Just out of curiosity, fill out the poll and post about it! :ppwave:
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Just out of curiosity, fill out the poll and post about it! :ppwave:
2 years as a PC Tech
2 years as a Server Engineer at a Linux shop
Just started as a Network Technician, primarily dealing with Network and Server issues at a major hospital in a Windows environment.
In school to be a programmer.
1 year as an IT Tech so far.
I'm studying to be an IT professional of some kind or an IT teacher. I keep learning more and more as times goes one making me look back on my knowledge from years and months ago and laughing at how what I thought I knew was alot.
I've got about a year and a half worth of tech course ranging from basic pc hardware and network security to Cisco CCNA 1, 2, and 3.
Next year I'll be going to Penn State to finish off my bachelors. Then either work in the field, become a high school teacher, or both in some combination.
I don't know anything about IT except that on the first day of school I had to go to the IT department so they could give me a password to use the wireless internet lol.
I know more about computers than the average person but I'm not planning to work in the IT field. I've taken about six college IT classes and I've picked up a lot from my geeky friends. My best friend owns an IT consultation business.
I'm not currently working in IT, but I worked in IT for a couple years. I'm good at it.
While a lot of things pass you by, just because you aren't currently studying to be in or working in IT doesn't automatically mean you know jack shit.
That's something I noticed about the poll too. It does seem that the options boil down to: you work in IT or you're a dumbass
I am an IT guy, I am in the Windows\Windows Server world and that's pretty much what I know, I would like to learn Linux.
I have a degree in Information Technology (for you not in the industry, that's what IT stands for)
PC Technician for 2 years w/field service (home users... fun fun)
Field Engineer for my current company, 1 1/2 Years now, we service small to medium business, I do the Server and Network design, infrastructure & installations, maintenance, repairs, consulting etc in my territory.
CompTIA A+ IT Technician (This is the new generation of A+ cert)
MCP in Windows Server 2003 (plan to be MCSE sometime, just because)
MCDST
MCP in XP (yes I know that MCDST is on XP, but this was a seperate unrelated test I took earlier)
DCSE (Dell Certified Systems Expert) - this one is LOL, it's a joke, but it impresses those not in the industry.
BS in IT
- 3.5 years on a Help Desk
- Almost 2 years as a AIX/Linux Systems Administrator focusing on virtualization, SAN and DASD storage allocation, automation through use of scripts, application administration such as WebSphere, DB2, MQ, Oracle, Weblogic, Peoplesoft, TSM etc. I work on 300 + UNIX servers, all ranging from webservers, to application servers to database servers. They are either virtualized on a P595 IBM server, which virtualizes our AIX logical partitions, consisting of 64 POWER5 processors and more RAM we could ever use and a IBM Z10 mainframe which hosts our Z/OS which virtualizes our Linux logical partitions.
Not much of a programmer now, I just like to tinker with stuff and try and get things to work. I really like working with shell scripting and touch into perl, C and php. I've written a number of scripts that have been integrated into my companies production environment. Programming wise I am working on taking statistics about usage, on these mainframes listed above, and integrating it into a PHP graph that can show usage by month, week and year.
I had an internship related to IT management at a major Fortune 500 company.
In short I know a lot about spreadsheets
I'm not technically in IT anymore, but close enough.
1 year internship at ISP
4 years network "analyst" in Army
1 year sys engineer at an f500
(almost) 5 years as network engineer (CLEC/telecom/SP field)
Holy shit, our poll is a fucking mirror, or palindromic.
I work as a Network Engineer for a consulting firm. I've been doing the Windows/Network Admin job for about 7 years now. Right now, I'm focused on Exchange, Citrix, and SANs.
I'm a bit of a cert whore. I have the following certs:
CISSP
MCSE: Security
MCITP: Enterprise Admin
CCNA
Cisco Information Security Specialist
HP ASE ML\DL
CCA
A+, Server+, Security+
What SAN do you work with?Quote:
Originally Posted by Trojan
The production SAN is a HP EVA 8100. We also have 5 EVA 4400's going into production in the next year. I have the old Hitachi Thunder 9200 at my house now, but it has a bad controller.Quote:
Originally Posted by sudo
Ah. I work with an IBM DS8300. I really like it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trojan
Whore.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trojan
I have the CompTIA A+ hardware test done.
I think certifications are kind of addictive, once you get one or two, you want to keep getting more.
I think certs are a waste unless you NEED help making yourself more marketable. Or feel the need to pigeon-hole yourself.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrTroy
They certainly don't make your resume look bad of course. They just aren't weighed like they used to be.
IMO Experience > Education > Certifications. As far as Trojan goes, he probably deserves every last penny in his paychecks. :)
I don't think they pigeon hole. And yes, experience is FAR better on a resume. But without my certs I would not have my current job. I don't have years of experience, so they see A+, MCP in XP, MCDST and MCP in Server 2003 and they are willing to take a chance on me than someone with no experience and no certs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Harner
Certs increase marketability in today's cutthroat world and instill confidence and those not tech savvy. Now if you have 20 years of experience, there is no need to go get the Windows Vista certification.
