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Hey goons, I need some cold hard reality here. I'm a NEET struggling to find my niche in the world, and the idea of IT really, really appeals to me. I'm currently a pharmacy tech with some small amount of career growth, so I have some time, but I just have gently caress-all idea where to start on my goal of being in IT My math skills are basically at a precalculus level, and I don't have the best understanding of code, but dammit I want to learn. I have some pretty decent knowledge of computers, but not nearly as much as people think I do Essentially, what is my first step? I have 3 years sunk into a History/Politics/Social Work degree that I realized is not for me, so I don't feel ready for more bachelor level college, but I feel like I need some babysteps here. Should I be taking classes at my local community college? Should I be forcing myself through some Python? Is there any way to combine this with my pharmacy experience? Sorry for the wall of text, but I've been very much inspired recently.
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Nov 29, 2015 02:26
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Volmarias posted:That's kind of a big question. That's sort of like saying "I'd like to do something with cars, should I start with mechanical design or with mufflers or what?" Do you want to be a driver? A mechanic? A salesperson? An engineer? I like the idea of being a network admin in some capacity, yeah. But, I don't have any experience, helpdesk or otherwise. And I guess I'm not exactly a NEET, just a goony goon stuck at his parents for now who really wants to get a career going already. edit: I guess I mostly want something that is entry level, can lead to what I want, and won't give me more student loan debt. Which I suppose the answer is helpdesk, but even that I'm not sure what is required. Famethrowa fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Nov 29, 2015 |
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Nov 29, 2015 02:38
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flosofl posted:Yeah, I don't know what that is or why it's significant either. "Not in Education, Employment, or Training" Which isn't accurate, but refers more to me being frustrated at spinning my wheels in search of a career, and what I am doing now (social work) I am realizing is not for me.
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Nov 29, 2015 02:45
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FRINGE posted:If you have one year to go get that paper. Even if my BA is a filthy lib arts degree? Honestly at this point, I've realized traditional college just ain't working for me and I'm afraid to sink further in debt. I know getting a job based on "initiative" is fantasy, but if I got certified and took CC credits towards that goal, would that help? edit: I'm also closer to two years away from it, and have been starting and stopping for years now.
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Nov 29, 2015 16:25
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Sirotan posted:Based on studies I've read, you're looking at a potential yearly income gap of $17,500 for someone aged 25-32 today working with a college degree vs only having a high school diploma. The cost of a college education is certainly prohibitive for a lot of people and taking on loans can be a serious hardship, but the amount of lifetime earning potential that you'd miss out on by not finishing your degree is still going to outweigh the short term time and money savings you'd see by never graduating. Now of course this is just the average, your situation might be different. Not the answer I was hoping for, but a good one nonetheless. I'll have to talk to an advisor and see what can get me through school the fastest possible. Obviously no one here knows my situation, but, would it be worthwhile in the slightest to switch to CS in terms of knowledge gain? In general I'm not sure of the requirements, want to get out of school asap, and my math skills are pretty weak. Famethrowa fucked around with this message at 17:48 on Nov 29, 2015 |
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Nov 29, 2015 17:46
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Volmarias posted:Ask what's required for CS in your university. It's important to note that CS can be an academia track rather than an industry track in many places, and its probably not what you're looking for based on your goals. See if there's an MS/IS program. Yeah I'll talk to an advisor at the community college I'm doing a holding pattern at. It's just such a thorny question to work through. I've already got 46 hours of college credit towards two different but related majors, want to be done quickly and cheaply, but also want to do something applicable.  For now though, I think I'll look into the A+ certification. I appreciate the advice goons.
