How can I break into an IT career?

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I’ve been stuck in a rut recently. I work in a bar job that I hate and I have no prospects here for the time being. I can’t get good work here and I’m sick of it. I’ve always been good at computers but I never actually took advantage of it.
I’ve been avoiding it ever since I started college. I most certainly should have gone in that direction in college, but I didn’t and now I’m wishing that I had done so. I received a degree in International Studies (a BA) in 2005. Since then I spend a summer in New York looking for work. I found a temp job that paid the bills in the meantime, but I’d much rather have started in something. I’d have been pretty open to any kind of typical mid-town job. But I had always planned to do a Masters Degree in Denmark in European Studies. I came here in September of 2005 and completed a year of that, but during the summertime I realized that I should not be doing this. Why? I hated every single minute that I was focused on it. Every minute studying, attending class, writing assignments. Regardless of the outcome, I wasn’t happy with the process at all.

So now here comes the IT idea. I’m your typical computer geek. I read Slashdot for fun, and I can build computers from parts. I worked for a while fixing computers for the students in my college town. Now I don’t think that these skills necessarily make it a clear-cut choice, but I just loved doing it. It’s so fun to troubleshoot things when you are so good at them. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve learned computers from such a young age, that, for me I have an ability to learn most computer-related stuff very quickly. I know very few people that know as much about computers as I do. I generally feel able to hold my own in almost any tech-related field. This is obviously excluding specialized things of course. The point is, that if there’s ever been anything that I’m clearly suited for, it’s computers. I may overstate my abilities here, but I feel that this, by far and away, is my top area. Ever get the feeling that things you learn when you are young are simply easier than things you learn as an adult? I’ve tried to learn working in a bar at age 24, and I’ve gotten better, but I’ll never be that good, I suppose. Nor do I really see it as something that I’d like to do for a living.

And this reminds me the differences between doing something that you’re interested in, and doing something that you’re good at. I’m interested in loads of things, academically speaking. It’s what helped me get through the BA. I was genuinely interested in the subjects of my major. I loved learning languages (although I’m pretty good at that) but I also loved things that didn’t come so easy to me. But now, I get the feeling that if I want to be successful, I leverage my best areas. So I want to get into IT. I’m asking for your advice, about how I can go about doing that.

Now I want to get into location. I really like it here in Europe. The Scandinavian countries in particularly suit me well. I think the US is okay (Where I’m from) but I’d like to stay here for various personal reasons, although I can go home for a while and come back here. I tried to get a job in IT here in Copenhagen, and I was as good as hired, but ran into problems when I tried to get a work permit. It was essentially not going to work, seeing as I didn’t have much experience. Also, to get a special permit to work in Denmark, you’re required to have at least a three-year education in an IT field. But recently, I’m considering going to Sweden. They don’t appear to have a special list of people who get in more easily, but I’m wondering if I could simply start a career in the US without education, then go once I have a bit more experience under my belt. IT workers seem to be in demand anyway.

What would I like to do? From what I know, and what I like about IT (kind of annoying general term, I know) is understanding systems, and knowing how to implement and control them. This goes for networking, building systems, etc. As long as it doesn’t involve programming, I’m interested in it. I don’t think I’d like to code, because it seems boring to me. I’m generally interested in higher levels of abstraction. I was thinking of a few options…

Firstly I could simply go back to college in the US. This is expensive, and I’m a bit old (25), but I don’t have any serious debt, so it wouldn’t be a problem. I’ve got no attachments like a girlfriend or anything, so I can go wherever I want to. I’m also open to studying in Europe as well. It would be cheaper, and might be shorter. This brings me to the duration of my studies. I’ve done the typical liberal arts requirements (english/history, etc.) so I hope to avoid at least one year from transfer credit. But European Universities seem to be geared towards three-year BA degrees from the start anyway. In Europe, it seems that most of the English/History/Whatever studies are done in highschool. Most of the ones I check out online have nothing that doesn’t pertain to the field. I could study in Spanish, probably, since my Spanish is up to par, but otherwise I’d need to study in English. Such programs do exist, though.

