IT Career people

[RayAllen]

Im thinking of a new career.

Ive known a few guys in the different fields of IT work and Im thinking I may go this route with Web Design or networking.

Im not looking to get a BA or anything, but a IT certification would be great.

Those of you certified where did you go and how long did it take. I dont have all the time in the world to go to several years of school. I actually did the college thing for a little while, but it wasnt for me so if I can find a place with a night school for a certification in something that would be excellent.

Any thoughts/ideas would be great.

[tony]

web design is rough, i have a friend that does it full time and he struggles. and he is VERY good. does multiple car dealerships (think BIG ones) along with mayors, etc . . .

networking is my specialty (along with security). certs will get your foot in a door that normally wouldnt otherwise open but in almost all cases experience trumps certs. a degree is absolutely not necessary. however, like most careers without a degree, you will hit a ceiling. the IT market is really good in SA even more so if you have a clearance. it is also a great place to break into IT because of rackspace. they target younger out of college people and pay accordingly. also, keep in mind that high schools now teach certifications in IT so there is a LOT of competition. (and before anyone jumps on my rackspace comment, it is just my opinion based on my experiences with them and the people i work with who came from there or interviewed with them. if you work there and are happy with your salary i am happy for you!)

if i could make a suggestion, learn telephony. phone administrators are in very high demand. even moreso in SA since we have lots of call centers. you will get your feet wet with networking by default since IP telephony exists.

if you insist on networking look for helpdesk or cable maintenance type jobs. good places to get experience and knowledge and a foot in the door.

[tony]

oh and i forgot, you asked where. accd schools now offer IT certification classes.

http://alamo.edu/

[Mr Cob]

Web Developer here.

Career title is: Instructional Developer, I create eLearning content for a large company. It's a mix of programming, multi-media, graphic design, presentations, interactive learning games, video editing, audio editing etc...etc... I took my Web Development experience toward an instructional learning path. There are soooooo many opportunities in this industry. Lots of contract agencies that have tons of positions available and I've seen some exagerated offers as well....especially in Austin and Dallas.

Terms/languages associated with my career... Javascript, ActionScript, HTML, XML, CSS, GUI, LMS, LCMS, Scorm, Elm...just to give you a few things to google.

I used to be a network engineer....wasn't for me. I had a security clearance too, we installed simulators for the AirForce. The fun part was that I got to be a part of the team that created the live 3D models of the bases and the traveling was cool for maybe the first two years..then I got married. I enjoy creating things that look nice and enhance user experience so I eventually left the network engineering to pursue a more vidual environment.

I'm self taught. I did a lot of FREE work before I was able to start charging. A portfolio is very important to get business as a freelance developer. As you get more in your portfolio you can begin to charge more. Once you have a nice portfolio and some experience under your belt you can start applying to companies to score a career.

I've done web development in both a freelance environment and as a career. I prefer the career over the freelance work. I have done some pretty large projects via freelance but I prefer the steady income.

Explore all the areas of IT and find out what interests you most...then start working towards it. For my career a degree and certuificates were not needed though at some point a degree will help reach the pay cap for my title or to further advance in the company I work for.

Once you know what you want to do...

Find a guru friend in the same field to ask questions....find a forum to ask questions (like you did with MAAST), then get on google and start taking tutorials on everything! I have a google degree...lol

Congrats on your new path Ray...my best to you.

[tony]

the google degree comment is funny because its true

the key in IT is not knowing everything, noone does. the key is being resourceful along with quick thinking

[allan]

While I was working on my MBA I took a series of online courses through rio solado and received a certificate in webmaster sometime in 02 or 03. I really enjoyed building websites and ran a private website (www.elixir-of-power.com) for almost two years, and while deployed I ran our FRG website which was a lot of work. I used an editor on that one to keep maintenance at a minimum, but I really enjoyed handjamming HTML and JavaScript myself, just no time.

I got the second job because I accidentally informed my boss what the other guy was doing wrong.

Fun work, I've been away from it that I would have to relearn it. My degree has a management information system emphasis, but I really don't spend much time in it.

Ray, the army has a need of IT guys, cough cough

[RayAllen]

Thanks guys, great info from all of you. I have some decisions to make.

[grouch]

Mainframe IBM Large systems programmer here 30 + yrs.,
Not a local so do not know about schools here but I see the grouwth in the IT market on the networking side. Every piece of hardware on every platform has to talk to each other now. Getting CICSCO certified is a big plus and there are self taught courses and classes for that. Trick is getting your foot in the door and then you have options for a career path. Oh yea lets not forget about the mainframe, believe it or not COBOL programmers are still in high demand simply because of the trillions of lines of legacy code still in use. As far as the systems side that I am on lots of classes from big blue to get started but you will need employer sponsership as there are $$$$$, and years of experience. Don't forget a lot of us M/Fraimers will all be retireing in the next few years so any experience could help you there.
I would try a community college to take some classes first, get your feet wet. Anyway good luck.

[tony]

we still have @ 20 rpg programmers :-|

[Bill S]

we still have @ 20 rpg programmers :-|

Tony, I think you and I are the only ones that don't think that "RPG" is a weapon or a video game type.

I probably know most of your programmers.