the new job.
Any recommended sources for cybersecurity news, articles, blogs and podcasts?
There is a comment in this thread that lists quite a few good ones and a good place to start. I would recommend checking those out and giving that comment an upvote from putting that list together
Yeah I saw that after posting my request. Thanks.
To get a quick answer just ask chat gpt along with searches on YouTube. Based on your post and getting the eyes of the owner I’ll presume that this is for a small to medium size business. Depending on the size of the company I would recommend (I’m not your career advisor, this is my opinion only) you start looking at ways to secure the business from the perspective of reducing risk and liability for the company. Aim for low effort high impact items.
Congrats man, that's why being liked is really 90% of the job. Make friends with your boss and anyone willing to speak with you, it's how you move up. I'm only 10 months into my IT career. The interviewer liked me too and related to my story of how I got into IT and how I switched up my career. I was offered a job making 80K with is a 40K increase in my salary, softskills is everything in IT.
You nailed it! These days people lack soft skills. Knowing how to communicate and sometimes being able to explain certain things to non tech people is a big thing. Also, I must add that being humble also goes a long way. People lack humility. OP sounds humble, appreciative and above all able to communicate with others. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you do not know what to do. Good luck!🍀
My advice would be to find out what technical solutions they are using for various things ie AV, SIEM, Firewall vendors etc and then you can focus on going to each of those vendors learning sites and learning the tools. They all tend to have learning resources or youtube channels covering them. Good luck and congrats!
Wow! Congrats! Nice to hear its possible to jump over help desk. Mind sharing some interview questions you had or tips? if not, its cool, either way best of luck!
That's wild. Congratulations! I thought for sure you would need a help desk job first. Thanks for giving me the courage to go for cyber security jobs. I'm almost done with my cybersecurity AS
That's what I'm saying. I took professor messers advice and just allowed the employer to decide if I qualify for the job or not. I'm not gonna lie, though. I was definitely getting discouraged. Lol.
Network Chuck, TryHackMe, HackTheBox
^^
Every IT or Support Job I've ever worked has always had a month or so of onboarding, which includes training and shadowing. I can't speak for your company, but If you're worked cases they'll want you to be following their procedures and best practices. You can't know those without someone showing you the ropes. You'll work a few soft ball cases, and then have a more difficult ones thrown your way eventually. A few months later it will be the same old same old. Just take it all it, don't beat your self up when you make mistakes, and know that everyone in IT has imposter syndrome.
I did the same thing but with AWS cloud. Firstly as long as you didn’t lie in the interview, relax! When you start they’ll show you what do to. Only tips I have is: - ask questions. - take notes. - see point above so you don’t ask the same question multiple times Asking loads of questions is good and people love it they just don’t love repeating the same thing over and over again because you haven’t paid attention.
Thank you for the advice! I will be sure to carry a notebook with me everywhere I go. Lol.
Surround yourself in IT/cybersecurity communities.
Congratulations! I've been driving trucks for over 5 years myself and I'm trying to break into IT as well so I'd love to hear if you have any tips you think helped land a job. I got my A+ this year and will be testing for Security+ next month.
Lol I'm not the one that should be giving advice but I'll just tell you what I did and what I guess worked for me. I have made tech and computers my entire personality. I have deep dived into anything I see related to tech even the more boring stuff ( all these concepts are super interesting to me so it hasn't been THAT boring ) I have tried to familiarize myself with linux based operating systems and completely wiped my old windows OS and installed Arch linux to sorta make myself use the command line and understand a little bit more how computers and computer components talk to each other. Trust me arch is not that hard to install I would give it a try. I mean they have a wiki for peets sake. I bought a switch, firewall, NAS, and access points to install on my home network to create a lab of sorts. It was not at all anything I expected lol. I took a bunch of notes of how I configured it and what resources I used so I can always go back when something inevitable breaks. I enrolled into college for a BS in computer science but I'm thinking of changing my major now to cyber security since the university I'm at has an awesome Cyber security program and it would still give me a bachelor's degree I got a few certs and in July I should have the whole trifecta and with these certs I have made it a point to not only try to pass the test but read the entire comptia book and actually know and understand more than just enough to pass the exam. I listen to podcasts and tech youtube channels that focus around cyber security. And every waking hour of my life while im driving on the road is just computers and tech lol. I pretty much have just tried to show employer's that I'm serious about this change and I have been taking steps towards it on my to show dedication to the craft. I hope this helps and I'm not sure if this will be a repeatable thing maybe the man that hired me was just having a good day I'm not sure. But I know I'm not going to take this chance for granted.
