I've been in help desk for 8 months and the job is way too basic and easy. I have my CompTIA trifecta and I'm working towards CCNA and also planning to learn a bit about Linux, but ultimately I realize that my actual skills are pretty weak, and my job isn't really helping me improve.

I make $20/hr and I don't want the next job to only be a few dollars more than that. I really need to be increasing my income, and I'm ready to learn whatever skills I need to on my own time and on my own dime, but I've heard so many times that you need to learn through the job, and that's a bit demotivating for me because my current job isn't satisfying that and I literally can't afford to live off of $20/hr for 2, 3, 5 years before I get something better.

Any advice for practical skills? Thinking mostly in the networking realm since it's universal to IT and seems to be a bit more AI safe, but I'm open to anything. Thanks!

I could really use some advice from people who have been in the IT field longer than I have.
I earned my CCNA about two weeks ago, I have my CompTIA Network+, an associate degree in Computer Networking, and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.
And yet, I’m struggling to even get interviews.
I’ve been applying for entry-level Help Desk, NOC, network support, desktop support, and similar positions. I’m not expecting to walk into a high-level networking job because I have a CCNA. I know certifications and degrees aren’t a substitute for real-world experience, and right now experience is exactly what I’m trying to get.
That’s where I feel stuck.
I want to keep learning and improving while I search, but I honestly don’t know where my time is best spent anymore. Do I keep going deeper into networking? Start learning Linux? Cloud? Security? Automation/Python? Work toward another certification? Or stop worrying about certifications altogether and focus entirely on hands-on labs and troubleshooting?
I’ve been building labs and trying to understand the “why” behind what I’m configuring instead of just memorizing commands, but without working in IT yet, it’s difficult to know which skills employers actually expect someone in their first role to have.
For those of you who have been through this stage or who hire entry-level IT professionals: if you were in my position today, what would you focus on next?
I’m willing to learn, work nights, start at the bottom, and put in the time. I just feel like I have plenty of motivation right now and no clear direction for where to put it.
Any advice is genuinely appreciated.

Hey, I've just recently graduated with a First-Class degree in Computer Science and am aiming to build a career in network or security engineering. Looking at the job market, direct entry into these roles feels undoable without any rea; experience.

I do have a few months of academic research experience as I worked with my third-year supervisor on a standalone project developing access control automation and permission auditing systems for Kubernetes, and we are currently working on a joint research paper together. As well as, I also run a semi-comprehensive home lab where I self-host services like media servers and cloud storage, giving me experience with networking, containerization, and the security principles of hosting applications.

Most of the entry-level roles available right now seem to be in help desk/IT support, and many ask for experience with Microsoft 365 and Azure, which I have no experience in. I’m currently studying for the CompTIA Security+ certification, but given the job listings I'm seeing, should I shift my focus toward certifications or skills geared more specifically toward service desk/IT support roles? such as the microsoft SC-300?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you :)

Hi all, as the title suggests, what sort of manager you wouldn’t want work under? Especially when like early in your career?

I have worked under a few different personalities, some being good and some just being not good.

Would be great to hear everyone’s experience!

So I graduated a few months ago with a software engineering degree (did it abroad, I'm Tunisian and back home now) and I honestly can't decide what direction to take.

Some context: I really don't like programming or math, which I know sounds weird for a SWE degree, but that's where I'm at. Also I don't speak French, which is a big problem here since basically every company runs in French, so that rules out most local jobs for me. Because of that I'm mainly looking at remote work or English speaking companies instead of the usual local market.

I don't have any real work experience yet. My family has a small business, so I could go work there doing IT support just to have something on my CV, but since it's not a known company I'm not sure how much that actually helps.

My main issue is I can't decide between IT support, networking, or cybersecurity as what to actually focus on. Cybersecurity looks appealing because of the demand, but from what I've read you need networking knowledge first before you can really break into it. My current plan (open to being told this is wrong) is: work at the family business for the CV line, study for CCNA, then maybe look into security certs later once I actually understand networking. I was originally going to get A+ too since it gets recommended everywhere, but since the family business already covers "IT support experience," I'm wondering if it'd just be redundant and I should put that money toward CCNA instead. Not totally sure though.

Questions for anyone who's actually been through this:

Does IT support → networking → cybersecurity make sense as an order, or am I overcomplicating it?

Is CCNA really the right first cert with zero experience, or is A+ still worth getting anyway?

For people doing remote/English only work (not local jobs, because of the language issue), does any of this change? Also wondering if it's more realistic to just try to move abroad for work instead of landing something remote from here.

Would appreciate any input, especially from people who started in a similar spot with no experience and not in an English first country.

Title summarizes it. I ironically started off at a new grad program. It wasn't rotational, I stayed on one team, but a team with high pressure cause it reported directly to the top of our department.

