Let's keep track of latest trends we are seeing in IT. What technologies are folks seeing that are hot or soon to be hot? What skills are in high demand? Which job markets are hot? Are folks seeing a lot of jobs out there?
Let's talk about all of that in this thread!
This is a safe place to discuss your current salary and compensation packages!
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MOD NOTE: This will be a weekly post.
So, Im currently enrolled in an online IT degree program, in the degree plan i have the choice to choose which language concepts id prefer to learn. The choices are C# - Python - Java -Javascript/PHP. Now, i admit that in the future outside of IT id like to get into game modding or light game development. Which i assume that knowledge of C# would be more helpful than the others, But for day to day use in an IT enviornment im not sure that knowledge of C# would be as useful as Python or Java.
Obviously, Ive yet to be in a true IT role so i dont know what to expect. All though i do assume that i wont be doing much aside from light scripting in an entry-level role.
I’m a freshman at a 2 year college, I’m majoring in cybersecurity with a specialty track in forensics. My plan was to get my cert for forensics then others like pentesting, networking, comptia certs etc… but after reading posts from this subreddit and others it’s looking like the gate to get into IT is very thick and I’m starting to second guess getting this degree. I’m not inexperienced when it comes to hardware at all. I can comfortably work my way around PC and mobile components and I’m no stranger to coding. I’ve always had an interest in IT especially cybersecurity but if it’s as impossible to get in anywhere like people are saying, I don’t see the point in even trying to get this degree. I would just like some advice on whether I should stick it out or jump ship.
I will be the first one to say it. I am a pretty green system admin. I have only been an admin for 4 months after being in desktop support.
My first big project was to migrate our file server. We have a lot of old archived data from 2012-2017 that our university departments were using.
I went ahead an emailed the departments took a screenshot of the folders and files and see if they still needed the data and advised to upload to SharePoint per the technical director I work with
One day I was on a call with a end-user. After the call my CIO called me into her office and said I was working at such a slow pace. I said ok. I then excellerated getting the data from the departments
When I had my quarterly meeting with my CIO on Friday she just ripped me apart. She said why are rushing through this project. You need to slow the fuck down. She said I expect you to be a expert in your area and when your not it makes the whole team look bad. She then said when i hired you I thought you had better organization skills and tech skills. She said I guess that's my fault for assuming that. So she said that she has to take responsibility for that. Honestly I feel like I'm making more mistakes because this lady just curses and swears at her employees. At this point it's just affecting my mental health. I hate getting up in the morning and going to the job. The money is great but the stress is killing me. I told her during my interview that I was coming from a desktop support role and they seemed ok with it. I now see why I am the 3rd admin in 4 years. I've never been fired before but this is the first time I wouldn't mind if I did
I've now started looking for another job. I would even take a slight pay cut to be more happy. What is the best way to explain to employers why I'm looking to leave? Also anyway to deal with this hell while I'm looking for a job.
I have a decent job right now. It’s fully remote. The pay isn’t the best, I’m managing pretty much paycheck to paycheck. It’s basically glorified help desk with Sys admin tasks at times. I’ve had real sys admin roles before.
Now I am looking at cloud admin with some light DevOps at a new place. Pay is maybe $200-$300 more per month.
Reading up I’m worried about being over worked at this new place and leaving my comfort. New place is full remote too. I don’t know about the environment and team too much. I’m nervous I’ll be squeezed out and let go or too stressed.
The thing is I’ll probably learn a lot at the new place and that shiny possibility of the title, experience, etc. for my resume.
What would you do?
have a bit of a odd career path that I'm currently on. I've been promoted to a Manufacturing Engineer at a small aerospace company but I have an IT degree and want to get into that field. But I'm kinda stuck and don't have much experience in IT (recently graduated).
I'm currently doing all that you'd expect, process engineering, cad work, reverse engineering, etc. not sure where to take it from here. I was sort of thinking that a Systems Engineering position would be beneficial and use that degree better. I'm also working on a CCNA Is there any other paths that I can take where I'm not limited by my degree choice?
Hi to all great fellas,
So, I love this community where everyone’s keen on guiding each other. I’m a CS undergrad student and I’ve been looking into many fields as I just don’t feel like coding would be my interest but that doesn’t mean I can’t, it’s just that I don’t feel like it’s something that I would see myself doing for years with a smile on face you know.
