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Home > Archive > Certifications and IT jobs/Salaries > September 2002 > Just Graduated
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| brenkenathan 2002-08-22, 1:18 pm |
| I am 18 and just graduated High School I have the following experience
Experience in All microsoft office family products(Access, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, FrontPage, and Outlook): Microsoft Access MOUS Cert
Very Proficient in Macromedia Flash and Dreamweaver
Have work experience with Cobalt RaQ3 Server, Microsoft IIS and Index Server along with Windows NT Adminitstration
I am looking for a job and desperatly need one, I am also within the next 4-6 months hoping to get my MCSE which would help alot but again that takes time to learn.
What steps do you suggest I take toward finding a career | |
| eric1971 2002-08-22, 1:30 pm |
| Go to college and get a degree. | |
| Kasor 2002-08-22, 10:39 pm |
| Very good answer 
Nothing better than college. You learn high level Technical skills, networking and new people. | |
| CoffeeFreak 2002-08-23, 8:09 am |
| agree 100%
next time the economy goes down you will be on the top of the CEO's list to get ridof, because unlike the rest of his employee's you just finished high school... | |
| wylkell 2002-08-25, 12:59 am |
| college actually isn't your problem. experiance is. college is known to substitute experiance becuase high school students start out with little to none (you can say "i have experiance in X" but unless you were employeed by someone, it doesn't count in the hiree's eyes). The problem with teh current market is the dotcom dropped alot of experianced people out in the cold with no job. So they go out and get jobs with less pay (the jobs you would have gotten a year ago, with a few more certs). Put yourself in the employeers hands. YOu see a resume' with a college student from a state university, a resume' with a kid out of highschool with a few certs and a smile, and a guy who has been running your product in a business enviroment for 5+ years. Who you gonna go with? some might argue the college guy, but experiance takes first place every time.
Not that college is a bad thing. college is a way for you to prove yourself without actually working for several years. It says your capable of working in a stressful enviroment and know a fair degree of recent technology. High schooler with certs (without certs your screwed, unless you know someone) shows that you *might* know something about technology (or that you study books well).
If you want to go into management, btw, you ARE gonna need college. Otherwise you just need to get experiance somewhere to build up your resume'.
There are a couple things you can do now. You can do the community college thing for a while (assuming ma and pa arn't charging rent), and if your lucky, you could even intern at thier lab (if they have a big enough one) for extra money. Do that for a year or two and get your AA OR get 70 transferable units and go to a state college. an AA gets you some college (enough for most employeers to overlook the lack of a BS), or the 70 transferable gets you your first two years of a 4 year college super cheap (ive seen it as low as 11 bucks a credit).
The second route is to forgo any college. Go out and get certs. Get several of them. They arn't too hard to get if your dedicated and have access to a modest lab (and a love for the industry helps alot). And then look for any IT related job that you might have a shot for and apply for it. Get a letter of recommendation from one or two people (a tech teacher, for example), and look for internships from companies (paid or unpaid). basically, anything that gets you experiance in IT.
Also, look at government jobs as well as private sector jobs. Your local county or even city might be hiring a low end techie and thier expectations arn't as high as a profit company.
One freind of mine (works for a game company and gets about 200 resume's a week at the least) once told me that a resume' is only good for getting you an interview. After that, its a peice of paper with purdy logos on it (at least mine is). So be sure you know your stuff outside of the lab/cert arena, and that your confident in your interviews. An interview can land you a job. A resume' can land you an interview
(and though some managers, mostly traditionalists, will throw those without degrees at the top of the "boot list", most of the ones i have interacted with actually rate you on your job and on how much you know. You dont typically fire the guy who keeps the network running when your looking to cut corners).
Of course, others may disagree. Some here have had bad luck and its soured thier perspective. Ive had pretty good luck so im more ambiant of things.
Bottom line, no matter what, dedication is key and be prepared to keep learning as in this industry, you never stop. | |
| moongrl767 2002-08-27, 7:05 pm |
| I would suggest working in the field while pursuing your degree, even if it means going to school only part-time. Experience is the most important, and you need to develop other skills even more important than your technical skills, like initiative, concientiousness, customer service skills-attributes that make you a GREAT employee instead of just a good one. Too many young people get out of school with all these certs or classes but have no experience in how to deal with others in the working world. They lack maturity and tact. If you do these things, by the time you graduate you will be one hot commodity. You're young, you have time wait! | |
| kappagamma698 2002-08-28, 9:29 pm |
| Well I went the college route for a while and then stopped and went after my certs. Now I wish I had never stopped because I would have me degree in 8months if I had stayed, instead I went after certs and I have an okay job but I am going back now because to move up or even just to get more pay I have to have the degree. So my suggestion is if you are really itching to get a job find a good part time job and GO TO SCHOOL! I will finish in another 2 or 3 yrs now but wish I had finished the right way.
Just my Opinion | |
| PCDude 2002-09-01, 5:17 am |
| Yes, I agree college is a plus. I wished I went to college right after high school. I am going now and I am 30 years old. It's never to late, but it would help you out in the long run. You can still work in the field and go to college... Good luck what ever you chose... | |
| netteaser 2002-09-14, 9:11 pm |
| I agree go to college. I am 18 years old and I graduate in December with my A.A.S degree in Networking Specialist. I have applied for many jobs and even though I have my A+,N+,MCP,MCSA,MOUS,MCSE, and CCNA certifications I havent been able to get a job yet. THey are looking for a Bachelors degree so that is what I need to get | |
| TW2001 2002-09-15, 3:03 am |
| netteaser
Maybe lay off the certs...all those without relevant experience may be more of a hinderance than a help. | |
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