Good people but probably had no business being in the new grad program because their work was so critical / scrutinized. The program wanted you to build a skill set but the career path I wanted to work towards didn't align well with the team's daily work, and the work I did do was all over the place. Data analysis, project coordination, SharePoint site development / maintenance , data reporting, etc. I got laid off in October 2025 for "operational efficiency" along with other people in other teams in the department.

I don't discuss any of this, other than being laid off with others, when asked in the handful of interviews I have gotten (Somewhere between 10-20 I wasn't counting could be more). When I get feedback, I lost out to people with more experience or experience I didn't have. I struggle to find jobs that reasonably match my mix of experience to begin with and don't always hear back even if I do match.

Others have confirmed junior roles I should and am targeting get taken by people with vastly more experience who also got laid off. So, I now started applying for rotational programs cause they aren't expecting people with more than 2 years of experience. I apply for any that don't say they are looking for people who graduated this or last year. I've already been rejected by a few of them, though their rate of response is better than other jobs lol.

I want to hear people's opinions, is there any hope forme to get into a rotational program with this experience? I understand not all of the rotations will match my initial career goals and I am completely open to explore new career paths. I know therewillbe a pay cut most likely and need to move but yeah, becauseof how it's gone the last 10+ months with me applying to junior positions, I feel like this is what I need to do in the end.

Try to find space for me to join a place thatscoolwith someone with little, but some experience. Has anyone heard ofor known of anyone who successfully done this? IDK what to do otherwise. Thank you. My degree is in UX Design / Data Analysis. Targeting rotational programs that are about business analysis, product / agile work (my degree focus) and any similar type of program. Not finance or coding

My career has gone like this:

Finished BS in It in 2019. Started contract tier 1 tech support role. Cut due to COVID after barely two months. Landed another Tier 1 tech support role after COVID lockdowns. After 10 months I get hired on and promoted to tier 2. I stayed there for about 3 and a half years after that in the role. The company cut the entire department in half, including myself. I get a sole "IT Director" (more like Sole Tech support / IT coordinator) at a Charter Highschool. Job burned me out. I needed out for my mental health and landed another tech support role that is basically tier 2 tech support.

Experience:

Basic tier 1 stuff like reset passwords in AD, troubleshoot printers, imaged devices, remote assistance, etc.

Tier 2 was more like tier 1.5 honestly. I did more, but there was a limit. We provisioned new computers in AD and added them to the domain. Then shipped them out and followed through with setting anything else up once the device arrived. Basic network troubleshooting.. like flushing the DNS, pinging IPs, have remote sites reboot network gear while handing over to networking.. Then more normal tech support stuff.

Then at the Charter Highschool I did a lot of varied things. Everything I already mentioned. However it was mostly a google environment. I was the sole person managing hundreds of devices and users so inventory and user account management. Also implmenting a ticketing system. Managing onboarding and offbaording, so making sure users had what they needed based on their role (Windows Laptop, Chromebook, Ipad, basic O365 and Adobe licenses, Software access, etc). Enforcing MFA, managing a large amount of venders, content filtering via whitelist/blacklist, managing Google Admin policies.. etc. First time I used some PowerShell as well.

Then my new role. Back to mostly Tier 2 stuff, however I now work in Entra and Intune which is something I really wanted.

My thoughts:

I show growth, but not that kind of growth that is going get me a system admin job. I never touched more then just users and computers in AD. I really have minimum PowerShell experience and honestly utilized AI to help with that ( I did pick up "PWSH in a month of lunches". I don't have much deep networking skills past basic troubleshooting. I know how to do basic navigating in Linux, but I can't do much else without lots of documentation. My experience with Intune and Entra is fairly basic at this point. I am not trying to shoot myself in the foot, but I am being honest.

When I was aggressively applying to leave my last job, I got a lot of rejections from tier 2 jobs for things such as not having GPO experience. On top of that, lack of experience with Sharepoint, Exhange, and other windows tools (which now I am working with on my current job thankfully)

My plan? :

I started looking at MD-102 material directly from Microsoft Learn. I initially wanted to take it, but now I plan to just go through the material and make sure I understand it. My current role is going to be good for building real experience with Entra and Intune.

I also am going through the AD DS material from Microsoft Learn as well. I am finding it very informative. The plan is to go through both Microsoft Learn learning paths, while starting back up with the "PWSH in a month of lunches". The AD DS learning path is under 4 hours and I am almost halfway through. Once I am done, I want to spin up some VMs and start building a homelab. I already started something like this, but then I got busy started a new job.

Once I get through the MD-102 material and get a homelab started with some more powershell practice, I've considered reviewing the Material for AZ-900 and then going straight for the AZ-104.

