Is help desk to sys/net admin to cybersecurity actually a viable career path for a 25 y/o career changer?I was retarded and got an art degree, and I wasn't able to make a career out of art. So now I don't have a relevant degree for most fields, and my only job experience is in customer service and delivery. Maybe one job that I could spin as "field technician". Now I'm trying to turn my life around and start a real white collar career.People say that help desk jobs are supposed to be easy to get with minimal requirements. So I thought maybe the help desk to cyber track might be the best path for me to having a real, high-paying career without a relevant degree or experience. But I've been applying to a shit-ton of "entry level" help desk jobs and haven't had any luck so far. I'm starting to wonder if I was sold a lie on how attainable this is. So be straight with me: Is this actually a viable path for me? Should I stick with it? Change my approach? Or look for a different path entirely (and if so, what)?I've started studying for an A+ cert, but I'm afraid I'll spend all this time and money on it, and then once I have it, it won't make a difference anyway. Most listings don't mention certs, and the ones that do list it as just a preference.Is it pretty much required for someone in my position to work at Geek Squad or some other consumer help desk role first, before moving up to enterprise help desk? Is that what I'm doing wrong? Would this genuinely help me get a real enterprise help desk role later? Cuz again, I'm afraid of wasting my time at Geek Squad and then it making no difference anyway. I've also heard that another viable path is starting as a data center technician and then working up to networking roles. Would this be more attainable for me, initially?
>>34708668>>>/g/They'll probably give you a better answer over there, in the tech workers general.
>>34709112Thanks anon, I'll try that.
>>34708668Sysadmin Level III Here.First off, studying for the A+ is a good start, and yes, it only helps with HelpDesk, so at least continue studying it, if only to show your knowledge come interview time.But I would recommend you expand out what you are studying for. Helpdesk positions need to know a few things, besides how to fix a computer. The first is how to use a ticketing system. I would learn things like ServiceNow, ZenDesk, Zoho, JIRA, even just a basic scrape of that will help immensely. Also, learn fundamentals of ITIL, because that's how proper organizations manage IT with business needs. It's a deep rabbit hole, but having an awareness will make it so you don't go into the interview or get hired and start spewing retarded shit like how everybody in the organization should switch to LibreOffice or Ubuntu Linux.Other things to study are the top software suites used by enterprises. The microsoft ecosystem, how to write a script, how to install something silently, how to use basic powershell.Also, brush up on your people skills, especially interpersonal management and handling of executive types. This has been what separates the wheat from the chaff. I can hire any nerd off the street, but if they bungle an interaction with the CTO or some CSuite asshole than they rain hell down on us. I can teach you a technical skill, but soft skills and interpersonal skills are something you either have or have to learn yourself, and they can 100% turn a difficult user into an ally, or at least make them tolerable. Your employer will look for this.
>>34712423>Is it pretty much required for someone in my position to work at Geek Squad or some other consumer help desk role first, before moving up to enterprise help desk?No. I've convinced our manager to hire plenty of people looking to dip thier toes into IT right off the street. You need to demonstrate a willingness to learn, and not have bad IT habits. Right now we have a woman in our helpdesk who was a waitress at a Dive Bar. Her IT skills were lacking, but she learns quick and she can tastefully deal with difficult users, drawing from her experience dealing with drunkards and such.
>>34712423>>34712427Thanks for the detailed responses! Overall, that sounds pretty reassuring. I have touched on ticketing systems from my studies, and I'm quite competent with the Microsoft ecosystem, Windows, etc.. And I advertize that on my resume. But it sounds like I should dig deeper on a wider range of specific ticketing softwares, look into ITIL, and prioritize scripting more. I'm also pretty good with people. Or at least I'm good at faking it and being "corporate", cuz I have extensive customer service experience. But the main challenge remains that I just can't get an interview to start with. So I haven't had any chances to demonstrate my skills or knowledge. Maybe there's a problem with my resume? Maybe I'm getting filtered out? Maybe I'm applying in the wrong places? I've mostly been applying on LinkedIn, some Indeed, and some direct applications to various MSPs I've found. Even a few on Craigslist. But I don't really know where else to look (if there are other places I should be looking).
>>34712878Well, the problem is going to be the numbers game, to be honest. Right now the market is bad for anyone who is looking to get hired--it's hitting everybody from the kid flipping burgers to the Csuite, and it's really bad in IT. Two things your fighting is the economy, which based on how things are is most likely in a recession or a K Shaped economy (look it up), but our media this time has chosen to appease the powers that be and simply pretend that all is well. Everybody knows the other thing, AI and cost commoditization of automation.I would either optimize your resume further for Resume Tracking Systems, or embellish and pepper phrases and key words from your job description into the resume. It's more work but if you get good at it you up your odds.
