# I need some guidance.



## swifty151 (Feb 9, 2010)

Hi I am interested in going into the IT Field. I am a father of three and I am 26 years old. I live in a rural area with no schools very close to me and am currently tied to my job as a store manager for a major cell phone company. I have always enjoyed trouble shooting computer problems. I also enjoy building computers. My knowledge is pretty general as far as computers go but it seems most others in this area have little to no knowledge what so ever when it comes to computers. I have decided to attend college online with a real college that has online as well as a real campus. I am going into a Bachelors for Information Technology Systems focusing in Networking. This school is fully accredited. I wanted to know if I would have any chance of getting a job, and don't worry I am fully prepared to start at the bottom once I get done however I will be about 30 when my schooling should be completed so I really want to know if I can at least start a career with this. I will not have any real life work experience in the field but I also do computer repairs out of my store so I to have some IT experience, Am I headed in the right direction? This degree I am seeking btw will have a cisco cert attached to it. :neutral:


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## BosonMichael (Nov 1, 2011)

Don't wait till you get done. Get an entry-level IT job now. If you want to get a degree while working, that's great... but don't put off working in IT just to get a degree, because you don't need an IT degree to start in IT. And someone with four years of experience will almost always get a job over someone with a four-year degree and no experience. A degree will come in handy later in your IT career to help you get jobs that would otherwise be unavailable to you. But not early on.

Getting a Cisco certification before getting Cisco experience isn't a good idea, in my opinion. Not because you can't handle it, but because it won't do you any good early on in your IT career, and can actually make it MORE difficult to get your first job, not LESS difficult. Entry-level IT jobs have nothing to do with the administration of Cisco gear, and no employer in his/her right mind would hire someone without experience to administer Cisco gear. If you do decide to go through with this degree program, you might consider leaving the Cisco certification off your resume until you get a little experience under your belt.


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## swifty151 (Feb 9, 2010)

Wow this is confusing lol. So will my computer repairs I am doing now help me at all? Or is it so far out of the realm of what my degree is that it is useless? I don't know what to do. Realistically I just want a good career when I get done with school and I know I will have to work my way up but I thought my degree would be what got me the entry level job? Should I just go for an associates degree first? Get some experience and then go back for bachelors? I'm lost.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Go for the degree, that is the place to be for the future IMHO. But I also wonder if you live in a very rural area, will you have to move to take a position when you are done and would this be a problem? I mean the best positions for what you will have been trained in will surely be a metropolitan area. I mean where you are if you started part time, you could have a decent business clientele built on your own by the time you graduate and if you want to generalize more than just networking, you would probably be in high demand in a rural area. I actually started part time while I was a working Pro photographer and owned my own studio, and then sold my interest in that and retired into my pc repair business. Word of mouth is great while I also do some advertising in merchandisers. Could you work part time repairing and/or working on pc's while you are taking courses because it would be a good idea to stay in your job while doing this to provide for your family.


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## swifty151 (Feb 9, 2010)

Yep this is the plan. I am in very good standing with my boss. My boss is allowing me to do some of my classes online when it is slow at work, we have a good relationship. I gave her the idea to implement computer repair out of the cell phone store. She agreed it was a good idea so she went for it. So I will be working on computers and doing classes while managing this small store. Moving is not a problem and in fact it is part of me and my wifes plan once school starts. Thanks for taking the time to help me. :smile:


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Glad to help. Any more questions just ask.


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## BosonMichael (Nov 1, 2011)

swifty151 said:


> Wow this is confusing lol. So will my computer repairs I am doing now help me at all? Or is it so far out of the realm of what my degree is that it is useless? I don't know what to do. Realistically I just want a good career when I get done with school and I know I will have to work my way up but I thought my degree would be what got me the entry level job? Should I just go for an associates degree first? Get some experience and then go back for bachelors? I'm lost.


Like I said, you don't need a degree to get going in IT. I know plenty of established IT professionals who don't have a degree. Not saying a degree isn't useful - it absolutely is. But you don't need to spend 4 years waiting to do something you can start RIGHT NOW.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

A degree isn't neccesary I dont have one.

Experience is king in IT. If you go for an IT tech job with a four year degree against someone who has been working on a helpdesk for four years I guarantee you that you would not get the job because you have no experience

Your computer repair experience will help you and you should start looking now and get some basic IT certs like the A+ and N+ whilst your looking.


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## swifty151 (Feb 9, 2010)

When is a degree worth anything then? You have to understand my situation. I don't live in an area where IT is really needed. So I can't just go work for some help desk. I have had to create my job just to be able to pursue computer repair. I will just continue to fix computers go for my degree and let the cards fall where they may. I have nothing to lose and I feel really lucky that my current boss is going to let me use her business to do PC repairs. I am fine with having to start at the bottom when I get out of school. Don't you think I would be able to get on with someone once I got out of school? By then I will have had around 4-5 years of PC repair under my belt. And yes I understand PC repair is far from networking or anything but there has to be some employer out there that would take a chance on a dude like me. I'm going for it I feel this is my best option, thanks for the input.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

no one is saying a degree isn't worth anything its just that it is neccesary to be an IT tech

An employer will take you when you can demonstrate you can do the basics first.

