Discussion Any advice for an IT novice?

[EagerAmoeba]

First question I have for you is how old are you?

If you're trying to come in at mid-age I can't say it's the best move - especially right now when outsourcing is more prevalent then ever.

I'd go with ultimatebob's suggestion of an AWS cert - but the fact that you are asking why and what benefit tells me that IT might not be for you.

So aside from that - that leaves programming/software dev like purbeast0 mentioned. Study up on a newer language that is growing - yet somewhat scarce in the market so you can differentiate.

I'm 22 years old. So I am completely new to IT with only a semester of college under my belt. During this last semester my curiosity for IT began to grow because I was introduced to all this knowledge I never new of, so I decided to start looking into other areas of IT as well not just programming. I don't understand what you mean by IT might not being for me? The reason I ask why and what regarding those areas I'm unfamiliar with is because I'm curious and want to learn. I'll never learn if I don't ask questions, and when I dont know what the right question to ask is then I'll ask the obvious and go from there haha.

 

[Captante]

I'm 22 years old. So I am completely new to IT with only a semester of college under my belt. During this last semester my curiosity for IT began to grow because I was introduced to all this knowledge I never new of, so I decided to start looking into other areas of IT as well not just programming. I don't understand what you mean by IT might not being for me? The reason I ask why and what regarding those areas I'm unfamiliar with is because I'm curious and want to learn. I'll never learn if I don't ask questions, and when I dont know what the right question to ask is then I'll ask the obvious and go from there haha.

I think he was concerned because you seemed to not know what AWS was maybe?

Don't lose any sleep over it ... and don't make the mistake of narrowing your focus too much in your studies until you have a better feel for what you enjoy.

 

[EagerAmoeba]

Not everything is moving to the cloud. I think there is more understanding of what "the cloud" can do and can't do well and people are pulling back a bit. Data proximity is a potential reason if your data has to be generated locally. Cost is another - especially if your workloads are relatively consistent.

I think a lot of potential positions would look favorably on an AWS or Microsoft cloud certification. Sys admins, network engineers, programmers. All have areas of operations in the cloud.

Sys admin role is probably in trouble a bit long term. A lot of traditional responsibilities are being abstracted away so you need fewer and fewer sys admins to run your stuff. If I were learning now I'd focus more on things like JSON or YAML and containers. If you still want to dip your toes into Sys admin stuff or Azure cloud stuff Microsoft is making Powershell surprisingly flexible and now in v7 you can do things across Mac, Linux and Windows not to mention Azure. I mention Azure because, while many like and are comfortable with AWS, there are some things that just don't make sense to run in AWS if you have the choice. Domain join is a mess compared to Azure. So is SharePoint and SCCM. And the Azure interface is easier for MS familiar companies to adjust to.

Edit: For beginner projects start getting familiar with all the OS versions. It will make you a lot more attractive applicant to be able to support Mac, Linux and windows and open up more job options in case someone is only looking for linux help or something. Home labs are usually pretty easy to do in IT to learn. I mean you can run some distros on a raspberry pi so its cheap to get started. And there are other potential options like running VMs locally. I think most places don't expect much experience with entry level jobs as long as you can think critically though a problem and know how to search for an answer (ask more experienced employees, search the internal KB if it exists, google). Many expect to need to train up staff to some extent so are more forgiving of a lower skill level if your people skills are good. You can also get free credits from AWS and Azure to start playing in the cloud. I think they even have some free classes or walkthroughs to get you started

Thanks for your reply! I've been getting more familiar with the Linux OS through virtual machines. I have heard that building your own homelab, or even virtualizing one is a good project to work on. Powershell is another thing I've heard is good to learn.

 

[EagerAmoeba]

I think he was concerned because you seemed to know know what AWS was maybe?

Don't lose any sleep over it ... and don't make the mistake of narrowing your focus too much in your studies until you have a better feel for what you enjoy.

I see what you mean, learning to code really lit a spark in me and made me want to look into other areas of IT. I've heard of amazon web services in the past, and even of their certifications but I never looked into it before. But now we're here and I'm hearing more things about it so maybe now is the time to look into it haha

 

[EagerAmoeba]

My first advice would be to decide if you are getting into IT or software development.

