Career change advice... (how much, employment, transfer to)

[indy_317]

I've posted this to a few forums now, figured I'd try here since I live in the metro area and my drive would be limited to the central Indiana area. As I've alluded to in other post, I'm in the process of trying to change careers. My current degree, public safety and banking/investments employment background really doesn't transfer to anything worth much. I heard one local bank is paying tellers $15/hour, which is something if I can't find anything.

Originally I was looking at computer programming (Java, C+, etc.) thinking about app development as that is what many of my friends and relatives did years ago. After my first programming class through a college, I'm not really sure if I see myself in that field. I'm a hands-on person, like to get up and move. In the IT field, networking and/or help desk likely would be more my speed. I'd love to set up servers, program them as needed, run wire, etc.. I'd also be interested in the security side of things. Something that isn't just sitting for hours on end writing code day after day. Help Desk folks at my current employer are running all over, taking computers in, setting up new ones, etc.. Pay for help desk is low, but might be OK for me. My current college doesn't offer any real training outside of four years degrees. Ivy Tech though has some great two year degree programs that include industry certifications (CompTIA, Cisco, Microsoft). I've been told those would be good to get a foot in the door vs a university certificate with no industry certs attached. Has anyone ever went through any of the Ivy Tech programs? Opinions on the help desk/network-security side of IT?

If the IT field isn't for me, I'm basically considering the manufacturing sector. There are a lot of factories in my area that start out in the mid-teens. I'd rather get into more of a skilled trade. Working on the electronics, repairing/maintaining the machines, etc.. Electrician and HVAC type work also seems interesting to me. Ivy Tech has some programs for these fields. Does anyone know about jobs in some of the area factories? I have relatives at Honda. That would be a drive for me, but I'm open to it if it makes sense. Some of the other factory places near me are Nestle, NTK, Precision Strip, IAFI, Keihin, Tsuda, Knauf, along with some other smaller firms.

The main issue isn't money. I'm staying at my present job for at least two to three years, mostly to bank money and take care of some costly stuff for the house. Once I get a certain level of savings, so long as I could make $40Kish/year, that would allow me to pay my bills. I'm actually more focused on vacation time off, retirement benefits, work schedule, and healthcare more so than the money.

Any suggestions or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

[Serious Conversation]

I have some colleagues who started as help desk type people at IUPUI and moved on from there. The benefits were supposedly excellent, but the pay was in $40k-$45k range.

Running ethernet wire and other parts of the "physical" end of network setup is often more physical labor than IT knowledge. You have to have cabling knowledge - it takes skill and there are certifications about learning how to terminate fiber optic cable. My uncle owns a structured cabling business, but not in Indiana. I did that work for several summers in college. A lot of work like that will be done on construction sites or buildings under remodeling. You'll likely be working for small cabling outfits, not large employers.

Indiana Network Cabling & Wiring | Voice, Phone & Data Communications

I would not do help desk. You are mixing up help desk, which is actually call center phone support, with desktop support, which are the guys that are physically setting up machines.

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

I have some colleagues who started as help desk type people at IUPUI and moved on from there. The benefits were supposedly excellent, but the pay was in $40k-$45k range.

Running ethernet wire and other parts of the "physical" end of network setup is often more physical labor than IT knowledge. You have to have cabling knowledge - it takes skill and there are certifications about learning how to terminate fiber optic cable. My uncle owns a structured cabling business, but not in Indiana. I did that work for several summers in college. A lot of work like that will be done on construction sites or buildings under remodeling. You'll likely be working for small cabling outfits, not large employers.

Indiana Network Cabling & Wiring | Voice, Phone & Data Communications

I would not do help desk. You are mixing up help desk, which is actually call center phone support, with desktop support, which are the guys that are physically setting up machines.

Thanks for the info. I want to do desktop support, but many companies (small and large) call it IT help desk or something along those lines. It seemed common that descriptions included both phone support and physical support (MS Windows settings, configuring wireless networks, etc.). IU has pretty good benefits, so it definitely would be a place worth looking at. Oddly enough, IUPUI doesn't offer any real sort of technical certifications. They have certificates though their science and engineering schools, but they aren't the same as what Ivy Tech offers where you get a two year degree (or certificate) plus various industry known third party certifications.

[ischyros]

Check out WGU Indiana as well. They're IT programs earn a ton of certs as you go through the program. Not sure if it's more than Ivy Tech or not but could be worth looking into. Also, I don't think they offer anything less than bachelor's degree. My experience talking with actual hiring managers in IT is that they could care less about the degree. Some really prefer the certifications over a degree. Some think neither of them really matter as long as you know your stuff and can prove it. But often to even get seen by and HR rep first, you do need that degree or at least certifications.

