IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[Deflatedhoopdreams]

what gig or job title are you hoping to land in the future with Python?

Not sure yet, to be real with you.

 

[tonyclifton]

Python is the language I have been learning all year. I’m in love with it. Mastering that to go on top of my computer science degree I’ll have in a year and a half. I do some Python learning everyday and still feel like a beginner but it’s coming along nicely.

no idea what I’m getting into but I’m Hella motivated let’s get this money son

 

[Genome]

This is what I recommend. I got my A+ certification because everyone said it was the best to start with which it was but if you know about computers already I would go browse some A+ stuff and go straight to CCNA

Thanks I'm going to look into that. What certificates from a community college? They got some IT certs at the school I went to. The classes look like stuff i will definitely need to know like Microsoft office, and cyber security and stuff Like that. And they're like 2 semesters for like 16 credits.

 

[Deflatedhoopdreams]

Thanks I'm going to look into that. What certificates from a community college? They got some IT certs at the school I went to. The classes look like stuff i will definitely need to know like Microsoft office, and cyber security and stuff Like that. And they're like 2 semesters for like 16 credits.

There are some community college that have Networking classes based off the CCNA exam and just get you ready for the exam. Look at the class description for the networking class. It would only be worth it if they do ALOT of hands on stuff to get a real life feel. If not just buy the book and learn it yourself by using online stuff.

 

[xXMASHERXx]

Thanks I'm going to look into that. What certificates from a community college? They got some IT certs at the school I went to. The classes look like stuff i will definitely need to know like Microsoft office, and cyber security and stuff Like that. And they're like 2 semesters for like 16 credits.

The first thing I ask people when they ask for advice is what is your background? How much experience do you have with computers? Do you have a degree?

 

[colicolicoli]

First day at my new job as a Desktop Support Tech and they lay a bomb on me that really all I’m going to be working on building the knowledge base from 80% of the time.



I’m thinking they might have a good size knowledge base I can build on...nope just a few small OneNote docs that have been hastily made by different people over the years.

What the fukk? I’m building a KB from scratch for a company I just joined. A company that has lots of proprietary applications.

I spent all day just coming up with a good template.



Pay was great for the job title, but IDK about this. The people are cool... the CIO had an autographed Larry Bird jersey and a Bo Jackson one on his office wall.

 

[xXMASHERXx]

First day at my new job as a Desktop Support Tech and they lay a bomb on me that really all I’m going to be working on building the knowledge base from 80% of the time.



I’m thinking they might have a good size knowledge base I can build on...nope just a few small OneNote docs that have been hastily made by different people over the years.

What the fukk? I’m building a KB from scratch for a company I just joined. A company that has lots of proprietary applications.

I spent all day just coming up with a good template.



Pay was great for the job title, but IDK about this. The people are cool... the CIO had an autographed Larry Bird jersey and a Bo Jackson one on his office wall.

Lol welcome to IT. The company I work for has a KB that was last updated 8 years ago when I last added to it. Everyone just documents things in random word docs that they share via email every so often

 

[GollyImGully]

First day at my new job as a Desktop Support Tech and they lay a bomb on me that really all I’m going to be working on building the knowledge base from 80% of the time.



I’m thinking they might have a good size knowledge base I can build on...nope just a few small OneNote docs that have been hastily made by different people over the years.

What the fukk? I’m building a KB from scratch for a company I just joined. A company that has lots of proprietary applications.

I spent all day just coming up with a good template.



Pay was great for the job title, but IDK about this. The people are cool... the CIO had an autographed Larry Bird jersey and a Bo Jackson one on his office wall.

Grade A fukkery and you know they dead serious about you mostly just doing that too

 

[JT-Money]

I lost count how many companies hired me to do some menial task nobody else on staff wanted to do. But I never did it for very long. I would always figure out some kind of workaround or cheat. While the person before me would spend hours on these menial tasks. They we're usually excited someone new would be getting dumped on instead of them.

One time this contract company hired me to document all our tickets in a spreadsheet. All because they we're too lazy to learn how to extract that data from the Remedy ticketing system. I updated the spreadsheet everyday but learned how to do Remedy queries on the side. They thought I was still spending every minute updating this huge spreadsheet. When I would spend a fraction of the time just creating queries instead to get metrics. I would use the rest of the day to good off or look for another job. I think they went back to manually updating a spreadsheet for every ticket update after I left. Apparently a guy came up with this stupid strategy because all he knew was Excel. And since he was tight with the Boss nobody could question him regardless of how stupid this was to do.