So, recently I heard about cloud engineering field and it sort of interest me like the AWS servers, kubernetes, terraform etc but the thing is that, there are so many different roadmaps like some say learn networking and then python and more which is confusing…
So, what should be the actual roadmap for becoming a cloud engineer in 2024 with not wasting time on irrelevant stuff. Like, where to start and what are steps of approaching different tools and technologies of cloud from top to bottom.
Would love to have your helps guys and also your thoughts about the job market of this field along the future growth in it.
Looking forward :)
Recently I had two interviews with ServiceNow company.
1st - With a recruiter, screening general knowledge and behavioral question
2nd - With a senior manager, behavioral questions, talk about yourself, technical questions debugging code, and SQL.
At the end of the interview I was informed to prepare for a 3rd round and practice coding it will be 90 minutes, but since this is a Support Role I don't know what to expect for the coding challenges.
Have any of you faced coding challenges for support roles?
23M, fresh out of college. I have an A+ and Net+, degree in web dev but I learned I hated Javascript and its libraries while getting it lol. The powershell, bash, and docker experience was great though. I had a couple college internships at MSPs.
Logically obviously I should finish my Sec+. My job title is technical support, L1, for a large industry level software provider, specifically in the business continuity/disaster recovery team.
After that trifecta is done, what are some good routes I can take regarding certs/skills? My company offers a remote IT and security cert for free, so obviously that, but I’d like to focus on avoiding MSPs and staying internal if possible.
Sorry for the stereotypical and probably common questions, I’m just excited to be getting into the industry even in a help desk environment and would appreciate any direction. Thanks!
Hello,
I'm trying to figure out what my level and title would be based on my duties. Right now, I'm just called an IT technician at the small IT company I work for. That's so general, it's hard to know where I'm at in terms of level. Ultimately, I'd like to know so I can figure out my pay grade. Here's my experience and what I do now: I have two associates degrees. One is in IT networking and the other is in IT security. I have no current certifications because my boss said he doesn't care about them. I used to have a Cisco CCENT, but never progressed when they told me they don't care. I have almost 7 years of experience. I started at another small IT company running cable, installing cameras, access control systems, and working on computers. I've been at my current company for over 3 years and I do more on computers and servers now. I mostly fix random computer/ software problems, setup computers, printers and networking equipment, manage users on Windows servers, manage backups, and I do a lot of office work including creating quotes, invoicing, and documenting information. I work in the office and go on-site to customers. What would you guys say my job title is?
Hey Reddit,
I’m a Cybersecurity consultant with 10 years of experience in the professional world (7 in IAM), having worked at Deloitte (currently), Accenture, and BOA, focusing on IAM solution implementations, data protection, and some compliance in functional/BA/PM roles. TBH, I'm burnt out and find IAM quite boring (omg, role discovery and authorization mappings, ugh), but I feel lost and unsure where to go next. I am over feeling like I'm wasting my time and life away in consulting. I’m ready for a hands-on, individual contributor role with fewer meetings. I basically just want to be left alone to do my work (dream for most prob) in a low-stress environment.
I've considered SWE, but I have a BA degree in Finance and Business Management and some experience with low-code/no-code configurations. Currently, I'm learning Python in my spare time. My long-term goal is to grow my digital marketing business, make money with AI, or other emerging technologies. Consulting burns me out to the point that I'm too exhausted to even work towards those goals.
I’m fascinated by AI and its applications, and want to be strategic in my next move. I'm also a creative and enjoy web development, branding, and just doing the fun stuff (maybe I should consider UI/UX?). I tend to overthink and feel like I'm going in circles. Ideally, I’m looking for a position with at least a $130k salary since I live in a HCOL city.
Any advice on career paths or steps to make this transition smoothly? All tips (and humor) appreciated!
I recently applied to a small municipal government for their IT help desk position. I’ve never interviewed for this kind of job, and even though I know every position is different, I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions on stuff I should know, or what I should expect going into the interview. I would like to note that the recruiter has called it an “initial interview” and it’s being done over the phone.
I am curious to know how the IT job market is in Portland & Seattle metro including Vancouver, WA.
