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Getting a job in IT
Mentis
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm looking for a way to get into IT. But I'm really just wondering one thing at the moment. Is a degree in Computer Science (or related) required to get a job? Obviously, I can see how it would be an advantage, but if one were to simply get certified with several different technologies, would they be able to get a job or is a degree of some sort required?
Perhaps someone with some experience here can point me in the right direction.
Perhaps someone with some experience here can point me in the right direction.
Minecraft & XBL name: TheCJX
Steam: Ashengor
Steam: Ashengor
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Do you have any at home experience with computers. Certs help (A+ is the like first of many and probably easiest).
The route that I followed and works well is try to get on at your college, they will usually pay for you to get certification tests (they are expensive) and then get your degree in some field related to IT that you enjoy.
-IT Degree from a accredited university
-A+ Certification
-CCNA (Cisco Certified Netrork Associate)
-Microsoft Certification
-Java Certification
The drawback of certs is that a lot of hiring managers feel that an overabundance of certificates, in the presence of a lack of experience, serves as a means by which a person is masking incompetence.
Go for the IT degree if you want to work in that field. Go for the CS degree if your primary interest is programming. It really all depends in what you'd like to do. You can get a job programing games or deigning a website with no degree and an expansive portfolio, for example.
What do you want to do with it? Networking and system administration? Project management? Programming & development? Quality assurance?
What are you doing right now? Are you in school?
Really, more information is needed.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Distram, the thing about experience is that everyone, whether or not they went to college, lacks experience. It's pointless to point that out.
The IT field, at least out in California a few years ago, may be dominated by people who have long since been in it. Finding a job may be hard.
Programming and development is a different situation, though, and I'm not really qualified to comment on that area of it.
Project management is basically the same, only replace the last two steps with "get a project management certification -> get a project management position"
So if you want to do networking and system administration, start by setting up a home network or a home server. Or take a class at a community college. Then go find an entry-level position and be honest that you have amateur experience but no real-world work experience but you're willing to work hard and do whatever it takes to get the experience. Then use the money you get from that to go get a certification, or bug your employer to loan you the cash for a certification.
I'm of the camp that believes that certifications are pointless unless you have experience to back them up.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Times are tough though, and IT is often one of the first things that organizations and businesses look to cut from the budget. my wage is paid by financial aid so it doesn't cost them anything, but it doesn't make a difference to me. If they aren't hiring, and you're really desperate to get your foot in the door, see if they'll take you as an unpaid intern.
I'm trying my best to learn as much as I can while on the job, and get some good experience. As for a degree, you might want to check out a University's business school and see if they have something like Management Information Systems. I'm still trying to figure out what's right for me, but that's what I'm looking into at the moment.
It's not that bad. Companies will look to outsourcing more, which means the companies doing the outsourcing will need people. And they might cut costs by virtualizing servers or moving to open-source.
If you're good with Linux and VMWare or Xen, you would have no trouble finding a job right now.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
The main reason I was wondering if it's possible to get a job with Certs alone is because I want out of this job I'm currently at ASAP and I thought it might be nice to gain experience while I attend school. I originally wanted to go to medical school, but I think that in the long run this will be something better suited to me.
Steam: Ashengor
A degree isn't a requirement to get a job. It definitely helps to get an interview. It might even give you a head start on training for the job depending on what courses you took. Certifications are good for getting you an interview. Once you are in an interview, all the resume stuff is out the window if you can't present yourself as competent.
My advice, get a computer science degree at a university. Definitely skip ITT tech type schools. Also, while you are in school, get a job or internship that deals with IT somehow. And don't forget about keeping up with contacts. I got an interview for my current job because a friend passed my resume along to the hiring manager.
I used to think this myself. I went 10 years without a single cert, advancing entirely on experience and references.
However, now that I'm laid off in a bad economy, I'm hearing the same thing over and over again: the lack of certifications is killing my resume.
And I have a really, really good resume. However, a lot of job postings on Craigslist are seeing 500 responses on the first day and over 1000 in the first week. There is absolutely no way an HR person can sit and read 1000 resumes, especially if they're recruiting for multiple positions.
So they're doing a global keyword search. Some of the keywords they're searching for are core technologies. "Active Directory" "Exchange" "Group Policy" "Cisco" etc. But they're also doing keyword searches for "MCSA" "MCSE" "CCNA" "CCNP"...
I've got 10 years of experience and no certifications. Six years ago, that was enough to get me a high-paying job in a stable field. Today, I'm going up against dozens of applicants with equivalent experience, but they have the certifications. Guess who's getting the job?
So I'm working on my CCNA and MCITP right now.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Go ahead and get an entry-level certification (A+, Network+, MCP, MCTS, and CCENT are all easy certifications to get) but do some personal projects at the same time, like set up a media server at home or a home network or something like that.
You're still going to be looking at entry-level positions, no matter how many certifications you get, so don't waste too much time and money getting higher level certifications right now (like MCSE or CCNP). But an entry-level cert or two won't hurt you.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
IT field in my opinion, hasn't nearly had the economic issue as some careers. As a matter of fact, I think its stayed roughly the same, with some downturn. Contract positions are always available and hell, I get emails everyday from contractors offering me positions (not tooting my horn by any means, but I think they are very abundant).
I do believe certifications have their place and thats for positions like cisco, citrix, vmware and the like. However, I still believe experience will always be > then certs. Certs are nice to have, but not necessary.
If an employer chooses a guy with 3 years experience and 4 certs over a guy with 6 years experience and no certs, I wouldn't want to work for that employer. Just shows that the employer values peoples test taking abilities over true experience. In IT, once you get out of school, you can toss that book knowledge out the window as most of those things won't be used/not realistic in the real world and how things function.
Mind you I am in IT field, specifically SAN's and Network, so YMMV of course.
I'm challenging the A+ one in a few weeks here myself without bothering with the course. If you have some knowledge already you could get away with it. And it will save you a few grand in student loans to do it.
A degree in CS or some a CS-related field with some significant coursework in CS (math, computer engineering, physics, etc.)
3.25 GPA
An understanding of some sort of OO language (ideally with some major project work or job experience).
An understanding of basic software engineering principles. You should be able to explain what a standard waterfall development model is versus an iterative model.
And we make everyone take a written test.
We are a fairly selective since we're a small company.
IT does not necessarily mean a software development position. Are you interested in that or a network support/admin type of job?
That definitely needs to be clarified. Because one has far different expectations than the other. The one i spoke of earlier was an admin/network job. Which is usually a little easier to get into in some cases.