IT People - How did you get your start?

F

FlyingElmo

Veteran XX
Dear tribalwar,

So I recently graduated from a state university and am trying to land a job in IT. Jesus Christ, this sucks :/

I've been to temp agencies and they mainly advertise helpdesk type jobs. I worked for the duration of a contract at the UW's DoIT desk (about 1 month) which was easy, but low paying. If I have to, I can easily find a job at another one, but lets be honest, pure helpdesk jobs only work for so long.

I'm looking for a either a database, network, or systems administration type job. Unfortunately, most require production experience which is something that I dont have. I am also applying to be a database developer and web designer, but after 60 or so applications and about 10 interviews, I still haven't landed a job.

I know that tribalwar has some resident IT pros. So I'm interested in hearing about how you guys got your first big break, especially if it was sometime within the last 5 years.

<3
 
went to my college's work placement department during the second semester of my final year, looked in their database, found job, applied, got job.
 
What big break? There are no big breaks. You start at the bottom (yes, help desk) and work your way up.

Also, it's all about who you know. Get out there, get working and meet people.
 
I started off doing helpdesk, and contract work. But I was paid 17.50 an hour for my helpdesk job.
 
nSpectre said:
What big break? There are no big breaks. You start at the bottom (yes, help desk) and work your way up.

Also, it's all about who you know. Get out there, get working and meet people.
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^

I'm sorry if they promised you a 60k salary right out of college just because you're in IT. Get one of those shitty low paying IT jobs and get some experience under your belt.
 
nSpectre said:
What big break? There are no big breaks. You start at the bottom (yes, help desk) and work your way up.

Also, it's all about who you know. Get out there, get working and meet people.
Click to expand...


Its all about who you know, the best thing is to know somone on the inside that can tell you about upcomming positions before they are posted.

I woudnt hav landed my Job as Web Administrator if I i hadnt know one of the people in the MIS Department.
 
Patton said:
^

I'm sorry if they promised you a 60k salary right out of college just because you're in IT. Get one of those shitty low paying IT jobs and get some experience under your belt.
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heh I think of this whenever I see someone posting about how they expect to make tons of money when they graduate college.

Do some people? Yeah, but not the majority.

My first job made 28k out of college.
 
Is the job market for graphics design tougher to get into than IT, I'm up in the air about my major, and currently am a Graphic Design student.
 
Yea. I still giggle at the radio commercials. "Do YOU want to be making 60 thousand dollars a year in the fast paced industry of Information Technology? Get your start here at Tech Skills!"
 
I played around with computers since I was a kid, and Friend #1 asked Friend #2 to hire me. Friend #2's dad owns the company, dad is an old IBM sales guy.

So, make friends.
 
Pay your dues doing helpdesk/PC support.

Keep your knowledge current on the latest programs so that you don't get stuck there.
 
I was taking a Unix class and was looking for a job. My instructor offered me a job at the company he worked for because I was such a good student.
 
it took me 3 months to find a job after i graduated from university. there is going to be a surge of graphic designer flooding the market soon, so salaries are forecast to plument (or so my graphic designer girlfriend tells me).

and i think the only reason i got the job was because the person hiring me went to the same university i had just graduated from (i didn't know her). that and i had some good experience while at college (part time job doing web based GIS stuff)
 
I started by doing contract services. Did web work for friends, then word got around and I hooked up with real clients, then from there I started getting job offers.
 
I programmed my own little website, and used that as a demonstration of my experience. I went into a small web dev shop (8 people), and basically said that I wanted expereince.

I was not looking for high pay, I wasn't going in thinking i knew a damn thing, but I had the ability to let the highering manager know that I could learn a lot and do what they needed on a day-to-day basis of shit production work. I got a 10k raise my first year. Go in underpaid, and find a small operation that you can make a difference.

That was almost 5 years ago, I now keep that same little website, and I've moved into a new job across the country.

Basically, show your work, not your degree. Your degree is neat, but if you don't have some sort of portfolio (a link to a functioning website) you can't expect to get into development. I've had to pass by so many newblets who apply with their degrees because the ONLY expereince they have with any programming is the little 5 line bullshit they make you do for a CS degree.

I'll be happy to answer other questions.
 
I was walking out of the door after graduating and got mugged by several computer companies begging for me to work for them, all of them offering me huge signing bonuses and ridiculous salaries.
 
nSpectre said:
What big break? There are no big breaks. You start at the bottom (yes, help desk) and work your way up.

Also, it's all about who you know. Get out there, get working and meet people.
Click to expand...

Yeah seriously, how do you think you GET that "production experience" STFU, take that helpdesk job and move out on your own. Sometimes you just can't be picky about jobs because a paycheck is a paycheck and I'm sure your mortgaging bank or landlord won't accept "I can't find the job for me" as excuse for your check being late.
 
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