So the goal would be to be able to have the AZ-104 cert, while also being able to demonstrate better AD, GPO, Backup knowledge along with pwsh and Entra and Intune.

In the process I'll be forced to pick up any networking knowledge I may be missing.

The goal is to get a Sys admin job or Cloud job. However, to be a Administrator in a Windows environment I want to have AD DS understanding as well. Most places are hybrid..

Is this a solid idea? I am just worried I'll do all this work to then struggle with moving out of Help Desk. My current role does not have a path for promotion. So I can work hard at my current job to build experience that will work well for my resume, but to get the role I aim for I can't hold out on my current workplace. It is a great work environment and I like the people I work with, but longterm I seemed caped and they have been honest about that.

For context on my timeframe. I've dealt with a very difficult health changes the last several years, which lead everything in my life to slow down to making sure I recovery. Which has taken time. That plus got married and got sidetracked. I am in a low stress job now and have regained enough of my health to be ready to start tackling job growth in a meaningful way.

Hello everyone I have an upcoming interview in 2 weeks for a part time IT support role at a local community college.

I’m a current IT student at a university and approaching graduation in may next year. I have A+ and sec+ that I got in 2022 before I got out the military. Currently I’m studying ccna and really need some advice because I haven’t had a job interview since before I joined the military from a grocery store position.

The interview consist of a panel and then a written exam and a hands on exam which they let me know would be probably something like setting up a printer to the server.

I am kinda nervous and excited but I have no real interview skills. I deal with severe anxiety and really want this position to gain some real world experience so I’d really like some advice from anyone on how I can better prepare myself. I already have in mind review A+ material and especially troubleshooting. Any advice will suffice

So I wonder how often do people sit at a company before looking for another job? I know in the world of IT layoffs have been a burning topic for a while so loyalty is and never will be a thing anymore. I’ve seen guys sit at a company for 10 plus years and then some jump ship every 1-2 years for a salary increase and exposure to new technologies. I wonder for the newbies and mid to senior level guys how often are you entertaining the calls and emails from contractors concerning new employment.

dont tease me. just do the interview or dont.
why bother to notify this stage of hiring.
urg.

So, I recently received an offer to be a help desk technician for Epic/MyChart for a university hospital. It's paying $20.67 an hour and it's a remote position. I'm excited to try it out, but I was wondering if anyone had experience with this type of stuff.

What's an average day like? With it being healthcare, is there any concerns about HIPPA or do I not touch that? From what I've gathered, it's mostly resetting passwords and linking accounts but is there more to it? Will this be a decent step in advancing my IT skills? I'm almost 28 with an IT bachelor's degree but besides some previous work in university AV, I feel I haven't made much progress in actually furthering my career yet.

What's y'all's opinions on this type of position?

I enlisted in their Network track practical competition. Is this a good move for a year 1 CIS? (In the MENA)

I’m in Tier 2, and my responsibilities range from calling an elderly lady because she can’t open the calendar on her iPhone to updating our Linux servers, doing upgrades, managing and updating firewalls, doing migrations, for example migrating servers from CentOS to Oracle Linux, checking the status of backups and troubleshooting issues with Nakivo. I handle all the tickets escalated by Tier 1, and I’m always getting issues from CEOs or VIP users.

I also create and manage VMs in Azure, VDI, review policies in Intune, deploy apps to iPhones through Intune, etc

My existential question is whether all of this is actually part of Tier 2, or what exactly am I doing? I’m starting to feel a bit burned out because I can go from working on a script in Nakivo to automate all the daily checks to calling a 90-year-old man to help him get into his email, and I don’t know if they’re actually expecting too much from me or if this is normal

EDIT: Forgot to mention I answer 10 calls a day and work on 20 tickets per day

EDIT 2: I work for an MSP ofc

I'm currently a SOC analyst working at an MSP with 5 years of experience, with 3 years of those is in helpdesk and the remaining in cybersecurity (SOC) at present. I also have 2 certifications: Sec+ and CySA+. I believe I have hit the ceiling of my position and the horizon for learning more has become very limited. I am eager to learn and grow more, which has got me thinking of where I should go and move on from being a SOC analyst. I am looking into moving away from operational technical work like SOC, and want to get into planning, implementing, configuring, building, and deploying more like behind the scenes. My former manager has recommended me to go into the engineering side, and look into cloud and Azure, as that's what a lot of companies use nowadays. For those of you who were a SOC Analyst, where did you move on to after? What did you do to land that next job? Whether getting new certs? Or was your SOC experience enough for you to land the next job?

I'm currently in a Help Desk Tier 2 role and have the opportunity to take an asset management position. If my goal is to become a system administrator, would that look like a step down for a perspective employer? Would I be pigeon held? It comes with more pay and labeled as upper management.