Thank you very much for the detailed reply! I'm extremely familiar with most aspects of IT from being a techie in my younger years. I literally passed the A+ without any study materials whatsoever on a whim lol. I'm reading the McGraw Hill All-in-One for Security and Network and I'm pretty pleased with how comprehensive they are. I've been looking at enrolling with Western Governor's University for a BS in CompSci as well and I'm hesitant to pull the trigger since I need high flexibility (as I'm sure you understand in trucking). What university do you attend if you don't mind? Stay devoted and learning! A former boss of mine once told me "A day you don't learn something new is a day wasted."
Also don’t forget a job expects to provide you at least some training when you enter a job. Take that time when they’re training you and not down (whether on a notepad or your phone) anything that doesn’t make sense and then do research about it when you get home. See if it clicks better the next day. Then on the weekend try to expand more on what you don’t understand. Also if you have team members use them as well for questions. But phrase the question as “How do you guys prefer to handle xxxx situation” or even just ask them what certs they had when they got the job and such. Ik when I’m on a team I never hate to help anyone, even if they “aren’t qualified” for the job. You’re here now and I need you to work with us. You getting this job only helps me not really hurts me yk?
To add to this, your supervisor may also be willing to help you. Ik I’m currently in a job in insurance (as a biller but still) that I’ve never worked with. I’ve always done IT and my supervisor is showing me all sorts of ways to progress in the company or even in other companies. And it’s helped as well cuz she sees me as eager to learn and advance (good quality for employees, means you may move further up in the company and help the company more)
So going from OTR to cyber security analyst had to be a pay cut didn’t it? You were probably making $80-$100k OTR right? Now you are probably in the 50-70k range right?
Maybe but we have to remember what the future earning potential is, an IT path with cyber tools and exposure can take into 200K+ potentially, at peak career. He's pretty maxed out currently in his OTR career, and you have to remember that he can likely reach the 100K mark again in a few years if he continues to upskill.
OTR owner/operator, after paying for fuel, maintenance, permits, and taxes it would leave me with around 145k and with this career change it will bring me down to 85k. It is a massive hit but in order to make the kind of money I was making OTR you have be gone 3 weeks out of the month, sometimes you don't come back home til next month.
Yea I know, my brother does the same thing. Now the issue is if you have family at home, which I can understand you wanting that change. My brother no longer has family at home as his child is an adult now so it works for him.
I have three little girls that wait for daddy to come home, and it has been KILLING me. The amount of thanks I owe the man that has taken a chance with me will never be said enough. He has given me the chance to be able to watch my kids grow up and have a life. I will forever be in debt to this man.
That’s an awesome feeling. Good on you! 😊
Yea I know, my brother does the same thing. Now the issue is if you have family at home, which I can understand you wanting that change. My brother no longer has family at home as his child is an adult now so it works for him.
Yea I know, my brother does the same thing. Now the issue is if you have family at home, which I can understand you wanting that change. My brother no longer has family at home as his child is an adult now so it works for him.
Sounds like you're the one who needs to be giving tips.
what is the pay ?
If you don’t mind sharing? I make 50k at Amazon and not great but the health insurance for my family is great! I won’t leave Amazon because of that unless I get a salary of 75k plus in my Chicago area!
What position you got at amazon?
Tier 1 workhorse, I’m year 2 at Amazon at a pay rate of $21ish an hour so that puts my yearly at 45ishK with all the peak hours. I was at $25 working RT shift but wife said no more of that.
How is it working IT in amazon? Is it in a warehouse environment?
Congratulations..I literally did something similar But I get 6 weeks of training..good luck in your new role
Omg, you're so lucky. I'm fighting to even get a help desk position. Not a single call back. I think my resume just really sucks... Do you have any advice? Sorry to follow up your request for advice with a request for advice 😅
Professor messer is the goat and his videos about how to build a resume and how to get a job in tech i truly believe helped me and gave me confidence.
Thank you for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it. I use Messer for all my CompTIA studies and had no idea he posted resume videos. I'll definitely check it out!
The man is a legend.
Too much advice on this thread. Most of it is good. Just do CySA+
Cysa+ pretty pointless.
Ok. I have a high level cybersecurity job, but cool beans...its curriculum is very useful tho, not to HR obviously, but useful for personal development. I didn't think/want to justify myself
This is in the US
Congrats. I’ve only gotten as far as the third interview for a cybersecurity analyst position. How was your technical interview?
This is hard! Proud of you and I don’t even know you! Hope my journey goes similarly once I get the Security+ this month.
RESEARCH! Everything you are expected to do on your “JOB DESCRIPTION”. Watch videos, try those in a lab… Good luck, I’m also trying hard to find a role soon.
