What area of IT should I focus on? (Atlanta: tech jobs, school)

[dark_knight08]

I have a Bachelors degree in Computer Information Systems, and I am currently working as a Desktop Support Specialist for a small company. My goal is to get a couple of certs, and move up the IT ladder. One day, I hope to work in the IT department for a large company in downtown Atlanta. My college internship dealt with the business side of IT. Although it was a great experience, I found myself losing interest at times. I have a stonger interest in subjects such as (Troubleshooting, Networking, Security, Cloud Computing etc.)

How are the salary projections in IT Operations, compared to the business side of IT?

[rcsteiner]

The term "IT" covers so many bases that it's hard to generalize, but I don't see tech jobs going away.

In the almost 28 years I've been doing this, I've seen salaries tend to go up, but I also work in the airline industry where you tend to see a lot more senior people than you'll see in many shops, and we have a very complex application mix (and write our own apps and services for external customers) so we're also a development shop.

A lot depends on what you want to focus on, and on how broad (and hence resilient) your knowledge base and technical+LOB skillset is.

[Atlanta Scientist]

I'm in the same quandary as the OP. I was thinking healthcare IT but I think I will focus on a mix of information security and database management.

[abalashov]

Originally Posted by dark_knight08

I have a stonger interest in subjects such as (Troubleshooting, Networking, Security, Cloud Computing etc.)

Those are rather abstract interests. The answer for you is probably going to be on an applied level:

What do you enjoy doing in IT? What can you get lost in? What doesn't feel like work?

(Whatever your answer, any job involving it is going to sour it to some extent, because 90% of anything is tedious drudgery, no matter what it is. But that's 10% reward, whereas something you hate or find boring is 99.9% drudgery.)

[flamadiddle]

^ Great advice.


Do what you're interested in and you will make plenty of money in due time...

[darkskinman740]

So I'm going to take a stab at answering this.....I have 16 yrs of IT of experience and started on a helpdesk. I studied Computer Programming in Tech school only to discover that it wasn't my strongsuit. PC Support was great for me because I like working with people and I liked PC's. I also like working with systems, things I can put my hands on and I like using the GUI(versus black screens all day). My mind works better knowing I can see what I'm doing. This led into Server Support, Network Administration and now Systems Engineering. I say that to say this. When you went to school you probably touched on different areas of IT. Each one has a different path. You have to figure out which one your brain and emotions works better with and which one you feel at ease doing. Let me lay out some pathways....

PC\Server Guy(Servers, Virtualization)
PC Support - Server Admin\Data Center Technician - Server Engineer\System Engineer(virtualization)- Senior Systems Engineer - System Architect - Consultant

Network Guy(routing, switching, firewalls)
Network Operations Center Tech(Noc) - Network Admin(Cisco\Juniper) - Network Engineer - Senior Network Engineer - Network Architect - Consultant

Application Support Guy
Tech\Software Support - Application Support - Application Specialist - Consultant

Backup\Storage Guy
PC Support - Server Admin - Backup Admin\Storage Admin - Backup\Storage Architect - Consultant

Developer
Junior Developer - Developer - Software Engineer - Software Architect - Consultant

Unix Guy
Unix Support - Unix Admin- Senior Unix Admin\Engineer -Systems Architect - Consultant

Security Guy
Support - Security Remediation(Patching) - Security Analyst(Scanning Advising of what Patches are needed where) - Security Engineer - Security Specialist(CISSP) - Consultant

Database Guy
Support - Junior DBA - DBA - Senior DBA - Database Architect - Consultant

Now there are other areas like Pre-Sales Engineers, Sales, Quality Assurance, Software Testing. Project Management, Business Analyst and Security(which is hot!). Also Management can fall almost anywhere in any of the points above. Just keep in mind that managers tend to lose their technical skills over time.....

If you don't like people and are very, very detailed and like looking at and troubleshooting code all day, then development is for you. Sometimes those same quirky types make great Linux Admins.
Network guys tend to like circuits, electronic components, figuring out how to make buildings talk to each other, figuring out how to block connectivity, reroute connectivity, etc etc.

Server guys like putting their hands on systems, installing software to make an application go, loading Operating systems, designing and evaluating equipment, quickly fixing things and troubleshooting hardware and software. To me, server guys have to know the most but don't always get paid like it. You have to become well rounded in almost all things IT and server related, such as email, web servers, virtualization, some networking, some backups, some storage, some security, some helpdesk and some databases. Your area touches all aspects of IT. The only thing you really don't have to know is coding, but even that is starting to change now that automation(puppet, chef, AWS) is coming into play.

This is not the end all be all but I think it's pretty resourceful.

Lastly one piece of advice that someone told me: You are only as good as the IT shop you work in. That means that if you work in a shop that doesn't invest in new equipment, new technology and new skills, and doesn't let you grow, you will fall behind and become unemployable. Try to work in a place that allows you to grow and learn new skills. Tries to be on the slight edge of new technology, and invest into the IT department. The more skills, the better your resume. Lastly try not to get too siloed into 1 thing in particular. It makes it to where you can only be employed by companies that encourage siloing which are normally large large organizations.

From a salary perspective in each path you pretty much say that you should be around a minimum of 60K before you hit the engineer level. Engineers can range from 60K to 130K at the senior level high top end. Software Engineers command much higher salaries because developers and programmers are in high demand. Network Engineers are also in high demand and command higher salaries.

Hope this helps.

[gsubsu]

The network support/helpdesk person in our organization is one of the lowest paid positions there is, with little room for higher pay. Learn to code/architect for good money - Sitecore is hot.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by darkskinman740

So I'm going to take a stab at answering this.....

*snipped for brevity*

Hope this helps.

I just wanted to say ... very good post.

[darkskinman740]

Thanks, I just wanted the OP to have a realistic view of IT and be able to take the information and pick good path for themselves.