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Nov 29, 2015 17:59
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keseph posted:Finishing a degree that you've realized isn't terribly interesting where the rubber meets the road demonstrates the ability to follow through on projects even when they aren't personally exciting, and there will be a ton of necessary-but-boring projects to deal with in the work force. The key is to use it as a talking point on what positives you got out of the experience. That's some primo hr bullshit talk yet I fully recognize how accurate that is  I love history, so maybe I'll polish off a history degree at a local adult learner 4 year university (read: D list state school). Just somehow feels like an even bigger waste of money. I dunno. I could stick to my current plan and get my social work bachelors, which I do enjoy, but that is 3 more years of associates and bachelor work. All I know is that anything I do IT wise can be done with independent study. I know a few people who are in the field so I'll get their opinion too. FRINGE posted:The people that have been going to school "off and on" for years will all be over the age where they check parental-anything though. That's my problem with loans, I'm a sad brains whose been doing this school poo poo for too long Famethrowa fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Nov 29, 2015 |
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Nov 29, 2015 20:46
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Dick Trauma posted:Hi please don't get a history degree. How would getting social work (my current path) be better?
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Nov 29, 2015 21:35
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Bob Morales posted:Do you live somewhere that has 'coding bootcamps'? Oh yeah. My dilemma is the foot in the door situation. Do I finish an ultimately useless degree (as social work tends to be without a masters degree) that according to some accounts might hurt my chances and others say it will help or so I say gently caress it, let 46 hours and thousands of dollars go to waste, get A+ certified, do some coding bootcamp, and see where I can go from there. I haven't even started and I feel paralyzed  I better just talk to a counseler and my contacts in the field.
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Nov 30, 2015 01:17
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Tab8715 posted:If you've already started your degree, unless there's some exigent circumstance like your girlfriend is unexpectedly pregnant and cruising through college in a typically low paying field then you might want to change things up. My problem is I'm getting old. I've a forever student right now, I've been in college for 6 years with 3 years to show for it. I don't want to keep forcing my parents to fund something that I haven't been able to make happen, and soon I will need my own health insurance. Not to be all  but I'm trying to be realistic and need to start my independent career sooner rather then later.I realize I probably sound obstinate and set in my ways, but I'm serious in taking all this advice in. I have a lot of decisions to make and my mind is not quite set. I'll stop monopolizing the thread for now. I seriously appreciate the reams of advice, I just need to get my rear end in gear in one direction or another.
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Nov 30, 2015 01:34
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mewse posted:As a person who took 13 years to get a 3 year degree, I completely understand where you're coming from BUT if you are 3 years into a 4 year degree then you should buckle down and get it finished. For me a couple things that helped were that a full course load didn't work for me, and that simply attending every class made things immeasurably easier. Hardest thing for me was lying that everything was fine when I was failing things really badly. Holy poo poo that is me. Honestly makes me feel way better. Hopefully knowing that makes it better. gently caress sadbrains
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Nov 30, 2015 01:51
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Dick Trauma posted:How old are you? 24. Yes, I know that's young, but I feel a burning need to get out from parental dependence. Maybe that's my own personal issue, but I can't handle being a goony goon in their parents basement. edit: gently caress, maybe I should be in e/n the way this topic is heading heh.
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Nov 30, 2015 02:45
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Vulture Culture posted:If I see someone has an interest in the humanities beyond whatever they think will help them identify a product-market fit, I can be reasonably assured they aren't a Soylent-drinker. Very noble, but I don't know how I would answer someone asking why I jumped from Russian History to Social Work to IT. On that note, a awesome goon gave me some resources to start learning about networks, I made a appointment with my school, and started doing the ground work in homebuilding a raspberry pi wireless media server. Just need to keep momentum going. Now to find job postings for a help desk deal. What is the best keyword to search monster? There are so many drat job titles that I can't find anything easily.
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Dec 1, 2015 03:32
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Reiz posted:
I probably will finish something, it just feels weird staying the course with a degree that is even more useless then a history degree, if you don't get a masters. As for help desk, isn't that just where everyone starts? I'd like to get certified and aim a bit higher but from the sounds of things it is very much a experience issues.
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Dec 1, 2015 08:12
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CLAM DOWN posted:Not always, depends on a number of factors. I skipped help desk and started at sysadmin. Did you luck into it, have some sweet, sweet nepotism, or did you overachieve on certs?