But sometimes certifications are required, for example my company partners with Dell, and Dell wants all of their techs to hold certain certs, period.
So if you don't hold those certs, you do not have a job at this company. Even if you are MORE than overqualified.
I wouldn't work for a company that required me to get useless certifications.
Good, more jobs for the rest of us.Quote:
Originally Posted by sudo
I wouldn't either. :ppwave:Quote:
Originally Posted by sudo
Seriously guys? So if a company had a partnership with Dell, or IBM or any other major company, and that partnership deal requires your companies techs to have XX certification, you would not do it?
So you would turn down a 40 to 60 grand a year job just because you don't want to go get a Server 2003 cert? Wow....
Where is the 'have worked in IT before, have a good grasp of general IT shite, but wouldn't work professionally with computers for less than £10million and scarlett johansson covered in oil' option?
Because that's where I stand.
Depends on the cert. If they required me to get some useless Microsoft cert, then I would tell them to fuck off. Or if they told me to get some ridiculously useless CompTIA cert. It would just be an insult to the employee's because no company I have met, or interviewed with, have taken CompTIA certifications seriously.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrTroy
They are met to impress HR; the technical interviewers don't care about that sort of stuff.]
Now if they told me I had to get a certification from IBM about AIX, and they were willing to pay for it, then I would probably do it.
I make over 60k now?Quote:
Originally Posted by MrTroy
The only certs that actually mean anything are the higher level Cisco and Juniper ones, RHCE and CISSP if comsec is your thing. Everything else should be left up to your employer. I have a laundry list of certs, most of which are worthless and are not on my resume, and haven't spent a penny of my own money. And never will.
I've also been part of the hiring process at a couple jobs, and honestly, entry level techs with a laundry list of certs isn't impressive at all. I've never come across a decent company that didn't favor experience and problem solving skills over paper certs.
Vendor programs are one of the few good reasons to certify. Promotions are the other. Most people accumulate certs because their employer requested and paid for them though, not the other way around.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrTroy
Like Harner, that's not a job I'd be looking for in the first place. And, yes, I would turn down a job if they would not let me certify after being hired, on their dime.Quote:
So you would turn down a 40 to 60 grand a year job just because you don't want to go get a Server 2003 cert? Wow....
RHCE certs mean nothing. They only mean something to very very low level linux admins. Who the hell runs production Red Hat servers in any sort of respective company?Quote:
Originally Posted by ephekt
The only certs I think have any sort of value are IBM certs and Cisco certs and maybe Sun certs for Solaris . Everything else is a waste of time and money.
That is what I am talking about, they hire you, you have 3 or 6 months to get the cert, and they pay for it.Quote:
Originally Posted by ephekt
What area of the country do you live in? 60K in Indiana is a lot, 60K in Los Angeles, CA is not.Quote:
Originally Posted by Harner
I live in a very depressed part of Pennsylvania otherwise known as the Coal Region. Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Schuylkill_County_pa_seal.png" class="image" title="Seal of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania"><img alt="Seal of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e0/Schuylkill_County_pa_seal.png"@@AMEPARAM@@en/e/e0/Schuylkill_County_pa_seal.pngQuote:
Originally Posted by MrTroy
I'm very fortunate to find something so close to home, as well. There is literally no IT market in the area. If I wanted something else, it would be a 30+ mile commute. With this job, I have the option of working for home within a year supporting sites with Linux/VMware in the northeast US. Even then, I won't be forced to get certs. It's all about experience.
I know of quite a few companies that run RHEL/Centos in production. But fair enough, you're probably right.Quote:
Originally Posted by sudo
I've done that a few times before, but most places won't ask this unless it's a corporate mandate or they need to fulfill cert requirements for vendor affiliation programs (the latter is mostly limited to consulting firms).Quote:
Originally Posted by MrTroy
60k is a low figure for net engineers in most of the country.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrTroy
Personally, my job description/title does not make me out to be an engineer, more of a technician/admin role. So 60k for my position is probably average.Quote:
Originally Posted by ephekt
The term engineer is thrown around loosely in the computer industry, I don't mind really, as we aren't claiming to be a professional engineer in a true sense of the traditional degree, such as a Civil Engineer or Electrical Engineer. But some people get pissed and think that no one should be called an engineer unless they hold a professional engineering degree, so in their mind there is no such thing as a network engineer or a software engineer. In my opinion if your job involves design, you are on the right path to that kind of job title.Quote:
Originally Posted by Harner
I'm really nothing more than a field service technician, but my official job title is "Field Engineer". Hey, if trash men can call themselves sanitation engineers than it's fair game, lol. I wear many hats, I do IT consulting work with our customers, design and install their network infrastructure as well as setup their servers, PC's etc... which is all more on the "design" side. And of course the maintenance and break/fix troubleshooting for our contracts.
