Advice for changing into IT

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LarryFisherman

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#277293 6-Oct-2020 12:38

I've decided that I don't enjoy the current industry I'm in and I'm wanting to start a career into IT.

I've always had a interest in IT but had never thought I wanted to do it as a career until now, at 30 years old I'm glad I decided this now and not in another 10 years.

My knowledge is at a basic level with the most I've done is play around with rpi's at home.

Recently I've been doing a paper online that covers basic programming, it focuses on C, Python and SQL. I am planning on focusing on learning Python and possibly Javascript.

I've been doing a bit of research online for what should be my first steps, here are a few things that I've read I should do:

Aiming to get a help desk/service desk job is a way to enter into the IT industry. I lack experience and most job positions I've looked at state they want 1 - 2 year experience for a lvl 1 & 2 helpdesk job. I've read that I could get a Comptia A+ cert as that could help me get a job without the experience. Someone pointed out that maybe the ITIL 4 might be more beneficial that the A+.

At this point in time I'm wanting to aim for Cloud Engineer down the road, I know I have a lot to learn and a long way to go before I reach that.

For this job I would need to have experience and understanding in Linux, networking, scripting(Python) from what I read. Would aiming to get the CCNA and RHCSA after I get experience working at a help desk role be the next step?

I'm also looking at setting up some sort of homelab to help me try things out / learn. I'm unsure if I should get physical hardware or use virtualisation/cloud services.

If I'm wrong or completely missed that boat for what I would actually need to learn / get experience in please let me know.

Any advice that would help me on this journey towards the Cloud Engineer role I'm aiming for would be much appreciated.

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#2580052 6-Oct-2020 12:56

ITIL is more process/framework, I've yet to work for anyone that uses it. (20+ years in IT)

Comptia A+ is more practical, but if you know the basics of PC's, Windows, networking and VM's, then you could prob sit the exam without doing formal training. (And saves you a ton of $$$)

CCNA well worth doing, especially if looking to get more into the networking side of stuff (which Cloud does require).

For a home lab, pick up an old server or two for cheap, along with a couple of old desktops - throw in a cisco router and you're on your way ;)

XPD / Gavin

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#2580062 6-Oct-2020 13:27

Microsoft publishes few free Azure virtual courses to help you get your head around a few of the basic cloud computing concepts, as well as experiment with the Microsoft stack; here is one that might be worth a go to dip your toes in. If you want to go to the next level, for a fee, you can also sit Microsoft cert exams that would look good on your CV. Think about saving all your code in a public GitHub as well, as another thing to stick with your CV.

If cloud engineering interests you, and depending on your appetite for higher learning, I would strongly consider going back to school for a tertiary qualification. While it has it's roots in networking, it is strongly focused on scripting/coding, and quite higher level than help-desk work. You can still work your way up there for sure, but having a diploma or a degree would put you further in that journey for a prospective employer IMO.

I went through a similar journey 6 years ago, transitioning from working as in the auto industry as a mechanic, going back to school for a degree, and now employed 3.5+ years as a software-developer-turning-dev-ops-guy. It's a great industry to be in for sure and I have no ra-grets about doing it.

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#2580066 6-Oct-2020 13:34

it looks like you've thought lots about it. I think you have it mostly covered and you'll do better than many I think

you probably want to specialize a bit more a some point, the things you listed are pretty vast. Even 'Cloud Engineer' could be pretty wide. Probably once you get into it, you'll find some area(s) that you are more passionate about than others. Dev and Infra are two slightly different paths. You sound like DevOps is more up your alley. Passion mostly always made IT feel more like fun than a job to me.

I'd try to do as much by following-your-nose instead of expensive tickbox courses. I always laughed when I used to see a ridiculous long list of these on CVs.

As a hiring manager, I would always hire someone with passion, inquisitive nature instead of some textbook paper certificate candidate

Playing around with Rpis is all good, find some practical things like Pihole etc so you can play with them live in your production home network lab etc.

In my 25 yrs of IT the one technical skill (haha I eventually turned into product marketing) I've always come back to is basic troubleshooting, don't change more than one variable before you test what's broken again etc, maybe I'm turning into a grumpy old man but I've noticed a lot of young IT folk lack it.

May the force be with you.

frankv

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#2580070 6-Oct-2020 13:40

The easiest way into IT is to leverage your existing skills, so you could maybe look for a help desk job in your current field.

But programming and Cloud are a whole other kettle of fish. Getting there via help desk is probably not possible.

I recommend going back to school (polytech or university -- I'd steer clear of private education providers). You might be able to get credit for some subjects in stuff you already know by a process known as Recognition of Prior Learning, thus reducing cost and workload, but probably not overall course length. You're probably looking at 2-3 years full time study. My experience teaching at PolyTech was that people who returned to education after working for a while generally did well, knowing what they wanted and being motivated and having life skills that school leavers didn't.

Having said that, I did a couple of AWS Associate quals recently, and I think they're good value and would probably lead to a career in Cloud. However, you might find them hard going if you don't already have an IT background. For me, it was 3 months' hard work. In theory, you're supposed to have a year working in AWS to get the quals, but I managed with experimenting from home. AWS is biggest in the world, but you might want to go for Azure instead, because it's big in NZ government, or Google Cloud. If you go this route, I recommend the "A Cloud Guru" online training... they cover AWS, and Azure, and a whole lot of other stuff.

