Learning IT from the Ground Up

[Sunt nou]

Hello everyone on Anandtech,

Apologies if this isn't the right forum, but my question is so general I couldn't think of where else to put it. I may have an opportunity to work with my fathers computer consulting company and I would like some advice on how to begin this journey. If you want to skip the back story I've marked them so you don't have to waste you time.

[backstory]
I just graduated from college last year with two degrees that couldn't be further from the tech field, Financial Economics and Accounting with nearly a math minor. I started my own company as a sophomore in another completely unrelated field and it's humming along pretty well. I'm living comfortably and it only takes four hours a day to run. For a while it was really cool to live so laid back, but now I'm getting antsy.

I was thinking to myself that with all this spare time I could either relax or maybe use it to work more closely with my dad. Cue the Cats in the Cradle song. So I'm thinking that if I started cracking open some tech books and developed my skills in this area, I could get a chance to learn how his business works and help him expand it. I feel like on the business side of things like managing accounts, dealing with clients, running marketing, I'm very capable but at the same time how can I manage a company without knowing its nuts and bolts.
[/backstory]

The meat of what I'm looking for is a path towards developing my skills in IT. My existing background is that I took a CCNA class in high school, I've overclocked and built a couple computers, I've done basic software installation, and I took a 200 level course on programming in college.

I have the luxury of time and a little money but I'd prefer not to go back to college (expensive!) and would rather work expanding my knowledge with books from Barnes and Noble and the internet.

[more backstory]
I've spoken with my dad and several of his employees to get a grasp of what they actually do. What the company does now (from what I can gather) is to run help desks, some server hosting, firewalls, virtual machines, PDAs, and VOIP phone systems. So why not just ask my dad what I should learn? Well, I think he's been doing this so long that he might not have the empathy or patience to deal with me. He might for instance throw me at a book on VMWare that I'm entirely not ready for.[/backstory]

So where should I head from now and how should I develop my skills?

Should I focus on the basics first; learning html, Windows, hardware installation, relearn the CCNA material and brush up on my C++? Or would it make more sense to learn the applications like VMWare, Virtual PC, Astaro firewall, AVG, setting up VOIP phones?

I feel like there's a lot to learn and this question is very general, but any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[guyver01]

Originally posted by: Sunt nou
any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

do i get a free iPOD out of it?

 

[xeemzor]

Go into a better field. I'm sure you could do something way more meaningful with your accounting degree.

 

[Sunt nou]

Originally posted by: xeemzor
Go into a better field. I'm sure you could do something way more meaningful with your accounting degree.

What do you mean by that? I have no interest in getting a job in accounting.

Originally posted by: guyver01

do i get a free iPOD out of it?

Everyone knows you get free IPods by being the 1,000,000 visitor to shady websites

 

[xeemzor]

Originally posted by: Sunt nou

Originally posted by: xeemzor
Go into a better field. I'm sure you could do something way more meaningful with your accounting degree.

What do you mean by that? I have no interest in getting a job in accounting.

Originally posted by: guyver01

do i get a free iPOD out of it?

Everyone knows you get free IPods by being the 1,000,000 visitor to shady websites

IT involves a lot bitch work. You always at the whim of your clients 24/7. Also, you don't have to do accounting work with your degree. Many non for profits and businesses are looking for executives who know how to run a company, and you would be a perfect candidate. Personally, I find running a company and being successful at managing a business, even though you already run your own company, much more rewarding.

 

[Sunt nou]

Originally posted by: xeemzor

IT involves a lot bitch work. You always at the whim of your clients 24/7. Also, you don't have to do accounting work with your degree. Many non for profits and businesses are looking for executives who know how to run a company, and you would be a perfect candidate. Personally, I find running a company and being successful at managing a business, even though you already run your own company, much more rewarding.

I appreciate your kind words. But I don't know how many large businesses would look for someone in their 20's with two degrees from a state college who has run a decent little business. I'd like ideally to help manage my father's company, maybe helping him retire early, but putting together a deal in the computer consulting world requires marketing and the technical skill to sell a potential client. And then of course there's the need to manage his tech guys who would walk all over me if I didn't have the knowledge to keep them efficient. That's why I'm looking at what paths I would have to take to develop my skills, even if they need to be shallow and eclectic.