 

[L&HH]

Anybody got the new A+ tests? I’m tryna get this raise and I ain’t tryna spend all month really learning it. Just want to memorize the answers and move on lol. I heard you could do that with the previous exams.

 

[L&HH]

When it comes to IT many people think its a good field for the introverted. Its really not YOU ARE going to be interacting with stakeholders a lot. It makes life much easier if your friendly and easy to get along with. SOFT skills are a must in IT. CS caters more to the introverted than IT does.

My coworker was let go for this very reason. He knew his stuff but had a weird attitude and wasn't approachable, or social at all. No one is saying be best friends with anybody but you will have to interact with people more than you think.

Yeah gone are the days you can be the antisocial nikka that don’t wanna be bothered. There’s too many people in the field now for jobs to have to put up with someone who’s a grump. Many of the positions now are requiring customer service and are putting a strong emphasis on it.

Thanks brehs for the advice. Much appreciated. Currently at 80 now. We'll see in a couple of months. I have the 3 aws exams sprinkled between jan and feb. I guess ill have a feel of the demand when i post the certs on my linkedin. Will examine what recruiters are pitching.

cloud demand is high as fukk right now. If you really get all 3 of those certs, really just need the solutions arch you’ll have recruiters and companies blowing up your phone non stop every day. My bro got his a Azure cert a few months ago and We work together now. Dude be picking up their calls at work and yells at them to stop calling and to email him lmao. One recruiter was begging him to call his boss because his boss would yell at him if he didn’t. Crying in his texts and all He gets a lot of interviews but he was over reaching on the jobs he was applying for. nikka was applying for Devops jobs for $150k. He would even bark at them if they were offering $55 a hour that he wanted no less than $65 a hr, 1099, full remote

 

[L&HH]

Some additional things when dealing with recruiters:

- Never directly answer the question "What salary/rate you're looking for" (it's actually illegal to ask here in NY). Always reply with "market rate" or my favorite: "How much is the client allocating for this position?".

They will try to lowball you and take a bigger cut of your wages than they already do. Robert Half is notorious for this.

-Do not provide them with references prior to an interview or offer of employment.
If they are pressing your for references before they've submitted you for a position or before you have confirmed an interview, the chances are they will call them to pitch one of their services and have no intentions of finding you work.

-Don't play the meet and greet game.
When they call you and ask you to come to the office to discuss your resume, opportunities and meet with their account managers, they are wasting your time. Instead, suggest that you do a video conference. If they actually have something for and are not looking to appear like they're being productive by parading leads through the office, they will adjust to your terms since they want that commission.

-Don't let them fish. Talk specifics during the initial contact.
This is related to the previous point. In my experience, when a recruiter has an opportunity for you they will mention it specifically during the first call. They are looking to fill the role as soon as possible and won't mess around. When they say things like "I have a few things I'm working on that you may be a fit for" or "Do you have time to chat more about your background" that's code for they don't have anything for you and need to look busy for their boss. Don't be afraid to ask, "Can you share more about the opportunity you had in mind for me?" If they balk, end the call because they are wasting your time.

Good looking. I actually have a call with Robert Half I’m friday lol

 

[Splash]

First day at my new job as a Desktop Support Tech and they lay a bomb on me that really all I’m going to be working on building the knowledge base from 80% of the time.



I’m thinking they might have a good size knowledge base I can build on...nope just a few small OneNote docs that have been hastily made by different people over the years.

What the fukk? I’m building a KB from scratch for a company I just joined. A company that has lots of proprietary applications.

I spent all day just coming up with a good template.



Pay was great for the job title, but IDK about this. The people are cool... the CIO had an autographed Larry Bird jersey and a Bo Jackson one on his office wall.

My last role I wrote like to KB articles, on my resume i basically built the whole shyt
You can spin this shyt into a positive, shows you can handle responsibilities too.

 

[Secure Da Bag]

I LOVE the coding stuff more. When I develop a script and it works. The feeling of accomplishment is amazing. It also lets me use my creativity. You are set with a task and when you code there are so many ways to complete the task.

And I’ve read multiple python ebooks this year. It’s for my future work but I also enjoy learning it. Not going to lie. The first few months of learning it was rough but it clicks more and more everyday now. Even when I’m reading about the same subject in Python, I learn a few way of doing something. It’s endless.

no idea what I’m getting into but I’m Hella motivated let’s get this money son

Website I ran across that helps with programming learning

Coding Games and Programming Challenges to Code Better

 

[tonyclifton]

Website I ran across that helps with programming learning


Coding Games and Programming Challenges to Code Better

Rep