Headed to the IT Career Field

ozziecat35 said:
I did MSP for 3 years and swear I'll never go back unless I can name my salary...that's one of the lowest depths of hell in my opinion. Kudos to you for making it word for you.
Click to expand...
Why didn't you like MSP? Also, you mean you didn't like the IT scene of MSP? Why? Honest question...
 
drunkenbeagle said:
It is very possible to have a mostly 9 to 5 job working with computers. Mine has been almost entirely 9-5 for my entire career, by choice. I won't take jobs that require being on call.

IT is a very broad term, much more so than aviation, which is also a very broad field. Earning six figures in the computer biz is not difficult, but it takes a few prerequisites:
  • A four-year education from a good school, preferably in CS/EE/Mathematics/Phyics/etc
  • Specialization in some specific field
  • Willingness to travel
  • Be a US citizen
  • Ability to get a security clearance
  • A good resume with at least a few years experience
  • Good credit
  • Networking - know people that will get you in the door.
All of that takes a bit of time and effort, and not everyone will be able to do it.

I pretty much work 40 hours a week, mostly from home, almost always 9-5, for what a mainline captain would make, from the comfort of my deck.
Click to expand...

All of you thinking about IT fields need to read this post several times, especially the bolded parts.

Security clearances I almost bolded, but I've managed to have a good career without one. I will say that if you have one, though, many other doors open up. Here in DC they cannot fill the IT openings with security clearances fast enough. Lots of money to be made.

Here's a couple other things to consider:

  • The real money in most product-driven industries these days is on the sales side. If you think about sales in terms of greasy, lying snake-oil jerks, then you should just keep moving on. If you're interested in working hard, learning a very portable skillset and making the most money-for-merit possible, you should strongly consider it. Bonus: all the things that Russ mentions above? Yeah - you have to have some degree of sales skill just to get a job doing most of those things. Totally do-able.
  • Notice Russ's post. It's organized well. Things are spelled correctly. He communicates clearly. Those of you who met him at NJC met an articulate, well-dressed person. And if I end up needing a database ninja as a recommendation for one of my clients in Florida, guess who I'm gonna call?
People roll their eyes about this stuff, but I am deadly serious when I say that it matters.

Final note - IT managed services can be a beat down on the techs because there is downward pressure on the margins in the field and a lot of competitors. But, if you're a real guru in Voice, or voice/security, or storage/DR - some kind of one-two punch that people can leverage, you can usually command a better salary package.
 
Good luck pilot4500! Good times flying with you, good luck with the IT services. Definitely get into network security, seems to be a growing field, and too many contractors looking for good people in the DC area.
 
planesenses said:
Good luck pilot4500! Good times flying with you, good luck with the IT services. Definitely get into network security, seems to be a growing field, and too many contractors looking for good people in the DC area.
Click to expand...


Perhaps if the contractors weren't blowing their security clearances and fleeing to Hong Kong there would be fewer openings. :)


too soon?
 
Most of what's been said here is right on. My career up to now has been IT, starting with desktop support 15 years ago and now ending as a web developer. I'll say this several times - it's all about networking, just like aviation. My first job(s) were the mundane, plug in this, reboot that, take condescending remarks from everyone and their mother in between. Support is a cost center, so the company would rather not need you, and pax, er, i mean "users" only talk to you when things are broken, and they can't work. That said, it is rewarding in that you occasionally get props for helping, and you have a chance to go above and beyond - something you don't get in aviation, particularly in 121/135 - it's not just getting something from point A to point B. You can stand out, you can improve things for a lot of people. This is rewarding.

If you want to move to better IT jobs, you better know someone at your next job...it's all about networking. After support, you'll get into some sort of systems administration. It's mundane, and stressful, but you have a chance in this role to make things better for the company, to improve the way people work. This is also rewarding.

I'll stop here, because I could rant on for pages. Congrats, seriously, I'll probably be back to the IT world before I retire, but understand that the grass will always be greener. I couldn't take knowing that 2/3 of my waking life is sitting behind a desk, feeling my body rot and get fatter only to pay hundreds each weekend for 2 hours in a 112HP rust bucket. I was 32 and I needed to get paid to fly. 4 years, 6 checkrides and 700 dual given later and I'm interviewing for entry level flying jobs. I'll be making in my 40s what most make in their mid-20s.

I'm terrified of my new income, getting up early, and being away from home.

But look at all that green grass :)
 
sounddoc said:
4 years, 6 checkrides and 700 dual given later and I'm interviewing for entry level flying jobs. I'll be making in my 40s what most make in their mid-20s.

I'm terrified of my new income, getting up early, and being away from home.

But look at all that green grass :)
Click to expand...


You sir just said it perfectly.

I'be been doing the IT thing for 11 years, I'm done. Remote support, onsite support, now a systems admin...but still most of my day is "Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

I just got both my commercial tickets, CFI this summer...then on to the land of low pay and gone for 4 days at a time...& I can't wait!
 
ozziecat35 said:
You sir just said it perfectly.

