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| JapJap |
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Sup son?
Registered Member #720
Joined: Fri May 25 2007, 01:09AMPosts: 1326 |
Hey guys, so.. I know you guys are nerds and all, so, who here is actually a computer tech? I'm graduating from my course in a couple of months, I already have my CCNP level2, A+, and MTA. Over the next couple of months I'll be finishing my server courses. I was wondering if you guys had any experience working as a technician, or network engineer? I'm curious to what it is going to be like. |
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| Rusty |
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FTS Server Op
Registered Member #159
Joined: Wed Mar 01 2006, 06:33PMPosts: 2682 |
Try and get a job in education or corporate. These are where job stability will always be for comp techs. Also with all that under your belt just use what you know. CONP and A+ is usually enough to get by in that career field. |
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| peacebypeice |
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peacebypeice
Registered Member #925
Joined: Mon Nov 26 2007, 05:23AMPosts: 1452 |
Nice! I'm graduating with a Computer and Network Security degree and I am just about to take my CompTIA A+ test in like a week. Wish I could help you as far as what to expect but I sadly am still trying to get a job set up :S. Trying to move into the IT field as well. Good luck and iloveyou. | ||
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| Cookie Monster |
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Registered Member #770
Joined: Tue Jul 03 2007, 03:16PMPosts: 696 |
peacebypeice wrote ... Nice! I'm graduating with a Computer and Network Security degree and I am just about to take my CompTIA A+ test in like a week. Wish I could help you as far as what to expect but I sadly am still trying to get a job set up :S. Trying to move into the IT field as well. Good luck and iloveyou. I love him more, making your love inferior >:| |
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| alcosatz |
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FT Classic Op
Registered Member #39
Joined: Fri Dec 02 2005, 10:30PMPosts: 1545 |
Japa wrote ... I was wondering if you guys had any experience working as a technician, or network engineer? I'm curious to what it is going to be like. I've been a Unix/Linux sys admin for almost 10 years. It's not quite what you're talking about but terms like "admin" and "engineer" can be interchangeable depending on where you work. It's also worth pointing out that aside from two recent acquisitions, I've worked at the same building for basically the same company for 10 years (most of my professional life) so I don't have varied experience with different companies. My desk was usually around a lot of our IT techs at my office; the guys who support printers, desktops, laptops, etc. I can't say I ever envied those guys much--a lot of face time with internal customers (Bob from Accounting, Sue from HR), fixing their bullshit desktop issues. Those types of positions are usually stepping stones to admin or engineer positions. You generally don't want to be a tech for more than a few years or you risk going insane. Admins and engineers get their hands on fun stuff--servers, routers/switches, storage systems, etc. That's what I recommend you work towards once you succeed at an entry level position for a few years. Also keep in mind that every organization is different. Just because you have "engineer" in your title doesn't mean your boss will not ask you to do some truly insulting shit that they should probably have an intern doing. If you interview for a position then you should probably ask the interviewer if they could describe what a typical day or week would be like for someone in that position. Oh yeah, find out if you have to be on-call when shit breaks, too. I've been in an on-call rotation for almost my entire career and it sucks. |
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| .4ngryToasters |
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you would
Registered Member #149
Joined: Sun Feb 12 2006, 01:08AMPosts: 2039 |
^^^ This Also I've worked in both cooperate and (unfortunately) retail environments. There are a few big things to focus on. First of all, who do you know? A lot of times it's friends or relatives who can get you the best job positions. Just about any company is constantly in need of new technicians; it's just a matter of who you would like to work for. Personally I recommend avoiding any type of business that will have you working closely with a sales team (such as a dealership or retail store). Now I'm not saying this applies to everything out there, but in my experience, IT and sales just do not mix. So you got in the door, now what? Well there is always going to be that awkward phase of getting used to a new position. You may have thoughts of " Am I doing this right? It feels like this is some kind of half assed- rinky dink solution that anyone could do better." THIS IS NORMAL. EVERYONE GOES THROUGH THIS PHASE. My best advice: be someone's shadow. Do as they do, learn the different nomenclatures used around the office, learn from your mistakes (better yet, learn from other people's mistakes too), and always keep an open mind (don't avoid doing something because you don't want to / don't know how to do it. Who knows, you might learn something that others don't know, that instantly makes you a valuable asset). Chances are, IT technicians are very busy, so you will only have a limited amount of their attention span at times. So have a backup plan. Hang out on some techy forums where you can get answers to questions in a fairly reasonable amount of time. Don't be afraid to ask questions to live people either. I've trained a lot of people, and I can usually tell who is going to be awesome and who is going to be a liability within a week just by the questions they ask (the ones who don't ask any questions are usually the liabilities). Also, Soft Skills. Learn them Technical jobs are much more communicative than you could imagine. In fact, a lot of companies are moving their IT departments to the center of their buildings, because they are such an integral part to how everyone functions. That should help you get started, which is actually the toughest part. Once you have experience under your belt after a few crappy first jobs, you'll find getting a better position with higher pay to be much easier. |
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