 

[Rastus]

I learned it from the ground up. All I was given were passwords and Googled any specific information I needed at the time.

 

[skace]

Take some machines and start building your own environment, even VMware has a free version.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Sunt nou

Originally posted by: xeemzor

IT involves a lot bitch work. You always at the whim of your clients 24/7. Also, you don't have to do accounting work with your degree. Many non for profits and businesses are looking for executives who know how to run a company, and you would be a perfect candidate. Personally, I find running a company and being successful at managing a business, even though you already run your own company, much more rewarding.

I appreciate your kind words. But I don't know how many large businesses would look for someone in their 20's with two degrees from a state college who has run a decent little business. I'd like ideally to help manage my father's company, maybe helping him retire early, but putting together a deal in the computer consulting world requires marketing and the technical skill to sell a potential client. And then of course there's the need to manage his tech guys who would walk all over me if I didn't have the knowledge to keep them efficient. That's why I'm looking at what paths I would have to take to develop my skills, even if they need to be shallow and eclectic.

1. The worst consulting firms are consulting firms that hire consultants that have no expereince in teh field they are consulting in. This is why ALL consulting firms are not really consulting firms anymore.

2. IT is bitch work. Most people I know who have goine into it end up bitter in 2 years. Yes, dealing with dumb computer questions sucks. It's the reason why I did not do it. And yeah, you will be walked all over. A person with no experience telling people with 10 years experience what to do? Good Luck with that.

3. " how many large businesses would look for someone in their 20's with two degrees from a state college who has run a decent little business"..... then you say "putting together a deal in the computer consulting world requires marketing and the technical skill to sell a potential client"....yeah...maybe you should go back to school, because if you canlt sell yourself with your experience, then you will not be able to sell anything to a client.

 

[ebaycj]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: Sunt nou

Originally posted by: xeemzor

IT involves a lot bitch work. You always at the whim of your clients 24/7. Also, you don't have to do accounting work with your degree. Many non for profits and businesses are looking for executives who know how to run a company, and you would be a perfect candidate. Personally, I find running a company and being successful at managing a business, even though you already run your own company, much more rewarding.

I appreciate your kind words. But I don't know how many large businesses would look for someone in their 20's with two degrees from a state college who has run a decent little business. I'd like ideally to help manage my father's company, maybe helping him retire early, but putting together a deal in the computer consulting world requires marketing and the technical skill to sell a potential client. And then of course there's the need to manage his tech guys who would walk all over me if I didn't have the knowledge to keep them efficient. That's why I'm looking at what paths I would have to take to develop my skills, even if they need to be shallow and eclectic.

1. The worst consulting firms are consulting firms that hire consultants that have no expereince in teh field they are consulting in. This is why ALL consulting firms are not really consulting firms anymore.

2. IT is bitch work. Most people I know who have goine into it end up bitter in 2 years. Yes, dealing with dumb computer questions sucks. It's the reason why I did not do it. And yeah, you will be walked all over. A person with no experience telling people with 10 years experience what to do? Good Luck with that.

3. " how many large businesses would look for someone in their 20's with two degrees from a state college who has run a decent little business"..... then you say "putting together a deal in the computer consulting world requires marketing and the technical skill to sell a potential client"....yeah...maybe you should go back to school, because if you canlt sell yourself with your experience, then you will not be able to sell anything to a client.

Be a DBA. DBA's don't usually have to deal with stupid questions from the "general public". They just have to deal with stupid questions from stupid programmers who think they know, but actually don't know shit about coding SQL.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Break stuff, and fix stuff...that's the best

 

[Pheran]

I would start by building yourself a couple of PCs from components if you haven't done that already, you can learn a lot by tinkering with hardware. After that, you could go any direction. Installing a free Linux distribution (CentOS for example) and setting up your own web and/or mail server is a good experiment.

 

[Uhtrinity]

IT work can be a lot of fun if it is what you like and if you have the right temperament. I have been doing IT for 15 years and love it. You said you have built a few systems, so you should have down the basic terminology, that is the first step.

