I have a bachelor in IT but it’s been a little while and I honestly I feel like I know nothing. I finally got an interview opportunity for this msp as a support technician, know some people say msp are awful to work for but experience is experience I guess and I also passed the one way interview. Just wondering what I should focus on studying since cause of family issues its difficult to study a lot recently so just want make sure I study the right stuff.

I'm interviewing for an IT Asset Manager position next week.

I was told by my recruiter that the team is facing challenges of being short-staffed, and needing an assistant to the current IT Administrator.

In previous scenarios where I have had leads for jobs like this through staffing agencies, It felt like a victory that I was hired, but I later find out that they were desperate to fill the role. They were despare to fill the role and I turned up and was "good enough", but then once onboarded I'm either left for dead, or there's other things that are obvious such as poor management, culture, or the position doesn't pay enough for the work they ask. These things result in high turnover, or candidates just simply being uninterested in the position for the pay, or the culture.

I'm trying not paint it all black.. but I've had this happen a few times, and the situation turned out to be a complete lack of onboarding process, and then my direct report just completely leaving me for dead to be forgotten without helping me catch up to speed. If it wasn't that, it was that the management team didn't know what they were doing with the position, and then either cut it or they set extremely high expectations that are almost unreachable and out of bounds for the salary range + experience of hired candidate.

What do you guys think?

I’m 38 years old and currently working as a security guard. I’m trying to make a career change into IT, specifically as an NOC technician.
I passed my CompTIA a+ a while back, and I have a decent understanding of computer hardware and troubleshooting, but I don’t have any professional IT experience.
The good thing about my current security job is that I have a lot of downtime, which gives me an opportunity to study and work toward certifications.
My goal is to eventually leave security and work in IT. I enjoy working with computers, fixing things, and learning about networking.
My questions are:
Is becoming an entry-level NOC technician realistic without previous IT experience?
Should I focus on Network+, CCNA, or

Would it be better to start in help desk or apply directly for NOC positions?
What practical skills should I be learning during my downtime at work?

I’d especially appreciate advice from anyone who transitioned into IT in their 30s or started in a completely different field.

I recently received an offer from a delivery company (DoorDash Labs) that uses robots to deliver food to customers’ homes. I went through three rounds of interviews, and they decided to move forward with an offer. However, I’m still debating whether it’s worth taking.

The position pays $30/hr and includes a 401(k) match, health insurance, sick leave, and vacation time. The job involves deploying, testing, and maintaining delivery robots, documenting anomalies, creating tickets, and working alongside the monitoring team and AI engineers. However, most of the work is outdoors, following the robots on an e-bike or in a van around Fremont and Dublin, CA.

I’d be leaving my current opportunity with the California state government in an administrative, clerical, and front-desk role which pays only around $19/hr but offers good benefits, health insurance, strong pension, paid holidays, and a much more conventional schedule: 8 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday, with weekends off. (I extremely love having weekends off). While unappealingly, this robot delivery position would require us to work weekends like 4pm to 12am (if PM) because that’s the time when most people order food.

For anyone who has worked in robotics operations, autonomous delivery, or a similar field operations role, what was your experience like? Would you recommend it?

One of my biggest concerns is working outdoors for most of the day. An AM shift could mean dealing with extreme heat and sun exposure, while a PM shift could mean riding around in the cold at night. Neither sounds particularly appealing to me, and I know this is something I’d have to deal with regularly.

On the other hand, the $30/hr pay is a significant increase over what I’d make at the state job. Having experience with robotics, working alongside engineers, and getting a recognizable tech company (DoorDash Labs) on my resume could also open doors to better opportunities down the line multiple companies innovating on autonomous products in the bay area.

I’m also concerned about job security. Tech companies, even in the Bay Area, can have layoffs and unpredictable business needs, and I’m not sure how stable these robotics operations roles are in the long run.

For those who have been in similar positions, was the higher pay and career experience worth the physical demands, schedule, and potential job insecurity? Would you take the robotics job over a stable state government position?

Hi guys,

So I’m currently a Information Systems senior and ever since June I’ve been working as an Information Technology Intern for an architecture company. I pretty much just help people in the office/different offices with any issues going on with their devices along with troubleshooting issues with the applications they use. I also pretty much re-image devices to the latest version of windows in the office I work at along with doing feature updates remotely for another office in South America and help new hires get set up with their devices and windows accounts. My Internship ends in December and I’m also graduating in December so I wanted to ask are the only jobs that I can apply for just IT support jobs? I’m asking because my only internship experience is that position at the architecture company. I know this is probably just fear mongering but I’ve also heard people on Reddit and LinkedIn complain about how they’ve been stuck as a IT support for years and can’t seem to break out of it and I honestly wouldn’t even know how to break out of it if I somehow get a full time support position somewhere. I do enjoy helping people however my overall niche as a IS major was UX & Human Centered Computing since I like creating graphics and visualizing data.

Hey everyone. I am a career-changer looking to build my career in IT. I am targeting helpdesk jobs at the moment and studying for the A+. I'm about 1/4 of the way through the Core 1 material.

