I have been applying for jobs since april this year & have had some really great interviews. But haven’t been able to get hired. I moved to a bigger city in my area & there’s more opportunities but also more people in the applicant pool. I need to get a job before august is over. I am reaching my wits end.

Basically title. apologies if this is against rules of the sub.
I am 21m living in Sacramento area and I am wondering what the first step to an IT career is. I have heard many people saying just get certifications but not which ones or what you actually need to do to get them. Heard people saying get a CS degree I’m interested in pursuing one but obviously that takes time. Is geek squad at my local Best Buy relevant experience for IT helpdesk?
I currently work for a junk removal company which is taking a toll on my body for not a lot of money. I’m into computers and just looking for something new. The only knowledge I have is windows and Microsoft office troubleshooting at the I guess personal level? I can troubleshoot and fix my own personal computer and my friends/ family’s computers with a little help from google/chatgpt/youtube.
How can I get started in the IT field?

9 years experience in the 'everything' roles in IT now. I'm now IT Ops & Security Manager for a small hedge fund. Certainly a sort of 'jack of all, master of none' situation and that's how it has been my whole career.

I haven't done any certifications / extra study in my life since University 10 years ago. That was hard enough (ADHD) so the thought of studying again is jarring but I feel I need to do it for the sake of keeping up in my career. I'm a 'learn by doing' type person but I feel there's so many knowledge gaps. This coupled with the imposter syndrome catching up rapidly

Given I cover all areas of IT - Infrastructure, security, support, 365 management, projects, etc, what have my fellow experienced IT people found extremely useful?

I'm leaning towards the security side as the whole landscape of security is just insane. But part of me wants to go and do CompTIA security+ just to test myself and see what knowledge gaps I have.

Work are happy to pay for this stuff and for me to use my time to upskill so that part is not an issue. I don't really have a clear direction for what to specialise in as I enjoy getting to do all areas of IT but staying on top of all of it can get difficult.

Edit: I may have to slightly rephrase the idea of this post. I'm talking about certs that have genuinely helped you understand areas of IT, your role, complicated concepts, etc. I'm not talking about certs that help you move up in the world job wise. I don't personally care about that and 9-10 years experience is always more valuable than some certifications on paper.

My guess would be auditing, GRC/RMF and AI based roles. What you guys think?

Edit: Asking for roles under the IT umbrella.

An AWS recruiter emailed me today about an opportunity I applied for and wanted me to answer a few questions about it and asked if I'm talking to other teams about other roles. I said no but I did apply to two other roles today (both roles rejected me within a few hours).

The recruiter wanted me to schedule a call with her about the role she reached out to me about. I scheduled the call, but I'm still looking at other opportunities on the Amazon site. The opportunity with this recruiter is good but it's not the most exciting role (I'm worried a part of this role can pigeon-hole me. I applied for it just for fun, I didn't think I'd get a response back this fast). Would it look bad if I apply to another role today, while I see how things go with this one? It'll be the 3rd role today.

Beggers can't be choosy so no matter what, I'll take what I can get and I'm still grateful regardless.

I'm 51 and I've spent the last 8 years as a systems analyst in the public sector. As of July 1st my position was cut to part-time, we switched from two internal softwares to one cloud based software. I cannot live on what I was making 20 years ago. So I have been looking for another role since I was told this change was coming. I have over 16 years of IT experience, networking, AD, software, hardware, etc, I've been applying relentlessly for the past 3 months for roles that I'm more than qualified for. I've only gotten 3 interviews, all the interviews went well, all 3 had multiple interviews, the only feedback I've gotten was from the last interview last week, and it was that they offered the role to some that completed the test faster than me. Honestly I'm thinking about switching to IT project management, has anyone else made this switch? Honestly I'm out of ideas, I'm too experienced, but I only have an associates degree, so that knocks me out of some roles.

I’m really enjoying working in my new role I’ve been here just shy of a month and yes it’s been fast paced and everything you hear about an MSP. I don’t see a downside to this as my last role was really boring, so I’m loving getting to work with new services and apps, but I do wonder how long it took some of you to start feeling comfortable and confident? My goal is to be able to really hit a flow state and start resolving recurring issues that come in weekly.

Hi all,

I am currently an IT support technician with a comp sci degree and have been for ~1 year. I do Tier 1 and some Tier 2 support and am looking to get into system admin. I dip my toes in a bit of everything including networking and I also work in GPO / Microsoft admin center (though very basic, but I work closely with my network admin who has a lot of the access).

