IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[Charlie]

In high school I got my a+ cert. Was working towards mcse back then than stopped. Went to college and became a social worker.

Now I'm thinking of going back the IT route cause I ain't making no money. Am I too late? What route should I go to secure a job as quick as possible. What certs do I need? How hard is it to land a work from home position. Any feedback is welcome brehs. Thanks!

 

[Regular Developer]

Some of these requirements for job posts are insane. I'm guessing a lot of them are by recruiters who don't program. They want two years of experience in C#, Javascript, HTML, CSS, SQL, and Angular for for $65,000? Yeah right. Full stack developer with two years of experience for only $65,000?

If curious, I'm sure you can ask the recruiter if that rate is negotiable. Otherwise, wait for a couple months and look again and see that their still looking to fill that position with someone competent, lol.

 

[Lord_nikon]

In high school I got my a+ cert. Was working towards mcse back then than stopped. Went to college and became a social worker.

Now I'm thinking of going back the IT route cause I ain't making no money. Am I too late? What route should I go to secure a job as quick as possible. What certs do I need? How hard is it to land a work from home position. Any feedback is welcome brehs. Thanks!

As you can see by the previous post the IT job market can suck sometimes,everything depends on your location, where I stay you can't even get a help desk job without 2 or 4 years of experience and certs , the fastest way in where I stay is PC/laptop repair,if you don't know anyone to get you on at a job you probably would have to lie on your resume to get out that shyt hole of repairing PC's. lol

you all ready have your A+ so -----> N+ ----------> mcsa/mcse etc

But all of this depends on how much information you retained from your A+ and studying for your MCSE,, they will try and test your knowledge at interviews also.

 

[kevm3]

If curious, I'm sure you can ask the recruiter if that rate is negotiable. Otherwise, wait for a couple months and look again and see that their still looking to fill that position with someone competent, lol.

Usually I just scroll past that listing because I see jobs that pay just as much, if not more for half the requirements. It's more of an amusement than anything.

 

[FreshFromATL]

Got a couple of interviews in the coming weeks. We'll see how it goes.

Good stuff. I'm rooting for you bruh, I know you've put in work. You should be good.

 

[FreshFromATL]

Some of these requirements for job posts are insane. I'm guessing a lot of them are by recruiters who don't program. They want two years of experience in C#, Javascript, HTML, CSS, SQL, and Angular for for $65,000? Yeah right. Full stack developer with two years of experience for only $65,000?

For your first job, they're gonna play you on the salary because they can always fall back on the "you not having much experience" line. That's why I tell cats, consulting >>> being perm. You take on 6-12 month contracts and its an easy way to get experience/exposure and increase your pay by 5-20k a job. But most people aren't hustlers, they're rather have the false sense of "safety" being a "perm" employee and wait 2-4 years just to get a 2-5k raise, lmao.

 

[Apollo Creed]

For your first job, they're gonna play you on the salary because they can always fall back on the "you not having much experience" line. That's why I tell cats, consulting >>> being perm. You take on 6-12 month contracts and its an easy way to get experience/exposure and increase your pay by 5-20k a job. But most people aren't hustlers, they're rather have the false sense of "safety" being a "perm" employee and wait 2-4 years just to get a 2-5k raise, lmao.

Whats your thoughts on the whole W2 Contract vs 1099?

 

[kevm3]

For your first job, they're gonna play you on the salary because they can always fall back on the "you not having much experience" line. That's why I tell cats, consulting >>> being perm. You take on 6-12 month contracts and its an easy way to get experience/exposure and increase your pay by 5-20k a job. But most people aren't hustlers, they're rather have the false sense of "safety" being a "perm" employee and wait 2-4 years just to get a 2-5k raise, lmao.

Definitely sounds like the right strategy to me. I heard if you're not moving around in the software biz, you're not doing it right. I'm going to really focus these next 3 years. I finally picked up some SQL. Right after I get C# and Java under my belt and possibly python, I'll be focusing on mathematics and algorithms and data structures to really expand my horizons.

 

[FreshFromATL]

Whats your thoughts on the whole W2 Contract vs 1099?

This is an excellent question, but the comparison is really between W2 and corp-to-corp. W2 vs. Corp-to-corp is a strategy all the OG's use to save on taxes. For instance, on W2, say you have a job that pays you $75 per hr, here your employer is likely paying your benefits, however you're getting hit on the taxes heavy because you've moved into that next tax bracket. With corp-to-corp, the consulting firm you're working with writes a check to your company (the full check with no taxes taken out) each pay/expense period (two weeks or once per month). At the end of the year however, you have to pay yourself a salary (maybe 25 grand) and that's what you're paying taxes on. Keep in mind I'm speaking from the stance of having an S-corp setup (let's you avoid double taxation). Also keep in mind that whereas you're asking for $75 per hr on W2, you're asking for $100-110 per Corp-to-corp.