My first important question is this: If I do study in the US, how many years of study will I be looking at? Again, I don’t want to study Computer Science or Electrical Engineering. I realize that this will be included in a lot of the degrees, but I’m more interested in communication and systems management. I’ve seen degrees with an emphasis on this as well. Would I possibly be able to do this in two and a half years, maybe? Oh, and I can’t believe I’m mentioning this, but what about online studies? Are these respected in any way? I highly doubt it, I know, but maybe I could start some work now and simply use these as some kind of transfer credit for later?

Finally, is it possible for me to go to an IT hotspot and simply work my way up through experience? Something tells me that this is possible. If so, how long would it take me to make this experience marketable enough to go somewhere else?

I’ve also noticed that if a person lives in Belguim for 3 years, they can become a citizen. This is quite tempting, so I’m working on a way to do that while I’m studying IT. It’d be nice to have this work out so easily that way.

But hopefully this hasn’t come off so boring. I’m really genuinely interested in almost anything you have to say though. Encouragement comments or anything are really helpful.

2

If you want decent pay, go somewhere which requires a security clearance. You’re not going to get that in Denmark because you’re not a Dane. PC support and maintenance generally doesn’t pay very well because much of it can be off-shored. One thing you might try is to apply to an American company, like the one for which I work; unfortunately we’re not recruiting in Belgium or Denmark at the moment.

3

You don’t necessarily need another degree to get into the IT world. I got my degree in Finance 20 years ago. I’ve been in IT for the last 14 years. I’m a Business/Systems Analyst. I work with the end users finding out what they need the system to do. I write those needs up as very detailed requirements and provide those to the developers who do the coding and then on to the testers. I know computers, networks, software, applications, etc… extremely well. I don’t code, and couldn’t code a line if my life depended on it.

There are many entry-level jobs as Business Analyst. You might want to look at companies that supply contractors or act as consultants. Good way to get experience.

4

I have no idea about work permits and such, but I found it very easy to get an IT job here in the US without qualification (I have a MS in an unrelated field). I started as the “computer person” at a 50 employee company for $9 an hour doing all the hardware, software, network support, and desktop support. The downside to no experience is the low pay, but I’ve heard it’s pretty easy to get various certifications at night.

5

In a software developer and not in IT, but here in the U.S. you can get a “certificate” in various fields, including IT, from various community colleges and colleges, including online courses. For example, here is info for the U Mass IT certificate. A certificate does not require the lengthy committment that a degree does, and in my opinion is all you would need to present yourself as a qualified applicant in an entry-level IT position.

6

I’m interested in this topic. I went back to school in 2003 and will be finishing next year. I am majoring in IT / computer science, and want to get an IT job. Currently I am working part time (10 hours or so) at my college as a work study student, but it seems all the jobs around me require 3-5 years of exp.

7

I am a business/systems analyst as well, and while I have a degree in MIS my coworkers come from all areas. Being an analyst is really about 80% knowing and understanding business, and 20% knowing and understanding systems. You spend most of your time working with the client to understand exactly what it is that they need, and then going back and turning that into detailed requirements. If you enjoy problem solving, writing (you will spend untold hours writing very detailed documentation), and working to understand people and their needs, this could be a good fit for you. The job also requires a great deal of time spent in meetings with the client, and you may find that you actually get most of the real work done after hours, but there are some great benefits in terms of experience and pay. Some skills that you will need to succeed as an analyst are curiosity, highly developed organizational skills, excellent communication skills (both verbal and written), and a desire to solve problems.

8

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the help! It’s quite encouraging. I’ll definitely keep all of this stuff in mind. Any idea of how long it would take me to get a four-year degree now that I’ve got my non-science electives out of the way?

9

I’d say it would vary depending on the school, but I was doing a pre-pharmacy thing for two years, came to MU as a biochemistry major, and after a semester switched to IT. I had a few electives I had to take since some of the stuff was accepted by one department but not another (same school, wtf), but it is only taking me two and a half years to get to my degree. I have one left. :slight_smile: