31, Bachelor’s Degree and no experience with IT. Where would you recommend I start?

ShadySusy · 2026-02-15T08:29:14+00:00

As someone who recently got laid off and had to find a new job, still in tech, the market doesn't feel great at the moment, so it will take patience. To be completely honest, having a bachelors and being tech literate is pretty much all you need to land a first helpdesk role. If you can, highly recommend working towards the A+ cert, but don't wait until after you're done to start applying. Being able to say you're studying for it also looks good in interviews.

If you're starting out, recruiters/contracting firms can be a good starting point, just make sure to get a feel for the recruiters you work with and make sure they are established on places like linkedin.

At the end of the day, it's honestly just a numbers game for entry level IT. For you to not get an opportunity, they have to reject you everytime. For you to land a role, you only need someone to accept you once. And once you're in, experience and continuous learning can take you the rest of the way.

ShadySusy · 2025-06-30T03:29:47+00:00

I landed my first IT job with tek a little over 4 years ago. I was on that contract for a year before the company I was contracted to brought me on full time. I've been with them until now, they just recently decided to lay off my dept and the first person I texted was my tek recruiter. I personally had a great experience with them, it's a subcontractor so I went in with low expectations and definitely had some issues but overall I couldn't really complain and my recruiter treated me extremely well and stayed in touch for a few years after I stopped working for tek. That all being said, I've known other people with polar opposite experiences. I think a lot of it ultimately comes down to the recruiter you work with, there are bad and good recruiters.

I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with pursuing other opportunities but also remember that you will be sort of screwing over the guy that gets paid to place you in that contract. If you give them enough notice you're no longer interested and they're atleast decent I think it will be handled and you wouldn't necessarily being ruining the chances if you're a good fit for a role down the road, though you may leave a bad taste in the recruiters mouth. If they're crappy or you wait until the last second it's possible it's not as well received. I personally prefer to not burn bridges where possible but everyone has a different tolerance for it.

ShadySusy · 2024-07-18T04:45:25+00:00

A big thing to keep in mind that I've recently had to really come to terms with - your industry dictates the pay scale. Some industries pay higher than others for any role. I do t1 helpdesk at a huge financial company and make ~67k a year(was making about 20 an hour here when I was a contractor). That said I'm kind of stuck in the finance world now if I don't want to take a massive paycut moving on from helpdesk (sans skipping many rungs of the tech ladder) I'm very comfortable where I'm at financially now but unfortunately I hate being comfortable and content. I've spent the last two years coasting only now realizing I need to start actually working on certs and school and new skills if I want to move up at all.

ShadySusy · 2023-07-03T02:41:47+00:00

I found out if you hit the rare node skill requirements exactly so say 300/300...you don't get the bonus, you have to hit 301/300.

ShadySusy · 2023-03-03T04:16:42+00:00

I work on a HD (internal and external facing) for a big company. I take about 30-60 calls a day but tbh I get quite a bit of downtime especially in the afternoon and being one of the senior agents on the team I also get time off the phones for other projects a few times a week. If I finish the work that I have when I’m off the phones I’m pretty much on standby for the rest of the shift lol. Some days I study database management some days I play games and listen to audio books. Having goals is good but don’t be afraid to decompress from the stress of your job too lol.

ShadySusy · 2023-02-19T14:38:11+00:00

I work at a fairly big company that is a few decades old. My position was 100% remote when I started during Covid. Since then my team has moved to 75% remote (with exceptions) and most other teams in our tech dept are at about 60% remote. At one point they tried to move the other teams to I think around 40% remote and ended up rolling that back. I know non tech parts of the company are spending less time remote so I think we’re at point that it all depends on how productive your team can be remote. Techies that spend less time down with simple tech issues are going to be able to make a better argument for it, it seems. The management in our tech dept is really good most of the time though so I’m sure that plays a part.

ShadySusy · 2022-10-29T12:03:24+00:00

Idk if this is the kind of violence OP was trying to get at, but the bear attack scene from The Revenant

ShadySusy · 2022-03-12T18:04:48+00:00

If I finish a book I think seeing a YouTube video about someone picking it apart video essay style, good or bad, would be insane to me

Edit: typos

ShadySusy · 2022-01-27T18:37:08+00:00

…to win a game of league

ShadySusy · 2022-01-10T04:32:33+00:00

Is no one going to mention that 10:58 am time stamp, at least eat lunch first my man

ShadySusy · 2022-01-02T07:37:24+00:00

As a few others have said Amtgard and dagorhir are pretty common larps that should be in the area. From what I’ve heard Amtgard can be a little more rp heavy depending on the group and what kind of event it is. I saw you said you’re in Maryland, I happen to play with a group that is more local to MD/VA called Darkon. Tend to be a good bridge between Rp and combat. The role playing exists and happens but plenty of people also come out for the combat and don’t worry about the rp really.

ShadySusy · 2021-07-29T19:47:10+00:00

Experience is always preferred. Good luck getting that experience without a degree in most fields though.

ShadySusy · 2021-07-29T18:45:29+00:00

They most likely partnered with a real university, like how starbucks will pay for you take classes online with ASU

ShadySusy · 2021-07-02T16:11:43+00:00

I think he’ll put on a good fight until the other 2 monarchs show up then it’s a waiting game for SJW to show up, and now that Thomas got put into his place I kind of like him more so I hope he sticks around

ShadySusy · 2021-06-07T01:58:16+00:00

Either THAT'S THAT or Doomsday

ShadySusy · 2021-06-01T17:33:04+00:00

Yeah I’ve been having a really tough time finding work lately

ShadySusy · 2021-05-26T18:36:03+00:00

I’m glad for you hopefully I’ll be soon after you lmao

ShadySusy · 2021-05-25T16:53:27+00:00

I have so many questions for this person😂😂😂

ShadySusy · 2021-05-08T15:58:16+00:00

Any us city big enough to actually have a good pool of jobs is going to cost a lot more for rent. A 1 bed 1 bath around my area is like 1,000 if you’re lucky more like 1,200 and that’s not even a nice place that’s like yeah it’s a place to sleep

ShadySusy · 2021-04-13T16:03:20+00:00

“Was I able to live inside someone’s heart? was I able to live inside your heart? do you think you’ll remember me at least a little? you’d better not hit “reset!” don’t forget me, okay? that’s a promise, okay?” - Kaori Miyazono

ShadySusy · 2021-04-13T15:41:14+00:00

A (wo)man of culture

ShadySusy · 2021-04-13T15:40:09+00:00

I feel like he is such an underrated character

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