IT career questions

[sfef84]

Hey guys,

I graduated in 08 with a degree in international business but have been thinking about testing the waters in the IT field. I grew up with computers, am the bosses unofficial IT guy but want to get paid for what I already like to do. Did some searches online about the field but wanted to hear/receive advice, caution, the good and bad of the IT field. I am a youngin searching for some old-man wisdom!!!!

[Fishinguy]

General IT work will never pay what you think it will. If you want to make a decent money you have to specialize. The top choices would be database administration , Oracle, SAP , SQL. You can stay to the networking side if you want to do Cisco CCIE is the only way to go.

Preferably I would stick to Database admin, ORacle is a great choice for that it will provide opportunity in Engineering or Health care companies. Oracle and SQL is the backbone for the design softwares that most engineering companies are running.

However if you are more interested in routing protocol and network configuration stay on the WAN side and get CCIE certified.You might also want to consider Citrix if this is the route that you are interested in.

[sfef84]

I know that a lot of IT is outsourced to other countries. What path/specialization is least susceptible to outsourcing?

[Robalo]

Why not use your IB degree, start up an IT Outsource Biz in India or China and retire in 10 years!!!

IB should be hot-especially since Obama bankrolled our dang economy through China. I see the US economy as similar to big oil companies view of shallow water O.C.S.-picked over and not much left.

[PasadenaMan]

Outsourcing is whats happening. Most places pay between 10 -15 bucks an hour for over the phone support and are contract position. Unless your on the network or database side you can get a higher wage. Or unless your blessed to find a good paying gig. There are plenty of People with a Bacholors with a job paying between 10-20 an hour.

Outsourcing IT can cost as little as $200 people month per tech..... Go figure.
Just query monster and see what they are offering for and where you see the most $$ see if thats something you like, if it is hit the books.

[bigbarry2u]

I would suggest trying to interview with the IT departments of the big oil companies in Houston. They are multi-national and might see your IT expertise and your business degree as appealing to them.

Also, there are plenty of IT services companies that hire entry-level professionals for technology consulting work. IBM, HP, Accenture, etc.

The best way is to find someone in one of those companies that is willing to present your resume to the right person, the person who has the ability to hire you. Submitting a resume can work, but it can also be a waste of postage.

Good luck.

[sublimesurf74]

I would parlay your degree with IT knowledge and go into consulting where you can make 100K+. IT is a broad term these days so hard to say where your expertise or desires lay.

[PasadenaMan]

I have a contact for you if your intrested. She landed me a job in IT inthe oil industry.

[sfef84]

Why not use your IB degree, start up an IT Outsource Biz in India or China and retire in 10 years!!!

IB should be hot-especially since Obama bankrolled our dang economy through China. I see the US economy as similar to big oil companies view of shallow water O.C.S.-picked over and not much left.

China's debt bubble is about to burst... No Tank Yoo

[h20noob]

I am in the IT industry and am a Unix Administrator. I agree that you should specialize and I saw someone recommend doing Oracle, which I totally second that. Another big thing is virtualization. A lot of companies are trying to consolidate their IT expenses by virtualizing, so if you can learn VMWare that would be another good avenue. Oracle DBAs can easily make over 100k and if you can find contract work you're talking easily $100-$150/hr. Good luck!

[sfef84]

I would parlay your degree with IT knowledge and go into consulting where you can make 100K+. IT is a broad term these days so hard to say where your expertise or desires lay.

I don't have expertise per-say... no certs. I have heard that certs don't really mean anything (find hard to believe) other than another line on the resume.

Can someone advise me on schooling? I have thought about going to HCC or a similar school but they only offer the "college experience," with required electives and basic math, rhetoric etc. Are there accredited IT schools with a fast track so I can get to workin' asap?

What are the minimum reqs to get your foot in the door?

[Fishinguy]

Certs have a value. People without them say they don't. Also Experience trumps Certs and Degrees. You could start at HCC. If I had it all to do over again I would have stayed with just DB Admin with focus on Oracle or SAP. I am in the IT industry I am a jack of all trades though and would be better off specializing but I am doing ok. I am in school though working on a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

[BayPounder]

You have to have certs or a degree just to get past HR. I have 15 years experience in the IT field from DB Admin, Web, .. the list goes on, I did what was required to get the job done. The company I worked for disolved the department I was in and ....... now I am doing what I did 20 years ago. So in short get the certs, it will open doors.

[sfef84]

DO you advise self-study cert process or school?

[BayPounder]

Alphaware has some fast track training courses that will get you taken care of but they are expensive. (If you need contact information PM me)
I am not sure about self certs, any examples I may want to give them a try myself.
If you are trying to get in application development, I would recommend school, you will need help to get some concepts.
If you are trying to get into networking, PC repair, a cert and the school of hard knocks will get you there.

Keep in mind this is just my opinion. And we know how opinions are everyone's got one.