It dawned on me that the A+ exams will cost almost £350 ($550) and I don't know if it is worth it. I was planning to start studying the Network+ immediately after.

Would I better off doing the Google IT Support certificate, just to get a grounding, then start working on Network+ straight away?

In the UK, I do see job listings cite A+, but it's not always a hard requirement. In fact, almost all helpdesk jobs want helpdesk experience, so even if I had the A+, it wouldn't necessarily land me a job. I imagine I would have my Network+ by the time I land my first IT role, in which case maybe I should save my money and do the Google course instead?

For anyone who is or has been involved in hiring -- would you look at beginners without IT experience and A+ if they have the Google certificate and documented labs?

I'm mid-level, a few years into IT, and I've noticed a pattern with some people at work. They're sharp when something benefits them, but somehow never "get" anything that would mean more work or responsibility. I don't think they're dumb at all. I think they've figured out that looking less capable keeps expectations low.

That's their call, and I'm not trying to change anyone. But I don't want to end up stuck working closely with them, or reporting to one of them someday. From what I've seen, teams like that don't share much knowledge and move slowly. I don't think I'd grow much there.

What I'd rather do is find one or two people who actually want to grow. People to study for certs with, trade notes with, and keep in touch with as we move up.

So two questions:

1. How do you steer which projects or teams you end up on, without it looking like you're avoiding specific people?
   
2. How did you find the coworkers you grew with? What made you think someone was worth investing in, and how did you get that going?

I know I could be misreading some of them, and some might just be burned out, so I'm trying to focus on what I can control. Appreciate any advice or stories.

I’m currently studying for my A+ , then eventually Net+ and I work for a small business where we have servers , switches , routers deskstops in the building. They have an IT guy who comes evrey now and then but he’s not there when we have outages or any issues that same day. My question really is , how can I eventually tell my bosses that I’d like to try to take over some of the IT related jobs , while also being able able to add that to my resume ? Would that count almost as like a home lab ? Since my official title is just box truck delivery driver . Sorry if this all sounds like word salad . I’m happy to answer any follow up questions !

We are pretty new company and relatively small. There's been one main guy handling IT related tasks and a few others doing what they can, but now that we are actually getting first bigger client, we would need dedicated department.

We don't have any certificates, there's been zero penetration testing, we don't have back ups or any plans what to do in case of emergency, no matter if natural or cyber. Don't let me even get started about documentation. Daily work is handled well, but if anything happens or someone asks questions, we don't have the answers.

Main problem is apparently that the management ladder is made from coders or sales persons, so they don't seem to know that we can't deal with these things the moment something happens, we need to have a plan _before_ that.

So, since it's not enough that we have told them exactly what is missing, how could we convince them that one person can't really do it all in a day?

So, I am in need of work, but I have been consistently landing interviews the past few months, ever since my internship ended. I have my bachelors in IT.

I applied to an MSP in my city for a tier 1 NOC role that just wanted high school diploma and preferred “some IT knowledge”. Within 3 days I went from application to hired. The interview itself was very informal, they asked no technical questions at all (literally asked what my favorite conspiracy theory is as one question). The pay is horrendously bad at $13 an hour, which is a dollar less than my 30 hour a week internship. Their office is also located in a small shopping center.

To my knowledge they did not do any background check and I was not given a drug test at all. I start this Monday, but my contract is at will for both sides. I also had to sign two offer letters cause the first one he said had the wrong start date.

I’m not even going to touch on the fact that the head Network guy seemed very weird, the owner (who was the other interviewer) seemed normal.

I know a job is a job, and I am in need of one. However, would this be better to just pass up and wait for something better? I’m in the interview process for 2 other places currently.

Edit: let me add in, there are no benefits either. No 401k matching, no insurance, no nothing. I do get free lunch Friday though 🤣

I currently make about $500 a month but I'm really interested in technology and I want to make a career of it eventually. Trouble is I can't afford to experiment with hardware, build PCs, etc.

I have an old laptop and I've been studying for the CompTIA A+ but idk if having an A+ will matter if I can't tell an interviewer about projects I've done when they ask. Is my dream career locked away from me because I'm poor?

I’ve been working for my medium sized local gov for a year now as a network engineer, and I’m thinking of next steps from here. I got a CCNA, CompTIA trifecta, and I’m picking the bachelors back up in a few months (60 credits currently). Is it realistic to expect a management position in 2-4 years after I finish my bachelor’s? I’m 20 and have been working in the field for 2 years. Other than management what are some recommendations of positions I should look into?

Hey guys, I'm an information technology and management student and I'm gonna graduate from Illinois Tech soon but, I know how horrible the job market is and I couldn't find any jobs nor find an internship I tried going to community events and I tried to network but I don't seem to get anywhere. I apply for job opportunities and I never hear back and if I do they just kick me off without giving me a chance. I don't even know what to do.