Buy the A+ and Network+ books, personally I liked the Mike Meyers books. Read them do some practice tests and take the exams. You will need 2 exams for A+ and 1 for Network+ at about $125 each. That should cover most of what your fathers business does.

 

[alkemyst]

Pose as a 13 yo chick here.

 

[PimpJuice]

Originally posted by: ebaycj
Be a DBA. DBA's don't usually have to deal with stupid questions from the "general public". They just have to deal with stupid questions from stupid programmers who
think they know, but actually don't know shit about coding SQL.

DBAs are douche bags

 

[Sunt nou]

Originally posted by: Gibson486


1. The worst consulting firms are consulting firms that hire consultants that have no expereince in teh field they are consulting in. This is why ALL consulting firms are not really consulting firms anymore.

2. IT is bitch work. Most people I know who have goine into it end up bitter in 2 years. Yes, dealing with dumb computer questions sucks. It's the reason why I did not do it. And yeah, you will be walked all over. A person with no experience telling people with 10 years experience what to do? Good Luck with that.

3. " how many large businesses would look for someone in their 20's with two degrees from a state college who has run a decent little business"..... then you say "putting together a deal in the computer consulting world requires marketing and the technical skill to sell a potential client"....yeah...maybe you should go back to school, because if you canlt sell yourself with your experience, then you will not be able to sell anything to a client.

I'm not going to sell myself short, having degree's and a small business are very attractive to employers. But the idea that a company will look at a young person and put them into an executive role without grooming them seems a bit of a stretch. And that's not my ideal path right now. If I were groomed by anyone it would be a company I could have an equitable interest in and had extra motivation to help me succeed.

I understand that I'll be walked on by the techs if I go into things with no experience, which is why I'd want to stay on the management/sales side until I was less green. I plan on extracting as much knowledge from the various forums as possible. As far as the bitch work, that happens even in my current company to an extent, but it can be mitigated with the right structures.

To everyone else I appreciate the advice so far. I think I bit too much to chew and I picked up VMWare VI3 Implementation and Administration by Eric Siebert. I feel like a person with two semesters of Spanish trying to read a Newspaper in Spain. I'll likely get the Network+ and A+ books that were recommended to me.

 

[Sunt nou]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
Pose as a 13 yo chick here.

Good idea, should I post a thread in the technical section about changing my myspace background or ask how to get around the parental locks on aol

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Sunt nou

Originally posted by: Gibson486


1. The worst consulting firms are consulting firms that hire consultants that have no expereince in teh field they are consulting in. This is why ALL consulting firms are not really consulting firms anymore.

2. IT is bitch work. Most people I know who have goine into it end up bitter in 2 years. Yes, dealing with dumb computer questions sucks. It's the reason why I did not do it. And yeah, you will be walked all over. A person with no experience telling people with 10 years experience what to do? Good Luck with that.

3. " how many large businesses would look for someone in their 20's with two degrees from a state college who has run a decent little business"..... then you say "putting together a deal in the computer consulting world requires marketing and the technical skill to sell a potential client"....yeah...maybe you should go back to school, because if you canlt sell yourself with your experience, then you will not be able to sell anything to a client.

I'm not going to sell myself short, having degree's and a small business are very attractive to employers. But the idea that a company will look at a young person and put them into an executive role without grooming them seems a bit of a stretch. And that's not my ideal path right now. If I were groomed by anyone it would be a company I could have an equitable interest in and had extra motivation to help me succeed.

I understand that I'll be walked on by the techs if I go into things with no experience, which is why I'd want to stay on the management/sales side until I was less green. I plan on extracting as much knowledge from the various forums as possible. As far as the bitch work, that happens even in my current company to an extent, but it can be mitigated with the right structures.

To everyone else I appreciate the advice so far. I think I bit too much to chew and I picked up VMWare VI3 Implementation and Administration by Eric Siebert. I feel like a person with two semesters of Spanish trying to read a Newspaper in Spain. I'll likely get the Network+ and A+ books that were recommended to me.