The other portion is that we also handle all of Dell's small to medium business work, where a random business contact's Dell, they sell them an Assessment, we are dispatched and we go on site for several hours consulting and basically write a complete proposal of what they want their network to be. Anything from a super small server for basic file sharing in a work group with 5 PC's and 2 shared printers, to something like 10 servers (terminal server, file servers, SAN's) across multiple locations. Which is where my employer requires certification because Dell demands certification as part of our partnership. Pretty much was told when I was hired that I had six months to pass the 70-290 (Microsoft) and they would pay for it. This is what Dell required.
By network engineer I mean the guys designing large converged networks, doing traffic engineering etc.
I work for an ILEC/ISP/engineering firm. I do design consulting for clients and help manage our core, ring, distro/provider edges and DSL networks.
I've got a question for all those who are currently working in the field. All 3 of you; I will have my associates in networking which includes 4 successful completions of cisco CNNA courses and hopefully my CCNA certification at the end of next semester. I desire to pursue my Bachelors as well. How important is it that I actually have an IT degree vs certifications and experience and how much might it matter if I get my degree from a tech school vs a large 4 year university?
I'm trying to find a close school to get my bachelors degree but some require 3 semesters of a foreign language others 3 years of calculus and others a bunch of sciences. I don't know that I could make it threw foreign languages. I could probably do well in the sciences and push my way threw calc but I'm unsure. I'm not sure what to do.... Any possible career advice would be much appreciated.
There is no substitute for experience, once you have years of experience in the field that is far better than certs or even a degree. But, I was pretty much in your boat. You can't get experience without working, lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChedWick
I have an Associate Of Applied Science in IT. My current job is what I consider my first "career" job. It really depends on the employer, experience always is a winner, but some care about degree's and believe it or not, some care about certs (in lieu of experience).
Right after I got my degree I got a job working for Circuit City's PC Services (later reamed firedog), it wasn't much money but I had to start somewhere! I went from being in in store tech, to the in-home field tech when they started doing home service, and became the department lead before I left for my current position. It was basic small network and break/fix crap, you know... someone brings in a PC, diagnose it as a bad hard drive, replace hard drive, reload Windows, related drivers etc at loan-shark rate prices.
I left at $14 bucks an hour, due to the lead & in-home responsibilities, the normal in-store techs are lucky to get $10. But, now I had a 2 year degree, 2 years of tech experience, a handful of certs (A+, MCDST).
My 2 year degree, small amount of experience and handful of certs got me in the door to the interview. They can tell from that point by talking to you if you know anything or not. People knock certs, but my manager said that I would have not been brought in for an interview if it were not for the certs, they viewed it as kid-of, making up for the lack of experience... at least enough to bring me in to see if I could be a fit. (without them I was just another guy with little experience and a degree).
So, once you get your degree, don't count on just "getting a career" from day 1, In my opinion it's worth getting a few certs, but don't spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars. You may have to work help desk or other menial end user support for a while. I was extremely lucky to find my current position, especially with the IT industry in Indiana, and that is lol, using the term "IT Industry" and Indiana in the same sentence.
Oh, and there was a time when I was considering going back for my bachelor's to help increase my marketability as a person with little experience. But I hit the gold mine, I plan on working for my company for years, but if something happens in 5 or 10, I'll have 5 or 10 years of experience.
All good information. I figured experience would be a greater asset than any certification or degree. I have a teacher now with 20 some years of experience when he graduated college with a degree in accounting. Despite not having a degree in IT he has head hunters offering him jobs any time he asks. His long list of employers and experience is rather impressive. Something no person would have right out of school. I just hoped that times didnt really change to where it was almost a necessity to get a real job in IT.
I have far from enough experience. I suppose I gotta start thinking more about getting the hell out of retail than what I'll do when I graduate. I do need to get my foot in the door. I may work on my Microsoft certification and look into getting a job a small local home service computer shop. Maybe I'll look in
The issue I see is I may eventually like to be a high school technology teacher and give kids a step in the right direction with proper knowledge unlike I had. To do this I'll need at least a bachelors.
Thing you gotta realize too, experience is nice but the right kind of experience can boost your salary by a lot.
For example if you're a network admin, and you have a lot of experience with switches and routers and vlans etc that's great. But then, you also have experience in lets say ServerIron - I bet your salary goes up at least 5k to 10k.
Same thing with Linux. Yeah being a Red Hat admin for 10 years is great, but when you get into virtualization (and I don't mean using VMWare), and doing high-availability clustering and using Virtual I/O servers for everything is where the money is at.
All I'm saying is there are different kinds of experience, which relate to different kinds of pay.