And if you are going to get into development, certificates are 100% worthless in the real world.

I'm currently looking into getting into IT. The reason I decided to go to school for programming was because I wanted to create my own mobile applications. Which I have been working on during my free time. I know you might be thinking why didn't I just go the self-taught route? The reason being because I was four years out of high school so I didn't have the discipline to just crack open the books on my own, and I wanted the structured approach because quite frankly I didn't know where or how to begin. The same thing goes with my original post haha. That's also why I enrolled in Google's IT course because I wanted a structured approach but of course they only teach you so much which is why I made this post so i can hear first hand from more experienced IT individuals what other areas would be beneifitial to learn, because as of now my scope is still rather small.

 

[EagerAmoeba]

I mean - to be honest - at this point based on where you are at this should be a question that you are able to answer yourself....

You should be steering yourself from the start down the path of things like Net-Admin/SysAdmin/DBA.... Software Dev... Consulting....SAP/ERP systems.... SOMETHING.


If you're going in at a "tech support" level and hoping to advance you're gonna have a bad time.

Very interesting, thank you for your reply. I guess the reason I list things like tech support are because they're generally entry level positions and I've heard its a good place to get your foot in the door.

 

[EagerAmoeba]

Keep general for now. Learn as much as you can about everything.

Thank you for your reply!

 

[Scarpozzi]

The reality that I've discovered is that every ship needs a captain. You need someone to not only define a solid, clear path forward, but also reign things in & enforce that path so that stuff actually gets done. That's why startups can come in & crush huge companies. The Silicon Cowboys documentary on Netflix showcases how Compaq came in & beat IBM at their own game, because IBM was too entrenched to move. And that's why people like Kelly Johnson & Adrian Newey were so effective at their respective jobs at the Skunk Works & designing winning race cars, and why products like the Pontiac Aztek came out so terrible, due to being designed by a committee. You can look at people like Steve Jobs and say "iPhone" and Elon Musk and say "electric cars" because they've got a clear focus & are effective in marshaling the resources required to fulfill their vision. And you can see the opposite all over the place, most recently with our country's response to COVID...we just recorded the highest one-day total coronavirus cases since April while the government is ending federal support for testing sites, whereas New Zealand got really serious about it in order to eliminate the virus.

Life is crazy.

I had a previous boss that had a DBA background. He ended up moving into management, but he could never make a decision. I agree. In the example I gave, the person is a total hack. Just tough seeing fail in so many people that rise to the top. 😛

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I think he was concerned because you seemed to not know what AWS was maybe?

Don't lose any sleep over it ... and don't make the mistake of narrowing your focus too much in your studies until you have a better feel for what you enjoy.

My point was moreso that I was learning about the latest in tech and reading tech forums/frontpages when I was 13. At 22 you're pretty late to the game. Being late to the game means there's an entire squad that is infinitely ahead of you that you're now actively competing against for jobs.

Did I mention I'm a devout pessimist?

 

[Exterous]

My point was moreso that I was learning about the latest in tech and reading tech forums/frontpages when I was 13. At 22 you're pretty late to the game. Being late to the game means there's an entire squad that is infinitely ahead of you that you're now actively competing against for jobs.

Did I mention I'm a devout pessimist?

I wouldn't agree with infinitely. One of the pros and cons of tech is that it is always changing so everyone is at risk of their skills becoming obsolete and opens the door for people with newer\fresher skills. Tech is also more of a meritocracy than other places so lack of the 'right degree' or certification (which can take years to get) doesn't hold you back the way it will in other sectors. Does it take more work than if you get spoon fed class work? Yes but its still perfectly achievable. I didn't get into IT until age 20-21 and would have what I would consider a very successful career in IT. I hired a guy not all that long ago who bounced around food service jobs until he made the switch in his mid-20s and he is a great employee.

 

[bigi]

Change profession. Quickly. Unless you can go to AI.

Desktop support - meh
Networking - boring, some think it is cool.
Programming, well languages change quick. I've gone through a bunch. Concepts remain, but stuff gets re-invented over and over again.
System Admin - boring in a long run, even with Unix/Linux.
DB Admin - specialized and needs balls depending on MSFT/other DBs.