Just because you can drive doesn't mean you can get a job as a racing car driver does it. The reason employers these days don't take people on as networking techs without experience first is because employer especially network managers need someone who know what they are doing, they cant afford the downtime.

Took me 8 years to figure out why I wasn't getting a job and it was for the reason above


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

And BTW I live in a community where the majority of jobs are farming, manufacturing or working in a shop.

I could never figure out why I never got employed because I had a HND (equivelant to an AA in the US) I had numerous vocation IT qualifications then I was advised by someone (BosonMichael) to go for the A+ and N+ and start looking for basic jobs.

I ended up volunteering for a charity on a helpdesk then I got a proper job now I am a tech and do allsorts from hardware installation and configuring to network support.

Your repair skills will help you but repairing pcs and installing hardware is very different from setting up networks and fixing issues.


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## swifty151 (Feb 9, 2010)

Sorry if I seemed rude in my last post. Guess I am just stressing out trying to get this computer repair business off the ground while gearing up for full time school oh yeah and the whole christmas thing coming up. My bad guys. After re reading your posts I agree with what you are saying and I am sorry for coming off as ignorant or arrogant. Just stressed out and guess I just wanted to hear someone say I am headed in the right direction. I really do appreciate your help and in my current situation I think what I have going for me is probably the closest thing I can do to what you guys are recomending for me right now. But thx again and once again sorry about being argumentative. :beerchug:


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

Dont worry about, I was like you and I like it said it took me 8 years to figure it out.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

I think so often people confuse degrees with intelligence or believe that a degree in "such and such" makes them a "shoe in" for a certain position doing that....I have a degree in history and I have a successful computer repair business that is home based. I also owned a women's better clothing store for 20 years, a video store when that was hot and retired from a Photography Studio into this pc business.

You will note no where did I get a business degree or any type of pc degree. And it took me a long time to realize the value of a college degree and it wasn't in the specific knowledge. It was in knowing how to research and find answers, plan, and learn from others. Most people I meet are bent on letting you know what they know while I am bent on finding that out for myself and seeing if I can use it in what I do.

Where you live as where I do if you want to stay there, you can build an in home business because no one else is doing it or doing it well and no home user wants to unplug their tower and bring it anywhere. Especially since they also don't know what to bring with them i.e. monitor, keyboard etc....going into their homes and working on their pc gives you such an edge and if you want to build and sell pc's as I do, it becomes a "cake walk" from a repair visit if you plan it right. One thing anyone I go do a repair visit for knows is I build and sell computers. If they have a good experience, they think of me for every computer need after that including teaching! And attractive business cards are the key. I never leave a home without leaving 5 business cards and one that is magnetic. If they say they only need 1, my answer is "no, you need to find me five more people as nice as you to go visit". Most computer business cards have pc related paraphernalia on the card. Mine has homes on a block!


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## BosonMichael (Nov 1, 2011)

swifty151 said:


> When is a degree worth anything then?


Like I said earlier:

"A degree will come in handy later in your IT career to help you get jobs that would otherwise be unavailable to you."

These are typically jobs that involve management of other IT employees. In addition, teaching jobs often require degrees. 



swifty151 said:


> You have to understand my situation. I don't live in an area where IT is really needed.


If you live in an area that has other people living there, then those people are going to need IT services. If there aren't enough people in your area to make a living doing that, then you've got two choices: move to another area, or find another career field. A degree isn't going to magically create an IT job for you where no IT job exists...




swifty151 said:


> So I can't just go work for some help desk. I have had to create my job just to be able to pursue computer repair.


Then I will tell you what I tell everyone who tries to jump to the middle of the IT career ladder: be prepared to try that jump a thousand times.



swifty151 said:


> I will just continue to fix computers go for my degree and let the cards fall where they may. I have nothing to lose and I feel really lucky that my current boss is going to let me use her business to do PC repairs.


Well... nothing but time. That said, the degree will eventually be useful, and you are picking up a little experience with your PC repair side job. 



swifty151 said:


> I am fine with having to start at the bottom when I get out of school. Don't you think I would be able to get on with someone once I got out of school? By then I will have had around 4-5 years of PC repair under my belt. And yes I understand PC repair is far from networking or anything but there has to be some employer out there that would take a chance on a dude like me. I'm going for it I feel this is my best option, thanks for the input.


Unfortunately, you are currently looking for someone to agree with the decision you've made rather than someone who can give you advice. 

I truly wish you the best of luck in your IT career!


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

Just my opinion here.

You are 26 with 3 kids and a spouse. Do you think an entry level job will pay the bills? To me, maybe me only, starting a new path at 30 is kind of late.

