Breaking through the ceiling and rising up the IT food chain 1

[Teknoratti]

I'm finding it a bit difficult to get out of this help desk / tech support role into a more challenging and personally fulfilling IT admin role. I have over 7 years exp in IT but it has mostly been 1st / 2nd level help desk / technical support. I haven't been able to gain any real world exp with security administration which I ultimately want to do. I've done a lot of self teaching and tried to apply some principles at work but nothing in the real world sense of what a sec admin would do on a daily basis.

How have some of you guys risen from from this conundrum?

I am continuing to increase my knowledge but really haven't been able to apply anything. I asked my super at my job for more of a challenging role but it was made clear that although the gesture and willingness to step up to the plate was good, we already have ppl in this role and that I probably won't be anything more than what I am now.

That statement alone is writing on the wall to get the f**k out, but right now this is what pays the bills. So again, how have some of you guys handled situations like this? Have you taken less $$ somewhere else to have the opportunity to do what you want to do?

Thanks

 

[hjgoldstein]

Well, I wasn't expecting that!

I know that there are often valid reasons for an individual to have a poor credit rating, and also that there are mistakes made.

Here in the UK (I can't comment about the US) there are safeguards in place in respect of mistakes on credit ratings for private individuals. If a bad score is generated by erroneous information, the individual concerned can require the credit acency to remove or correct the infomation.

I realise that there are circumstances which can occur where the individual's rating deteriorates due to circumstances beyond their control, but no system is perfect.

I shall refrain from any further comment in this thread as I want to stop the bleeding from my ears and I apologise for upsetting anyone.

It is time for pacifists to stand up and fight for their beliefs.

 

[kmcferrin]

In the US you can have erroneous information removed as well, and there is a federal law called the Fair Credit Reporting Act that outlines how to handle the situation.

The problem is that we have three major credit reporting agencies here (CRAs) and once one of them has bad info it quickly ends up in the hands of the others. So while you could be working to get erroneous information removed from one CRAs database it can be propogated to the other CRAs, and then once you get it removed it can end up coming back.

That's assuming that you know that there is erroneous information there to begin with, because most people don't check their credit reports regularly even though they're entitled to a free report from each CRA once a year.

The other problem is that it can take weeks or months to clear up erroneous information from your credit report, which is of little use to you if the potential employer that you are about to sign on with just ran your credit score.

One interesting twist though...when it comes to lending the law says that financial institutions have to provide an adverse action notification to you if you are denied credit due to something in your credit history. The report basically says that you were denied credit based on information found in the report from (CRA name) and that you are entitled to a free copy of the credit report to see why you were rejected. As near as I can tell there are no similar requirements for employers, landlords, etc, meaning that you may be turned down for an apartment or a job without ever knowing why.

________________________________________
CompTIA A+, Network+, Server+, Security+
MCTS:Windows 7
MCSE:Security 2003
MCITP:Server Administrator
MCITP:Enterprise Administrator
MCITP:Virtualization Administrator 2008 R2
Certified Quest vWorkspace Administrator

 

[tcsbiz]

Another way credit score is being used is in the insurance industry. My agent told me yesterday that I was allowed a lower rate due to my credit score. That's good for me now but he said the reverse is true. That they have higher rates or deny insurance based on a lower score. He said that score is not the only criteria but is about 25%.

I agree that one should be notified whenever anyone performs a credit check.

 

[kmcferrin]

Yup, insurance companies use it too. I think it's ridiculous that a score that is designed to measure credit risk is being used as a filter for all of these other issues. There may be some correlation, but I suspect that there are enough outliers that it's basically a way for companies to rip people off.

________________________________________
CompTIA A+, Network+, Server+, Security+
MCTS:Windows 7
MCSE:Security 2003
MCITP:Server Administrator
MCITP:Enterprise Administrator
MCITP:Virtualization Administrator 2008 R2
Certified Quest vWorkspace Administrator

 

[hinesward]

I don't have much credit history. What I do have is excellent, however.

I would check into someone's credit history as well. It CAN be a reflection of the person's integrity. The person who buys a 50-inch big screen TV while they have a job that pays $8 per hour is not the kind of person I would hire.

I would ask, however, why my applicant had a bankruptcy or two. Unfortunately, more and more bankruptcies nowadays are due to bad luck regarding health and then having deal with the disastrous US health care system. Many of the people who end up declaring bankruptcy are also people who happened to have insurance.

I remember the last time I went to the hospital. I had just been a car wreck and thought that I should just go get a checkup at least. I met with a doctor for about ten minutes, and he told me that there was nothing wrong with me. That was about $360. That's right--$360 for a doctor to tell me that I was okay.

 

[tcsbiz]

Is an employer required to get a prospect's O.K. via signature to get their credit history? Or, is it fair game for anyone?

I would think that there'd be some controls. Maybe not.

 

[JCreamerII]

Not.

Jim C.

 

[hinesward]

They have to get permission to access your credit history. It also requires a SS#.

 

[tcsbiz]

They have to get permission to access your credit history. It also requires a SS#.

I wonder at what point I gave my insurance company permission?

 

[JCreamerII]

After filling out an application, they would have all the info needed to run a credit check. I don't believe that you need anyone's permission to run a credit check. Also they would only run a credit check if you were a candidate to get hired, and not run one on everybody that showed up.

Jim C.

 

[kmcferrin]

You need to authorize someone to be able to run a full credit report (in the U.S.), but in your job application or car insurance application they will likely already have all of the information that is needed to run a report without your consent. However, most likely what the employers and insurance companies are doing is running a limited report that only provides your credit score and not the details of your credit history. For their purposes knowing that someone has a score of 500 instead of 800 would be sufficient.

Hinesward, if you didn't have insurance when you went to the E.R. then you got double-dinged. The hospital has a "list price" for every procedure and consumable, but the insurance companies get a discounted rate. If you have insurance and have to pay out of pocket then you pay the insurance company's rates, not the "list price".

I went to the E.R. to get stitches once and the list price for the work was around $1800 (including local anesthesia, tetanus booster etc). Even though I have a $2500 deductible with my health insurance, the hospital had to give me the lower insurance company rates. So after the hospital took the write off for insurance I ended up paying only $1150, even though I hadn't met the deductible for the year. If I had been uninsured I would have had to pay full price.

________________________________________
CompTIA A+, Network+, Server+, Security+
MCTS:Windows 7
MCSE:Security 2003
MCITP:Server Administrator
MCITP:Enterprise Administrator
MCITP:Virtualization Administrator 2008 R2
Certified Quest vWorkspace Administrator