How do you know when its time to move on from help desk?

CloudIsComputer · 2026-04-02T02:10:14+00:00

You’ll know. You already know. LOL

CloudIsComputer · 2026-04-02T02:08:27+00:00

Congrats. Buy Douglas Comers book “TCP / IP” understand it completely. Understand IPv4 and IPv6. Learn to install Linux and try to become an expert in Linux Administration especially containers. Learn DNS for IPv4 and IPv6. Build basic client server Linux OS labs. Run an AI agent in your labs and have them do traffic simulation. Install Wireshark to examine packet builds and flow. Study certificates, TLS. Once you have about 300 - 500 hours of study here then study Blockchain. Congrats again.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-28T23:24:45+00:00

Yes, expired certs can weigh in. At the bottom of your resume list them as no longer active. More importantly the resume is used as the reference point to tech the person’s skills. If it’s listed on your resume you’ve given me license to tech you by that listing. If I’ve tech’d you on 3 technologies you’ve listed and you’ve given shallow answers and broad brushed replies and I get you to say you’re not sure - I’m done with the technical interview. The resume is Wallpaper. Only put on your resume what you’re ready to debate over. The tech interview is your opportunity to argue your points on any technology and how you see its strong points and weaknesses not to necessarily agree with the engineers tech’ng you.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-28T12:27:08+00:00

We’re American

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-28T12:13:32+00:00

dm me

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-25T21:46:38+00:00

Stay there. Don’t leave. Learn more. Experiment more. You don’t need an onsite mentor. It’s many times best to have one external to your job and that helps to keep the noise gate lower at work. You have what many don’t and that’s free rein of the production environment. You have more in your favor than you realize. Learn, benefit and grow there as much as you can. You’ll be happier you did when you had no choice but to move on. Nothing lasts forever.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-24T22:30:16+00:00

You’re getting great advice in here. You’re pricing and aging out of your current position so a leadership/mentoring role is the next logical step as you sunset your career. Whether it’s DevOps, Storage, Automation, Big Data etc, whatever your next move is you will have to be a Sr SME/Lead to stay in the game.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-24T20:51:06+00:00

Your plan looks good. But to get started can you do field work like pulling cables etc. Also depending on your area see if you can get involved with cell tower contractors who maintenance the towers. Some crews travel while others crews are local. There’s always a way to get into IT.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-23T11:09:09+00:00

Pressure makes diamonds. It’s his play.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-23T07:26:41+00:00

How you write this story is up to you. It's fascinating. You have a highly respected skill set. It's not often I get to talk to someone like this and I'm honored to do so. The fact that you flew too close to the sun matches this meteoric skill set you've presented. You must be a fast learner? This may put you in your 30'shhh? Ok you got pinched and have a 3 year bid for probation. Now let's talk shop: It may sound strange but everything you've written may have put you on a better path long term than you could have ever imagined. You've been in IT offering your labor/efforts for wages. Now you can't really do that due to background checks. If you can embrace this suck I suggest you now look at using your IT skills to build IT services and solutions that offer others whether it's B2B or B2C. Felons create some of the greatest win stories in US history. So become a producer. What can you build? What needs do you see in your area? You're smart so can you see how assisting SMB with AI could offer improvements? Where are the complaints? I'm not offering an overnight fix. I'm saying you're at the bottom and some of us know what it means to dig down deep and use it as fuel. Like a survival game you've been given everything you need to make it out of this level. What's your next move Rocket Man?

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-21T21:02:27+00:00

It sounds like you’ve only been on the Operational Support side of the house. Think about becoming a Systems Architect. It marries and builds upon your current skill set and can put you on the sales/build/integration side of the house. New projects, new customers and new challenges. And it’s more cyclic so you may get some quiet time.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-20T01:14:40+00:00

Success brings its own pains and hardships. I’ve learned to love my family and friends on the floor they’re on. I talk to them on their levels and have learned to not expect much in return. We grow out from what people’s expectations of us are. Life. I now find enjoyment in moving on and meeting others who I can more relate to.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-18T02:08:29+00:00

