Leaving the IT workforce forever.... distance myself from IT on resume?

[DS9VOY]

Hi everyone -

I have made the decision to get out of IT work forever. It is not the company, not my coworkers, not anything but me. I simply hate the work, am burned out, and don't want anything more to do with it.

In retrospect, I think it was a mistake to begin with. My formal education was never in IT (I loved my field of study, and was in college for more years than most), but I became money hungry.... I had a knack for IT in my personal life, and decided to load up on certs after college. Managed to get an entry level IT job and took off after that. Money has been great, but my work life was miserable. Literally, I wake up in the morning dreading work. It has gotten so bad I even have walked out for lunch and came back 3 hours late because I was planning on never coming back but lost my nerve.

So here I am 30 years old, and I have decided that I am going to use education to get out of IT. I am mostly going to be applying for human service jobs in the public sector. (read: government) Something in law enforcement/corrections/social services more than likely. I actually think I would enjoy that line of work. I love working with people, but have grown to hate technology.

My concern is, should I distance myself from IT on my resume? Obviously, I can't hide my work experience (though I can downplay it).... but I can hide my certifications.

My only question is, should I list my certifications on my resume, delete them all and pretend they don't exist, or only list some? Basically, since I am applying for non-IT jobs, I want to know if they will hurt or help me?

Basically my resume looks like this:

15 months IT Business Analyst at Verizon (current job)
3 years working as an IT analyst at AT&T
8 months working as an install & repair tech at AT&T
6 years at Wal-mart (college job)

Education:

Associate of Arts Degree in general studies (community college)
Bachelor of Science degree - Crim Justice major/Business minor - magna *** laude (state university)
Bachelor of Science degree - Political Science Major/Sociology minor (state university, 2nd B.S.)

IT Certifications:

CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, Linux+, Server+
Microsoft MCDST/MCP
Cisco CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNP Voice, CCNP Wireless
Microsoft MSCE & MSCM

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Ns1]

mine?

Total Posts: 39
Posts Per Day: 0.02

 

[Lonyo]

They will show you are committed to continual personal development.

The question is going to come up around why you want to switch from IT, no matter how many certs you have. If you don't list any, they will probably ask why you don't have any. If you do list them, it shows you continued to learn and develop.

The bigger issue is going to be whether they feel they can "trust" you to commit to a new career in a different field. Whether you list IT certs or not probably wouldn't impact that too much.

Maybe shorten the list and note that you have various Cisco certs, various MS certs, but don't spell them all out to make it look like you're super IT qualified and specialised, especially since they probably won't have a clue what all the letters mean anyway?

- not in HR.

 

[SunnyD]

I wouldn't hide anything. Be proud of the work you did, and your certs would probably show you put the effort into your previous career path and that you might actually apply the same amount of effort to your new chosen field.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Good luck finding a job that you enjoy going to.....

News Flash: VERY few people end up with such a job.

 

[TwiceOver]

I really wish I could mow lawns for the money I make right now. I hear ya man, I want to walk away and never come back. Problem is I'm not really good at much else other than manual labor, which generally doesn't pay well enough.

 

[ultimatebob]

Ha! Did the forum software really turn "Magna Cum Laude" into "Magna *** Laude"? Bahahaha!

Fix the profanity filter, guys!

Sadly, the OP's resume is going to insure that it gets dozens of IT job postings in his inbox every day. He has practically every keyword that the automated HR recruiting software is looking for.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

The public sector degrees will never diminish in value. You apply as a cop now and you'll make just as much as if you apply in 5 years.


But once you leave IT... It is very difficult to get back in. And if you do it's generally at MUCH lower pay.


My suggestion based on your resume is to try working for a smaller company. I cannot work for the large corps. There's hardly any money in it, you slave away for some faceless board of directors, and there's just no satisfaction at the end of the day.


At a smaller (<1000 employee) privately owned company you can really shine. This really goes for any field, not just IT, but just throwing that out there for you to consider. It's an entirely different experience.

 

[Theb]

You might as well include them. I'm sure it won't hurt.

Have you considered joining your local police or sheriff department's volunteer/reserve program? It would give you an idea what that kind of work is like and be invaluable for networking.

 

[Theb]

I really wish I could mow lawns for the money I make right now. I hear ya man, I want to walk away and never come back. Problem is I'm not really good at much else other than manual labor, which generally doesn't pay well enough.

I wish I could work in retail for the money I make. That was the most fun and least stressful job I've ever had.

 

[Chess]

I love my IT job... it kicks ass and I get to do what I want to do... If I dont feel like being here I just leave and call it a day....

