Hello all!
I’m a total noob at posting on reddit, so I’m unsure if this is this right place to post this.
I finally landed an entry level IT job for myself!
Some back story, I’ve mainly worked at financial institutions for the last 6-ish years. I’m also the type of person that can coast in a position very easily, so I never moved up in the chain. It pays my bills? Okay I’m gucci!
But I’ve wanted to get away from banking and into something I feel would be an actual “skilled trade” I could make a career out of in some way.
It’s a computer technician job at a school district.
My first day was last Thursday!
It’s so very exciting. I’m happy, content that I was hired and so goddamn nervous because idk what the fuck I’m doing because this is my first job in IT lol!

I actually applied for this job back in May 2026. Got accepted to interview first via teams, and then a 2nd in person interview.
Unfortunately they went with someone else more qualified.
I wadded through applying to a lot more IT jobs to try and persevere, got a few interviews out of it but ultimately they ended up not picking me.
Two of them I was given the deetz by HR that they hired internally.
After that I began applying for anything and everything. I probably had about 15-20 interviews for non-IT related jobs and got ghosted/rejected by 90%
2 of them I decided I did not want to work with the company after meeting people in the interview.
However, come September 2026, the director of technology reached out to me via email to inform me another computer tech position had opened!

I went through the same process. A teams interview and then an in person.
I genuinely did NOT want to go through the interviews a 2nd time. Especially because the in person involves being interviewed by a group of 5 and I really didn’t want to get rejected AGAIN after putting myself out there a second time.

However, all the stress, tears and worry led to me getting picked the 2nd time around!!!
I wanted to share my experience and let everyone who is still struggling and wadding through job hell, especially in IT know to:
Keep applying!!
Do your absolute best on every interview. You never know who might actually like and see potential from you and reach out to you even if they don’t go with you the first time
You all got this!!!!! 💪

I know some of my colleagues use this app but I don't even care anymore so here goes.

I'm fairly new at my job as network support. Extremely small company of 8 people. I previously touched on how I disliked my experience here so far, but last week 100% made up my mind to search elsewhere.

So for starters, I just returned from illness on Tuesday. Immediately as I walked in office, the boss told me there was a meeting I had to join. I was a little lost as nothing was in my email & no one informed me about it at all; boss took it as me being inadequately prepared for work & reported it to my manager, who raised it up with me in a meeting.

Okay, sure.

Later on, manager tasked my colleague & I with a network monitoring setup for 2 client sites. Particularly he wanted to ensure alerts were working properly. He made it very clear that this is something the 2 of us will have to figure out as we needed it done ASAP ASAP ASAP.

Completely new to us both, but sure.

I suggested working through the core infrastructure (P1s) first to avoid alert fatigue. Manager said "stop trying to be clever" and to essentially do it his way - enabling alerts for EVERY device and then working our way through 500+ devices to determine which ones are low priority.

Sure.

The next morning, he messages me demanding to know why our inbox was full of alerts for P3 devices, and that he wants everything working properly ASAP.

You couldn't make this shit up.

So yeah, I've emotionally checked out & started applying for jobs the very same evening. Won't even bother putting this experience on my CV.

I'm looking to get into network engineering or a similar field. Mainly just trying to get out of being a mechanic. I'm looking for certifications that would make more employable, so I can start buying or researching to study for them. My friend is a network engineer and he keeps telling me to get the "AWS certification" my friend who does an IT adjacent job not sure what she is exactly but I've seen her programming a couple of times and she also says the same thing.

I'm really just trying to get out of mechanic work as soon as possible. Any additional certifcations that would be good to add would also be cool to know about.

I typically do a annual ask for more money. This is alongside my companies review process. I'm not talking about that 2% raise cost of living adjustment. I'm talking "Hey boss here is that project you needed me to get in. Oh FYI, I want to make more money how do I do that? "

I'm wondering how often you should do this? I'm starting to think you should be setting the stage for this convo every 6 months maybe?

When was the last time you looked your boss in the eyes and said something like Hey Boss, I'm at 75k and I'd like to make it to 100 - 125k range in the next 5 years. What do I need to do to get there?

Hey guys I need some advice about what to do next because I feel kinda stuck where I am. So I've been working in Infrastructure Support for a large enterprise in Toronto for almost 2 years now, making 70k. Now, while I am happy with my current work-life balance with my job. I do feel the pay and the commute to the office (twice a week) isn't great so I've been looking for other jobs, but so far I haven't been getting any responses nor interviews for the past 2 months which has been unfortunately disappointing despite me using a lot of time to edit my resumes for each posting.

Now this isn't my first job. I finished IT in college and got a history degree at university in a total of 7 years. In those 7 years, I got 3 IT help desk jobs, and I've managed to get 5 years of work experience and after graduating from University I landed this job shortly after so now I have 7 years of experience. So it's fair to say I'm in the mid-level of my career. Also I have no certs because I'm all "schooled out right now" and the thought of doing another exam might make me blow a gasket so I'm putting that on hold for now as I'm rebuilding my life outside of school/work.