But do get some old hardware and play around at home. And you can sign up with AWS, and (so long as you don't accidentally provision a huge database server) dabble around pretty much for free. (BTW, if you do accidentally incur a huge bill, AWS will refund you if you ask nicely). The only thing I paid AWS for was DNS registration, and you would have to pay someone for that anyway. A downside of Azure is that you pay for everything (and some things are ridiculously expensive). I don't know about Google's pricing.

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#2580072 6-Oct-2020 13:42

Your aim of Cloud Engineer is a good one, there's plenty of demand. Getting a background in programming first is also good - a cloud engineer tends to need a really wide background including some or most of programming or scripting, systems administration, Linux / Windows, security, operations, networking, etc. You don't just get a cloud cert and jump in, you'd need a few years of experience first.

ITIL is a waste of time. Comptia may be more useful, the 10 seconds I spent reading the website looked useful.

LarryFisherman

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#2580100 6-Oct-2020 14:21

Thank you for the replies, I have a lot to think about.

My initial thoughts with getting a help desk role is that if i continued to upskill as I worked I could transition from that into a different role that has higher skills needed and responsibilities(what that would be im unsure of at this point). I don't think I could go from help desk to cloud engineer just in case I gave that impression. Of course maybe I'm a bit naive and optimistic with my thinking here.

I'm really hesitant to go back to studying as with my other commitments I have on I don't think I have the luxury to go back to studying. Having spent years getting my Bachelor Of Commerce degree I would like to avoid spending more time with full time study. If it takes longer to get to where I want because I don't have a relevant degree, I'm willing to put in the effort to do that. I suppose part time study could be an option provided I could do it online.

I will look into getting some hardware to play around with as it seems to be the recommendation so far.

Is there a middle ground job I should aim for that would help me gain the require skills and experience I will need before heading into cloud?

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#2580107 6-Oct-2020 14:43

Pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional first and then ask that question.

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timmmay

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#2580108 6-Oct-2020 14:43

Doing the Comptia is probably a good grounding and place to start. From there you can do a bit more training if you want to specialise. I don't know if going to helpdesk first is best, you'll get some experience I guess, but working out how to get a grad role in the role you want to be in would be more direct - more difficult, but more direct.

timmmay

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#2580131 6-Oct-2020 15:22

Spyware:

Pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional first and then ask that question.

I don't think that's ideal. In my experience (which is extensive in this field) I suggest it's best to get general IT experience before specialising in cloud. I gave more detail above.

AWS architect professional is a great certification, I have it, but without a really wide, solid foundation of IT knowledge this certification won't do someone much good. Also, to get a role as an architect you need at least 5 years IT experience, preferably 10 years, with a wide range of knowledge in many areas of IT.

frankv

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#2580133 6-Oct-2020 15:28

A fairly recent (as in the last 6 years or so) BCom plus 6 years experience in an office environment might make you somewhat qualified for some kind of business analysis role, from where you could migrate to database, which can be somewhat techie.

There are also Open Polytech & Massey as study-while-you-work options. Massey may have a post-grad cert you can add (part-time or online) to your BCom to take you in the right direction?

I'd assumed from your username that you were currently in the offshore marine harvesting industry. ;)

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#2580140 6-Oct-2020 15:42

xpd:

ITIL is more process/framework, I've yet to work for anyone that uses it. (20+ years in IT)

ITIL is good if you work for big corporates, but what I have used in ITIL could be summarized in one page.

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#2580151 6-Oct-2020 16:09

As someone who tried to get into IT for nearly 10 years but couldn't get in and ended up going elsewhere, I would suggest leveraging your contacts within the industury (and/or meeting people within the industury). From my impressions it's much less about what you know (although that certaintly helps!) but a lot more about who you know. I was always surprised when I read articles saying IT companies couldn't find employees when I knew of myself (and others who studied with me) who had applied for heaps of roles and couldn't land a single role. I didn't have any good contacts back then and I suspect that was my main problem.

I eventually pivioted into education by getting a job at one of my old schools doing digital media work and studied to be a teacher at the same time. I'm a registered teacher now and my 'onboarding' into employment as a teacher followed an entirely different pathway than IT. I applied for jobs at places where I knew the people really well. Within a year I was working for my old school and working alongside people I have known for years.

I may well go back into IT, but most likely will be an Education/IT blended role to take advantage of both my IT and education knowledge. Perhaps another idea could be to look for roles that have overlap between your current industury and IT. Your exisiting knowledge will be an huge asset especially if there are not many people that have good knowledge of your current industury and IT.

I wish you well.

timmmay

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#2580152 6-Oct-2020 16:13

We advertise on Seek / LinkedIn, and it's really about what someone knows (experience and qualifications) and interpersonal skills. A candidate has to fit the criteria for the role being advertised fairly well though, even if they're great at lots of things if they're not great at what the role needs they won't get it.

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#2580214 6-Oct-2020 17:12

+1 for looking into business analysis (I'm a contract BA). If you can get into digital, it'll be a good way to get a feel for the different types of roles that may interest you...and you'll get plenty of opportunity to branch out in a more practical way.

I'm a high school drop-out, hold no BA-specific qualifications, don't have a uni degree, and I'm a chef by trade.

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#2580254 6-Oct-2020 19:43

Sounddude:

xpd:

ITIL is more process/framework, I've yet to work for anyone that uses it. (20+ years in IT)

ITIL is good if you work for big corporates, but what I have used in ITIL could be summarized in one page.

I've worked for a couple of multinational corporates, they all talk the talk but that's it ;) Funny thing was, both advertised as "ITIL experience preferred" yet was never bought up in interviews ;)

XPD / Gavin

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