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Dec 1, 2015 08:17
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CLAM DOWN posted:It was a combo of networking/connections, eduction, ability, and the right timing when they needed someone with my skills. Years later now and I've moved up multiple times and couldn't be happier. What was your path of education? Self-learnt or traditional education?
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Dec 1, 2015 08:48
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mayodreams posted:Degree chat: it is not a requirement for me because there are clearly very talented people who did not have that opportunity. However, any degree from a reputable institution is noticed just as the for profit schools are. IMO, cert'd up Devry grads in the Chicagoland area have been some of the worst candidates I've interviewed because they had little to no ability to troubleshoot issues effectively, which is the biggest skill I am looking for in an interview. 
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Dec 1, 2015 19:28
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mayodreams posted:I've met a few people who went to Northeastern, but they were not in technology, but otherwise very nice people! Good to know. I'm worried about getting a BA from them and then finding out it's on the level for-profit college trash like devry. related, some school finding assistance website I signed up for called me to try and find a good match. When I told them I don't want a trashy for profit college he went silent for a bit and proceeded to apologize because his zip code filter didn't pull up anything not Devry or ITTech.
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Dec 1, 2015 23:21
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flosofl posted:I drive from Glen Ellyn to Lincolnshire when I go into the office. Since we're allowed to set our own hours (within reason), I basically do 6:30 to 2:30 to avoid rush hour in both directions. I'm on 355/290 from about 5:45 AM to 6:15AM in and 2:40PM to 3:10PM back on those days. No real delays at that time. But leave 15 to 20mins later I can add at least 30 mins on my commute in either direction. Any late day meetings I'll just take from home (and leave a little early to compensate). I think I almost applied to a help desk position at your office, at least I think so because I didn't think there was much in Lincolnshire other then lovely rich assholes. Is this true, and am I too green for it? I didn't see much detail on monster. edit: probably not, but company started with a M Famethrowa fucked around with this message at 20:36 on Dec 2, 2015 |
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Dec 2, 2015 20:15
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flosofl posted:Nope not mine. There's a couple of decent sized office parks in Lincolnshire. The one I'm in easily has more than 15 5+ story buildings. The single tenant buildings are mostly US or Corp HQs. Oooh right forgot about that section by Stevenson. Cool to see people from the neighborhood
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Dec 3, 2015 02:09
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mayodreams posted:The heaviest traffic areas are not toll roads for the most part. The worst toll road is 294 and that is because is the only real way to get from Indiana to Wisconsin without the clusterfuck of downtown. Right now driving down Roselle by the new I90 construction feels like a thrilling feat of survival.
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Dec 4, 2015 16:42
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uhhhhahhhhohahhh posted:Exciting update to this: the boss (this is the head of IT btw) gave his admin account password - that's domain and enterprise admin, literally full access - to a third party that manages some of our servers and they were the ones who made that policy. I don't know if they've used PA firewalls before but they certainly haven't touched mine. To give unfettered internet access to a loving devbox like it was some emergency. They also used that access to create another domain admin account of their own. glad to hear there is job security for security engineers
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Sep 23, 2020 19:18
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does anyone have experience with making a dual home/work workstation? I'd like to be able to flip between my work computer and home computer with a button press on the same monitors. I will probably be the ubergoon who creates a 4 monitor display, so I'm curious if anyone has experiences with a good switch solution that can support HDMI and display port. Also, any advice or tips on mixmatching monitors since I have a variety of different models right now. e. I've been seeing TRENDnet stuff which reviews well, but I trust goons more Famethrowa fucked around with this message at 18:25 on Feb 18, 2021 |
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Feb 18, 2021 18:23
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Sickening posted:Remote desktop with multi monitor support. (I wish I was joking) drat. I imagine there is a service better then Google Desktop for this? I certainly don't mind remote desktop for work stuff, but I'm not even sure what kind of remote programs my work would allow. I just want to declutter my desk  e. rip. Windows RDP is disabled. I'll have to reach out to my support team. Famethrowa fucked around with this message at 18:40 on Feb 18, 2021 |
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Feb 18, 2021 18:34
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i am a moron posted:I bought this: how do you find it? I see tons of vaguely similar black boxes but curious if it's fiddly as mentioned by Sickening
