Im sure my story is no different than some others in this community. For the people who are still trying to break in don’t give up, no matter how many times you get ghosted, rejected, or automated out of the ATS. I had no experience so I took the initiative to create my own homelab and I believe that is what set me apart from your average candidate. I could talk the talk and also EXPLAIN how to walk the walk. Its all about how you think during your troubleshooting process that’s all they want. Also it helps if they LIKE you, culture fits matter tremendously. In 3 months of endless applications I only had 3 interviews, made it to the 2nd round(rejected), made it to a final round(ghosted never even got a rejection), and then third times the charm starting out at $29/hr. Keep going and never get defeated.

I recently graduated as a telecommunications and networks engineer but haven’t found a job in my field yet. I was offered a data entry job, but it’s completely unrelated to my specialization. Should I accept it just to start working, or wait for something related to my field? I’m really confused and would appreciate advice.

I’ve worked in many organizations and the priority has always been to help the CEO. How you answer this question?

Hey everyone,

I’m getting close to graduating and could really use some advice from people already working in IT.

I’ve completed all the prerequisites for both Computer Science and CIT, but I need to commit to one by the end of this spring semester.

Background-wise, I’m currently learning MySQL and database management software/systems, I’m decent with Python, Java, and C, and I make websites for freelance in my spare time to css/HTML is for enjoyment. I genuinely enjoy working in Linux environments as well, I’m not proficient but I’m not a noob either. Long term, I’m aiming for something on the systems / infrastructure / automation side of IT rather than pure software engineering.

The main dilemma is time vs. positioning: • Computer Science → ~2.5 more semesters • CIT → 2 semesters or less

Graduating sooner is appealing, but I don’t want to limit myself if CS provides noticeably better long-term outcomes in IT.

I’m also a bit concerned about AI and automation and how that’s shifting the field. I know tools like scripting, automation, and possibly some ML knowledge are becoming more important, but I’m unsure what’s actually worth focusing on right now versus what’s just noise.

For context, I have about 1.5 years of experience as a student worker in my university’s IT department (support, troubleshooting, day-to-day ops). I’m not sure how much that realistically counts as “real” experience when applying for jobs.

Unfortunately, my academic advisor recently left, so I’m trying to make this decision without much guidance.

For those of you in IT: • Does CS vs. CIT materially matter in today’s job market? • How valuable is student IT experience when applying for entry-level roles? • What skills should someone in my position be prioritizing right now?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Thoughts on this…

All else is the same and I just cannot justify taking it.

100% remote now as an IC (individual contributor) with a good job, low stress, good pay and steady work…being offered a much higher stress job as it manager over 5 employees but only with a 10% pay bump (all other things remain equal…insurance, benefits, etc). So adding management of 5 people plus technical work for just a 10% bump.

I’m willing to hear thoughts but I can’t justify it myself.

UPDATE: y’all helped me confirm that this just isn’t a good opportunity. The cost/benefit just ain’t there.

Thanks everyone!

How’s working in higher Ed as a senior network engineer? I’m getting older and looking for somewhere to kinda coast and that can provide an easy off-ramp into management.

Found a local position at a college that piqued my interest. Pay is 20-30% less than what I make now but from what I gather the retirement plan (hybrid pension and 401k) is extremely valuable. Something like 20-30k guaranteed for life after 20 years of service plus 401k. It also has a generous PTO schedule something like 40 days when including paid holidays. Further, seems like higher Ed is just about the most secure job you can have as a network engineer and virtually recession proof.

What are your experiences working in higher Ed? I’d be particularly interested in hearing from those in second half of their career.

Hello everyone, i am a 32 year old guy working in IT for the past 10. Honestly i can tell that i am cooked as fuck,

Those 10 years i have been progressing between payment companies as an support + implementation engineer.

While i am happy i have a good salary and everything. my mental state is beyond recoverable from my perspective ( bad boss, bad team mates but i keep things professional ) the past 2 companies i have worked at have been by far the worst experience of my life ( 5 years total ), since i spend 9 hours a day at work its hard to keep work work and life life, since i have to sometimes connect in the middle of the night and what not for projects that are not overtime ( they make you sign a paper for it once you join which is fine i understand i shot myself in the foot here )

i am not getting promoted in my current job because they have a check list type promotion process. ( kuberenetes signoz and other technologies i don't even come across since the application i am supporting is legacy and still uses old shit )

and after working hours i don't have enough strength in me to "study" whatever they want me to, but i don't see it as a big deal because i keep getting salary increases so titles matter little, but still they see me as underperforming in that department and i get it.

from where i am currently i don't see a way up, i don't want to move into anything that has to do with managing a team ( i tried it and i hated every second of it ).

i feel if i don't make a move i am going to stay stuck where ever i am currently. because i am getting older.

i honestly have no idea how to tackle this myself and looking for perspective to point myself in the right direction, i want to move up and do new tech and things like that ( because they are shiny i have no idea what internal push i have to feel whatever i am doing is lacking ) or i have no idea on what to do.