No self-employment tax.

Using small business retirement plans, you can defer tax on a larger percentage of income.

Double taxation of earnings is avoided as compared to regular corporations.
[\QUOTE ]​

 

[Apollo Creed]

This is an excellent question, but the comparison is really between W2 and corp-to-corp. W2 vs. Corp-to-corp is a strategy all the OG's use to save on taxes. For instance, on W2, say you have a job that pays you $75 per hr, here your employer is likely paying your benefits, however you're getting hit on the taxes heavy because you've moved into that next tax bracket. With corp-to-corp, the consulting firm you're working with writes a check to your company (the full check with no taxes taken out) each pay/expense period (two weeks or once per month). At the end of the year however, you have to pay yourself a salary (maybe 25 grand) and that's what you're paying taxes on. Keep in mind I'm speaking from the stance of having an S-corp setup (let's you avoid double taxation). Also keep in mind that whereas you're asking for $75 per hr on W2, you're asking for $100-110 per Corp-to-corp.

Gotcha main thing that seems would be annoying would be insane cost of insurance and then going through the BS interview process every 6 months to a yr.

Would you reccomend the Corp to Corp grind early in ones career? Or once they have gotten a decent chunk of experience to be able to compete for the top dollar roles?

Side note, I know your in BI. Does the MCSE:BI cert hold any weight? Or are people better off just learning the tools?

 

[RubioTheCruel]

For your first job, they're gonna play you on the salary because they can always fall back on the "you not having much experience" line. That's why I tell cats, consulting >>> being perm. You take on 6-12 month contracts and its an easy way to get experience/exposure and increase your pay by 5-20k a job. But most people aren't hustlers, they're rather have the false sense of "safety" being a "perm" employee and wait 2-4 years just to get a 2-5k raise, lmao.

This is real shyt. The only way to get a large pay increase is to move jobs, but most people aren't built like that, to go through the job interview process every 12-18 months, or they just get plain old comfortable

 

[FreshFromATL]

Gotcha main thing that seems would be annoying would be insane cost of insurance and then going through the BS interview process every 6 months to a yr.

Would you reccomend the Corp to Corp grind early in ones career? Or once they have gotten a decent chunk of experience to be able to compete for the top dollar roles?

Side note, I know your in BI. Does the MCSE:BI cert hold any weight? Or are people better off just learning the tools?

Not early in career because you probably won't be at that tax bracket were you're getting killed on taxes.

I would say if you're in the $50+ territory you should want to look at corp-to-corp because you're going to get killed on taxes. Also, you need to be an individual that's good with keeping up with receipts etc.

I would definitely say you would be better off for learning the tools and how they integrate within the BI architecture. I haven't meet anyone with a BI cert.

 

[Apollo Creed]

Not early in career because you probably won't be at that tax bracket were you're getting killed on taxes.

I would say if you're in the $50+ territory you should want to look at corp-to-corp because you're going to get killed on taxes. Also, you need to be an individual that's good with keeping up with receipts etc.

I would definitely say you would be better off for learning the tools and how they integrate within the BI architecture. I haven't meet anyone with a BI cert.

Gotcha, this was actually something I was thinking of in the past but didnt really know how to write it out to set the goals. But starting my own Consulting company in the future and being an "architect/consultant" for hire. A lot of companies in the A pretty much hire contract only now so might as well cut out the Staffing Agency/Consulting agency middle man.

 

[Regular Developer]

Not early in career because you probably won't be at that tax bracket were you're getting killed on taxes.

I would say if you're in the $50+ territory you should want to look at corp-to-corp because you're going to get killed on taxes. Also, you need to be an individual that's good with keeping up with receipts etc.

I would definitely say you would be better off for learning the tools and how they integrate within the BI architecture. I haven't meet anyone with a BI cert.

Good info dude.

 

[FreshFromATL]

Gotcha, this was actually something I was thinking of in the past but didnt really know how to write it out to set the goals. But starting my own Consulting company in the future and being an "architect/consultant" for hire. A lot of companies in the A pretty much hire contract only now so might as well cut out the Staffing Agency/Consulting agency middle man.

A lot of times you will still be working with them, they will just pay your company instead of paying you directly. Also, there are certain insurances you will need as well to work corp-to-corp. I'll write about that in a little.