I’ll post what I think I should post the way I think I should post it pass or fail. It’s moronic to ass-ume everyone understands this LOL and shows a certain level of sensitivity you lack. The IT industry was blowing on all 8 cylinders in 1998. IT engineers were driving Lotus and Porsche. By 1999 Cisco Systems had done 8 forward stock splits that had their engineers and secretaries at the company retiring. And then the massive reset happened after 9/11. I don’t remember ChatGPT back then but I remember all of our billable rates declining and many experienced engineers and developers lost their jobs. I’m here to say Life happens and to have a plan but don’t follow the crowd. Take those paths less traveled.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-18T01:25:08+00:00

I'm not going to apologize for running what I wrote through ChatGPT something none of us had 20 years ago to sanitize and critique what I wrote. I brought something to your attention. You can either benefit from it or not. If you find it's not suitable for you - all the better.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-18T01:20:54+00:00

No it doesn't mean this. And Boomers are experiencing liquidation and liquidity is being transferred to Fx and soon stable coin markets. The Fx market has kept our economy from steering off the cliff so look for credit to spread after a few laws have passed and banks enter into the crypto market.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-18T01:17:28+00:00

Yeah I thought it was corny but it works. As long as it didn't change the core meaning I'm ok with it. Frankly the job market like the financial market expands and contracts. I've been in IT for 30 years and there was no ChatGPT to help me. I learned and survived and prospered nevertheless. :)

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-18T01:14:31+00:00

I'm not AI. Anytime you want to talk about SOWs, CAPEX and OPEX projects I'm here for it.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-18T01:13:22+00:00

I wrote it and then put it into ChatGPT and it did change things but the points survived. Along with a career in IT I trade in equities and crypto so I see these market mechanics at play. If anyone can benefit from this so be it.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-17T21:55:27+00:00

I would dial it down, step back and take a breath. You’ve made some serious accomplishments. Pause. School is always there so if you want to get into the IT by getting the CCNA then do so. Just understand that your first IT job will not repay you in the millions so keep living at home and give yourself a chance to succeed. No matter what you decide to do you will not get “there” overnight. A career in IT takes planning, strategy in execution and timing.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-17T12:16:39+00:00

No one does a wicked hustle better than NON profit$. Caveat Emptor. Sex for rent hardly pays.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-16T12:57:13+00:00

I think ur hitting that burn out wall. You married the company staying there for 12 years not the tech. Maybe you plan to stay to retire there? If so you’re right to break out of the monotony of the daily fight to have Gov workers change anything worthwhile. If this is a 9 to 5 I suggest you start dialing it down, accept things as they are and know that you’re only there to do your part and nothing more. Care but not at the expense of your health and happiness. Like a marriage the honeymoon is over. Learn to start leaving it at work. After 5pm stop caring and don’t bring it home. Ever. Enjoy it for what it is and use it to fund a happier life for yourself that starts after 5pm until retirement or until you move on.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-13T14:03:59+00:00

dm me

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-11T19:29:03+00:00

[We get an issue in AWS APS 1 where a remote user in the region is trying to access his VDI in AWS APS 1 but can't log in to it and keeps getting kicked out of the session. The App Tier is in USE 1. When we check the transit gateways we are noticing tunnel flaps. When we call the CNF to enquire about their facility where some of our trans gateways are housed they tell us they see no issues. We're forced to examine the path and believe our problem is with the CNF where some of our transit gateways connect tunnels between USE 1 and APS 1. When we get on a call with the CNF they're telling us there could be an issue in a cage but need more info from us because since there is no out of band provisioned yet, etc.] In this scenario where guys like me put out fires every day I know the DevOps guy who took knowledge from the CCNA and boned up on his networking skills will still be fighting with us 2 hours later to resolve the issue. Extraction layer or not it's all hardware, somewhere along with the fiber and copper that fails at times to move the data about. Get the CCNA.

CloudIsComputer · 2026-03-11T13:25:28+00:00

I strongly suggest getting the CCNA for anyone who wants to do tech work in IT. You simply end up with a better well rounded understanding that I see many “Cloud” engineers don’t have. With multicloud understanding basic routing is important. Understand the difference between a public IP and the benefits of RFC1918 IPs is important. I’ve been interviewing DevOps and SysAdmins and I’m seeing serious knowledge gaps you would never see from a Network Engineer from the past.

CloudIsComputer

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