I come in when I want 7am, 9am, 830am.....

Its great.. people respect me (or so i think haha) and get the job done, and I dont micro manage my 6 employees..... They kick ass and make the job easy....

I am a very technical, and have started dabbing in the PM world...

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'd still leave the certs and the fact that you worked in IT. It's still valuable. Just don't tell them that you hated it as that leaves a negative vibe. Just say you decided you wanted to pursue a different field. I actually did the same a bit over a year back. After working in IT I ended up moving to NOC which is more on the telecommunications side. I still have all the IT related experience in my resume.

 

[SunnyD]

Good luck finding a job that you enjoy going to.....

News Flash: VERY few people end up with such a job.

Best job I ever had was stocking shelves at an Eckerd's in upstate NY for reasons I won't even try to explain here. Only two drawbacks were the location and the pay. Can't live off minimum wage forever.

 

[highland145]

Best job I ever had was stocking shelves at an Eckerd's in upstate NY for reasons I won't even try to explain here. Only two drawbacks were the location and the pay. Can't live off minimum wage forever.

Or sex, drugs and rock & roll.

Sad.

 

[FLegman]

List your certs on your resume, as trying to hide your past work experiences will inevitably push you to lie to fill the "vacuum".
Lying could have serious consequences, especially when working for the public sector.

Keep your resume as it is. Life is a never ending learning process (knowingly or not) and only a fool will try to make you feel bad because you decide to explore other horizons.

Also as SpatiallyAware said, working for smaller companies could make things look & feel different for you.

Not trying to put you off, but a self analysis of why you want to move away, could help find a solution to "cast away" the least appealing part of the task and remain in the same field.

Good luck further and stay strong.

 

[SunnyD]

Or sex, drugs and rock & roll.

Sad.

George Costanza it up and you can survive though...

 

[highland145]

List your certs on your resume, as trying to hide your past work experiences will inevitably push you to lie to fill the "vacuum".
Lying could have serious consequences, especially when working for the public sector.

Keep your resume as it is. Life is a never ending learning process (knowingly or not) and only a fool will try to make you feel bad because you decide to explore other horizons.

Also as SpatiallyAware said, working for smaller companies could make things look & feel different for you.

Not trying to put you off, but a self analysis of why you want to move away, could help find a solution to "cast away" the least appealing part of the task and remain in the same field.

Good luck further and stay strong.

After 18 years of consumer finance, I'd had enough.....employees, customers, travel, supervising...

Anything else I found was a 25% pay cut which would have put us on a very tight budget considering I wasn't making that much working for someone else. Wife said for me to open my own office. Stonewalled her for a while but when I did look into it, doors opened and it happened. 8 years in and I'm a happy SOB. Could change tomorrow but I can't worry about that.

My .02

 

[BlitzPuppet]

IT in a telecommunications industry? I think I found your problem...

I would seriously consider suicide if I worked at Verizon/AT&T. I know many people that work at AT&T at least feel the same way...I hate that company with a passion.

 

[xeledon20005]

Hi everyone -

I have made the decision to get out of IT work forever. It is not the company, not my coworkers, not anything but me. I simply hate the work, am burned out, and don't want anything more to do with it.

In retrospect, I think it was a mistake to begin with. My formal education was never in IT (I loved my field of study, and was in college for more years than most), but I became money hungry.... I had a knack for IT in my personal life, and decided to load up on certs after college. Managed to get an entry level IT job and took off after that. Money has been great, but my work life was miserable. Literally, I wake up in the morning dreading work. It has gotten so bad I even have walked out for lunch and came back 3 hours late because I was planning on never coming back but lost my nerve.

So here I am 30 years old, and I have decided that I am going to use education to get out of IT. I am mostly going to be applying for human service jobs in the public sector. (read: government) Something in law enforcement/corrections/social services more than likely. I actually think I would enjoy that line of work. I love working with people, but have grown to hate technology.

My concern is, should I distance myself from IT on my resume? Obviously, I can't hide my work experience (though I can downplay it).... but I can hide my certifications.

My only question is, should I list my certifications on my resume, delete them all and pretend they don't exist, or only list some? Basically, since I am applying for non-IT jobs, I want to know if they will hurt or help me?

Basically my resume looks like this:

15 months IT Business Analyst at Verizon (current job)
3 years working as an IT analyst at AT&T
8 months working as an install & repair tech at AT&T
6 years at Wal-mart (college job)

Education:

Associate of Arts Degree in general studies (community college)
Bachelor of Science degree - Crim Justice major/Business minor - magna *** laude (state university)
Bachelor of Science degree - Political Science Major/Sociology minor (state university, 2nd B.S.)

