How old, how long in IT...

Discussion in 'The Lounge - Off Topic' started by Stupendous Man, Sep 8, 2005.

  1. Bluerinse
    Honorary Member

    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    Okay I am grey haired and 50 BUT I feel about 25 inside, if that!

    I have been fixing things all my life, I left school at 15 and became an apprentice TV engineer (technician in US/Oz speak). 5 years City and Guilds qualified. After 8 years in that industry I side stepped into the office equipment world for more money. Initially I was a copier engineer, then a fax engineer, then a colour copier engineer, then digital networked copiers etc. Then a service manager, also a fleet manager and finally for the last seven years prior to moving to Oz, I was the IT manager.

    I started learning about computers by programing my ZX Spectrum, then later someone gave me a 386 SX with Windows 3.11 on it. A geek mate showed me how to edit the autoexec.bat and config.sys and I was away :biggrin

    Attained my MCSE very recently, just to prove to myself that my mojo was still working 8)

    Pete
     
    Certifications: C&G Electronics - MCSA (W2K) MCSE (W2K)
  2. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    From urban dictionary:

    N.
    1. Self-confidence, Self-assuredness. As in basis for belief in ones self in a situation. Esp. I context of contest or display of skill such as sexual advances or going into battle.
    2. Good luck fetish / charm to bolster confidence.
    3. ability to bounce back from a debilitating trauma and negative attitude
    He lost his mojo when she dumped him…
    He got his mojo back now.

    http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mojo
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
  3. The_Geek

    The_Geek Megabyte Poster

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    I'll be 37 in November, and I've been in the IT field (professionally) for 4 months after a career change from the HVAC field after 22 1/2 years. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have left the IT field as an undiscovered profession and stayed in HVAC.
     
    Certifications: CompTIA and Micro$oft
    WIP: PDI+
  4. Stupendous Man

    Stupendous Man Bit Poster

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    I know it shouldn't make me feel better, but reading these posts by people of a simlar age and older has really given me some motivation.

    My A+ book should arrive next week, then I am house-sitting on my lonesome for two weeks after that, what an opportunity to get a running start!

    Thanks folks for all the replies :rocks
     
    Certifications: Lunatic
    WIP: A+
  5. Aureilius

    Aureilius Byte Poster

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    Well I'm 31, my only employable skill is my driving licence. I completed my first year of a physics degree but it was over 10 years ago & I never applied for the certificate. So, as far as I know, it means nada.

    Most recent jobs; driving a Tesco van, slinging curries around S.London & electricians mate.

    Actually, it was working as a sparks mate that made me realise that crawling through basements & messing around in riser closets, only for someone else to wire my work up at the business end, was not for me (although I liked the work).

    So, best ways, I'll be 32-33 before I have any usable certs to apply to the workplace.

    I'm very probably screwed :(

    But, I'm gonna let the certs, & not pessimism be the deciding factor :)

    Let's see how it goes.
     
    Certifications: None
    WIP: A+
  6. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    I'm 21, and working in a very non-IT job role - sales :(

    I've been building systems since I was about 14, and I'm doing some Certs now so I can prove it and get a career.

    But careers and certs to match are dependant on what you want to do. At 19 I started up a business selling parts and building systems - you don't ask yourself for Certs in a job interview. And it worked - until a relationship breakdown.

    Anywho...21...head full of crap, reading books to get it in order.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, 70-410, 70-411
    WIP: Modern Languages BA
  7. Clyde

    Clyde Megabyte Poster

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    Well, I'm 35 and have been in the biz since college. I had a computer since I was about 14... first a ZX81, then a speccie and an Atari ST before going down the PC route...

    ah, those were the days
     
    Certifications: A+, Network+, Security+, MCSA, MCSE
    WIP: MCITP
  8. Sandy

    Sandy Ex-Member

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    I am very old and have been in IT since before DOS was born.
     
  9. Jakamoko
    Honorary Member

    Jakamoko On the move again ...

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    And he's worn those boots every step of the way. :respct
     
    Certifications: MCP, A+, Network+
    WIP: Clarity
  10. eyeball

    eyeball Nibble Poster

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    Well me be recently 22, working with computers (in the dabble and learning) since about 12, working in a role involving computers since 16, now a consultant in a data center (what fun!).
     