I would highly recommend if you have the time, check our free IT courses at either Coursera or EdX (or both). They offer self-paced, online, free courses provided by large companies like Google, Microsoft, Cisco and universities including Harvard, MIT, Michigan, Cal. You could use that to at least get an idea of what you might like or might not like before you invest money in a more formal education.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by indy_317

Thanks for the info. I want to do desktop support, but many companies (small and large) call it IT help desk or something along those lines. It seemed common that descriptions included both phone support and physical support (MS Windows settings, configuring wireless networks, etc.). IU has pretty good benefits, so it definitely would be a place worth looking at. Oddly enough, IUPUI doesn't offer any real sort of technical certifications. They have certificates though their science and engineering schools, but they aren't the same as what Ivy Tech offers where you get a two year degree (or certificate) plus various industry known third party certifications.

The line between where help desk ends and where desktop support begins can be blurry. In some small companies, the same people may do both. At a big company like Eli Lilly, a college, Salesforce, a hospital system, etc., it's likely to be much more formally divided.

[MortonR]

You've mentioned two divergent disciplines.

Help desk or desktop support covers a very, very broad range of responsibilities, pretty much defined by the person or company with a particular need. In small companies that could mean a lot of different responsibilities, which can be a good thing because you gain a wide range of experience which allows you to focus on what you really like to do.

In a larger company or call center environment, you're going to be doing a particular set of operations or functions. You won't have the range of experience that you might in a smaller company.

Certifications are good here, the best to start out with is CompTIA's A+. Most desktop support and (technical) help desk positions will require it. From that you'll have to focus on a particular area, such as servers or networking. Avoid the Microsoft certs, as they're stupid expensive and so granular they're worthless.

Now, the other area you mentioned, security, better known as cybersecurity these days, is really the place to be if you want to progress and make a good living. Cybersecurity professionals are in high demand these days and will continue to be for years to come. This is a really, really broad term, as you can focus in one of easily 6-10 different functional areas. It's also a good thing to build on top of a desktop support sort of job, as you can use that experience to guide you into the area where you might want to practice.

You need good foundational knowledge to do anything in CS. While you might focus on Red Team or Blue Team sort of work, for example, you'll need to know a little about a lot to be successful.

Certifications are king here, so try to find an employer who will help you get them. They're darned expensive, but the payback is significant. My SANs certs cost upwards of $6,000 EACH - it's $1,000 to sit for the test alone. Fortunately, my employer has paid for my certifications.

CISSP is the first one you should get. It's known as a 10,000 foot view of a lake that's one inch deep. That is, it covers just about everything there is in the way of cybersecurity, but nothing in any depth. Having a CISSP will qualify you for a lot of entry level CS jobs and lack of it will keep you from being considered. Unfortunately, there's been a lot of marketing done by the CISSP folks to get it where it is today, but in reality, I know a lot of people in the business with nothing more than a CISSP that couldn't find their way out of a paper sack professionally.

Drop me a PM if you have specific questions. I've been in cybersecurity for a number of years and hold a number of SANS and CompTIA certifications. It's a great field to be in and very rewarding and challenging.

Good luck!

RM

[indy_317]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to go to Ivy Tech and speak to someone about their various programs. Right now I'm pretty lost with my programming class. I know what I need to do, but I struggle to find out what exactly to type. When I think about in-depth programs and how much code it must have taken to get that up and running, my head starts to spin. Ivy Tech has a program where part of obtaining CompTIA A+ is part of it. And they provide a paid 8-week internship as well.

[Zig'sbird]

Ivy Tech is a good starting point for security. Once you are comfortable though I would transfer over to IUPUI and finishing your degree there. There is so much more to IT than coding.

[MortonR]

I need to clarify something that I've forgotten about in the past....

The CISSP certification has a requirement of at least three years of documented work experience in the discipline. So it's not something you can get before you've done some time, so to speak.

Sorry for any confusion.

RM (no CISSP, CISP instead)

[indy_317]

Yesterday pretty much confirmed my desire to not get into coding. Spent hours at the lab. Didn't even get the program to fully work until this morning. There is so much to learn and the certificate just don't really promise much, I'm dropping the classes I had scheduled for the coming semesters. I also went to IvyTech and have an appoint with an advisor in a few weeks. Ivy Tech's IT programs have industry certifications built-in, which just sounds better if I go that route.

That being said, I really am considering something more in the trades. Ivy Tech actually encourages people to declare certifications first and then going for their two year degree. They say that certifications in CNC, welding, and similar disciplines will help with ones employment.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.