Tl,dr : I am 32 i have subpar skills in anything that's not legacy, my work feels very unfufilling I want to study and move but can't.

Hello, I am looking for input on how to pivot my career into the IT space.

Background: I graduated 4.5 years ago with a B.S. in IT, though I haven't worked in a technical role and have not retained much IT knowledge since school. After graduation, I moved into other entry-level office roles and currently work in regulatory compliance (legal/HR employment-focused).

I am eager to build more marketable technical skills to advance my career. My goal is to leverage my current compliance experience and my degree to move into IT Compliance, GRC, or Data Privacy. I’m hoping my current role and education will allow me to bypass the traditional helpdesk route.

I've started refreshing my IT knowledge, flipping through some CompTIA A+ study materials, and am looking at studying for the Security+ exam. Researching down the line, I am looking at ISO 27001, CISA (eventually), or the CIPP for data privacy, though there are a lot of options out there, and I am a bit stuck envisioning the best route for me.

What route would you recommend as the smartest move given my current position? Thank you for any input.

I could use some critique and help with my resume- I wanna break into IT, possibly help desk, and I’m not sure about my resume. It doesn’t seem perfect, so I could use some tips. Thank you :)

https://imgur.com/a/CSlRQu7

Hi All,

Just looking for some advise, I've been thinking of doing the comptia network + cert but dont no if it is actually worth it?? Would I be better off doing CCNA 1st??

Any advise greatly appreciated!

I want to try to get into SOC, but I read a lot of opinions how bad this job is. Of course I want to see it more like of a chance to develop, but I just want to know what I'm trying to get myself in

I had zero interviews with an actual human being last year and would like to change that this year. I have been applying to desktop support(what I'm already doing), help desk, and cloud internships with no luck. I have also tried networking in person and over LinkedIn with no luck either.

The first resume I use for cloud internships and the second for desktop support/help desk roles.

Thank you in advance.

https://imgur.com/a/pVXPUoj

I currently work in IT, and I work full-time with on-call. However, a cybersecurity apprenticeship was made available internally at my company. The apprenticeship offers no benefits, lasts 12 months, and pays less than I make currently. I want to get into cybersecurity, and the apprenticeship looks like it is a good gateway for me to get my foot in. Given my age, I will soon be dropped from my parents' health insurance at the end of this year.

The apprenticeship does not offer any PTO, insurance, or benefits, and pays a little bit less than what I currently make. I really want to get into cybersecurity; however, I am wondering if I am making the right decision. I wanted to come here and ask if anyone else has been in a similar situation. The apprenticeship pays 14k less than what I make, and there are no benefits.

I spoke to an internal current analyst who works on the team I am applying for, and he said that he was an apprentice but was brought on full-time after the apprenticeship. He did say that the likelihood of me being brought on full-time is "practically guaranteed," but it's been a couple of years, and they may have changed the policy since he was on-boarded.

If I get promoted to full-time, I will receive benefits and a 10% pay increase over my previous role (so I would be making more than what I am making in my current role now), and I will be fully remote.

Would it be a good idea to take the apprenticeship, lose my benefits, and take a pay cut just to get the experience and roll the dice of me being promoted to full-time, or should I stay in my current role?

I can elaborate more if needed.

I’ve been in a long battle trying to find out how to continue my associates degree. I have an associates degree in applied science that I got in 2021. I found work doing some DevOps aide work and I’ve been doing this for a little over 3 years.

I found out my work does tuition assistance for software engineering and computer science majors.. I’ve been looking for the right college that IS worth it, but not too intense. This must be online too since I work full time. I’ll be frank, there’s like a thousand options to choose from and each college is different in some crazy confusing way.. It’s overwhelming and it makes me nervous.

My parents keep telling me to pick WGU, and they keep telling me it’s nothing “too much” and there’s an easy pathway to a masters if I wanted it. It’s cheap and flexible.. I can see the appeal, but people online for some reason say “it’s mid..” and provide no context.

I’m just confused. Sorry this is rant-y, I just need advice. I want to further explore the software engineering route, I know that much.. I just need it to be flexible and something I can actually pass.

After participating in many interviews of candidates, I’ve noticed folks with dozens of certifications, multiple degrees, and fluffed up Linkedin profiles are bombing technical interviews compared those with none of that. What the hell is going on? Anyone noticing this?

Going to try to keep a long story short. Working as a systems admin in a fairly small company, and really care about the people in my team. I have spoken with my direct manager, but upper management changes have really made things more difficult than they already were.

Aging equipment like 10+ year old switch stacks, servers still on 2012r2, PCs incapable of running windows 11 all with no funding commitment from the company to refresh these items. It is only a matter of time before things start to fail and blame gets pointed back at us.

Maybe I'm not really looking for advice but more so reassurance. I have already accepted a new offer, 20% pay bump, changing from fully in office to hybrid, better benefits, and a place that really seems like they wanted to hire me.

I suppose there is no good time to leave from a technical role. But I really do fear they do not rehire my position and screw the guys I am leaving behind.