    Certifications: A+, Network +, MCSA
    WIP: CCNA, MCSE+security
  11. Pete01

    Pete01 Kilobyte Poster

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    I'm 32 and have been working in IT for 6 years now.

    I left school without any A levels and tried various jobs that never worked out. I went along to quite a few of those jobs advertised in the Evening Standard as 'no experience required earn up to £300 a day' that always turned out to be some form of soul destroying cold calling/telesales job with 100% commission and no basic rate.

    I asked the job centre if they had any computer training courses and they did- they sent me on the basic Windows 95/Office 97 type course where I showed quite an aptitude for computing and learnt very quickly. The job centre/course people sent me on a 2 week (unpaid) work experience placement in a bank, I was expecting to be doing some sort of bank work but instead they sent me to the IT support department.

    Once in I decided that this was exactly what I wanted to be doing, on day 1 this guy sat with me and took me through the instructions on how to build a new workstation with NT4, he showed me 1 or 2 and then left me to it with a big pile of machines to build. I finished them quicker than expected so then I shadowed and listened I on helpdesk calls. When the 2 weeks was up they extended the placement another 2 weeks, by this time I was actively doing support work. They gave me a 3 month job, from that I got another helpdesk job, then another and here I am now doing 2nd/3rd line and persuing a CCNA.

    My next moves are to break into contracting and network support. I'd like to persue a CCVP and jump on the VOIP/IPT bandwagon as I can see a lot of activity in that field that is only starting to kick off. In a few years time pretty much all businesses will have their phone system running off their computer network- that's a lot of VOIP converging to be done…

    But, this time last year I started an IT degree with the OU with the intention of becoming a game developer so who know's what I'll be wanting to do next year! I'm still doing the degree but I can taylor it to what I want.

    Anyway, I was 26 when I got my foot in the door thanks to the job centre, there were 2 other people I knew of who went through the same channel I did to get into IT, one of them was about 40 with no experience, all he had like me was raw determination and focus, he's probably doing very well now.
     
    Certifications: MCP (NT4) CCNA
    WIP: 70-669, Learning MSI packaging
  12. Sandy

    Sandy Ex-Member

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    Hi Pete

    Doffs cap at other OU student. :D
     
  13. Princey

    Princey Nibble Poster

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    im 16, been working with computers for about 10 years now :D and now ive left school im starting my certs :)
     
    Certifications: A+, CCNA, MCSE 2003, NICE Voice Recording,
    WIP: CISSP
  14. Modey

    Modey Terabyte Poster

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    Hi Pete, you may want to have a look at this thread as it has some advice about getting into games programming. I asked around on a mailing list i'm on that has several game devs and journo's on it, and some of the responses they gave are on there.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCP, MCDST, MCSA 2K3, MCTS, MOS, MTA, MCT, MCITP:EDST7, MCSA W7, Citrix CCA, ITIL Foundation
    WIP: Nada
  15. supag33k

    supag33k Kilobyte Poster

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    Well I am 43 - and I came to Network Administration via a long route.

    In my 20's I was earning a lot in production engineering as a toolmaker before I started studying IT, which lead to several years working in the CAD/CAM arena as an industrial designer and toolmaker for press tools, injection moulds, marine industry etc.

    No money in working on tools in Western Australia - unless it is working for yourself or in the mines, so I worked in the 90's as a sales and support engineer for CAD/CAM, Technical software - on DOS and Unix platforms, then later RF/Telecommunications and Inventory support.

    I did a couple of years of Unix Admin/Systems Analyst in 98/99, and worked contract in various IT/Tech roles as I studied for my certs.

    I got a network Admin job for a smaller gov agency over 3 years ago and have never looked back.

    Probably get a more senior role in a bigger outfit later - but not in a hurry.

    Good to see a lot of people getting a good start after eventually breaking into IT - the idea is to stay focused and keep at it!!
     
    Certifications: MCSE (NT4/2000/2003/Messaging), MCDBA
    WIP: CCNA, MCTS SQL, Exchange & Security stuff
  16. zebulebu

    zebulebu Terabyte Poster

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    32 (33 next month!)

    Been in IT for yonks, but the first six years or so I was doing it as part of my 'real' job. Funny how many people I know in IT started out in another field and became "that bloke wot knows everyfink abaaht them computers" (replace with the local dialect appropriate for your area).

