IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[Obreh Winfrey]

Once you have 4-5+ years experience you should be able to demand what you want, because even if you are getting underpaid at your current gig you can just bounce and get the market rate at a new gig. When you dont have much experience you don't have much leverage when it comes to looking for work.

Next year will make 5 yrs in the game for me, once I finish my Masters hopefully next fall I`m going to assess my goals for the next 3-5 years.

I have my resume up on Dice and Glassdoor and after a lot of work it's finally getting some interest. What I'm apprehensive about is the types of positions I'm being emailed about by recruiters. Some are sending me stuff about senior positions (humblebrag ) but I don't think my experience is really at that level - it's been mainly opportunities I've created using some contacts of mine and nothing at a legitimate company. The way I've painted it, however, gives the appearance that it's a little more than it really was, but none of the resume content is untruthful. Now, can I do the job? Yeah I'm pretty sure I can. What's holding me back is that slight fear of failure. I know we all have our failures from time to time, but I don't think it would be a good look if I step fresh into one of these senior positions and drop the ball. Would you recommend me going for it anyway?

And nice work on that Masters, other than my mom, aunt, and obviously some of my professors, I haven't come across too many black people going for or holding a graduate degree. I'm looking to get a Masters of Computer Science eventually but don't have a lot of experience on the research side of C.S. But I did a thesis for Political Science, so it's not going to be too much of a stretch.

 

[Ice_MF_Mike]

Once you get an offer how long do you take to decide? What do you tell the company who gave you the offer while you make your decision?

Just tell them you need to talk it over with your family and make a decision. Usually you will get anywhere from 48 hours to 5 days to make your decision.

 

[Apollo Creed]

I have my resume up on Dice and Glassdoor and after a lot of work it's finally getting some interest. What I'm apprehensive about is the types of positions I'm being emailed about by recruiters. Some are sending me stuff about senior positions (humblebrag ) but I don't think my experience is really at that level - it's been mainly opportunities I've created using some contacts of mine and nothing at a legitimate company. The way I've painted it, however, gives the appearance that it's a little more than it really was, but none of the resume content is untruthful. Now, can I do the job? Yeah I'm pretty sure I can. What's holding me back is that slight fear of failure. I know we all have our failures from time to time, but I don't think it would be a good look if I step fresh into one of these senior positions and drop the ball. Would you recommend me going for it anyway?

And nice work on that Masters, other than my mom, aunt, and obviously some of my professors, I haven't come across too many black people going for or holding a graduate degree. I'm looking to get a Masters of Computer Science eventually but don't have a lot of experience on the research side of C.S. But I did a thesis for Political Science, so it's not going to be too much of a stretch.

Man if you can get an interview take it. As long as you arent fluffing your resume by putting stuff you never even touched before you will be fine. Anything on your resume you dont have to be an expert on but at least be able to speak to it

 

[Obreh Winfrey]

Man if you can get an interview take it. As long as you arent fluffing your resume by putting stuff you never even touched before you will be fine. Anything on your resume you dont have to be an expert on but at least be able to speak to it

Yeah everything on there I've dealt with. I was strategic with action words and following the action -> result model wherever I could.

 

[FastEddie215]

Typically they just ask me my salary range during the initial phone screening when I first get hit up. So I always give them a range where the Min is what I want so anything over the min is a plus. So if they ask how much I want and I say 90-95k, the 90 is what I want, so if I get an offer of 92k then I got what I want and then some. The only thing you should probably be negotiating during the offer letter phase would be vacation time and stuff like that depending if thats a priority.

If you are in a job that sucks then you might want to play it safe, but if the job you are currently in is decent then you at least have some leverage to tell recruiters what ever you want, and if they turn you down then its really no biggie.

Once you have 4-5+ years experience you should be able to demand what you want, because even if you are getting underpaid at your current gig you can just bounce and get the market rate at a new gig. When you dont have much experience you don't have much leverage when it comes to looking for work.

Next year will make 5 yrs in the game for me, once I finish my Masters hopefully next fall I`m going to assess my goals for the next 3-5 years.

Is there a particular website you go to to find out what the most accurate average pay range is for these I.T jobs?

 

[Apollo Creed]

Is there a particular website you go to to find out what the most accurate average pay range is for these I.T jobs?

i use glass door

 

[rushing to paris]

If you are in a position to maneuver it, do not succumb to exploding offers (the super short ones from a few days to just a few weeks.) You must have a BATNA to do this. I understand that some folks are just trying to get their foot in the door and this could legitimately cost them a job, but for certain roles, the market is too hot to not evaluate your offers fairly.