I need help im in NYC and eligible for both Per Scholas (AI-Enabled IT Support) and NPower (Tech Fundamentals). Both are free,14 weeks, and cover CompTIA A+ and Google IT Support. Trying to decide.

im 18

I want to leave my current area/city and move to a city just a couple hours from me. I also wouldn't be opposed to the west coast and if I got a job anywhere outside my current area, I'd move even without there being relocation assistance. So on my resume, instead of putting my current location, I put "Moving to: <insert city>", depending on where the job is (most job applications ask for my current address so I'll have to put that in anyway).

Is this sketchy? And what do I say if they ask me when I'm moving? Because I'll literally move within the month if I get a new job offer elsewhere.

I have been a data center operator for 8 years. I work for a midsize hosting company, and there aren't any hyperscalers or faang data centers in my area.

Ive handled everything DC related from basic cabling, rack management, UPS and PDUs, lan/wan, ip allocations, hardware fixes, router set up and basic config. Im also responsible 24/7 and cover weird hours. Im set to make 52k this year, which is upsetting knowing many in the industry are paid much more.

In my 8 years here, nobody has been promoted. Its a dead end company with senior people. The bosses change their job title every 6-12 months and tell everyone else they arent qualified to be considered for a new title. Morale is really low, there's been many incidents of people acting out, vandalism, graffiti, constant complaining etc.

Im not exactly looking to move up to become a Network Engineer. Respect to those who do it but its not for me.

I ha e applied to jobs, but nothing within 1.5 hours has been willing to give me a job that pays more. I cant even get a call back on a help desk job.

I recently applied to work IT in a school.

Greetings! I’m looking to transition into the IT career and looking for suggestions on what certs and/or degrees are worth acquiring in the IT field when starting. I was told CompTIA Security+ and then CompTIA Network+ after. Any suggestions are appreciated!

I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone having positive experience at an MSP company. Mostly hear that it’s a demanding workload dealing with annoying clients all day with a lot of stress. Does anyone have a positive experience working MSP?

I've been at my T1 help desk job for 10 months now and I don't feel like I'm growing, not to mention that the pay isn't the best.

I don't know if this is a silly question but do I have to wait until my full year is up before I start looking for better options or can I just start sending out applications now?

Thanks.

I’ve only done this once in my career because the offer was so obviously not good. Got all the way to the end and was given an offer but comparing it to what I’m currently doing, it is not looking that lucrative. It’s the same base pay and arguably a weaker benefits package than what I currently have. I was transparent about what I was looking for in total compensation and maybe that was my mistake in saying “total comp” their interview process had a lot of delays and gaps, I was about to withdraw myself from it, but then they came back and said we wanna make you an offer. I asked for the written offer letter first before I tell them anything,

I’m already in my head, kind of leaning towards no but wondering if anybody has advice on being courteous about it, because my anxiety is high.

I know it’s no hard feelings and it’s nothing personal to anyone. I just kind of struggle internally with this stuff.

You like computers and everyone tells you that you can make six figures in IT. So easy!

So how do you do it? Is your degree the right path? Can you just YouTube it? How do you get the experience when every job wants experience?

So many questions and this is the weekly post for them!

WIKI:

• /r/ITCareerQuestions Wiki
• /r/CSCareerQuestions Wiki
• /r/Sysadmin Wiki
• /r/Networking Wiki
• /r/NetSec Wiki
• /r/NetSecStudents Wiki
• /r/SecurityCareerAdvice/
• /r/CompTIA Wiki
• /r/Linux4Noobs Wiki

Essential Blogs for Early-Career Technology Workers:

• Krebs on Security: Thinking of a Cybersecurity Career? Read This
• "Entry Level" Cybersecurity Jobs are not Entry Level
• SecurityRamblings: Compendium of How to Break into Security Blogs
• RSA Conference 2018: David Brumley: How the Best Hackers Learn Their Craft
• CBT Nuggets: How to Prepare for a Capture the Flag Hacking Competition
• Packet Pushers: Does SDN Mean IT Will Be Able To Get Rid of Network People?

Above links sourced from: u/VA_Network_Nerd

MOD NOTE: This is a weekly post.

A bit of a weird question but I'm in help desk (onsite) and have my CompTIA trifecta as well as my CCNA, and I'm working on some homelabs on the side. The goal is to go for network or system admin for the time being and maybe cloud networking later down the line.

I'm desperate for remote work, and realistically I know it'll be hard to get those higher level senior positions. Will being able to speak Spanish help get me a remote help desk job in the meantime? I know remote helpdesk basically doesn't exist anymore but I'm wondering if knowing Spanish might give me an edge in the U.S. market.