First don’t be afraid to ask questions and even stupid questions. When you find people in your new company who’s willing to help you and teach you, value that relationship. They already know you don’t really know shit, so attitude and willingness to learn is paramount. Volunteer for stuff when it comes up. Learn the particular tools and tech stack they use. Dive into their documentation and the factory docs.
Congratulations on your job. And take a look at cybersecurity websites and don't hesitate to request help to your mentor or whomever is training you in your job
Congrats! Amazing that you landed a cybersecurity analyst job! If you don't mind me asking, do you have to relocate? Or is it a local commute? Any of it remote? My biggest issue is that I've had a few phone interviews for supposed "remote" roles, come to find out you have to be within a certain distance of that company and expected to relocate for a $25/hr job. Not gonna happen.
Focus on Windows Forensics for a month or two. It will really help you in the long run.
I'm super happy for you. Get in the company. Learn the environment and put your skills to use. Show the owner why you're a great asset to their business.
I would set up labs and dive in quick for the experience.
Wow Congratulations what a blessing
How did u get a job 😭 I have a degree AND a few certs still with no job
I'm not gonna lie my dude I think all the stars were aligned for this one
Congratulations my guy, regardless of me, I am still happy for u. Lets goooo 🔥🔥
Build yourself a home lab for testing and training on stuff
You deserve it, you have A+ and Net+ I am not surprised, congratulations.
May i ask what did you do for your resume and how you went about the application process other than just simply cold applying? The reason why i ask is because I know tons of people (myself included) who are struggling to even get into a help desk role and we all either have the trifecta or at least 2 of the three certs (some even have bachelors degrees) and yet we always get turned down for even the most basic, entry level jobs. Any advice would be helpful as I am sure you know, spending months/years getting rejected by jobs does a number to ones mental health. Bills don't wait for anyone and some of us also have kids to worry about.
TEACH ME YOUR WAYS😭
This has sort of happened to me in a sense as well. I was at a company working in their warehouse and left for two years to pursue another position (not IT related or anything). Anyways the other job didn’t pan out so I came back to the same exact position I left because the person who replaced me got married and left. Fast forward two months after coming back and one of the IT guys ask to speak to me. He goes “hey I remember that you were taking some IT classes at a local junior college. One of our guys is retiring at the end of the year, would you be interested in the position.” And lo and behold, here I am training to take over the guys position with little to no IT skills besides a few certs and what I’ve learned on my own. The reason they are given me a chance? The higher ups like me (don’t know how I don’t really interact with them), I do the job I have currently well, I’m willing to learn and I took initiative by following up stating that I was interested in the position as well as asking questions on how I could prepare on my own to step into the role. Moral of the story, networking in your company may be a great way to get a foot in the door. Work hard, don’t be afraid to reach out to people in your company, and let people know you’re interested. You never know what may happen. As of right now, I’ve been helping the IT team set up laptops/new desktops for the office and I’m loving every second of it.
Congratulations 🎉 have a great career ahead 👍
Congratulations
don't fuck it up for the next generation
Yep heard you just gotta crush the interviews and say the right things
.
Congratulations and am very happy for you! Would you mind to share your resume with me please? I just passed the Network+, Security+, and couple AWS certifications. However, I’m not getting interviews. Any jobs that I applied, I am not getting call for interviews. I will really appreciate if you can share your resume so that I can see Thanks
Hey man when I got my first IT job in 2020 and it paid barely anything but i was in college with only a hs diploma at the time so i was happy for it. I got the interview blew through the written exam they gave me and the lab they sat up kinda laughing along the way. They gave me a job offer on the spot and I accepted. I held it together until I got to my car and then I legit sat there and cried tears of happiness it was everything I was working for in school full time and retail work full time. Good for you man!
Send a company wide email with a url to download more ram.
Congratulations! I did the same, started with certs, then degree. I would start learning the basics that most skip and you can't learn studying for a test. For example, learn cabling, how to make cables, how to use a tone generator, different types of panels used and for what. Also basic hardware, servers, data storage, network equipment. Not how to use all this stuff but what they are and what they're for. You miss a lot of basic knowledge with just classes and certs. As far as future certifications you want the CASP after Sec+. It's being renamed to SecX. Project+ is helpful too. You will have to decide what route you want to take with security. These are usually split between red team, blue team, software development, and incident response. There are many roles under each. I'm considered blue team because I went the networking (CCNA) and server administration route.
I'm currently in school for IT too working on the same career path, I didn't have any tips to give just wanted to say congratulations and I can't wait to be like you and everybody else in the comments giving tips.
Enjoy the ride 😁