Please Help With Info in the I.T. Field

[hammer40]

Hello to all,

I have just got laid off from my job after working for a sales company for 22 years.
I was thinking it may be time for something new. I now the IT world is in demand and looks to have some promise to make a decent salary and have some job security.

I am into messing around on the computer and want to learn how to make mine function better
and be able to understand why error messages may come up or how to repair it if something goes wrong.

I am looking at going to a tech school to get certified with A+, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, CCNA and thinking of going into security.I am just wondering if this is really a field to get into. I do not know much about what it takes to be network systems engineer, I.T. Security Professional, or a Computer Analyst. I have a family to support. I have also thought about the medical field.

Can I get some feedback on what I am getting myself into. The positives and negatives of this industry. Any thoughts on the Medical field compared to the I.T. field.

I would greatly appreciate it. I am so confused.

To let you know my back ground. I was a sales manager for 22 years for a telemarketing company and worked with parolees and dealt with all the negatives of my job industry. I stayed because the money was great it has dropped due to the economy and I set my own work hours. I had a staff below who I trained to run my office while I was out so I had alot of free time.I am a go getter. I was the number 1 office, I was shut down due to greed in the company knowing I could be cut out and the company could hire someone younger and pay him peanuts to do the job.

I hope all this made sense.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

Chris

[Ancient Dragon]

You have my sympathies on your job loss. A lot of companies are screwing over their older works for the very reasons you suggest. And the IT field is not immune. I've heard a lot of horror stories about age discrimination in the IT industry. Anyone over about 25 is a hasbin for many companies.

You will find yourself at a very very big disadvantage if you do not have a college degree in IT field. For entry level position certifications are not very important -- many companies don't even look at them.

The most important thing you can do is get that bachelor's degree in IT. If you already have a bachelors in some other field then go back to school and get another one in IT. And at your age you might even want to get an MBA.

[ithelp]

I guess going for an MBA would be a better option, IT job also sucks big time, I have seen many IT people from US to stay online for 14-16 hours per day :( .

[Guerino1]

I guess going for an MBA would be a better option, IT job also sucks big time, I have seen many IT people from US to stay online for 14-16 hours per day :( .

Hi,

Let me say that nothing "sucks" if you love what you do and that if you're not passionate about what you do, it will show in your work, effecting your overall value to any employer. Also, if you're passionate about what you're doing, 14 - 16 hours does not seem like a great deal of time because it won't feel like work to you.

A mentor always told me: "Do what you love and love what you do. The money will follow." I personally found this to be very true, for me.

My Best,

Frank

[Guerino1]

Hello to all,

I have just got laid off from my job after working for a sales company for 22 years.
I was thinking it may be time for something new. I now the IT world is in demand and looks to have some promise to make a decent salary and have some job security.

I am into messing around on the computer and want to learn how to make mine function better
and be able to understand why error messages may come up or how to repair it if something goes wrong.

I am looking at going to a tech school to get certified with A+, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, CCNA and thinking of going into security.I am just wondering if this is really a field to get into. I do not know much about what it takes to be network systems engineer, I.T. Security Professional, or a Computer Analyst. I have a family to support. I have also thought about the medical field.

Can I get some feedback on what I am getting myself into. The positives and negatives of this industry. Any thoughts on the Medical field compared to the I.T. field.

I would greatly appreciate it. I am so confused.

To let you know my back ground. I was a sales manager for 22 years for a telemarketing company and worked with parolees and dealt with all the negatives of my job industry. I stayed because the money was great it has dropped due to the economy and I set my own work hours. I had a staff below who I trained to run my office while I was out so I had alot of free time.I am a go getter. I was the number 1 office, I was shut down due to greed in the company knowing I could be cut out and the company could hire someone younger and pay him peanuts to do the job.

I hope all this made sense.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

Chris

Hello Chris,

I'm very sorry about your situation. I'm sure that getting laid off after so many years is difficult to deal with, for many reasons.

While never impossible, getting into IT is not so easy, if your goal is to get into mid-to-large scale enterprises. AI don't know where you're situated but, aside from accredited 4 year degree programs, schools like DeVry are good ways to get value out of shorter education cycles. They teach solid concepts and help get you in the door, assuming you're a hard worker and do well in their program. Once done, you can try to get into the industry as a technician. However, I would recommend that if you truly want to be good at what you do, you never stop studying and learning. Further your degree and further your knowledge.

I will say that IT is VERY different from sales, however, if your communications skills are good, one very lucrative area is to try and become a pre-sales support engineer. Given that it's in sales, it's always closer to the money so, even though you may not be the sales person, compensation is often structured to give bonuses based on the sales team's performance. Given your sales background and assumed people skills that come with a successful sales background, you already have some of the qualifications (a background in sales) and may want to explore such a career path.

I hope this helps you in your journey.

My Best,

Frank

[Ancient Dragon]

>>Also, if you're passionate about what you're doing, 14 - 16 hours does not seem like a great deal of time

I don't care how pasionate you are, those kinds of working hours will eventually take the toll on you, your family, and your health. You will have a very short marrige if you spend all your time sitting in front of a computer.

>> would recommend that if you truly want to be good at what you do, you never stop studying and learning
That is very very true. IT industry is constantly changing and you need to change with it or you will become obsolete very quickly. This is not one of those fields where you can say "I know all there is to know about it".

[iLoveNoodle]

I guess going for an MBA would be a better option, IT job also sucks big time, I have seen many IT people from US to stay online for 14-16 hours per day :( .

i don't think that's true for jobs like programming, maybe you spend total of 16 hour getting something done on a special day, but most of the time you probably spend on learning new things, and these new things will help you out the next day where you work for only 2 hours.

a good programmer is a lazy programmer, anything that you write you never write it again

[vaibhav1983]

Hi Chris,

I am not a very big fan of getting employed for someone. Your employer fired you after 22 years of loyalty. I don't say that doing a job is not good but I still feel that you should try starting something on your own.

You have a work experience of 22 years and I guess you must have the courage to face the world. I only have worked 2 years in the IT industry but feel that I need to start setting up something of my own. There is nothing in this world that is irreplaceable.

I'll give you an idea, instead of joining the IT company why don't you try starting a Computer's peripheral business. The Computer peripherals business gives u a lot of margin on products.

In 22 years you must have made a few contacts here and there. Try getting a deal with some IT company and you'll be in business.

I understand its difficult for you to bear the expenses of your family being out of job, but imagine if the same thing happens to u again in the 2nd job???