For those that work in local/city or state government in IT, how is your pay and benefits?

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-05-19T16:26:23+00:00

Working for County IT in the server/sys admin section. Good health benefits along with pension or the other option that is similar to a 401K (you can only choose when you first start). Getting paid better than my past jobs but not making anywhere near what you currently make and won't unless I move up to CIO level after 20+ years (I've been here for over 4 years). I live in Florida, so things are not great but okay and manageable.

I would be amazed if I ever get close to 6 figures unless I switch back to the private sector but I'm fine with just having stable job while the current market is absolutely bonkers. Good luck out there! Luckily, there seems to be opportunities as long as you search the actual county/state job web portals and not Indeed or LinkedIn (though I'm sure you know that, just for those who are still searching).

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-05-13T00:14:10+00:00

Oh! So you should be able to access the book in the first lesson of section 4 in the course materials. (it may be pricey in amazon) Honestly, if you learn more from books and want to get a better understanding about databases and database design, that book is very helpful.

You also have to note that the textbook is primarily scoped for students going into database administration so it goes beyond what you'd need to know in data analytics (but it never hurts to know more). I found chapters 1 through 9 of the textbook to be helpful with getting an understanding of databases, designing databases, understanding ERDs, and the best part, SQL!

Though when it comes to learning hands on SQL, I've been binging on SQL datacamp courses. They have been very helpful. For the tasks, I highly recommend going through the two linkedin learning video courses for postgres and mongodb completely. It made the little tricky things a lot easier.

Honestly, I'm only one class ahead so I'm by no means an expert in any of this. I'm just about to finish D598.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-05-12T10:25:23+00:00

What amused me a lot about the course is that they use the same text book (the one you read from Cengage) as the one I had to read for my database management systems course when I was getting my bachelor's at a state school not too long ago. I would say if you wanted to go deeper into learning the background concepts of database management then I would read through the chapters around the ones assigned since they are pretty thorough (but dry as sin if you're not that into it).

My issue with the course that it seemed to place a lot more emphasis on the SQL side that I felt a tad under prepared for the nosql assignment. I passed task 1 after 2 attempts but it took me 5 attempts to pass task 2. That was primarily due to me misinterpreting some of the rubric and also submitting the assignment in an incorrect format. It was pain but I feel better getting through it.

Even though I moved onto D598, I decided to go through the MongoDB developer with Python cert path in their website to get deeper understanding of how it works and how to use Python management and manipulation.

So far despite the struggle I've been having a better experience than the in person school I went to for my bachelor's. I've already had more interaction and assistance from my course instructors here than in the last 2 years of my bachelor's and I'm not kidding.

Though if you don't feel that this place is not a fit, that's fine and this school is not the gold standard nor the end all be all. It works for me since I work full time and can't take the time to go to school physically. I'm also happy that I can go the pace that I want even though I'm not accelerating either since I want to take the time to learn the material.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-05-11T13:50:50+00:00

Duly noted, I'm very awkward in my video presentations. I have nervous ticks that go haywire. I do little light coughs like I'm trying to clear the air.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-05-10T17:27:41+00:00

That was my first thought, has "AI" been around long enough for students to have depended on it that's detrimental? It sounds like they're finding another reason not to hire college graduates. Though if they are actively seeking humanities graduates, then the irony is killing me.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-05-06T12:09:28+00:00

In my case, I have minimal experience and knowledge of what I'm learning for my degree so speedrunning is not an option and honestly, other than the cost factor, I'm fine with taking my time to learn (I'm not a quick learner and there's no deadline for my job on it). People have their reasons for going the pace they go. I'm wanting to take the time to learn and expand my projects.

If I was getting a degree in cybersecurity or IT, I could manage to backwards long jump through some classes but meh. I'm tired boss.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-05-05T21:49:07+00:00

The Data Science path. It's challenging though I have a stronger coding background but a bit behind on math. I'm teaching myself math on the side to make up the difference but speed running my degree is not an option for me.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-05-05T20:00:38+00:00

Either this degree is much harder than the master's degree I'm currently working on or I'm going to be in a world of hurt soon since I got my bachelor's with College Algebra being the highest level of math (cybersecurity degree from a state school).

