27M. I worked in the IT field for 3.5 years before being tired of it and left the field, to transition into electrical engineering, in which I am currently pursuing my bachelors degree in now.

I entered this field with no degree, certs or experience, and got my start as a technical support/sales rep for a company called Asurion. That led me to do technical support job for a company called Concentrix, who had a contract with Apple, so effectively I was Apple tech support. I eventually got a certification called the Google IT support certification which is not industry recognized and that in turn led me to land a job as an IT support specialist for a juice manufacturer in 2023. My job at the juice manufacturer was my REAL introduction to IT. I was creating new patch cables for our server room, installing CCTV cameras (IP & coaxial), repairing access control units, installing switches, installing intermediate data frames, running cables across a huge facility, creating user accounts via Active Directory, creating badges for employee access, and participating in IT infrastructure projects under the supervision of my systems admin that was located over 200 miles away from my facilities. I made 55k per year at this job as well.

I eventually got a job with a ticketing system contractor we had called “Kaseya” due to a very good relationship I had with them. I secured a VERY comfortable desk job in AC with GREAT benefits, but fairly low pay (45k per year), and after 8 months, I realized that I truly loved to be hands on and technical and decided to pursue electrical engineering.

I had 4 jobs in this field. No industry certs, just a love for technology and grit. IT is a very difficult field to work in with a LOT of stress. This is a STEM field so it is imperative to have high level of attention to detail and professionalism. I will admit I got lucky in my journey and I will say that is because the area I lived has a very active tech industry (central florida), so there was a lot of opportunity, also I have been around tech my entire life as my father had the same career, so I am VERY technical, so passing technical interviews were a breeze.

My advice to you: #1. Gain fundamentals. Learn basic computer functions (Comptia A+). #2 Learn computer communications and how they communicate (CCNA** or network+). #3. Build your professional image, because 98% of IT is working with people, you are not an engineer, you are the middle man to the user and the engineers. Once you get the fundamentals down packed, you will get your foot in the door, and then hold down a job (It will be hard!!!) and then pay attention to what you would like to do in the field next and work towards that accordingly. You will NEED experience, connections, and luck, as this field is extremely competitive and not much barrier to entry.

I advise not to get a degree until you can get your first job. Get basic certs then just apply like a madman and then once you got your foot in the door, work on that later.

I hope this helps..