Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
After many false starts and long pauses, I have decided to pursue a career in IT. My original major in college was a double major in Computer Science and Information Systems (was at this school for approx. 1 yr. and only took 1 programming course and Systems Analysis or whatever which I withdrew from midsemester). Have additional coursework from other schools - gen reqs and business-oriented. Other than that, I have a high technical aptitude, and have some experience with troubleshooting and upgrading computers, setting up home networks, etc. (my own). No formal IT work experience, but I understand the terminology and all of the concepts very well. I currently work as a contractor for the Bing search engine (have also done this type of work for Google also), but it's not the most technical of jobs and pay is surprisingly low (so low I get....help).
Considering my age (33), I feel that this is my last shot at a decent salary (ruled out Nursing, Law, Medicine, etc. due to time, cost). I don't have the luxury of returning to a brick-and-mortar college/FT because I have bills to pay. In my state (GA), it takes forever to get to the good stuff (your major courses) because the curriculum is bloated with lib arts/gen reqs., and I am in a hurry to get somewhat stable employment (first earning goal is a mere $35,000). What discouraged me from pursuing IT is that the field is so broad, and I feel like you can never get up to speed on what employers need, or have ENOUGH skills to be employable. When I see jobs it's like Job A at Company S - must be proficient in 2,5,6,11, and have 5-7 yrs. experience doing H,V, R, and T (Y variety). No one has ALL of the skills that each job requests. It's not a field where you can say I want to be a X and obtain G, H, and K training to be come a X. I've been accepted to Western Governor's University, but for the IT Management degree (I really want an IT degree and am in the processing of appealing). I understand that I can come back and earn a second degree in IT but that costs more money and time. Would I be okay with supplementing the IT Mgmt degree with a load of self-studied certifications, or am I better off with the IT degree?
I don't know what area of IT I'm interested but I'm sure I don't want to program/code, engineer, or do software development. What I DO know is that I am trying to get into the highest paying areas in the shortest amount of time - jobs where I can break $80,000 or pref. make six figures. (However if any of the aforementioned jobs will get me there fast, I'm open to them but keep in mind I can't afford coding schools like devbootcamp and what not - I am 100% dependent on financial aid for study). Upon doing preliminary research, I think my interest is Security. I am also considering getting a few technical certificates from my local technical college. The training needed for Database Admin seems pretty straightforward (SQL/Oracle), but I feel like it's a dead-end. With the Cisco job cuts/decrease in demand, I wonder if networking certs. are still worth it.
And I know, I know, I'll probably have to start out in Help Desk - and that's fine. I just need to know what certs, skills, training, will get me to an employable status and where I should aim to go from there. What jobs should I pursue? Should I pursue my degree at WGU or elsewhere? I hope you understand what I'm asking. Additional things to factor in - My job market is Atlanta (may consider returning home to Washington, DC) and I'm a female.
Go to indeed.com and search for the type of job you want. Search nationally. You will get to see the education, certs, and skills that various types of employers are looking for.
I don't know what area of IT I'm interested but I'm sure I don't want to program/code, engineer, or do software development. What I DO know is that I am trying to get into the highest paying areas in the shortest amount of time - jobs where I can break $80,000 or pref. make six figures.
Why would Database Admin(SQL/Oracle) be a dead end? Are you saying the Cisco job cuts would affect Oracle admin jobs?
Certs aren't too useful, because employers don't really have junior admin jobs for cert guys with no exp. I don't see why you would even consider databases, if you don't want to do any coding. SQL coding is the easiest job to land.
SQL uses the same 3 words (Select, From, Where) everyday. I got into SQL, about 3 years ago. I am certainly in the $80 to $100k range.
I learned SQL in 30's. I never graduated college. While I could have gone to college, it would have been an expensive proposition. I did take a Oracle SQL cert, which cost $200 for the exam. I probably spent another $200 on study materials.
SQL has been around for decades. You can often get a job with only SQL as your only language.
It depends on what you mean by "job." A software engineer certainly wouldn't get a job simply on the grounds of knowing SQL.
I never said a software engineer would get a job with only SQL. I never mentioned software engineers at all. I don't know how you got software engineer from that post.
As I said in my post, I have a job writing SQL queries as an analyst as a perm employee. I only know SQL. I don't know C, Java, or the alphabet soup of languages. My salary is within the OP's requested salary range (80k to 100k+).
Last edited by move4ward; 08-18-2014 at 06:47 PM..
Speaking as a database developer (SQL Server)....you pretty much have to know C# these days. At LEAST learn VB.NET. You can't really progess without it, unless you are an SSRS ninja...but most SSRS people don't make six figures.
DBA is a future dead-end because of outsourcing to cloud computing. There is no reason to believe that in-house DBA functions won't go the same way. (At least for SQL Server, which is a piece of cake to administer. Oracle's a different animal.)
To the OP...if you don't want to program, you're pretty much restricted to network admin or security-type stuff. You'll have to know how to write expressions and DOS batch scripts to do that.
Why would Database Admin(SQL/Oracle) be a dead end? Are you saying the Cisco job cuts would affect Oracle admin jobs?
Certs aren't too useful, because employers don't really have junior admin jobs for cert guys with no exp. I don't see why you would even consider databases, if you don't want to do any coding. SQL coding is the easiest job to land.
SQL uses the same 3 words (Select, From, Where) everyday. I got into SQL, about 3 years ago. I am certainly in the $80 to $100k range.
I learned SQL in 30's. I never graduated college. While I could have gone to college, it would have been an expensive proposition. I did take a Oracle SQL cert, which cost $200 for the exam. I probably spent another $200 on study materials.
SQL has been around for decades. You can often get a job with only SQL as your only language.
You make SQL development sound so easy haha. On a more serious note, I use many more SQL keywords than just Select, From and Where on a daily basis. Update, insert, declare, set, case; those are the minimum set that I work with on a daily basis and I'm nowhere close to $80k. My typical query is between 50 - 75 lines, without using any stored procedures. Count your blessings with that salary ;-).
You make SQL development sound so easy haha. On a more serious note, I use many more SQL keywords than just Select, From and Where on a daily basis. Update, insert, declare, set, case; those are the minimum set that I work with on a daily basis and I'm nowhere close to $80k. My typical query is between 50 - 75 lines, without using any stored procedures. Count your blessings with that salary ;-).
You make SQL development sound so easy haha. On a more serious note, I use many more SQL keywords than just Select, From and Where on a daily basis. Update, insert, declare, set, case; those are the minimum set that I work with on a daily basis and I'm nowhere close to $80k. My typical query is between 50 - 75 lines, without using any stored procedures. Count your blessings with that salary ;-).
I worked at one of the largest banks. For the most part, they didn't update or alter any tables. It was locked down pretty tight by the IT guys. The reporting guys literally refreshed select queries saved in ODBC connections. There were no SQL views, table changes, or stored procedures. I have worked at 2 places with SQL and 3 different departments.
I still get calls for similar jobs with $80-95k. Funny thing is I hear about the same salaries in Houston, also. When there was a mass layoff, the energy companies were paying $80k+ for business analysts(sql developers).
I worked at one of the largest banks. For the most part, they didn't update or alter any tables. It was locked down pretty tight by the IT guys. The reporting guys literally refreshed select queries saved in ODBC connections. There were no SQL views, table changes, or stored procedures. I have worked at 2 places with SQL and 3 different departments.
I still get calls for similar jobs with $80-95k. Funny thing is I hear about the same salaries in Houston, also. When there was a mass layoff, the energy companies were paying $80k+ for business analysts(sql developers).
Business analysts <> SQL developers.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