IT Certifications:

CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, Linux+, Server+
Microsoft MCDST/MCP
Cisco CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNP Voice, CCNP Wireless
Microsoft MSCE & MSCM

Thanks for any advice.

Could you transfer those Certifications to me? I am to lazy to go for any certifcations, ill be glad to accept yours if you just get rid of them.:biggrin::awe:

 

[IndyColtsFan]

IT in a telecommunications industry? I think I found your problem...

I would seriously consider suicide if I worked at Verizon/AT&T. I know many people that work at AT&T at least feel the same way...I hate that company with a passion.

Our former management decided to move some of our servers/services to AT&T, over the objections of our network engineer and me. We both warned them what would happen and they didn't listen to us. Want to guess who was right?

Our management fell for all the kind words, lofty statements, their "vast" resources/capabilities, and talks of "partnerships," etc. Instead, what we found was that they nickeled and dimed us to death, couldn't/wouldn't fulfill basic requests, and their left hand wouldn't talk to their right hand.

Additionally, the sheer incompetence was staggering. I built a new SP environment at one of the AT&T datacenters and my web/app servers could not talk to the backend SQL servers. OK, fine, the problem is obvious -- it was a firewall rule. They argued back and forth with me over it and claimed the firewall rules were "Fine" and it was a Sharepoint issue. After 4 or 5 weeks of this, I literally YELLED at their PM on the phone to get it fixed. Guess what the problem was? The idiots were looking at the WRONG FREAKING FIREWALL FOR 5 WEEKS. And lest you think this was an isolated incident, it was not -- I could tell story after story about these guys. Long before I had worked here, I had sworn off AT&T due to lies and exceptionally poor residential customer service, but I can now guarantee that they will never see a dime of my business in a professional setting either if I have any say in it.

OP, good luck. I wish I could find a way out of IT too.

 

[highland145]

Our former management decided to move some of our servers/services to AT&T, over the objections of our network engineer and me. We both warned them what would happen and they didn't listen to us. Want to guess who was right?

Our management fell for all the kind words, lofty statements, their "vast" resources/capabilities, and talks of "partnerships," etc. Instead, what we found was that they nickeled and dimed us to death, couldn't/wouldn't fulfill basic requests, and their left hand wouldn't talk to their right hand.

Additionally, the sheer incompetence was staggering. I built a new SP environment at one of the AT&T datacenters and my web/app servers could not talk to the backend SQL servers. OK, fine, the problem is obvious -- it was a firewall rule. They argued back and forth with me over it and claimed the firewall rules were "Fine" and it was a Sharepoint issue. After 4 or 5 weeks of this, I literally YELLED at their PM on the phone to get it fixed. Guess what the problem was? The idiots were looking at the WRONG FREAKING FIREWALL FOR 5 WEEKS. And lest you think this was an isolated incident, it was not -- I could tell story after story about these guys. Long before I had worked here, I had sworn off AT&T due to lies and exceptionally poor residential customer service, but I can now guarantee that they will never see a dime of my business in a professional setting either if I have any say in it.

OP, good luck. I wish I could find a way out of IT too.

A friend is working on their 911 implementation. You post sounds about right. Effed up and office politics as a bonus.

 

[mistercrabby]

I concur with Sunny and Lonyo. Use your experience as a step toward the new career. Anything you go into will have computers and technology blended into then. I have police officer friends and they have laptops in the cars, tablets, smartphones etc. The detectives use databases and case management systems. Being savvy about that stuff is aces.


Be open about why your changing careers. Nobody is going to fault you for it.


Question- is there an opportunity to leverage your IT knowledge and stay with your employer in another capacity? For example, as a project manager, product manager, sales engineer, etc?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

A friend is working on their 911 implementation. You post sounds about right. Effed up and office politics as a bonus.

Worst company I've ever had the displeasure of working with, bar none. If any ATers work for AT&T, especially in their hosted services, you have my sympathies.

 

[Maximilian]

What is it about IT in telecommunications that's so bad?

What do these "analyst" jobs involve OP?

 

[BUTCH1]

I really wish I could mow lawns for the money I make right now. I hear ya man, I want to walk away and never come back. Problem is I'm not really good at much else other than manual labor, which generally doesn't pay well enough.

I mow my neighbor's yard for $60, it's a big lot though and I include weed-whacking and a blow-job too. To go pro requires some $$ for a good ZTR mower, trailer, insurance, truck, and the competition is fierce, I thought about doing this until I look on CL and see how cheap some people will cut a yard for, then you have the winter months in which you would do little work or none at all depending on where your located..