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Wreckless

Wreckless

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I was thinking about developing new skills in my free time in order to be able to find higher paying jobs some time in the future.

I've been working as an IT technician for roughly 6 years.

My current job is level 2 tech support at an insurance company. Basically, if an employee has a problem with their computer a peripheral or is having a software issue, they call the support center and if the support center can't fix the issue they send it to us.

The salary is pretty good for what I do. Nothing to complain. But in IT, fixing computer issues isn't really where the money is at. Specializing in a specific field is usually where the big salaries are.

Any suggestions on what I could learn on the side that could be useful? Something that employers are looking for. Especially during covid/post covid. I feel like more and more companies will be implementing work from home in the future which will cause the demand in the IT sector to increase and it has already.

I'm not looking to go back to school. Just something that I could do after work or in my free time at home. A certification maybe?

I considered learning programming. Developpers usually make a good salary but I never really liked coding.

Feel free to share your ideas.
 
Security. Lots of IT jobs are being outsourced to Indian companies, they're a little more hesitant to outsource their security.
Networking. Even if everything's in the cloud, the company will still need to maintain it's own networking infrastructure.

You could also go way out there and focus on OS/390 and Cobol. The old mainframers are retiring, someone will need to pick up the slack.
 
I recently went through a job search and I'll tell you what a lot of companies were looking for when I was searching.

1. Software Developers / App developers - If you can code or create apps/software packages you add direct value to a company. There are a lot of these jobs out there and from what I've seen they pay well and the supply is somewhat low yet.

2. Cloud based anything. Sorry to say but the days of calling in a technician or working with onsite servers/hardware/etc. are going away. Yes people will still need computers so as a technician you might be OK< but you won't move up much. Cloud based apps, BYOD, modern device management, etc. is where you want to be.

3. Security. This is going to be hard to learn on your own and prove yourself but security is huge out there too. You can get yourself certified and people will want you if you can sell the value you bring to them like insurance.....like, "what is your company worth to you and what's it worth to protect your intellectual property".

4. Network Engineers. Go into some like firewalls, cisco, Palo Alto networks, routers, switches, etc. if you like to get your hands on and engineer things. Much more opportunity and jobs there vs the "Systems Administrator" type roles. Nobody is housing large data rooms onsite anymore it's all cloud based. Being an expert in Microsoft servers, imaging laptops, storage/SAN, etc. is all good but isn't as useful as networking and cloud.
 
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AtomicPanther said:
Security. Lots of IT jobs are being outsourced to Indian companies, they're a little more hesitant to outsource their security.
Networking. Even if everything's in the cloud, the company will still need to maintain it's own networking infrastructure.

You could also go way out there and focus on OS/390 and Cobol. The old mainframers are retiring, someone will need to pick up the slack.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your response. That's the kind of suggestion I was looking for. I will have to google what "security" jobs in IT consists of because I honestly have no idea what these guys do.

TheNinja said:
I recently went through a job search and I'll tell you what a lot of companies were looking for when I was searching.

1. Software Developers / App developers - If you can code or add a skill you add direct value to a company. There are a lot of these jobs out there and from what I've seen they pay well and the supply is somewhat low yet.

2. Cloud based anything. Sorry to say but the days of calling in a technician or working with onsite servers/hardware/etc. are going away. Yes people will still need computers so as a technician you might be OK< but you won't move up much. Cloud based apps, BYOD, modern device management, etc. is where you want to be.

3. Security. This is going to be hard to learn on your own and prove yourself but security is huge out there too. You can get yourself certified and people will want you if you can sell the value you bring to them like insurance.....like, "what is your company worth to you and what's it worth to protect your intellectual property".

4. Network Engineers. Go into some like firewalls, cisco, Palo Alto networks, routers, switches, etc. if you like to get your hands on and engineer things. Much more opportunity and jobs there vs the "Systems Administrator" type roles. Nobody is hosing large data rooms onsite anymore it's all cloud based. Being an expert in Microsoft servers, imaging laptops, storage/SAN, etc. is all good but isn't as useful as networking and cloud.
Click to expand...
Damn, that was fast. Cloud seems to be the future indeed. I will look into it.

Crazy how vast the IT sector is. There's just so much to learn. Knowing what to chose and where to start can be difficult.

Thanks for your suggestions boss
 
Networking has always been more stable than programming, thats my exp. even being a good candidate, its always taken longer to find jobs when in between them, meanwhile networking buds get lined up easier. In that path certs mean more, but you;d know that being in that area

Really it depends on what you like and lean towards, I guess maybe you can branch out to being a DBA, its good money, but depending on the company (larger is more prickish), they want someone as a "slave" where you're able to work at any time; Server shuts down at 3 AM you're expected to do so, oh and if you're late 5h later you get shit. But overall backend development has more in common with networking and hardware than software or front end, so it might be easier to branch out if its what you seek
 
Friend of mine went from IT to cyber-security, makes 3 times what he used to.
 