So now I know people are going to tell me "Oh, you should specialize in something." The problem is that I have zero idea what should I specialize in. Because in all my jobs I did a bit of everything and at first I wanted to specialize in System admin but the pay is somewhat lackluster. So I'm not sure what to do here to be honest. I do feel kinda shitty making so little compared to others in the field with the years of experience I have so I might be rushing myself into this so let me know what you guys think?

Not sure if this is the right sub but whatever. Dated a lawyer once and she found out what I did on the second date. At the time I was doing help desk/desktop support which I thought was a perfectly normal job. She basically treated it like I was the guy who fixed the overhead projector at school or repaired photocopiers.

After that I just felt like the office tech who kissed the ass of people like her. That was pretty much the end of it.

Curious what you all think. Do people still look at IT support roles as menial or non-prestigious?

Hi everyone,

I'm currently trying to move into an IT Support / Help Desk / Technical Support role, and I realized that I have a somewhat unusual problem: I understand a lot of the technical concepts, but I've never actually worked in an IT Support environment.

I've been interested in technology for years, and I naturally enjoy troubleshooting things. When something doesn't work, I tend to investigate what happened, gather information, test different possibilities, and try to understand the actual cause rather than just looking for a quick fix.

I also have some knowledge of things like HTTP, APIs, networking basics, SQL, operating systems, and general troubleshooting. However, most of my experience has been through personal projects, learning, and figuring things out on my own.

I've never actually sat next to an IT Support Officer or Help Desk technician and watched what their workday looks like.

So I'm trying to understand the real day-to-day workflow.

For example:

What happens when you arrive at work?

How do users normally contact you?

What does a typical ticket look like?

How do you decide whether to troubleshoot something yourself or escalate it?

How much of the job is actually technical troubleshooting vs. communication/admin work?

What kind of problems do you deal with most frequently?

What does a genuinely busy day look like?

And what do you do on a quiet day when there aren't many incidents?

I'd especially appreciate answers from people who currently work (or have worked) in IT Support, Service Desk, Desktop Support, Application Support, or Technical Support.

I'm not asking because I think the job is easy. I'm actually trying to get a realistic picture of what I'm getting myself into before I apply.

Thanks!

I’ve never worked as a field technician before so any insights from people working in that type of job would be helpful. Do you like the work? How do balance constantly paying for gas and general maintenance on your car? What drew you to this type of work vs working in the office?

I have about 3 years of experience on the Help Desk and have been in my current role for a little over a year. A couple of months ago I accepted a Compliance Analyst job internally at my company. My start date was dependent upon my current position being backfilled and I was getting ready to train my replacement and begin transferring to the new role. Unfortunately the government suspended CMMC level 2 and the position was removed due to there being no more work. Keep in mind this was a brand-new position at the company and I would be the first person to fill the role, so they had to take it away. My company was kind enough to offer me a position as a SOC analyst- which I have accepted. I should be starting in about a month in my new role. Although SOC was not my first choice and I still want to pursue compliance long term, I still believe I will gain valuable skills which could help me transition into a compliance role if it becomes available again. Was this the right move to accept the role? Should I be pursuing compliance since it’s my long-term goal? Is SOC better than Compliance?

About the SOC role:
-12 hour shifts
-11am-11pm
-remote
-65k
-Salary
-One week on call per month
-42 hours per week

I graduated about three months ago with a degree in software engineering, but during my studies I realized I don't want to write code for a living. I'm much more interested in IT support, infrastructure, and networking, and I'd like to build my career in that direction.

At the moment, I work in IT support at my family's business. It's a small company, so the workload isn't particularly heavy, but I handle the technical issues that come up: troubleshooting network and Wi-Fi problems, printers and devices, updates, and occasional phone or remote support sessions. I've been doing this since August, and I also helped out informally before that.

I also completed two short internships and have some personal software development experience, including around 10 small Unity projects. I'm not sure how useful that background is when applying for entry level IT roles, though.

The job search hasn't gone well so far. I've sent roughly 100 applications and haven't had a single interview. My original CV wasn't very good, so I've rewritten it since then, but I'm also wondering whether my location is making things harder. My English is around C1, but many local IT jobs require French, which I don't speak well, while a lot of remote positions aren't open to applicants from my country. I can share my CV with my personal information removed if that would help.

I'm also trying to figure out which certification path makes the most sense. I'm currently working through a CompTIA A+ course on Udemy, but I haven't taken the exam yet. A+ seems like the obvious starting point for entry level support, but since my longer term goal is networking, I'm wondering whether I'd be better off doing A+, Network+, or going straight for the CCNA.