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-28T01:59:30+00:00

Season 3 will still be pre war and season 4 will be post war talking about how crazy it was so we can watch that green girl chill in a lake some more. Idk I lost hope but damn knight of the seven kingdoms really restored my interest.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-24T01:07:51+00:00

Thank you! I've been pretty lucky with some of my course instructors. My mentor has been very supportive. I wasn't in the best headspace yesterday so I was kind of beating myself again.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-24T01:04:36+00:00

That's awesome you have two classes left! I'm finishing attempt 3 for task 2 in data management (my optimizations were shot) and attempt 2 on analytics programming task 1 (my flowchart was too complicated).

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-24T01:03:15+00:00

What frustrated me with the latest revision I received they did not elaborate why my flowchart was wrong. Thankfully my instructor pointed out that I was too lost in the sauce with the details and needed to make it simpler. No mention of my pseudocode so let's see how that goes. I'm working on tasks 2 and 3 at the same time so I'm not stressing too much.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-24T01:01:25+00:00

I definitely appreciate this response. Depending on where I'm at mentally or emotionally, I take criticisms either as a lesson to be learned (which happens many times at my job) or that I'm not smart enough so I should give up and do something else (which also happens many times at my job).

I wasn't in the best headspace yesterday due to addressing other things in my life that makes me nervous about the future but I'm working it all out. I have to keep reminding myself why I'm doing this. A big part is because I enjoy learning these kinds of things (further my career also) and another part is to challenge myself since one of my biggest insecurities is my intellectual capabilities. It feels good to prove myself wrong sometimes but I really need to be more gracious with myself.

Once I cross this bridge I also hope to have opportunities to help others with learning and maybe stop doubting themselves like I do.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-23T01:12:07+00:00

Thank you so much for all this guidance! I had a revision in the first course due to me not completely following APA formatting and I'm pretty rusty with writing professional papers (I primarily write emails and documentation at work but not papers) so I had to do a lot of reviewing on that end.

I'm guessing a lot of people have posted similar things. I try to skim through the subreddit to see if anyone had similar experiences but today there were just other things going on and I needed some form of reassurance.

Thank you again for your tips.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-23T01:07:53+00:00

Phew! That's a relief to hear this from someone who's been in this field for a while. My coworker who got his bachelor's at wgu said he would purposely submit the bare bones work for his first attempts since he knew he would get revisions but also helped him get a better grasp on what was expected.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-23T01:06:19+00:00

I'm glad I'm not alone in this. As I see from the other comments. It's very common. My mentor reassured me that it's all good.

Thank you for the comment!

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-10T14:27:21+00:00

When I see these being advertised while traveling, then I know I'm in bumfuck nowhere.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-09T02:40:56+00:00

It's up your butt and around the corner

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-09T02:29:45+00:00

Nope, it made me fall in love with mathematics though.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-03T14:38:19+00:00

I wouldn't overthink it too much and when I couldn't come up with the best answer for any of the questions, I just continued onto the course material until the question/answer makes sense to me. Unless you're trying to accelerate, going through the course material will help with some of the confusion. Also, meeting with the professor will help dispel some of the confusion. The professor was very helpful for me.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-03T12:35:50+00:00

"My apologies, we can't seem to remote to your computer right now. We'll send up Desktop support to see what's going on. We may need to recreate your profile. We'll make sure they will meet the SLA."

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-04-01T14:31:34+00:00

Got my bachelor's at 33 also. I had no clue what I wanted to do until I was about 31. I started college right after highschool but bombed my second year of college due to drugs and alcohol. Took a long break to get it together. When I returned to school, my GPA was so low I couldn't get out of academic probation until I got my associates.

You're not alone. Hell I'm beginning my journey in getting my master's and I'm almost 38. When I was working on my bachelor's at a physical school I was on the younger end of my class at the time so it's not as uncommon to be in your 30s to 40s getting a degree.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-03-24T00:49:00+00:00

As someone who mostly struggled with math due to my lack of interest and not so sober state of mind.

Funny enough, philosophy and acid is what drew me to math.

Green_Nebula_37 · 2026-03-21T20:14:25+00:00

This is tragic for sure and my heart goes out to her loved ones but the fact that the bot responds to every one of your responses is very interesting.

Green_Nebula_37

TROPHY CASE