Consulting. You get paid ridiculous amounts of money to do shit clients don't know how to do and don't want to learn how to do
 
Wreckless said:
I was thinking about developing new skills in my free time in order to be able to find higher paying jobs some time in the future.

I've been working as an IT technician for roughly 6 years.

My current job is level 2 tech support at an insurance company. Basically, if an employee has a problem with their computer a peripheral or is having a software issue, they call the support center and if the support center can't fix the issue they send it to us.

The salary is pretty good for what I do. Nothing to complain. But in IT, fixing computer issues isn't really where the money is at. Specializing in a specific field is usually where the big salaries are.

Any suggestions on what I could learn on the side that could be useful? Something that employers are looking for. Especially during covid/post covid. I feel like more and more companies will be implementing work from home in the future which will cause the demand in the IT sector to increase and it has already.

I'm not looking to go back to school. Just something that I could do after work or in my free time at home. A certification maybe?

I considered learning programming. Developpers usually make a good salary but I never really liked coding.

Feel free to share your ideas.
Click to expand...


I am a sr network architect. I have a CCIE and that should guarantee you at least 100k.
I would also say to learn python for scripting/automation. The cloud stuff is still pretty easy to get into. I have been doing a lot of SDWAN and Datacenter stuff.
 
Im trying to learn to code in my sparetime. Ironic considering my last post. <fml><\fml>
 
Wreckless said:
I considered learning programming. Developpers usually make a good salary but I never really liked coding.
Click to expand...
Yes. Do it. I am in your exact situation and thinking very hard about going into programming. I may do just that.
 
I currently work in marketing but on a digital team that focuses on content and (primarily) site builds, managing vendor relationships for my company, etc.

i’m young but wonder if I jump around as a general web producer If I can make decent money.
 
I have 20 plus years programming experience. Got a university degree in CS back in the 90s to get started. You could try and move to programming, but unless you already have extensive knowledge as a programmer, a short professional course is likely not going to cut it (especially if you don't like it)

IMO, the easiest job to transition to from where you are is likely to become a network administrator.

A short professional course and maybe getting a couple of Microsoft certifications (along with the experience you already have) could probably land you a decent job with higher pay than level 2 support.

If you eschew my advise and go for programming, use this joke in your job interview.

"Your mama is so fat that the recursive function I wrote to calculate her weight threw a stack overflow exception."
 
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I didn't know there were actual "level 2" technicians; thought that was just bullshit the Indian scammers came up with <{outtahere}>

"Don't worry ma'am, I'm a level 9000 technician. I know each and every thing with the computers."
 
Linux. Managing Linux as an SA is more fun and intriguing then Windows. I love Linux being all command line and it's useful in Windows PowerShell too. Take Certifications for Windows Server or Red Hat. I did helpdesk and it's a good stepping stone but not a good career.
 
Shuque said:
I have 20 plus years programming experience. Got a university degree in CS back in the 90s to get started. You could try and move to programming, but unless you already have extensive knowledge as a programmer, a short professional course is likely not going to cut it (especially if you don't like it)

IMO, the easiest job to transition to from where you are is likely to become a network administrator.

A short professional course and maybe getting a couple of Microsoft certifications (along with the experience you already have) could probably land you a decent job with higher pay than level 2 support.

If you eschew my advise and go for programming, use this joke in your job interview.

"Your mama is so fat that the recursive function I wrote to calculate her weight threw a stack overflow exception."
Click to expand...
Solid feasible advice. Much appreciated input bro

Renard said:
I didn't know there were actual "level 2" technicians; thought that was just bullshit the Indian scammers came up with <{outtahere}>

"Don't worry ma'am, I'm a level 9000 technician. I know each and every thing with the computers."
Click to expand...
<45>

Dead
 
I saw a TV show about a guy who learned to cook meth and he made a bunch of money iirc
 
Could consider devops. Don't have to be a hardcore coder and that was just about as hot as data scientists a few years ago
 
Rocco Siffredi said:
I am a sr network architect. I have a CCIE and that should guarantee you at least 100k.
I would also say to learn python for scripting/automation. The cloud stuff is still pretty easy to get into. I have been doing a lot of SDWAN and Datacenter stuff.
Click to expand...
Sdwan vs mpls. Who wins?
 
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