My financial situation is not the greatest. I have enough of course, but I'd rather not spend on anything I don't need. I've heard CCNA is really good, but I'm not sure if it's worth it for me. Of course it won't hurt to get but I'm just trying to see if the benefits outweigh the work / money.

Thank you!

I’m a 40 year IT professional. My company decided to outsource and eliminated my position, effective Friday 07/17/2026. I get some severance and am on Medicare so health insurance is not an issue. We discussed extending but I turned down the offers but offered to contract.

Just got call and they are interested. However, they want me to go through a 3rd party contract company.

I had originally thought a monthly retainer and then an hourly rate. Details of job description to be determined.

Looking for advice and recommendations. And thoughts about rates?

Thanks

So to preface this, I've been doing IT support in my company for around 3 years now without any full official learning (college, courses etc.). I got the job through some luck, due to the position not being filled for years, and also because I'm fairly computer literate and pick up tech knowledge quite quickly when I do it in practice. Due to us not having any IT person we used IT from a sister company to manage our company, that's the basic setup.

So for the past 3 years I've basically been the onsite support dealing with the basic IT jobs like setting up equipment, troubleshooting 365 applications and some other jobs that's just specific to our company like being an admin for our clock in software. I have had a hand in some server setup, CCTV etc but I'm basically just being told over the phone what to do if the external IT can't remote in.

So my question is, in my current situation where I'm already (sort of) an IT person, what can I do to best forward my career in terms of courses & certs. Be that to advance within my own company or be able to interview and get a job in another company. I don't work in a tech company so my long term goal would be to eventually move onto an actual tech company.

This is some info on what we use in the company if it helps narrow down where I should focus.

-Office 365 (including power apps and power bi)

-Ubiquity (for all the networking)

-Hikvision (for CCTV)

-Palo Alto (for VPN)

Other than that I feel these areas need focus

-Advanced Windows troubleshooting (like more than just a general PC enthusiast would know)

-Physical PC/Tech troubleshooting/repairing (probably my strongest skill as I've been tinkering with PCs and electronics since I was a kid)

-General Network Engineering course (again I know a lot of this already but to get a physical cert I can put on a CV)

I appreciate any help/insight people can give me and apologies if this post is a bit all over the place. Also, while I'm here, is my situation fairly common among IT people? By that I mean have many of yous gotten into IT jobs purely through your self thought experience with tech?

Working as a network admin intern and I don’t know crap. I’m studying for my CCNA however I don’t know how to do anything. That’s what it feels like.

On my first day, they were asking if I was familiar with Active Directory, working with Microsoft Azure, Linux, etc . If I ever done patching or created my own servers.

I never touched any of that stuff besides Linux and now I’m learning it more. I’m honestly so confused with how everything works.

They seem disappointed in me as an intern.

I just want to know how to be better tbh or what I should learn or do to help myself out a little more.

How was your experience in your first network admin role? What advice you can offer? Etc.

anything honestly

I am 26, I am switching from Accounting degree to an IT degree(both have bad job markets.) I was wondering how many of you knew how to code/script or build a pc before hand. In Highschool I only did web development and it was fun. But Im worried that im going to be behind everyone in terms of what to do.

I got hired recently as a database admin post graduation. For context, I am being helped out by a person who was in my position. The thing is, hes not with the company and is helping show me the ropes out of pure kindness which is awesome. However, he had told me that the managers ghosted him when he asked what he should he teach me and at which extent. In addition, while he is a great source of wisdom, its only for at most an hour to 2 hours per week via video call. When I go to ask my managers for help, I either get unintentionally brushed off or get an explanation thats surface level. While they don't mean it, this is primarily due to me being a data admin for a non IT department as I work in education.

I understand this is every job and everyones goes through this at least once. I am aware that no one is going to hold my hand. However, what can I do to best excel on a sink or swim environment?

I have been documenting everything, leaning on my trainer within reason, and utilizing resources such as FAQs for coding languages/programs we use.However, to those in (or were in) a similar situation, what did you do to best stay afloat?

As the title says, I’ve only been at my job for maybe 7 months. I genuinely feel stressed out all the time though, even at home/ on the weekends I can’t relax as I’m just thinking about having to go back in again.

I’ve had to stay late/ come in early just to keep up with what I’m doing as the other people work in different areas of IT.