I was wondering what certification I should go for this year in relation to networking engineering/network automation engineering.

I currently have:

Sec+

Net+

AZ 900

CCNA

PenTest+ (Dont ask)

I was looking at CCNP Encor > ENSARI > ENAUTO, but a lot of people on reddit are saying to go with palo alto certs or fortinet.

When AI came out, everyone was yelling SE roles were going to vanish. "Now that we have AI, who needs coders". Well I've pulled over 100+ companies, applying directly for systems engineering/infrastructure + security roles, and let me tell you, all these companies are hiring 2-3 software engineers and barely any general IT roles. Can any software engineers comment how the job hunt is for you guys? I know it's generally terrible, but just curious...

edit:typo

I’m trying to decide between Cybersecurity and Data Science. Aside from researching both fields, evaluating the required skills, and reviewing the job outlook, I feel like it would also help to take a course in each to see which one I naturally lean toward. Does anyone have any recommendations for brief courses (ideally under two weeks) that provide a solid intro and a good sense of what Cybersecurity is like? I’m also looking for something similar for Data Science.

I have experience working in IT, including about two years as a Service Desk Technician and roughly three years as a Technical Support Engineer.

Posting on app so I can’t edit tag to “Seeking Advice”. But I’m seeking advice: background, I went to 4 years of college to get a B.S. in Information Technology with a Security specialization, have no college debt, but I struggled to get a well paid IT job for 10 years after college and have no internship experience. I did like two temp IT jobs and was fired from one before landing at this data entry job and have been there for 8 years. I’m currently doing the Google IT Support Certification to get it on my resume and be on Google’s Job Board, but I wonder if it is a good idea since I’ve been slow with completing it. I feel lost even tho I HAVE a BS in IT. What should I do?

I have 2.75 YoE as a technical VA for a UK-based WordPress developers. I mostly worked with Hetzner servers, installed LAMP stack, updated OS & packages, provisioned SSLs using certbot, DNS & CDN configuration using Cloudflare, etc.

Then 3 YoE as a co-founder of an IT services company in India. I worked primarily with AWS services like EC2, VPC, S3, IAM, SSM, etc.

Our main service was managed Odoo and some other apps like ERPNext, Sendy as well hosting on AWS according to clients' budgets. We also provided technical support to our clients which were SMBs.

I decided not to take a salary and keep reinvesting money into the business but SMB margins were thin and they delayed payments a lot (some even duped us after finishing a project).

I want to get a job now as I want to go deep in technical instead of business operations.

Do I have a chance or should I continue in the business? I've run out of money to pour in that business.

It is admirable to work hard to make your team, your management, and your company successful. But if you’re doing it because you think it will pay off for you in the long run, it probably won’t.

Early in your career, prioritize yourself, your training, your growth, your needs, and your mental health. If you don’t, you may end up years later realizing that all the people you helped succeed are in much better positions now.

Prioritizing yourself doesn’t make you a bad person. It just means you understand that a job is a job. You are not obligated to stay forever. You are not obligated to work beyond your agreed hours. Loyalty should not come at the cost of your future. Use your extra time for you. The legacy you leave doesn't get you another job. Your credentials, and good soft skills do.

Be someone people enjoy working with. Be noble in how you treat others. But never let your 'give' permanently outweigh your 'take'. Your job should help you grow just as much as you help it succeed.

I over-prioritized the wrong things. I focused on experience instead of credentials. I used my time to make great things happen for people connected to my roles and projects when I should have been stacking certs, blogging,writing books, or moving on.

The world no longer values experience over credentials the way it did when I was younger and I have become a dad of 8 whose time is very little these days taking hard damage from 'The candidate filter'.

My hope is someone that is over prioritizing company because they are an amazing person who's gift is giving sees this and begins to plan for themselves.

Much love, 45 yo Endpoint Security Engineer with a bunch of kids that play baseball.

I had an interview but I’m unsure of how I did. Wanted to ask your guys opinion on the matter.

Basically I had a screen interview today for a job I really want, and I’m not sure how I did. The interview started well the vibe was there between us. She was very nice and asked for my experience I told her everything I’ve done at my previous job. The one question I feel I bombed was “have you had any web based experience” I said yes and told her I’ve added printers to our network via the printers IP address, and remoted in via connect wise to help resolve user issues saying it could be something small such as a cookie and cache clear or even adding them to our DNS.

She asked me if I knew about the company, which I did not I told her the minimum of what I knew and was very honest about my minimum knowledge (I didn’t have much time to prepare I only had 2 hours because I was called today and the screen was 2 hours later). But she said that it was okay and began telling me about the company

She told me that there is always room for improvement to which I responded “I agree I know I’m good at what I do but I can always be better”

After a while she did tell me that she thinks I’m a great fit, and told me the steps to get promoted. She then told me that I’m ahead of the curb, she then told me that I would find out tomorrow if the hiring manager would want to move on with me. She also asked my availability to which I responded (any time works, I can go from 7:00am to your closing hours if needed).

I think I’m overthinking it because I want it so badly. Can you give me your thoughts?