Also -- sometimes divulging your expected compensation bands can backfire. There have been more than a handful of times I ended up pricing myself out of a job because the companies basically had sticker shock and realized they couldn't lowball me -- or thought I was crazy.

 

[JT-Money]

Is there a particular website you go to to find out what the most accurate average pay range is for these I.T jobs?

I look for sites that host resumes like Dev Bistro or Indeed. Some people will actually list a desired salary on their resume. Depending on the location and job title you can get a picture of salary ranges. I also reach out to recruiters even when I have no intention of switching jobs and see what their clients would offer me. If they don't give me a salary range I don't deal with them. That way even if my employer doesn't use market based pay to set salaries I still know the going market rate. Any time I fall below the going market rate for my skills or experience I jump ship someplace else.

salary Resumes | Tech Resumes | IT Resume Database | Dev Bistro

 

[JT-Money]

I have my resume up on Dice and Glassdoor and after a lot of work it's finally getting some interest. What I'm apprehensive about is the types of positions I'm being emailed about by recruiters. Some are sending me stuff about senior positions (humblebrag ) but I don't think my experience is really at that level - it's been mainly opportunities I've created using some contacts of mine and nothing at a legitimate company. The way I've painted it, however, gives the appearance that it's a little more than it really was, but none of the resume content is untruthful. Now, can I do the job? Yeah I'm pretty sure I can. What's holding me back is that slight fear of failure. I know we all have our failures from time to time, but I don't think it would be a good look if I step fresh into one of these senior positions and drop the ball. Would you recommend me going for it anyway?

And nice work on that Masters, other than my mom, aunt, and obviously some of my professors, I haven't come across too many black people going for or holding a graduate degree. I'm looking to get a Masters of Computer Science eventually but don't have a lot of experience on the research side of C.S. But I did a thesis for Political Science, so it's not going to be too much of a stretch.

I would always interview for a position whether I was qualified for it or not. There is no guarantee you'll get the job but you can gain valuable insight into how different organizations are run if you ask the right questions.

 

[Afro]

What is the feedback on getting ITIL certified?

Who is it for

Studying for my network+ atm.
Then Security+

Then maybe CCNET to CCNA.

I still don't know what path interests me. I like setting things up though

But I want to be able to tell people what to do

Choices

 

[Apollo Creed]

What is the feedback on getting ITIL certified?

Who is it for

Studying for my network+ atm.
Then Security+

Then maybe CCNET to CCNA.

I still don't know what path interests me. I like setting things up though

But I want to be able to tell people what to do

Choices

ITIL is a good general cert for anyone in any area of IT. For Software Dev though ITIL is more suited for managers though. ITIL pretty much gives you insight on how an IT department would run especially at the program level. You can pass it with a weekend of study if you worked in IT before.

 

[Afro]

ITIL is a good general cert for anyone in any area of IT. For Software Dev though ITIL is more suited for managers though. ITIL pretty much gives you insight on how an IT department would run especially at the program level. You can pass it with a weekend of study if you worked in IT before.

Ok so I did read the ITIL website correctly then. Sounds kind of a cool cert to learn, not just have.

That is if the employer even knows what it is

 

[Apollo Creed]

Ok so I did read the ITIL website correctly then. Sounds kind of a cool cert to learn, not just have.

That is if the employer even knows what it is

nah Employers know what it is. its essentially the standard framework most IT shops use.

ITIL alone won't get you a job, but it will allow you to be able to speak to alot of stuff and best practices. Also can help with process improvement in your current organization. Only jobs ITIL cert can help you with is something PMO related. Or if you are already doing service desk or something an ITIL cert could help you make a case for a promotion.

 

[ViShawn]

What books are recommended for learning the UNIX operating system for the beginner? - Quora

 

[bnm8907]

Depends on what you feel more comfortable doing. As far as pay though, 3 years ago i started out doing level 1 tech support 3 months after i got my A+ Making $15.50/hr. last year I got my MCSA 2012 and landed a systems admin position making $35/hr. Currently studying for the MCSE. Gotta thank the homie @bdizzle he dropped so many gems in here over the years that helped me decide what path i should take in I.T. . I advise you guys to look back on his posts in here and many others, so many gems.

I assume based on your posts you didn't lab or have an actual copy of Microsoft Sever 2012. I was looking at prices and its pretty expensive. Do you feel you learned enough to be confident at your job without lab time? If you got lab time how did you get it?

The reason I asked is because I was going to buy a book on Amazon today, and the labs in the book used Window server 2012 standard. Which is like 500$ on Amazon. Now if it necessary I would buy it but if thers a cheaper way to gets hands on experience I'd like to do that.