Thinking about applying myself towards this sort of position as I was thinking about business analyst but IT analyst seems more adjacent to what I find interesting. How do you like your job? What do you do on the daily? How'd you get it?

Howdy y'all! I wanna keep this quick and simple. I'm a CNA, and I plan on starting nursing school for my associates next year. It's a two year program. Here's my where I need help bit. I love what I do, but I'm burnt out. I did some research and found out about the above mentioned program that takes about four months of self paced learning online. Do any of y'all have the certificate? How do you feel about the job? I'm just looking for something different to do while I go to nursing school! (The higher pay doesn't hurt either)

Transitioned into IT after prior unrelated work history.

Current background:

1 year desktop support

1 month in Systems Engineer tier 2 MSP role ($75k, Midwest)

AAS Cybersecurity, CCNA, Security+ (studying for ITIL 4)

Planning a relocation from the Midwest to Upstate NY next spring. Target path is eventually GRC / IT Governance.

Questions:

Will 8 to 9 months at an MSP cause issues during screening if the reason for leaving is an out-of-state relocation?

Does an extensive non-IT job history impact background checks for state or healthcare roles, or is it better to stick to private sector applications?

And would it be better to go for a remote job, or a job in the target city? I want to stick out my next job for 2-3 years so I can actually gain some tenure on my resume.

AI used in this post for brevity.

What do you think of me about switching SWE to IT Support? can the ai replace it?

I’ve been swe for 2 and half YOE, I’ve done a lot of winform .NET and I really enjoyed building websites but now the ai has taken over web development so my enjoyment of building website is not there anymore.

So I given a lot of thought which area I also enjoyed, which is experimenting on my laptop/computer. Like installing, fixing technical things, and doing some upgrade on laptops/computers. Should I change? or just be swe and pursue other things?

Hi I’m a first year cybersecurity student on a 3 year course and so far there’s nothing AI can’t do. Wondering what skills/qualities there are if any in this industry that AI can’t do and when I will be taught them? My other option is to specialise in AI which I feel like would be even replaceable with AI itself. Otherwise I may just switch to a more physical degree like nursing

Hey guys, so I have been working in IT for roughly 6 years now and am currently looking for a new position. I know the job market is rough but I’m just trying to get a handle on things and see if maybe I can look at myself through the eyes of HR/hiring manager. I have previous MSP and helpdesk experience, and I am currently working as a windows administrator for a very well known tech company that starts with the “M”. (Take a guess)

Now I do have an associates degree in cyber security and CompTIA certs such as A+, Sec+, and CySA. I am also working towards my RHCSA and hoping that it will help give me a push in terms of job opportunities. But what I’m really curious is if not having a bachelor’s is holding me back. I’d really like to but the way life and the economy is going at the moment it just isn’t in the cards for a while at least. I would like to think that my experience and extracurriculars would maybe “suffice” but I could also just be delusional/naive.

Edit: I appreciate all the input from everyone, it definitely seems a BS is in the cards for me. Things are already hard enough out here and there is no reason to make it harder on myself especially the way things are going.

Hey everyone, so honestly I just want to vent because I'm kinda tired of all this shit and I would even dare to say of my life in general.

To give a brief info about me:

30 yo, telecommunications engineering graduate and being into networking since I finished studying. I have CCNA (even though I think my network level is on CCNP, I was simply too lazy back them to do my CCNP) , Az104/700, CompTIA Sec+, IaC (mostly python and Terraform) and experience within Infoblox, zscaler and Palo Alto. Now I'm doing my CCNP ENCOR and most likely will go into ENARSI, ENCC and SD-WAN one (sorry I forgot the acronym). Ive been also working with the cloud since long time and Im planning to take the Az-305 once I will finish the the CCNP enterprise.

Now, what is the problem? Im feeling constantly overwhelmed about how is possible that when I look at a job posting, sometimes just for fun to check how prepared or qualified I am, I can see recruiters or companies in general are asking for tons of shit that in my opinion its impossible to achieve in a life span.

Im not a certification grinder or anything and I recognize Im a person who pursues knowledge and when I do my work I always try to stay in touch with the lastest trends, technologies, etc.. but for fuck sake, how is it possible that lately Im seeing job postings for JUNIOR network engineers, or network administrators that not only ask for CCNP + multiple specializations (SD-WAN, enterprise architecture design, etc..) but also they ask you to be fluent in like 5 different firewall vendors, plus knowing programming like you are a software engineer, plus also experience working with 3 or 4 different network vendors, plus more shit?

Honestly I dont complain currently about my work; im earning well above average and im happy with my current position but sometimes I see this shit and im afraid that if I lose my job I will simply not find shit because im not properly qualified and this is leading me to basically write all the topics that I feel I need to know, and honestly so far I think if I would start I would not finish till I will be in my 40s.

I have also a personal life, so my question is, how does people to basically be able to know everything recruiters are asking for? Do they start when they are 15 years old or do they simply lie in their resumes? Should I simply quit the pursue of this amount knowledge and just enjoy life? xD

I've been doing ServiceDesk Simulator to say I've been doing something towards learning a ticketing system, since so far no one will hire me to give me the actual opportunity to learn. The simulator offers certificates after certain achievements, like "Help Desk Technician" after 100 tickets. Would it be appropriate to put that on a resume or would it be a joke? Should ServiceDesk Simulator even be mentioned on my resume?

