Hi, Guest
It's all about being in the right place at the right time, and working for the right employer helps too.
There are lots of different ways to make your mark in IT. Consulting is a golden cash cow to most, but the extra hours that consultants invariably end up working can be one of the biggest stressors that ultimately dissuade newcomers from entering the consulting industry.
Or, you could end up where I am. Several Microsoft certs, a college diploma from a networking-oriented program relating to NOS and firewalls, routers, etc. Employed as a senior Systems Admin, running the entire IT infrastructure - copper, VLANs, servers, services, published applications and resources as well as being responsible for support staff. We design new network infrastructure, redesign existing services as required (finished a new network redesign rollout last week, actually), plan / configure / implement new servers and services as needed and re-evaluate current status and plan for new development.
If you're given the right environment to work in, IT is a great career. We're responsible for over 250 mail-enabled users (users with email addresses) and we're also responsible for maintaining worldwide access to that email, as well as securely-published applications and ensuring client/vendor connectivity as well. It seems like a lot, but in reality it flows rather well.
There are lots of different ways to make your mark in IT. Consulting is a golden cash cow to most, but the extra hours that consultants invariably end up working can be one of the biggest stressors that ultimately dissuade newcomers from entering the consulting industry.
Or, you could end up where I am. Several Microsoft certs, a college diploma from a networking-oriented program relating to NOS and firewalls, routers, etc. Employed as a senior Systems Admin, running the entire IT infrastructure - copper, VLANs, servers, services, published applications and resources as well as being responsible for support staff. We design new network infrastructure, redesign existing services as required (finished a new network redesign rollout last week, actually), plan / configure / implement new servers and services as needed and re-evaluate current status and plan for new development.
If you're given the right environment to work in, IT is a great career. We're responsible for over 250 mail-enabled users (users with email addresses) and we're also responsible for maintaining worldwide access to that email, as well as securely-published applications and ensuring client/vendor connectivity as well. It seems like a lot, but in reality it flows rather well.
Daily driver 1: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport "S"
33" BFG Mud-Terrain KM2s, lots of Rough Country gear - bumper, 2.5" lift, swaybar disconnects, Superwinch 10,000lb winch, Detroit Locker in rear D44 axle, custom exhaust, K+N filtercharger, Superchips-tuned.
Daily driver 2: 2006 Subaru Legacy GT
COBB Stage 1+ package - AccessPort tuner, COBB intake and airbox. Stage 2 coming shortly - COBB 3" AT stainless DP and race cat, custom 3" Magnaflow-based exhaust and Stage 2 COBB tune.
33" BFG Mud-Terrain KM2s, lots of Rough Country gear - bumper, 2.5" lift, swaybar disconnects, Superwinch 10,000lb winch, Detroit Locker in rear D44 axle, custom exhaust, K+N filtercharger, Superchips-tuned.
Daily driver 2: 2006 Subaru Legacy GT
COBB Stage 1+ package - AccessPort tuner, COBB intake and airbox. Stage 2 coming shortly - COBB 3" AT stainless DP and race cat, custom 3" Magnaflow-based exhaust and Stage 2 COBB tune.