MSFT standarizes everything in the cloud, this is how they make money, overall still meh.
Unix, Linux is too dispersed. Tends to be more popular in Europe, me thinks.

Yes, I've gone through most of all IT since the late 80's.

 

[Captante]

Change profession. Quickly. Unless you can go to AI.

Desktop support - meh
Networking - boring, some think it is cool.
Programming, well languages change quick. I've gone through a bunch. Concepts remain, but stuff gets re-invented over and over again.
System Admin - boring in a long run, even with Unix/Linux.
DB Admin - specialized and needs balls depending on MSFT/other DBs.

MSFT standarizes everything in the cloud, this is how they make money, overall still meh.
Unix, Linux is too dispersed. Tends to be more popular in Europe, me thinks.

Yes, I've gone through most of all IT since the late 80's.

However ALL preferrable to ditch digging!

 

[kt]

My point was moreso that I was learning about the latest in tech and reading tech forums/frontpages when I was 13. At 22 you're pretty late to the game. Being late to the game means there's an entire squad that is infinitely ahead of you that you're now actively competing against for jobs.

Did I mention I'm a devout pessimist?

Late to the game, but not out of the race. Technology changes rapidly so what we learn from a decade ago will at most give the opportunity to lecture Jr. IT guys of the "old days". Not to say that it's entirely useless knowledge but "infinitely" ahead of the game, no.

Sometime it could even work against them depending on their personality type. Some just refuse to accept and adapt to new ways of doing things.

 

[Zeze]

Pivoting to Delivery / Project / Agile framework management is not a bad idea either. It's resistant to offshoring because you gotta face to face to build team rapport, conduct quarterly planning, SAFe agile release trains, etc.

I'm too stupid to do actual coding, but I have a knack for talking to people, crowd control, and leadership reporting.

It's an 'easy' way to make 150-200k.

The recommended certs are not hard to obtain - CSM, different paths of ICAgile, SAFe SA (Safe Agilst), etc... you don't even need the rigors of obtaining PMP.

 

[Zeze]

Also look into Product Management / Product Owner (PO):

You are the 'head' that intake/prioritize/decomp stories/requirements and write/sign-off acceptance criteria. It's a crucial role.

* Resistant to offshoring - scrum ceremonies promote on-site. Even if remote, they dont' want to be in different time-zone.
* Pays well
* You're not coding. That's what devs do. You don't need to actively keep up with latest languages and libraries, etc.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

The recommended certs are not hard to obtain - CSM, different paths of ICAgile, SAFe SA (Safe Agilst), etc... you don't even need the rigors of obtaining PMP.

I always wanted that just so I could say I'm the closest thing to a pimp.

But yes - you're absolutely right. I'm paid a boatload because I have technical skills - but also because I have the balls to stand up and present it in a non-tech-geek way (basically translating it to business-speak) and without an Indian accent.

It's more rare than people realize.

 

[purbeast0]

Also look into Product Management / Product Owner (PO):

You are the 'head' that intake/prioritize/decomp stories/requirements and write/sign-off acceptance criteria. It's a crucial role.

* Resistant to offshoring - scrum ceremonies promote on-site. Even if remote, they dont' want to be in different time-zone.
* Pays well
* You're not coding. That's what devs do. You don't need to actively keep up with latest languages and libraries, etc.

Having product owners who have never coded and don't understand the technical/architectural part of things is such a terrible idea. Been there done that plenty of times and having a product owner that actually gets stuff and understands tradeoffs and what not is just such a breath of fresh air.

 

[Zeze]

Having product owners who have never coded and don't understand the technical/architectural part of things is such a terrible idea. Been there done that plenty of times and having a product owner that actually gets stuff and understands tradeoffs and what not is just such a breath of fresh air.

We have couple of very mature scrum teams whose TPO does an excellent job managing outside and inside (devs). Neither have coding skills beyond SQL. With a strong Scrum Master, we have no time decomping stories and establishing AC. Our team cycletimes have reduced as well too.

No particular issues for them. Yes of course it's always beneficial to have coding experience.