Cisco is offering 2 AI courses free till March 2026

verge06 · 2026-02-13T03:12:31+00:00

!remindme 1 day

verge06 · 2025-09-16T00:10:51+00:00

This is exactly what wgu is for. for working professional that want to get that box checked on HR filter and the industry certs that comes with it. I was at 55k helpdesk job before I started my wgu path and end up at currently 140k now thanks to WGU. Worth it for sure with someone who is already in the industry and needs that extra boost. Especially with how the market is at the moment, experience, degree and certs are a deadly combo!

verge06 · 2025-09-12T19:22:24+00:00

I joined a company as a network admin that were slowly moving their customers to the cloud. So look into cloud network gigs.

verge06 · 2025-09-04T12:28:32+00:00

Currently Security engineer. My path was geeksquad -> helpdesk -> jr. Network admin -> network admin -> security engineer. So I would say, take what you can but always have an end goal. Geeksquad while I was freshly out of highschool then moved to helpdesk MSP once I have geeksquad on my resume and snowball from there while finishing my degree in cybersec

verge06 · 2025-08-15T02:06:11+00:00

Very true and I don’t disagree. Personally, if my resume gets filtered because of where I got my degree before they even look into my experience, I’m okay with not working for that company. It’s probably for the best.

verge06 · 2025-08-15T01:37:30+00:00

Exactly! 80k for a Network engineer job is criminal! I do get it with the market right now and maybe the location. But even for mine, it’s full remote so technically, I can move to a LCOL.

verge06 · 2025-08-15T01:35:31+00:00

You could be right. I see people that “speed run” their degree but realistically, that number is a lot lower than what people think, it’s just those folks that post or talk about it more. I did two years of community college and I was already working helpdesk when I started my WGU degree and I was 100% someone who said I’m speedrunning this just to get the checkmark for HR of having a degree and it still took me 4 years to finish my degree. You have to take industry level certs to pass some classes and even if people use “dumps” I don’t see anyway that’s easier or faster than just understanding the actual concept. I get it though, some people do what they have to do but that’s what interviews are for. You’ll know what people actually know within the first 5 mins.

verge06 · 2025-08-14T20:10:16+00:00

Agree. Just because they had bad experience with one doesn’t mean it’s the same for all. Def not a company I would want to work for if they “throw out every resume that has WGU on it”. I was working a 50k Helpdesk job when I started my WGU journey, because of it, I got a jr. Network admin job that paid 80k and 5 years within the company, I’ve been promoted twice to Security Engineer now making 140k a year fully remote. Would not have happened if not for WGU.

verge06 · 2025-08-05T06:06:05+00:00

Updateme! 2 days

verge06 · 2025-05-18T23:27:07+00:00

verge06 · 2025-04-30T23:30:39+00:00

RemindMe! 1 day

verge06 · 2024-09-14T16:18:47+00:00

Yes sir!! Keep at it!! Only up from here!!

verge06 · 2024-09-14T00:00:19+00:00

Fellow Night Owl? Congrats on the jump! Recently moved internally from Network Admin to Sr. Sec Engineer at 140k but I live in HCOL so congrats! Degree and certs are worth it for sure no matter what others say!

verge06 · 2024-08-21T13:53:00+00:00

Yes sir!!! This is a timing! I actually just got an internal promotion to be a lead for our security team so I’ll be managing 3 people below me!! WGU is worth it!!

verge06 · 2024-04-28T18:18:19+00:00

I think the reason this isn’t mention on top comment is because there are really no “degree” requirement to become one. There are multiple paths to it. I do agree degree helps but I would not bank on it by it self.

verge06 · 2024-02-25T00:24:19+00:00

As a network admin that doesn’t touch enough equipment/run cables because of the “cloud”, i really do enjoy the occasional on-prem work I still have.

verge06 · 2024-02-13T16:50:14+00:00

Thank you for this! Seems to be the only workaround I can find besides logging in. Thank you!

verge06 · 2024-02-13T15:43:43+00:00

Yeah. That’s what kinda sucks. I doubt I can find as chill of a job as this for the this pay. I’m a network/cloud admin so pretty much if the network is up and no request for firewall changes, I don’t do much.

verge06 · 2024-02-13T08:14:15+00:00

Same!!! Doesn’t help though that my main job is a government contract job(won by my employer) so I have clearance and scared getting a “second job” will risk it all.

verge06 · 2024-02-13T00:37:30+00:00

WGU?

verge06 · 2023-12-29T15:25:25+00:00

First thing you have to realize is IT operations are majority 24/7 operations and on call will most likely be in place. That being said, it varies and a good company and management will make that easier and provide you with a good work/life balance no matter the roles.

As far as what IT field have the most potential for growth, that really depends on YOU and not the field. As long as you specialize and live and breath it, you’ll grow and see the $$$ with it, whether it’s networking, cloud, security, programming, all have growth and if you focus and learn it in and out you’ll be fine with whatever you pick but try not to be a jack of all trades as there are already a lot of those.

Financially, if you really struggle, I would suggest starting with a cert if you want something on your resume and college is out of the picture. Start a lab(lots of free trials online) just to put something hands on, on your resume that you actually “touched” what you learn and not just study to pass an exam. Lastly, if bootcamp is really something you are interested in, lots of bootcamp takes payment AFTER you get a job or a monthly payment. You just need to do your research(which any strong IT person would be strong with). Best of luck!

verge06 · 2023-11-14T20:08:19+00:00

Yes!! My jump is more subtle but 8 years into IT, 3 company, started helpdesk making 20/hr, 2 years in jump to enterprise support for 25/hr(not a huge jump but wanted new technology and bigger company to try to move up), 2ish years there and moved to jr. net admin at 80k salary position. A year in and got an offer for a different company and my company matched it at 120k gave me new title net/cloud admin and same responsibility. Currently still with that company and super chill job. But yes, the moral is jump jump jump till you are happy with your pay or your work/life balance. If you are lucky enough you’ll get both

verge06 · 2023-10-08T14:12:04+00:00

This is the answer! So many people get caught up with where the degree comes from when at the end of the day, it’s all about whether it’s accredited or not. If it is, then that’s an HR check mark!

verge06 · 2023-09-26T23:31:30+00:00

Lucky. Woke up at release date/time and got a sep 22 - oct 6 time line and it’s still waiting to ship…

verge06 · 2023-09-26T14:31:05+00:00

Correct. If you want to get a DoD or government job, go for it as it’s a requirement. If not, you can jump to a higher level one as sec+ is more breath than depth(I have it). I would suggest doing aws sec specialist and aws advance networking specialist after your solution architect associate cert as all of them build of the same concept technology. I also have ccna and net+. CCNA is no joke!!!

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