The other question I'm struggling with is whether to do a master's. If I do one, I'd probably want to study in an English speaking country where graduates have a realistic path to staying and working afterward. I'd be looking at something like IT, networking, or cybersecurity, preferably a practical/applied program rather than another heavily engineering focused degree.

My concern is that my grades are average and my first degree hasn't translated into a job yet. I'm therefore hesitant to spend a lot of money on another degree if experience and certifications would be more useful

For people who have gone through something similar:

• Does a master's actually improve your chances of getting into IT support/infrastructure/networking or ould you prioritize experience and certifications?
• What helped you land your first IT support or networking job with little professional experience?
• If you were in my position, how would you use the next six months?
• And would you recommend focusing on IT support first and moving toward networking later, or trying to target junior networking roles immediately?

Any advice would be appreciated. I'm mainly trying to figure out where I'm going wrong and what would give me the best chance of getting that first proper IT job.

Hello, I'm struggling to decide what I wanna do in the future.

I have a well paying job and I'm abt to get ccna certified, but in my current role I got more interactions with other fields and I'm very interested on:

1. ISP core network

2. WISP, MW Linking.

3. ISP Voice (UCC) Core network or Enterprise

4. Enterprise customers from ISP side.

Do you have any experience on that side?

Any advice and experience is welcome!

My experience is in customer service, a lot of call centres. So I'm comfortable engaging with customers.

But for IT stuff, I have no qualifications, I know people say there's entry level IT jobs, but every time I look at help desk on seek, they're always asking for previous experience.

Is there anywhere I can go to learn the basics? so at least I can put it on my resume or mention it during my interview or on my cover letter?

So most of my company admin stuff can be accessed directly through a web portal. I carry my laptop in the trunk of my car when I go out of the house. With all these foldable phones out now, I was thinking about getting one to limit the need for my laptop when I'm on the road. What your thoughts?

Hi all. I'm 25F, have diagnosed Autism, ADHD, and OCD, as well as some sort of learning disability.

The gist is that my verbal/linguistic, analytical, and emotional skills are well above average, but my arithmetic and visual spatial skills are either average, or downright borderline- and I essentially can't multi-task. This may not necessarily be NVLD, but it's very similar. I attempted to entire the animation field about a decade ago, and struggled.

I'm now looking to return to school- and I'm wondering which career path is the best suited to my strengths, given my unique neuroprofile. So it should go without saying- I'm excellent at verbal, and direct verbal communication, I can be very organized, I'm pretty computer savvy (though I can't do much coding beyond very basic HTML,) and can operate tech well. I also adore animals, and have become hyperfixated on terrier-type dog breeds. While its clear that my 2D artwork will probably always look stiff, and that I can't draw in perspective well- I do objectively have some visual skills, strong sense of silhouettes, staging, and I have a great love of film/TV- and again, someone in my prior thread, suggested I go into 3D animation, so I'm thinking maybe CAD, as that could be more AI-proof, and more viable as a path.

I'm wondering of the three- IT, CAD/3d software, vet assistant, which y'all have experience with, you'd recommend, and if anyone has pursued those fields with success. IT gives me a little bit of pause, if a certification course would expect me to do complex math- but I can do enough basic arithmetic and coding- and I'm damn good at operating computers, file systems, network systems, etc., to where I feel like I could accommodate myself in most work settings. I think CAD could also serve me well. I don't know a whole lot about what they'd expect out of a vet tech in their day to day, but I believe my communication, organization, and love for animals could be valuable.

I've done some assessments and did part of a CompTIA certification, which I didn't finish- and I found that to be something I was skilled at. If memory serves, it was a lot of Excel spreadsheets, word docs, slideshows, operating a desktop and local networks.

Jamie

Are there still normal Devs out there? I only see people on Reddit that are either Prompt-engineers or jobless…

Are there still normal people out there??

Actual question of mine.

I’ve recently accepted this role. I’ve been doing helpdesk until now and the pay bump is great from 18 an hour to 25 an hour. I think this is a good step because I’ll learn a lot more and have more responsibility but I want someone with more experience than me to chime in on this. Also I wanna know if I’m being paid fairly or not for the work required of me. Below I’ve pasted what my duties are from my boss.

Resolve hardware, software, and connectivity issues for end-users via phone, email, chat, and in-person support.
Set up, configure, and deploy desktop computers, laptops, mobile devices, and printers.
Manage user accounts, permissions, and group policies within Active Directory and Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace.
Perform software installations, updates, and patch management across all company devices.

Network Infrastructure Support
Monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot local network hardware including switches, routers, firewalls, and wireless access points.
Assist in the maintenance of network cabling, patching, and server rack organization.
Troubleshoot internet connectivity, VPN access, and DNS/DHCP configurations.
Collaborate with senior network engineers to implement network upgrades and security protocols.