Many of us end up working at jobs we would rather not be doing, but you your first priority is the family, not your personnel happiness. Do what you have to do, for the family.

BG


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## swifty151 (Feb 9, 2010)

Ok thanks for the advice? To be honest I don't know what I am doing and I am scared. I have been bouncing from job to job since High School, I had a really good job with one of the mines in my area but I got laid off and now the mines are only hiring guys with a lot of experience. I am in a hard place but the one shining beacon in my life is that I found what I wanted to do. My wife supports me in my decision. She has seen me try sales jobs and then we moved to take this job that I got laid off from and can't go back to. I get it, I am older then most people that start out in a career however this is where I am at and for sure I am not going to give up. On a side note since I am adding this computer repair to the store I work at I am thinking about going for the A+ certification while I am going to school. So this is my idea, I will get the A+ while doing pc repairs and I will have about 4 years of experience by the time I am done. I think with a degree and 4 years of experience in IT I should be able to find something. Maybe it will work maybe it won't but honestly I have nothing to lose by trying. And who knows my boss may be willing to just let me take over the computer repair business she has already said that so whatever we will see what happens.


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

If you are insulted by opinions, don't ask for them. I was being honest with you. I sort have been there, done that, but I did not have 4 other people lives hanging on what I decided to do.

BG


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

My above comments are based upon your original post, not after you edited them.

BG


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## BosonMichael (Nov 1, 2011)

swifty151 said:


> I get it, I am older then most people that start out in a career...


Not at all. I was 28 when I got my first full-time IT job, and my career has been great (I'm now 42). Further, I've known several people in their 50s (and even one 60-year-old) get started in IT.

Still, we all started as entry-level techs. BGeek is right in making sure you know what you should reasonably expect. I've seen plenty of career changers who expected to make a good salary right out of the gate, then balked at the entry-level salaries that were offered to them. You'll likely start out at a very low salary, but with experience, your salary should improve over time.

Regarding four years of IT experience... yes, you'll have 4 years working on computers, and that will indeed be helpful. But you won't have ANY experience administering those PCs in a domain environment, and this is what you will eventually need to advance. So, while time is certainly an important factor in gaining experience, the KIND of experience you are getting is also very important. Most PC repair techs have moved on up the IT career ladder by the time they have four years of experience.

None of this is meant to discourage you... rather, it is just so you can be realistic about what to expect and so you can know what employers will be looking for when hiring.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Basementgeek said:


> Just my opinion here.
> 
> You are 26 with 3 kids and a spouse. Do you think an entry level job will pay the bills? To me, maybe me only, starting a new path at 30 is kind of late.
> 
> ...


You know what I have to disagree here. I do not see what age has to do with it and many times we have to make sacrifices to get where we want to be. That kind of thinking locked me in a position in retailing I was good at but hated for 30 years and actually when I turned 58 I finally realized what I enjoy which coincidentally became what I can do best as my learning and knowledge at a time when most believe you can't learn anything, had me surpass the knowledge quickly of all those who started me off. I built a succesful business over night in pc repair and building business and my first computer had Windows 95 on it. I missed all "the fun" of DOS and before, and still made it!

People are coming to me now with problems, who "
saved my bacon" as I was learning. I learned most of what I know from listeneing to a radio show and usinf a forum until my growth saw me become part of the radio show and begin moderating on the same forum I once learned all I knew from. Today I have my own forum and while there are areas I am lost in, sooner or later I get there and handle the issues.

I just feel sure there are family needs and they must be considered but I am living proof of how much better you can do your job if its what you want to do rather than what you have always done. No need to retire here, I just take fewer calls and pick and choose my situations. If I had been 30 and the same opportunities existed, I'd own a major chain of nation wide repair shops and as it is I am approached all the time to franchise others to do what I do and I have 0 interest in it. So go with what you want to do and that will end layoffs and failures because you won't be acting as if you enjoy what you are doing, you will be enjoying it.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

Your still young at 26 so don't stress about it. I know some pretty rich people that had nothing but a dream, compassion and willingness to stick it out. If IT is what you're interested in and you have a passion for it you will succeed one day. It may take a bit to build a foundation of customers and trust, but if your honest and go the extra mile for your customers they will come back. Word of mouth is a great tool in this business.


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## swifty151 (Feb 9, 2010)

I really appreciate these last two posts. I agree I was shocked to here my life was over at 26 lol. I have talked to a lot of people and my college counselor, I feel much better about my options and know this is the career for me. I am going forward with my plan and thank everyone for their input. Except for the guy that told me I was too old lol. And for anyone that read this and thought I was putting my family in the cold to pursue this career you are wrong. I will not make any less money then I am now if anything I will make more, Once again thank you for these last two posts very inspiring.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

Bettering yourself financially is thinking about your families future and also being happy and positive will rub off on your childeren. I know lots of people who make good money in their chosen fields, but are very unhappy going to work everyday.


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

Again be careful when you ask for opinion, you may not like what you hear.

Good luck to you and the family.

BG


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