IT Careers

[Anonymous]

How can one break into the field without have a computer science degree. I was advised by someone to get a comp tia A+ certification. Will this be enough?

I really need to change careers from social services, because there is no money in it and I've always enjoyed doing technical things.

[Anonymous]

Get into the admin side of your work. Comptia cert is one way to start, look at classes at a community college, Microsoft certs.
Do you want to get into programming or networks? Many have started with writing Excel macros, then access programming, then graduating into more challenging work. You could try reading what you can from the library, free online classes. You really have to constantly educate yourself in this field. A college degree is one way to enter it, but some have come into this without one

[Anonymous]

CISSP

[Anonymous]

I think you need to narrow down your focus/interest, as IT is just too broad of a field. Do you want to be a computer technician, programmer, database admin, network admin, etc.? Those are all very different jobs. I think information security is a good choice with lots of future growth potential, but maybe something like a help desk technician might be an easy way to break into the field.

I'd recommend spending a considerable amount of time at a library or bookstore and look at all the various topics within computers. Pick up some of the really large books and see if you have the patience and interest to get through them. There are even some pretty good YouTube tutorials for almost anything. There are also tons of free, open source applications for almost anything.

[Anonymous]

Cyber security is the way to go right now. Especially on the government side. We're really beefing up the number of cyber security personnel right now. Look for certifications for IAT/IAM - information assurance technician/manager.

DoD directive 8570.01 lists certification requirements. That would be a good place to start. I think UMD also had a cyber security program.

[Anonymous]

If you have a degree in social services, then go into application development and then project management. There is a demand for technical people with the business knowledge

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have a degree in social services, then go into application development and then project management. There is a demand for technical people with the business knowledge

+1

I was going to say the same thing. If you simply go for the IT certification or degree you could easily end up with debt and no one willing to give you an IT job because you lack the experience in IT. There are people with IT experience applying for those jobs. There aren't a lot of entry level, we will train you on the job, IT opportunities that I've seen short of being a college type internship opportunity. Even the help desk route can be tough to break out into software development, database management etc. because of the lack of experience.

What you have right now is functional knowledge of social services ...assuming you aren't working with only paper there is software somewhere for case management, HR, Finance etc. and that software at some point will need to be upgraded or replaced. Position yourself to be the go- to person either at your employer for the functional side of the application and learn as much as you can about IT. Then get the credentials/ formal education and consider making the move maybe with consulting to implement or upgrade software for social services type organization. Possibly move from there to project management. Since you were pretty broad about IT the question really is where is your passion and talent lie within IT? To me you have to have some genuine interest in the area in order to plow ahead in troubleshooting when the answer isn't obvious or simple and to have the motivation to not let yourself get stale in your field. You also want to be food and I think that's easier when you are interested and motivated. Could I learn networking, maybe, do I have any desire to do so , none at all. It would be very difficult for me to do it day in and day out and be one of the best.

I would really agree about the need for technical people with the business knowledge.

[Anonymous]

PP meant to say you want to be good, not want to be food.