SJG

I was wondering if I could get a few people to post about their jobs, how they got into them, and any suggestions they would have for someone to also work in that field.

I am currently unemployed and looking to get into a a career dealing with computers and technology. I have taken apart and put back together my own computers, cleaned up viruses and fixed errors on friends' and relatives' computers, and set up my own home network. I enjoy all these things, so I feel I would enjoy getting paid to do them as well.

I can get a grant for schooling, but before I do, I want to make sure I know what I am getting myself into and that it won't be something I will regret. If I can get a few people to answer the following questions, it would really help me on my search:

What sort of school or training did you need to start off?
Is it possible to get on the job training for your position?
What are the minimum qualifications for the position?
What do you like best and the least about your job?
What are the most common traits of the people who work best in this position?
What are some of the daily tasks and normal hours worked for this position?
Do you have suggestions, which might help me find employment in this field?



I prefer network systems or computer systems analyst, or network and computer systems administrators, but would appreciate answers and suggestions from people in related or similar fields.

Thank you very much for your time and any help you can give me.

SJG

Ah, I forgot to add:

If you do reply, please add what field you work in.


Thanks!

bilbus

unless you are very good, right out of school you will most likely get a help desk position.

Best thing you can do is learn vitalization, and simulate a network running AD at home.

That will give you transferable experience.

I for example have 2 ESX servers, 1 router, and 2 file servers at home (DFS)

This gives me a real world environment to learn on.

On the ESX servers i have
2x AD
Exchange 2007
MOM
network monitoring
sharepoint
wsus and AV
and a few other servers

I have to deal with server failures, and other issues .. helps me prepare for the real world.

I am currently working as a network administrator.

Clockwork

I'm in the same category as SJG.
Could you expand on the acronyms you used, such as AD, MOM.

What do you mean by ESX servers. does that mean that you have a box with a couple of VMs running on them, or a couple of boxes with multiple VMs on each.

Also, do you have a script or something running through your network, because I find that there are not a lot of errors when no one uses the devices.

I currently run a homemade web/file server, as well as a homemade router, and it has indeed been a great experience.

Thanks,
~Clockwork

nonamedsomebody

AD-Active Directory MOM-Microsoft Operations Manager DFS-Distributed File System ESX server -vmware with management capabilities and runs of its own kernal instead of on top of a third party operating system. Correct me if I'm wrong.

bilbus

your correct

SJG

Thanks, Bilbus. Even getting a help desk position right out of school would be a much better situation than what I am in right now.

As I am currently unemployed, I do not have the finances to build my own network such as yours. That's part of why I am curious if there are any on the job training options, or if a school can teach me what I need to know, and give me the hands on experience.

bilbus

all my servers are spare computers

SJG

Does it use a lot of power?
Is there a place where I can find info on how to set this up myself?
I don't have any spare computers, but perhaps I could find some.

JeKyL

Hey,

I was in the same boat as you SJG. I then decided to go to community college for an associates degree specializing in Networking. Through my college (PVCC) they helped me locate an internship with the help of making a good resume and cover letter. I then landed a help desk position for my internship and then got hired on mon-fri 1PM-7PM, which is nice. I work for a DSL and webhosting company and work the help desk, which we get email questions, DSL down questions we have to get them back up and more tech questions. I like it. Right now if I am working on getting my Network+ and my A+, which you can research on CompTIA's website (google it). Then to land the job as a consultant-so i can go to diff businesses all day and fix their problems, whatever they may be. To really do that i'm getting a good amount of experience right now, and then im going to get my MCSA -- Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator-- which is really needed. and some other certifications. Hope this helps.

JeKyL

SJG

Thank you Jekyl, it does help a lot.

tech313

I have been into techie things since forever. I wasn't ever completely sure what exact field I wanted to be in. I played around with computers, programming, servers, etc at home. I ended up going to the local community college and getting an Associate Degree in Network Engineering. I actually started in my field by noticing there was a Computer Technician (basically helpdesk) position open at the corporate office of my then-current job, which was working in a retail store. I applied for that position while still in school actually and didn't get it. However a few months later when I was done with school I noticed the position was up again, so I applied again and got the job right off. So that's where I am now. As I said it is basically a helpdesk position for the store employees but I do a wide range of things from setting up new systems, supporting printing, hardware, software, servers, security, repairing all of the above, ordering supplies... We only have 3 people in my IT department managing 9 locations.

Anyway, I am definitely still being trained a lot on the job. Minimum qualifications was a 2-year degree or equivalent work experience. I work M-F 8-5. And occasionally a weekend. I do like this job... I enjoy doing a bunch of different things and talking with people. But like anything it can get boring. Sometimes I get frustrated, because even though I say it's different things, it's generally the same routine unless I happen to be implementing something new or a network went down. If you have no problem with doing time at a desk in front of a computer then it's fine.

I still would like to pick up some certifications to help me move forward.

bilbus

As for your question about my lab.

I am not sure where you could look for a step by step guide to set something like this up

I will tell you what i did though.

for the virtual servers, i have dual core desktops.

I have 2 Vmware ESX 3.5 installed as the host OS (ESXI is free and almost the same)

On each server i have a few VMs running. The only catch with ESX 3x is you need scsi/sas drives or a raid controler supported by ESX.

When ESX /ESXi 4.0 comes out it will support SATA.

As for using ESX, there is lots of info on that online.

As above, i use my lab to simulate a mid sized network.

I have Exchange, DCs, DFS, SQL, management, DNS, DHCP, and other servers.

I also have a few phyical 2008 boxes, since my servers have issues running 2008 in VMs.

As for my router, i use PFsense, and thats on another server.