Well, that's your problem. You are like almost every other business major out there. You want to go straight to the top right out of school. There is nothing wrong with having that aspiration, but it will not happen. You have to start your own company, which you did, but once you get out of that roll, you have to start at the bottom unless you really did something with your company.. The fact that you want to go in and start managing stuff you have no experience with makes it worse. That is just a recipe for pissed off clients. Being a good conslutant means you have REAL experience with it, not experience from just reading books and forums. To be on the managemnt side of consulting, you usually have to have the experience to back it up. Doing it any other way means you's just be leading your team blindly. Start from the bottom and work your way up.

 

[Genx87]

2-3 years on a helpdesk will teach you what you need to know. That End users are more problematic than the hardware\software, management is clueless, and it is always your fault asshole1 from accounting cut the budget and infrastructure is rotting from within.

 

[Sunt nou]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
Well, that's your problem. You are like almost every other business major out there. You want to go straight to the top right out of school. There is nothing wrong with having that aspiration, but it will not happen. You have to start your own company, which you did, but once you get out of that roll, you have to start at the bottom unless you really did something with your company.. The fact that you want to go in and start managing stuff you have no experience with makes it worse. That is just a recipe for pissed off clients. Being a good conslutant means you have REAL experience with it, not experience from just reading books and forums. To be on the managemnt side of consulting, you usually have to have the experience to back it up. Doing it any other way means you's just be leading your team blindly. Start from the bottom and work your way up.

I'll remember to check my ego at the door. My company isn't special income wise, but I did build it from the beginning to be scalable without it annihilating my time. You're right I do want to go straight to the top and the fact it's a family business would facilitate that. I just have to be ready. I think what you guys are talking about, getting help desk experience, is great advice and something I could realistically do within a couple months.

2-3 years on a helpdesk will teach you what you need to know. That End users are more problematic than the hardware\software, management is clueless, and it is always your fault asshole1 from accounting cut the budget and infrastructure is rotting from within.

But I would be management... wait I'm clueless...ok you got me pegged, but I'm trying

 

[rasczak]

you want to learn tech stuff, go to your local community college and take some courses in administering linux/windows systems. if you have a ccna, then you have networking down for the basics, and as far as getting experience, your best bet is to ask your dad to let you start from the bottom rung as an employee of his firm. learn from the guys you will eventually be taking over from. they will appreciate that a million times more than some joke of a son who took over daddy's business and doesn't know wth he's talking about.

 

[alkemyst]

seriously to get an all-around understanding you are going to just have to play and do it.

I started around 1983 messing with Apples and IBM's...nothing in my Comp Sci bachelor really taught me about troubleshooting or general hardware.

My CCNA thought me nothing about general hardware.

It's really going to take just dabbling in it.

 

[ultimatebob]

Get your friends to call you up around 2 AM on a Saturday, asking for help about stupid computer issues and demanding that they get fixed right away. THAT will give you a good feeling on what it's like to work entry-level IT.

In other words, try finding a better line of work while there is still time!

 

[fisheerman]

Originally posted by: PimpJuice

Originally posted by: ebaycj
Be a DBA. DBA's don't usually have to deal with stupid questions from the "general public". They just have to deal with stupid questions from stupid programmers who
think they know, but actually don't know shit about coding SQL.

DBAs are douche bags

x2

IT can be very rewarding but as others have said chose the path wisely. You will want to stay away from end user support, help desk, computer setup. Head more down the network engineer, dba (douche bags aside ), developer routes.

You don't want to deal with end users if you can help it............

-fish

 

[Uhtrinity]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Get your friends to call you up around 2 AM on a Saturday, asking for help about stupid computer issues and demanding that they get fixed right away. THAT will give you a good feeling on what it's like to work entry-level IT.

In other words, try finding a better line of work while there is still time!

I don't understand (from a personal perspective) where all this resentment comes from. I have worked IT for 15 years and feel nothing like this. Yes, I have dealt with difficult people, but in over 15 years I can count them on 1 hand. What I have seen from some friends who are also into IT, they hate dealing with people who don't already know a PC. Think most Linux user groups, they can be very condescending and simply respond with RTFM!! On the other hand I started out working directly with these inexperienced people. Guess what, I like the challenge of educating someone whether they pick it up immediately or whether it takes a few years. Guess thats why I also like working as a computer lab instructor. It puts food on my table and pays the bills and at the end of the day it's rewarding (to me).