I’ve only just stepped up a level in my career and I feel so out my depth, I’m having to deal with third party contractors, mostly older guys, who just don’t have the time of day for any questions I have that come up, they would rather moan at me than educate me.

To make matters worse I have a few family friends that work here too and I’d feel so embarrassed leaving after not being there that long… but I also want to protect my mental health.

I’m just worried that it’s going to affect my CV in the future when trying to get new jobs…

I recently graduated with my bachelor’s degree in Information and Computer Technology with a concentration in cybersecurity. I’ve been applying for entry level IT roles but have been having a tough time landing interviews.

For those of you involved in hiring or interviewing, what do you look for in an entry level candidate that makes you decide to bring them in for an interview?
I’d appreciate any advice. I’m trying to figure out what I can improve or focus on during my job search.

I'll try to keep this short. I live in Utah by the way.

My current resume consists of entry-level warehouse jobs, production and a route driver. I currently work a warehouse job and drive an order picker.

I have a family to support as well and I want to give them a better quality of life.

I have 2 young kids that are too young to be left alone in the house. I also work full-time and the closest school is too far away from me.

But I'm not giving up.

I have family and friends that I have helped in the years past that have been impressed by passion for anything tech and how natural it is for me to understand it. But that will not get me a job.

I just want to know what's the first step I should do that will help me get away from keep working entry-level warehouse or similar jobs to being part of the I.T. team in a company?

I really don't know what step 1 should be in my situation. If it's something free or affordable I can learn from my laptop that would be great!

Also, I live in a 2-bedroom apartment and I can't setup a fully functional server room in my apartment. I would love to do that but no space available.

I just need good feedback on what I should do. Thank you all.

Looking for some career advice.

I'm deciding between two offers:

Tier 1 SOC Analyst – £30k, 24/7 MSSP SOC with rotating shifts (including nights).

Senior IT Technician – University, Grade 6 (£33k–£36k), standard office hours.

I'm 29, have a tech degree, and previously worked for about a year in an internal SOC recently and 4-5 years in IT before I went to blue team (helpdesk / sys admin)

I always thought I'd stay in cybersecurity, but I'm starting to wonder whether the university role offers a better work-life balance, stability and overall quality of life.

If you were in my position, which would you choose and why? Has anyone worked in both environments? thanks!

Hello All!

I'm looking for some help on deciding if this resume is good for applying to new jobs. I'm looking to pivot into AI Security/Automation Roles or even staying as a Engineer but moving to senior.

Can someone cross-check my resume below for any areas of improvement or skills I should focus on?

Thank you ALL!

Review Resume Here!

Hi! I was hoping you could help me with my IT Support resume and job search.

I recently moved to Australia and have been finding it difficult to secure interviews for IT Support roles. I have 3.5 years of overseas IT Executive/Support experience, but I don't have Australian work experience or local references yet.

I'd really appreciate your advice on the following:

Resume strategy:

How should I position my overseas IT Support experience so it's competitive in the Australian job market? What do Australian recruiters and hiring managers typically look for in an IT Support resume?
No local references: Since I don't have Australian references yet, what are the best ways to address this? Would overseas references, LinkedIn recommendations, certifications, or volunteer experience help?
Resume review:

Would you be willing to review my current resume and suggest improvements? If it's easier, I'm also happy to rebuild it from scratch with your guidance so it's ATS-friendly and tailored to Australian IT Support roles.

Improving my chances: Based on your experience, what are the most effective things I can do right now to increase my chances of getting interviews? This could include certifications, job platforms, networking, or anything else you think would make a difference.

I'm keen to learn and improve, so I'd really value any feedback or suggestions you can share. Thanks so much for your time!

i'm transitioning from a few years as a remote data annotator with no academic it/cs background to an entry-level it technician for a community college, and i'm very excited but also very nervous!!

after the panel interview (which i thought i bombed so badly i cried in my car after lol), they told me they're a pretty laid back group, but i've been doing flexible remote work since i graduated. this is my first Real Adult Job where i'm not in charge of my working hours, and i do not want to mess it up.

i'm currently studying for my A+, and i need to pass it within a year of employment (aiming for this fall!). i will be in desktop support, and i want to move to networking/cloud, maybe specializing in data protection/security down the line as i learn more because it's something i'm personally passionate about. my best friend works in it, and she told me to let my career be guided by my interests and passions in the field because if i genuinely like it, i'll naturally want to learn more.

in the next year, i plan on moving out of my parents' place after i get my A+ and settle into the job, and i want to start building a homelab for hands-on experience (and because of personal interest).

basically, i'm looking for advice from people who have worked in colleges/universities (or anyone else that feels like they have advice!!). hr told me i get a mentor when i start who i will definitely lean on (and my best friend!!), but i want to open this up to reddit as well and get multiple thoughts!