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Feb 18, 2021 18:45
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Sickening posted:This is true. I get around this by turning on the hyperv service and running vpn on a small vm on my work laptop for the things I need vpn for. Way better than a 200$ kvm switch I would hate. That'd be the breakpoint for me, sadly. My work is almost entirely VPN dependent Guess I gamble on KVM or stay cluttered 
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Feb 18, 2021 19:11
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Woof Blitzer posted:Honestly, I just got a big desk and put both next to each other. Works pretty well. Plus I have 8 monitors so I can pretend I'm in the Matrix. I have really never had any good luck with KVMs. I have an ikea countertop desk, so I definitely set up for that. it's just annoying. I think I landed on Iron Rose's solution, so I'll connect my dock to an alternate input on both monitors. Thanks for all the input guys 
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Feb 19, 2021 18:39
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Sacrist65 posted:Am I overstepping by applying to Network Engineer I positions without any help desk experience? I have my CCNA and Sec+, an ITM degree in may, and "young guy who knows computers"/AD experience from my previous career. I'm soon to be in a very similar boat as you, so please update when you get your job . I'd be curious how the interview went.
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Feb 23, 2021 01:08
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does vim get better
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Apr 24, 2021 03:37
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Proteus Jones posted:Better? I don't understand. Vim is perfection. ive been told to respond with "but nano is better"
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Apr 24, 2021 03:42
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the professor I'm learning linux administration from told me that mentioning vim would cause a riot so far so pleased 
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Apr 26, 2021 18:00
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Zurtilik posted:Yeah, I'm not going to get too, too bogged down in Access after a point. My current job uses Access for certain things so unfortunately I probably still need to learn a bit more. I don't know if this is the right answer, but I sought out a support gig that utilizes SQL queries in the day to day, and am making an effort to get involved in learning how we build them. I'm hoping to get to DBA as well. One thing that I did as part of my bachelors program, which I found tremendously helpful, was to learn some Javascript and php and build a fake e-commerce website. On the backend, I made a database to store "customer" data and "stock", which forced me to learn SQL syntax, and how to use unique identifiers to link tables together. Did a lot to teach me about the interaction between the front-end and back-end, and gave me some nice interview fodder to brag about.
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Jun 22, 2021 20:03
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DropsySufferer posted:Just wanted to say the postings here were inspirational on how some of you started at low levels in IT and moved up quickly after a few years. This board inspired me to get out of low-level Walmart jobs and into school + a corporate gig. I'm not there yet, but I would not be here without reading and half understanding the posts of all the professionals here.
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Jun 24, 2021 18:42
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Today I got my first ever recruiter email for tier 1/2 helpdesk based on my upcoming degree and current product support gig. it's a small win, and I probably won't pursue, but I'm so happy.
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Jul 15, 2021 03:32
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this forum just got me my first infosec internship. it's all your fault.
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Apr 20, 2022 13:59
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Proteus Jones posted:You can't pin that poo poo on us. peel my top off I'm ready https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUL2SQ77uQ
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Apr 20, 2022 16:38
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I had just started my data entry job after flunking out of school and life in general, and had just begun my upswing. began reading this forum and started drafting my 5 year plan to get back in school.
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May 2, 2022 16:39
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BaseballPCHiker posted:At 25 I was working Helpdesk/Anything IT related for a tribal corporation in Western bush Alaska. Riding puddle jumpers to the villages to work, getting rides on snow mobiles"machines" to offices, and generally just living out in the wild west essentially. goddamn that sounds cool. I don't know if I could do that now, but if I was 25? hell yeah let's go.
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May 2, 2022 19:22
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BaseballPCHiker posted:WebTV is bringing back some memories. yeah there was, you just can't have someone browsing the forum with a dangerous munition
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May 9, 2022 17:10
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Feeling pretty nervous about my upcoming internship and my chances to get hired on with all this recession talk.
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May 16, 2022 19:48
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