-is it difficult to find jobs and how difficult? -are there more jobs in IT Ops side versus Software (Engg, Dev)? -are good workers leaving these cities resulting to less competition? -is it better to pursue Government-related jobs as "tech" jobs seem to get easily laid off or offshored? -are roles getting more technical/demanding? Meaning they are merging so many functions to one role (jack of all trades kind of thing)? -any nuances in job hunting in these cities? -any tips?
Thank you in advance
So a long time ago my friend got a job in IT sorta( aka make Shure this is connected properly, this works and is ready for a presentation etc ...) now initially he was working same place but different job (completely unrelated) but he got hired as an apprentice (I think) even though he had no qualifications papers(only had his own smarts). Seems to have worked out for him. Now I am in a similar situation (different place of work) have no papers to show,but want to become an apprentice. I do understand that having something to show for it is better than nothing. My question is we're any of you in similar situations (where you had no papers,but got hired anyway, for your knowledge and smarts)?
So I just received and took a job offer for a company who want to train me up in an IT role. It will mainly be doing troubleshooting for the company and some of their clients, setting up new laptops for new workers of clients as well, network stuff etc. I have no previous experience in this and will supposedly be learning it on the job whilst they also pay for me to get A+ and Cisco.
Any advice for a complete beginner? Good places to acquire information, bad habits I should avoid etc.
Considering I’m coming with no experience it’s a bit scary but I am looking forward to it.
Hi everyone, so I have just completed a 13 week long IT training. During the process I got A+ certified. Learned how to create virtual machines, set up Active Directory on a windows server as well as other services such as dhcp, dns, and windows deployment services. We had many hands on projects and labs.
At the end of the course I was able to land a entry level IT Technician job at a medium to large size health care facility with multiple locations and I start in two weeks.
They wanted to know if I’m a fast learner and could I potentially help on location based projects as they are opening new clinics in the city. (Would need to travel).
I have started an online (OneNote) notebook to document SOPs and any tips my coworkers might share and am currently reading up on Azure (this is where most of there equipment runs I was told).
I’m super anxious about the whole thing but I know that’s probably imposter syndrome creeping in.
Is there anything else I should know or prepare myself for entering a new job and field? I know there are things I won’t know but whew it’s nerve racking. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Hey all,
I'm in a weird spot in my life and would love some advice.
For context, I'm freshly 23, I have around 3-4 years of experience in IT, 2 of which are in sysops, and just landed a new sysops role paying $80k + 10% bonus. I've been doing pretty well over the past few years, making a decent bit over $70k, and have been able to pay off pretty much all my debt (minus some student loans), gain some great experience on my resume, and save about $20k between my 401k, investments, and emergency fund.
I've been able to establish myself financially, so I'm starting to look forward now to more serious investments and life decisions. I'm planning a move to Chicago from ATL next year, contemplating buying real estate, treating myself to some nicer things, while of course aggressively saving about $1.5k a month.
The big thing I'm struggling with though is that I dropped out of college a few years back and have virtually no educational credentials. No certs, no degrees, nothing at all. I'll be honest, I'm not the college type and really would rather not go back unless it's an absolute no brainer.
It makes it kind of scary for me to actually do anything because I'm constantly having this feeling that I may struggle to maintain my success. Like, if I lose this job, am I fucked? Would not having a degree be a red flag? Could I even move past this pay range? Would I even be able to move out of Sysops?
So I suppose my questions boil down to this:
Am I overreacting? Would a degree even benefit me once I get around that 6+ years of experience mark? What would you do to take advantage of my situation?
Looking for a free IT appealing resume template for the position of a System Admin or System Engineer. Can anyone kindly recommend something? Much appreciated.