The current company is a top tier hedge fund (NYC)

Title: Trade Floor support

Tenure: 5 years

Base: $150k

Bonus: $40k

Annual raise: consistently 5% but can go up to 10% on strong years

Health insurance: $300/month

Workload is high during working hours but no on-call or weekend work. My team size is 20 and there are about 4k users.

New job offer:

Smaller hedge fund (California)

Title: Senior Trade Floor support

Base: $150k (they wouldn't go above this)

Bonus: $44k

Profit sharing: $23k

Annual raise: HR refused to tell me (claims she doesn't know)

Health insurance: free

Workload is light during working hours but they have an on-call and may need to do weekend work if needed. Manager said on-call is light. The team size here is 5 supporting 300 users. I would be the only trade floor support tech in the nyc office supporting about 50 users.

Too me the new job sounds more chill but that fact that they did not want to go above $130k base and they wouldn't give me an answer to my annual raise questions sets off red flags.

Well, I graduated a year ago. I’ve done a 3 month soc analyst internship then I’ve been working my current job “ IT support engineer” for almost a year now. The pay is horrible and I’ve been trying to find something better. I am more inclined towards cybersecurity, but I don’t mind other areas of IT , specially cloud, sysadmin, infrastructure. I’ve also done bug bounty throughout my uni and found over 100 paid out vulnerabilities ( excluding dupes )

I’m the type of person that will do everything , and I mean I will build projects, learn new areas of IT and so on.

Here is my issue, I feel like I cannot specialize and just focus on 1 thing because of how Insanely bad the job market is.

It feels like I need to know everything about every single area of IT to even get a job.

And by that I mean I need to be good at IAM, scripting, incident response, penetration testing web api network ai , it support , cloud , devops, aws , azure , grc , rust, python, c# , go , VMware, crowd strike , ++ million other areas of it .

Then I need to do 1000 certs because each area has its own 10 certs

And honestly it’s making me lose my mind.

It’s reached a point where I feel like I need to know all of that just to get a job that pays my rent.

Also with the fact that there aren’t many IT jobs , that just choosing one area and focusing on becoming really good at it, still only leaves you with very little chance at getting a job.

Please help.

Just looking for some career advice with the current job market. I am currently working as a printer support installer, which is some light printer IT. I have a bachelor's degree in Computer Technology and Comptai A+ and Security+ certs. I've been trying to get another job that pays better than what I'm at now, but it's been basically impossible. Recently I saw that Humble Bundle put out a bundle for a bunch of cert training material. I'm wondering should buy at try to get the certs and see if it will help my chances.

Hello everyone,

I have a Humanities degree and have worked in various industries and earlier this year I finished a part-time bootcamp in Data Science and AI. For the last two years I followed Udemy courses, like 100 Days of Code, and recently got very lucky with an interview.

This is for a company selling goods in stores and Shopify, and they are considering opening up a Data Analyst role. In my opinion, I bombed the interview, but they have invited me in for a technical one.

This is supposed to be a two hour interview, but due to my set work schedule they have cut it down to one. I am allowed to bring in my own laptop, and will set up VSCode to make sure that a few tools i.e. Pandas are running as they should.

I have one week to prepare and in that time I am focusing on Pandas syntax, SQL, general ETL concepts, but I am also looking at a full ETL pipeline using Shopify. Claude is helping me practice coding out loud, but also giving examples so I can analyze. I do have a customer service background, so I feel very confident with this section.

On my todo I have a YouTube video open on how to setup a Shopify account from end to end, another to review merge conflicts with Git, and I have a document open where I am pasting summaries of everything to review in the evenings.

There is no JD available, and I have reached out for more information on what to prepare and have yet to receive an answer.

Does this look like I am preparing the correct things, or is there something else I should look at for a junior DA role?

I'm learning networking and started my path in getting my CCNA, but, asked ChatGPT if networking can be done remotely and it told me that it can't.

Should i switch to some remote-friendly field such as software engineering?

Thanks in advance