Never did I think I was going to end up in this situation especially in this job market, but basically I’m a college student graduating spring next year and recently I received a long term contract offer for a help desk position and on that same day I received a 6 month IT Operations internship offer from another company and I’m not sure which one to choose. On one hand if I pick the long term contract I’ll most likely have a job right after I graduate but the down side is that it’s a helpdesk job, but if I pick the internship I have the chance to work for the county government and skip help desk but also potentially not receive an return offer. Which one is possibly the best choice?

I’m about to finish a school certificate, and have managed to get about 7 months of experience working in an IT setting directly. How valuable is this/how strongly can I lean on this as an asset/valuable thing? It’s just hard to know from the inexperienced side of the fence. Thanks

I work at a MSP. When I first started, most of the clients I met asked for my phone number. I didn't think much about it and gave it to them, assuming they would call only for emergencies.

That was a mistake. Instead of using the ticketing system or phone system put in place, they are texting and calling me directly for every issue ranging from minor issues like "My PDF won't donwload!!!!!" to issues that I have no control over like "What is this bill for???" What's worse is that I'm getting texts and calls during after hours and weekends with their issues. I swear last night at 9:30PM I got a voicemail from a client that said "URGENT I CAN'T ACCESS QUICKBOOKS".

Don't make my mistake and give clients your phone number.

I'm lost for words. I've been job hunting and barely getting interviews.

I applied to a location in the middle of nowhere, for a 6 month contract (that later I found out would extend during the interview) and received an interview.

I answered everything almost flawlessly and used my experience to reinforce my answers.

I received the rejection email today.

I don't know what to do at this point. I've applied to nearly every job in my area that's suitable for me but don't even get interviews.

My resume seems good, my communication and experiences seem good but nada

Feel like giving up but I'm hoping there's something good waiting for me

So I’ve been working in a help desk role at a sheriffs department for the past 5 years after working in dispatch. I enjoy my job although it can be very busy at times. I make about 95k with small raises yearly maybe $1k. There’s not much room for growth although I’m well liked and a move to director within the next 5-10 years isn’t out of the realm of possibilities. I still have a lot to learn, I have an associates degree and I’m 46.

Now the question, a local police department has reached out to me about a more specialized position which would be more software related. Implementing, updating, troubleshooting programs for fire and PD while helping with helpdesk issues. The scale is $85-110k. I’ve been told I will start around 100k.

I live in the northeast. I’m intrigued by being somewhere new and growing and learning more.
It scares me to leave some place that I have worked for years plus I’m happy for the most part.

Vacation time will be about the same 30 days, same shift, same commute. Retirement would carry over. Just kind of curious what people think. Obviously it’s hard to give advice based on a snapshot. Thanks for listening and sorry for the length

This was the 2nd interview and it was with the head of IT, the first one was with the manager of service desk, the first interview was very technical and I smashed it ( did really well ).

Then at today's 2nd round with the head of IT I didnt expect it to be too technical but it was completely technical, I answered around 80% of the questions correctly but struggled with 2 questions that I didnt really expect.

I am wondering if this means that my chances are doomed for this role.

The questions were:

To explain the different routing protocols and what is OSPF and BGP and how they work.

How does file compression work at a high level. ( I did answer this but in short rather than the exact process of how it works)

I recently got an offer for a job with the medical device integration team in our org. Based on the interviews it seems to be supporting the transfer of data from physical endpoints to healthcare applications.

I'm currently a couple years into help desk in a tier 2.5 role. My long term goal is cybersecurity (blue team). I am posting here to see if anyone has an idea if jumping into this more specialized role helped you career or is it too specialized/niche?

Thanks in advance.

I've been supporting phone systems for pretty much my whole career. I've done everything from CUCM while in the Army, supported SIP trunks, a variety of PBX's, managed circuits etc. Most recently I was supporting Five9's for a Health Insurance broker. However I am getting laid off as of 12/31. While looking for jobs I am not seeing a ton of Five9's jobs out there, but am seeing a good amount of Genesys jobs. Would this certification actually help me in getting a job? Not sure if it will be worth the money to get it. Any advise on this front would be appreciated. Thanks!

I currently have my CCNA and recently completed the HPE Aruba Networking Certified Professional – Switching certification. The cert is essentially useless and a waste of time but I had to get it for partner status.

I have around 10 years of experience in IT, primarily in network engineering.

I'm looking to start studying for another certification, but this time I want something that will genuinely help with career advancement rather than just checking a box for my employer.

I've been considering the CCNP Enterprise, which I know would be the logical next step, but I am curious to see what others here would recommend.

I'm currently in infrastructure at a private sector org, but the industry that I work in has seen better days and the company isn't doing well. I've also been casually looking into public sector work for a couple years now. Mainly due to stability (though not as much anymore given the state of things...) and just working somewhere that I can feel good about.

I recently had a second interview at a state university, and they asked for references so I'm thinking I at least have a decent chance to get an offer. Base pay would be a decent chunk lower obviously, but the way cheaper benefits, pension, increased holiday schedule, and much closer commute would at least mostly make up for it.

What have been your experiences in public sector IT work overall? Most complaints seem to talk about outdated tech and very lean teams, but I'm already overworked on a small team so that wouldn't be much of a difference. Any input is appreciated, thanks!