Operations & Security
Document all support tickets, asset inventories, and network configuration changes in our IT service management system.
Conduct regular system backups and verify data integrity.
Educate end-users on basic security practices, phishing awareness, and safe computing habits.
Participate in an on-call rotation for emergency technical support as needed.

So I recently joined an organisation after writing my CSM and PMP exams and clearing interviews with theoretical knowledge, but the team has full stack developers and testers and they speak in technical jargon which is confusing and I’m feeling difficult to understand- please give me suggestions to survive here please and succeed.

I’m finishing a Bachelor’s in Data Science & AI and I’ll probably have around a year before starting a Master’s.

My academic record is pretty weak, so I want to use that year to seriously strengthen my profile.

I’m looking for something in AI/CS that actually has weight and I don’t care if it’s difficult. I’d actually prefer something rigorous if completing it can show that I’m capable of graduate level work, since i didnt really take college seriously.

My main goals of what ill do in this year are to strengthen future Master’s application relatively to my weak grades and add something credible to my CV which may also help me with landing internships/jobs

I’ll also be working on projects and trying to get experience during the year.

If you were in my position and had one year, what would you do?

i've been programming for 3 years in python and c++ and I want to. get more involved in it. I've been searching on Google, Indeed and linkedin and I am lost because of how broad the internets. What should I specifically look into?

I currently work in IT for a manufacturing company and have an offer for a Systems Administrator position at $105k, also in manufacturing. I’m also interviewing for an IT Analyst II/support role at a large, well-known telecommunications/communications tech company.

The SysAdmin role is the obvious progression on paper. Better title, direct move out of support, and I’d be staying in an industry I already know. I’d get exposure to Windows Server, AD/GPO, networking, virtualization, backups/DR and supporting another manufacturing environment.

My concern is that the infrastructure is already pretty built out and from the interviews I got the impression that a decent amount of the day to day may still be support work. It’s also a smaller IT environment, so I’m not sure how much opportunity there would eventually be to specialize deeper into infrastructure or cloud.

The other position is technically a step backwards in title, but it would be a completely different environment. Much larger enterprise, dedicated infrastructure teams, a lot more specialization, and exposure to IT at a scale I haven’t worked in before.

My interview with the support lead went extremely well and he seemed like someone I could learn a lot from. My next interview would include one of their infrastructure leads. They also talked about analysts becoming SMEs, working with other IT teams, getting involved in larger projects and potentially moving internally.
That is the part making me seriously consider it.

I’ve learned a ton working in small manufacturing IT because you end up touching everything, but I’m starting to think being around dedicated infrastructure engineers and seeing how a large enterprise operates could help me grow in a different way.

My long-term goal is infrastructure/cloud engineering and eventually cloud architecture. I’m currently working on AZ-104 and want to keep building experience with Windows Server, networking, virtualization, PowerShell, Azure and backup/DR.

I obviously don’t have an offer from the second company yet, so there’s nothing to decide today. Compensation there could end up being similar to or even better than the SysAdmin offer.

Assuming the money is comparable, which environment would you consider better for the next 2-5 years of career growth?
Would you take the Systems Administrator title and continue building experience in manufacturing, or take the lower support title at a large telecommunications enterprise with more mentorship, specialization and a possible internal path into infrastructure engineering?

I’m mainly interested in which experience would set me up better long term, not which title looks better right now.

I'm 31 and from India. I joined MBBS in 2016 and have passed all my professional MBBS exams. I also have a provisional MBBS certificate, but my compulsory internship/CRMI is incomplete.

I'm currently trying to rejoin and complete the internship.

However, there is some uncertainty regarding whether NMC will give final approval/allow me to complete it because of the long gap and the regulations applicable to my batch.

If things don't work out, IT is one of the backup options I'm considering.

My question is: how realistic would it be for someone with my background to transition into IT and eventually earn a decent income?

I don't have formal IT education or professional IT experience. I'm willing to study from scratch and spend 1–3 years building the necessary skills/qualifications.

.

I'm not necessarily looking for a ₹1 lakh/month job immediately. I'd be happy if I could eventually reach around ₹40–50k/month and grow from there.

Which IT fields would you recommend for someone starting at 31 with my background? Is this realistically achievable in the current Indian job market, or would you recommend looking at a completely different career path?

I'd appreciate honest opinions, especially from people who have actually worked in IT or made a similar career switch.

Hi everyone, I've just graduated in computer engineriing and now idk what to do. I have no prior experience in the field yet (I've already work esperiences but elsewhere) and Job market feels terrible: out of 200+ application only 5 called back and I'm struggling to get a job. So I thought I might start the master degree, maybe a curriculum in AI field to help me have better chances in the future.

But if job market is terrible now, I don't know what to expect when I will be 31yo with a master degree and no experience yet.

I'm asking for any helpful advice.