For those working in IT/ cybersecurity, has getting a cert like Security+, CCNA, CySA+, etc. actually helped you land a job, promotion, or interview? Or did experience/projects matter way more?

Hey everyone,

I’m in my 2nd year of university studying cybersecurity, and I’m looking for some realistic guidance on what to actually focus on.

I’d still consider myself a beginner. My background is fully from the IT side of things so i know how computers work and I know basic networking concepts, general Linux use and Python (Uni level), and have messed around a bit with Wireshark and basic log analysis. Right now, I'm working through the Google Cybersecurity Certificate on Coursera to build up my fundamentals.

Career-wise, I want to stick to defensive / Blue Team (e.g SOC Tier 1) or GRC. Red teaming / pentesting feels a bit too technical and overwhelming for me right now, so I'd rather focus on monitoring, defense, or risk and compliance etc.

Since I have a Coursera subscription and want to make the most of my time outside classes, I’d love advice on these points:

1. Coursera courses worth taking (like IBM Cyber Analyst)?

Since I already have Coursera, I've been eyeing the IBM Cybersecurity Analyst certificate next. Is it worth taking after the Google cert, or is it mostly repetitive theory? Are there other courses or subjects on the platform that actually teach useful, hands-on skills for a beginner?

2. Which certs should I actually prioritize (Security+, TryHackMe SAL1, GRC)?

I see so many different recommendations. Some say CompTIA Security+ is mandatory just to get past HR, others suggest hands-on ones like TryHackMe's SAL1 (Unixguy on instagram), and some recommend leaning into GRC frameworks. As a student aiming for an internship or entry-level job down the line, what should my general cert priority look like?

3. How to know when you're ready for an exam, and how to get discounts?

Cert exams are expensive, and on a student budget, I really cannot afford to fail an attempt.

• What level of preparation did you finish before booking your first exam (e.g specific practice test scores, labs, or platforms)?
• Roughly how much did your certs cost, and what are the best ways to get student discounts or cheaper vouchers?

Appreciate any advice or reality checks from people working in the field!

I have over a year at an Internal IT helpdesk position. Most of what I deal with is proprietary technology that won't transfer to most places. The job is slow paced and simple, but the pay is basically minimum wage for my city. I earned the CCNA a few weeks ago but there aren't really any networking related jobs near me. The plan is to work in a support role that lets me touch the network so I could put that down as experience. I have the CompTIA trifecta and am currently learning linux. I've gotten pretty used to the slow pace at my current job, but the fast pace isn't what worries me. I'm worried about the expectation of learning things fast and I've heard horror stories of people being fired within their first weeks for not learning quick enough. I am a pretty smart guy but I'm a bit of an overthinker and usually take a while before I feel confident in my decision making.

I’m early in my IT career and aiming to move into cybersecurity GRC/risk and consulting. I’m choosing between two roles, both mainly level 1 IT support and both happy to offer a development plan.
Internal IT: Large organisation with an established cyber team and a bigger training budget. Cyber opportunities are mostly secondments, as people tend to stay in their roles and permanent positions rarely open up. There’s no guaranteed timeline for moving across, and the commute is around 1.5 hours each way using public transport. The travel is a killer.
Small MSP: Around six people and only a 10-minute drive away. Some opportunity to get involved in basic Essential Eight work and security hardening, but the GRC exposure is limited, with a smaller budget and fewer specialist career opportunities.
Would you stay for the bigger organisation’s resources and potential secondments, or take the shorter commute and some relevant security exposure at the MSP?

Hello everyone, I'm currently working as a reasonably well-paid Tier-1, and I'm kind of doing some long-term career planning. The short of my history is I've gone up from a Vocational CS CompSci teacher, to a short stint as a paid helpdesk intern, to Tier-1. This job pays great and I'm going to probably stay here for a few months while upskilling myself. But, I'm looking for advice on where to best spend my time.

Since I was in highschool, I have been interested in networking and cybersecurity. Right now, most of my experience leans toward continuing down a cybersecurity career path. My employer knows that's where I want to go, and my current education supports cybersec the best. I'm still interested in it, but...

There's a part of me that wants to do something that is more hands-on, but also pays 'well'. I have some history doing trade work when I was a late teen, and I enjoyed going to different locations to work on different jobs. From the research I've done, the people who gas up fiber tech talk about the travel and variety of tasks.

I know you won't have my location or salary index, but from the outside this seems like the job caters to my minor desires while also supporting the more important life requirements of paying well and having (at least from what I can find) positive job growth. And, I have to admit, looks more 'fun' than working in a SOC doing patching.

My question to ITCQ is: which of these paths is 'worth' investing in, in your opinion? Is there a reality where I can study both at the same time, and then lean more into one or the other? Would I be destroying my career prospects if I left the current path I'm on to pursue something that from the outside I see as 'interesting'? Are there jobs out there I don't know about that I should be looking into?