    In 2002, I was fortunate enough to get a mahoosive redundancy payout and took a year to get 'professionally' certified (MCSE, MCDBA). During this time I did contract work all over the place, but nothing that would interfere with studying (I bookwormed and labbed it for an average of 8 hours a day for nearly a year!) About three quarters of the way through my MCSE I got a contract DBA role, which tied in nicely with my MCDBA studies LOL.

    When i finally qualified, I moved on to doing two jobs at once (one at nights, one during the day). The night job was project managing a team of engineers doing EPoS work for a supermarket chain (promoted from Team Leader to keep tabs on the lazy baskets out in the field as I knew all the strokes they pulled), the day role was working as a full time DBA/Network/Sys Admin. That lasted eight months (tiring stuff, working 16 hour days - although luckily the night work was only four nights a week - two of which were Saturday & Sunday!).

    Once the EPoS project finished, I concentrated on the DBA role for a year, then got bored and left, moved to a food manufacturer as a Sys Admin - that was shite so I left there, moved on to consulting but only lasted three months before my current role (a nice juicy IT Security job) came up. been here ever since, but may be moving on to a Senior Sys Admin role next month (far more money than I'm on now).

    I've never been unemployed or without a contract for more than a day since I got into IT full time.

    It can be done peeps, I've found that the way to be successful in IT is to show enthusiasm, aptitude and willingness to go the extra mile. If you love working in IT (as I do) then these will all come naturally to you!

    Funny thing is, when I was a kid - outside of playing games on my C64 & ST - I never really gave a monkeys about computers - and definitely never considered a career in IT. I was going to be a Palaeontologist (look it up if you don't know what it means!) and even began studying it at college before dropping out and going off to earn a living. All the images people have of IT workers being sickly, malnourished geeks who were relentlessly bullied at school couldn't be further from the truth in my case!
     
    Certifications: A few
    WIP: None - f*** 'em
  17. Bluerinse
    Honorary Member

    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    Cool Zeb!

    Reading this thread again reminds me of what an interesting diversity of knowledge we have on this site. We should all get together and start an international IT company. As a combined entity we could rock the world :D

    I will be the fleet manager as I have experience with that 8)
     
    Certifications: C&G Electronics - MCSA (W2K) MCSE (W2K)
  18. wizard

    wizard Petabyte Poster

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    Nice story Zeb :D

    Well I'm 32, not into IT properly yet, In my last job I was a glorified data entry bod, in the last 18 - 24 months of my job I moved into part time IT support, helping configure thin client terminals and commissioning new depots and fixing other computer problems which included the headache of trying to keep the printers and photocopiers running smoothly which was a nightmare.

    I am about to embark on CCNA as my first cert, which would seem a little backward to some because I haven't started out with A+ and N+. I'm not really a studying kind of person I can get bored quite quickly I prefer a hands on approach. I suppose this is why I did poorly in my GCSEs, not because I was stupid it was because I was lazy. I was tipped to get at least 9 GSCEs at Grade B or above. I do regret it once in a while when I'm feeling down. I felt disillusioned with computers for a few years until my part time IT work rekindled my enthusiasm for the field. I just hope that it isn't too late considering my age.
     
    Certifications: SIA DS Licence
    WIP: A+ 2009
  19. Wires_are_bad

    Wires_are_bad Nibble Poster

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    Im 23 and I graduated with a 2:1 in Business and I.T in 2005.

    After 6 months of sitting around (and working part time gaining some valuable customer service skills :p ) I came across this forum which helped me alot!

    Redone my cv and applied for some voluntary I.T positions, and found a company where I worked for 6 months part time.

    When my contract finished there, I applied for a helpdesk analyst position, which I got!

    A degree definately isn't a waste of time, but experience is vital!
     
    Certifications: Bsc Business I.T (2:1)
    WIP: A+ and N+
  20. Kitkatninja
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Kitkatninja aka me, myself & I Moderator

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    Currently 28, have been working in IT for about 5 years (Field engineer, helpdesk, installation engineer, senior tech & currently manager), have been studying IT since 1996 and continuing to study IT now. Since I actually made my mind up to what field I wanted to work in when I was younger, it took me about 5 years to get into IT - 5 years of rejection, I mean trial & error/experience of interviews :D

    -ken
     
    Certifications: MSc, PGDip, PGCert, BSc, HNC, LCGI, MBCS CITP, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCE, A+, N+, S+, Server+
    WIP: MSc Cyber Security

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