I'be been doing the IT thing for 11 years, I'm done. Remote support, onsite support, now a systems admin...but still most of my day is "Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

I just got both my commercial tickets, CFI this summer...then on to the land of low pay and gone for 4 days at a time...& I can't wait!
Click to expand...
Quit stealing my dream :)

(The good news is I've gone from an office, to a high wall large cube, to a 5ft 8x8 cube to a 3 ft 6x6 cube......Now I can see all the unhappy people around me much easier and without popping my head up)
 
jskibo said:
(The good news is I've gone from an office, to a high wall large cube, to a 5ft 8x8 cube to a 3 ft 6x6 cube......Now I can see all the unhappy people around me much easier and without popping my head up)
Click to expand...


I made it less than one year in the cubicle rat race.
 
For the love of God - those of you in IT - if you want money, turning wrenches on servers and routers and desktops is not where it's at.

It's in sales.

Yeah, I know. Everyone hates sales people, right?

If you are technology-proficient, and you can think and speak clearly, and have decent emotional intelligence, then become a Sales Engineer. It's the best of both worlds, the money is generally more than 6-figure depending who you work for, and the stress is far lower.

Still worried? Think about it like this: the best sales people listen hard to the prospect, and then communicate complex concepts simply in an effort to demonstrate a solution that solves a problem. Which is sort of like being a CFI, if you think of it a certain way.

It is - without a doubt - the BEST job in IT, in my humble opinion.
 
will_fly_for_bandwith said:
IT is not the place to go for a 9-5 job. Entry level, sure. But if you want to earn over $50k you will be owned by the company and be working 60 hour weeks (on salary).

I have been in IT for many years, at various levels. I would suggest IT security over all other aspects of IT.
Networking and Sys admins are a commodity now, you will be competing against people from India that are willing to work for 1/5th of what you want. Even with a CCIE or a RHCE certs you will be hard pressed to get over $100K, both these certs are very hard to obtain. I have a friend that is a Cisco Certified Networking Professional and all he can find are basic support jobs. Just like flying IT is a combination of experience and certification.

Just today I got an email from a recruiter for a security job for $80/hr, they want Arcsight certification.
Good luck with the career change, it can be an exciting time.
Click to expand...

Security is a good time. (It's how I paid for my flying.)
 
Congrats on the career change. I currently serve on the Navy at a IT on submarines. Even though I am good at the job, I do not enjoy it one bit and my heart is really no longer in it which is why I am thinking about getting out and going into aviation.

Once the companies figure out that you are a solid IT, be prepared to be the go to guy for all problems and concerns. At least in my experience I've been called into work while my car was in the shop before because a oracle database decided to go offline.

IT is a field that you will need to be constantly studying and staying kept with technology. I recommend going into the security side of the IT world also. Again congrats.
 
swakid8 said:
Congrats on the career change. I currently serve on the Navy at a IT on submarines. Even though I am good at the job, I do not enjoy it one bit and my heart is really no longer in it which is why I am thinking about getting out and going into aviation.

Once the companies figure out that you are a solid IT, be prepared to be the go to guy for all problems and concerns. At least in my experience I've been called into work while my car was in the shop before because a oracle database decided to go offline.

IT is a field that you will need to be constantly studying and staying kept with technology. I recommend going into the security side of the IT world also. Again congrats.
Click to expand...
Meh. I had dinner with a friend who works as netops manager/senior developer for a local software company that does nifty things for the dot-edu scene. ALOT of IT function nowadays is being either outright automated or thrown into the cloud, which means less people are needed locally, which has the obvious results of less jobs. My friend from time to time peruses the job boards and his conclusion was that it's definitely not going to be rainbows, butterflies, and so on, in that field.

You're right, though: you are the one stop shop (particularly at a small company) for everything that's wrong with the enterprise.
 
Autothrust Blue said:
Meh. I had dinner with a friend who works as netops manager/senior developer for a local software company that does nifty things for the dot-edu scene. ALOT of IT function nowadays is being either outright automated or thrown into the cloud, which means less people are needed locally, which has the obvious results of less jobs. My friend from time to time peruses the job boards and his conclusion was that it's definitely not going to be rainbows, butterflies, and so on, in that field.

You're right, though: you are the one stop shop (particularly at a small company) for everything that's wrong with the enterprise.
Click to expand...

Which is very true. There are now could management carts that are starting to show up on the scene. Even with a cloud environment, data centers and administrators for those data centers to maintain the cloud environment are in demand now.
 
Autothrust Blue said:
Meh. I had dinner with a friend who works as netops manager/senior developer for a local software company that does nifty things for the dot-edu scene. ALOT of IT function nowadays is being either outright automated or thrown into the cloud, which means less people are needed locally, which has the obvious results of less jobs. My friend from time to time peruses the job boards and his conclusion was that it's definitely not going to be rainbows, butterflies, and so on, in that field.

You're right, though: you are the one stop shop (particularly at a small company) for everything that's wrong with the enterprise.
Click to expand...

The purpose of IT/Software is to automate things/make jobs obsolete/be more efficient.

Cloud is great - a huge part of what I do. It actually means more jobs for software engineers - just in different areas. Hadoop / Openstack / puppet / Chef are all very in demand skills right now. Oracle always pays pretty well. General rule in the computer biz - once it is something that everyone has heard of, it is a commodity and does not command high pay any longer. But there is always something newer and better to move on to.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top