eliminator111

I've worked in finance for several years. Needless to say, the job prospects in that sector have dried up and I'm looking to enter the IT field (my first love). Questions:

1. How do I get my 'foot in the door'?

2. Should I get certified? At this point, I'm intersted in networking. However, I'm willing to enter any IT field.

I've seen a lot of self-teach books. This seems a much more fiscally prudent route than taking a class to get certified.

3. What's the best non- programming field that could potentially yield the highest salary?

4. What's the most promising IT field ( I realize that this is subjective)?

5. Is this still a promising field ($ is not necessarily my sole intention)?

Any adice is appreciated,
TIA

Mr.Deflok

Make contacts, ask friends, drop off CV's, offer free work experience.If you're into your networking a CCNA would be a great advantage, a couple of MCP's would be nice too.Personally I found having practical classes far more easier than self-taught stuff.Not too sure sorry, I'm earning a decent amount as a PC Technician. But as I understand it Network Engineer's earn shitloads.Very subjective, I'd have to say netoworking is on the up and up but that's just meHell yes. No problemo.

JTC

Eliminator,

I would suggest that you don't try make a direct jump into IT rather that you look at using your finance experience as an avenue to get involved in IT. I would definitely recommend some sort of certification but your best bet would to be to try and find a role that is looking for a finance person with a good level of IT skills. Once you get the job then you can move around or focus more on this area.

You could maybe land a job as say a project manager for a finance company.

To your questions...

1 - Contacts are definitely where the best jobs are advertised. But to get your foot in the door maybe try a job agency.

2 - Yes. IT is fairly competitive these days and any little advantage will surely help

3 - Some sort of business development role. The coin is still good for IT/finance programmers too. How many $$$ are we talking here???

4 - What do you mean by promising. If you mean salary - business side of things will allow you to move further up the chain. If you mean enjoyment - A lot of people find programming satisfying cause you're actually building things and solving problems. If you mean growth potential - Really hard to say. A couple of years ago you would've said web/e-commerce but that has died recently.

5 - Still plenty of work if you're good enough - A lot of dumb-asses with IT degrees though

Hope some of this helps. My last bit of advice would be to try learn to speak copious amounts of bullshit. This will always help when trying to land a job.

__________________
I like to eat cheese

billege

I have an IT degree.

I'm not a dumbass.

__________________
I can sum up the clash of religion in one sentence:
"My Invisible Friend is better than your Invisible Friend."

JTC

hehehe

I didn't say everyone was a dumbass. But I bet you met a few while you were going through College???

One guy I met stands out in particular to me. He was completely amazed that I could get through the course without failing a subject.

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I like to eat cheese

irieemon

Some people can definately slip into the IT field that dont know shit.

Self-taught is hard, go to class, or intern under someone patient. There are a million commands that you should learn on the first day or you will be frustrated.

Networking is human, you will always have a job if you know the in and outs of that. Pay attention to VPN's, Firewalls, and packet protocols. If you understand what underlies the technology, you can plan a much more effective network

Try to have fun, it can get very tiring, and if you are in corporate america can be a thankless job at times. Communication is key.

i_t_man

As far as certifications, don't get too hung up on them. in the 90's, HR departments would hire you on the spot if they saw MCSE on your resume. Since then most companies have realized that anyone can study for a test and give book answers during an interview. The problem is that these candidates know the theory behind how something is supposed to work but can't actually apply it in real life.

The company I work for is much different (thank god), when you interview, HR is only 1 of 7 people that talk to you. The rest are people that actually work in one of the IT departments. They couldn't care less if you have every certification out there, they only care if you can perform. In fact most of the almost 500 people working in IT here don't have any certifications and we have some of the best UNIX admins on the west coast (sorry, shameless plug there).