Where to go from here

[behindblueeyes]

Hi everyone,

As you can see on my profile:
I'm about to graduate from college (Bachelor of Information Technology). I am A+ and Network+ certified, and have completed Cisco's NetAcad (but have not taken the CCNA because I know I will fail, and it's not something I ever want to do my in my career as an IT professional anyway!). I am also looking for new certifications, but obviously I need some clarity on the path I'm looking at first.

I'm feeling rather confused right now. I adore IT, I always have. I've enjoyed my course, some parts more than others. Yet I still don't know what I want to do. It's a given that I need to do something about my lack of work-experience, but any job before I graduate will have to be basic as I do not have a lot of free time. I chose to pursue my degree in IT as it was broad and I wasn't sure exactly what aspect I was interested in. I am still happy with my decision as I still don't know. Lucky for me I have understanding parents that will let me do more college after this should I decide it would be useful.

I know that IT is for me. And I feel that once I find the right field (or general field) everything will become a lot easier.

I guess what I'm really trying to ask is if you could suggest some resources (books, web-sites) that might be useful in terms of pointing out IT jobs that I might not have previously considered.

Thanks you!

Graduation: July 2006.

Suggest a cert!

 

[svanels]

Welcome to Tek-Tips, where to go from know?
Simple, start working, meet real people, real equipment and real problems. After a while you will figure out what IT is all about.

But you just stepped in the "wolves den" with the certs , if you survive it here, probably you will do alright.

Regards

Steven

 

[Dollie]

Working for a small office enables me to explore every avenue of IT that I care to venture down. I've been able to hone my skills in network/system/database admin, support, specialized and development projects, software and hardware research and recommendations, and basically everything a larger IT staff does.

While the IT staff has grown to include 2 others over time, I still get to wear my multi-purpose hat and have some real fun in my job. If you want to explore a bit, you might do well to find a multi-purpose position to test yourself a bit.

I count myself as one of the really lucky ones, I'm actually HAPPY with my job!

 

[benlinkknilneb]

I'm 100% with Dollie on this one. A small company means that you get to make a difference sooner, rather than just being a cog in the wheel for a while. I'm the 2nd IT guy for our plant. We get to wear all the hats too... and it's fun. Lately I've been working on the migration to a new file server. Once it's up and running, I'm going to use the old one to learn SQL Server via ASP apps. Put feelers out with companies that don't have a huge IT department. That way you get to try on the hats, and if you find one that fits you better than all the others, you can look for a more specialized job. I kinda prefer changing hats though; it keeps work from getting boring.

I too am very happy with my job, and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

Ben
The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't. - Douglas Adams

 

[LadySlinger]

Yes! Ben and Dollie are right on.

I got my experience 6 years ago with a small company working with all sorts of IT related stuff: Networking, Firewalls, Anti-Virus Strategies and Technical Documenting.
Now I've decided that I'm more interested in the security end of things and am going back to school to learn about system/network security and all that good stuff.

Also one interesting thing I learned the other day: once you do find an area in IT that you like, when you go to apply to the jobs make sure that you're knowledged in what the job is about at the face-to-face interview and have a plan or valuable idea to put into place for that position.
I read this in some job-related site as the "new" way of interviewing. Instead of just applying to the job you're qualified for, you can make bigger leaps by having a little qualification and a lot of ambition for the position.