My dream job for the longest time has been in the position of a Senior DevOps Engineer. I always liked having extremely broad and deep understandings of my jobs and education and I know that pursuing a career in DevOps would require a lot of different competencies. I’ve been in and out of university courses since ~2018 (when I was taking dual credit courses in HS) and now I’m looking to consolidate all of the different paths/certifications and courses while I begin to rebuild after a significant life change. I have a general surface-level understanding of network/computer architecture, repair, administration and operation, as well as a general understanding of software design, implementation and execution. Nothing really position-worthy besides tech repair, since I spent a year repairing 30+ machines per day in a warehouse. No, I don’t care about the stresses or costs, I intend to work a full time job while undergoing online training and eventually, exams. I’m looking for a concise set of certs I can train for, alongside another try at university. I’m hoping to gain a deep understanding in the following competencies: Cybersecurity, Network Administration/Design, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Business Administration/Management and of course, anything in between that I forgot to mention, that some current professionals might recommend. Thanks to anyone who reads my novel and isn’t too annoyed to give some advice :)
I know these are two very different things but hear me out. I’m a new Security Analyst for a small Company and was hired knowing I have very little skill in Cybersecurity. While my boss constantly tells me I am completing the tasks they hired me to do, I want to be a better Analyst and more help to my small team.
I spoke with my boss recently about what I could do to better help the team and he mentioned we need a cloud security specialist. (We have a department that handles our cloud environment, we relay and oversee security criteria we want to Implement but there’s no dedicated cloud security person).
There is no scenario where I don’t learn cloud but I’m wondering if I should hone my analyst/remediation skills first with CySA before fully dedicating to cloud certifications.
Any thoughts?
Does anyone else have a weekend job in addition to their full time week day job? How do you do it and do you have any advice?
I work in a help-desk type of position and make decent money, but I’m looking to make some extra dollars on the weekends so that I can pay off student loans and start saving for my own place. It doesn’t have to be IT I guess…but definitely over minimum wage to be worth it. I live in a rural area, so it would probably have to be remote if it’s IT.
Any advice?
I just finished my first year pursuing a Bachelor's in Information Technology, and I'm eager to improve my IT skills. During this year, I learned the basics of C programming, which I found quite interesting. As IT is such a broad field, I want to start figuring out my career path early on.
I'm particularly interested in Software Development/Engineering, but I'm not sure where to start. Could anyone provide resources, advice, or personal experiences that could help me understand this field better and make an informed decision? Here are a few specific points I'm curious about:
Any insights or guidance would mean a lot to me. Thank you in advance!
Looking forward to your responses!
Any recommended certs or career paths to explore? Going after the CCNP so soon makes no sense, I’m thinking cloud or RHCSA - any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Currently work in NOC - end goal is cloud or security engineer
So, just as the title says, I’m not sure where to go career wise. To preface, I got out of the army in 2022 and I was a 25B (information technology specialist). I was good at what I did on the technical support side of it i.e reimaging, troubleshooting basic things. Nothing too hard in my opinion. Since leaving, I have started a family and I’m looking at going back to school, but unsure the path I’m wanting to take. I have A+, Net+, Sec+, CEH. I’m leaning more towards a cybersecurity degree because of how it looks, but I don’t think that is the route I’m wanting to take. I liked help desk work, but that isn’t where the money is. Networking came somewhat easy to me. I got CEH to get it. Not sure it’s something I’d enjoy. I guess what I’m wanting to know is what else actually is there out there in the IT field? What degrees are the best to look into right now? What will set me up? Coding intrigues me, but I haven’t had the time at the moment to sit down and try to learn yet. I’d consider myself still very very new to the IT field but I know I’d like to stay in it, just not too sure what all there is out there. I just don’t want to waste money on a degree just to not enjoy it and wish I’d explored another path. What are your day to days like in what you do? Sorry this post is everywhere, postpartum brain is still pretty bad at the moment. TIA!
Im thinking of getting an associates degree in applied science in information technology through purdue global. I just wanted to know if anyone went the associates degree route and found success in finding a job? Right now Im working in healthcare and I hate it. Healthcare is not my passion and I wish to enter I.T sometime in the near future.
Hi everyone! I just thought to come here to network or get some help on trying to get a help desk job in Los Angeles. I currently live in Oklahoma City working as a technical specialist where I do onboarding and off boarding’s, hardware/software support, VoIP and printer support, responding to phishing emails, and other basic help desk duties. I have a year of experience and I am trying to move back home in LA to be with family. I have probably applied to 100+ jobs and I either get rejections or no response. I am just wondering if there are any other websites besides LinkedIn, indeed, dice, or ZipRecruiter that I should be using. If anyone here is based in LA I would love to connect with you! I appreciate the help in advance and look forward to connecting with new people :)