How did you get into IT?

Discussion in 'The Lounge - Off Topic' started by JK2447, Feb 19, 2015.

  1. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    A member has expressed an interest so I figured it might be a good topic to discuss how we all got into IT, and how it's going of course.

    I did well in my GCSEs and ALevels but my school didn't really have much in the way of IT, so I ended up doing English Lit and all of the sciences. I got accepted at Liverpool uni to study Biochemistry but at the last minute pulled out. My heart wasn't in it and I knew if I carried on I would end up in a lab coat for many years. I do love the sciences but as an interest, I don't want entropy and enthalpy to earn me a living. So I made the unpopular decision to upset my parents and not go to uni. I did bar work for a time, felt lost but always kept motivated and confident despite not really having a clue what I would do with my life. I ended up being a data entry temp which was ok, honed my typing skills that I'm still proud of, but I could be dropped too easily so I applied for a general office job in Liverpool. I never forget that I got the letter saying I had the job on my 20th birthday. The job was great but after six weeks an internal only position came up as a mainframe operator. I remeber going to my TL at the time and apologising as I had not been there long but I would really like to go for the job. He was great and in a few more weeks I had the job! I effectively doubled my salary, which was low, when I moved into IT. For this reason I would encourage people to get into work while they plan their route into IT. I find it's easier to say you wanted to move into IT rather than worry about a big gap in your CV while you've waited for your IT job plus, like me, you might spot an internal only role that changes everything for you
    My LinkedIn will tell you the rest but that's how I got into IT at the age of 20. I feel very lucky to be honest as computers for me are a hobby, so it doesn't really feel like work to me. I can honestly say that because I've known I'd been fortune I've found it easy to work hard and develop a can do attitude. Where possible I've pursued certification to back up my knowledge and put me through my paces. I learned more failing an exam than passing it at times although thankfully I've not had a great many fails. I also did my degree in the end, part time over five years, in computer science (no lab coat)! I didn't necessarily need to but I regretted not taking on the challenge years ago, although this time I had full corporate sponsorship!
    From there I became a jack of all trades, a team leader, a tools specialist, a server engineer and now a solution architect. I've also become an employee representative so get to jet around Europe a bit, hopefully one day further afield. I'm older with more grey hair these days but I'm still enjoying IT. One day I might consider full time property management but for now, it's full steam ahead

    How did you get into IT?
     
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  2. Theprof

    Theprof Petabyte Poster

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    Good thread!

    I had a similar start... Basically graduated from high school and went straight to college. During my first semester, I enrolled myself in Mathematics and various other math type classes like Micro and Macro economics, etc... I soon realized that this wasn't for me and that I loved technology in general. I then had a friend who've attended a vocational training center for a System Administration course. Where I live, in Colleges and Universities, we don't have those types of degrees other than computer science (programming oriented). So I dropped out of college to take the vocational course which was roughly 1800 hours with a stage at the end. Luckily for me, I was able to land a job very quickly within the first month of graduation. I was 19.

    Today I work as a consultant focusing on virtualization technology (Datacenter and EUC). Definitely made the right choice but at some point I do plan on completing a Masters degree.
     
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  3. dales

    dales Terabyte Poster

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    For me it was first this:

    [​IMG]

    This:
    [​IMG]

    And this:
    [​IMG]

    My interests were perked trying to get the most out of the limited resources of the machines of the time and upgrading my 50Mz PC from 4MB to 8MB's RAM was mind blowing. I kept it as a hobby, helping people out with their pc problems and building new ones for them back when it was actually much cheaper to build new ones for a few years then took the plunge and turned it into a career.

    Back in the 80's I had a cpc464 and my dad bought me a book on BASIC which I went through but as with most things back then there were often errors in the pages or I just couldn't see any problems with what I'd written, but I guess that means I'd always be inclined to go into IT so I'm making sure my children are well versed in modern tech for both its uses and its pitfalls and dangers.

    I might occasionally wonder about my choices but I really cannot think of anything else that I would get the same amount of job satisfaction and opportunities that IT has been kind enough to bestow upon me so far.
     
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  4. Theprof

    Theprof Petabyte Poster

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    That reminds me of the days when I was learning how to installing Windows 95 and Windows 98 with FDISK :)!
     
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  5. dales

    dales Terabyte Poster

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    Pfft! youngsters today eh! Our first pc was on windows 3.11.
     
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  6. Theprof

    Theprof Petabyte Poster

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    My whole IT career has been working with IT pros who are at least 8 years senior to me.. When I say that the first OS I ever used was Windows 95, they laugh ;) ... I guess with the next generation of IT pros claiming to use Windows XP or Vista as their first OS, I'll be laughing too!
     
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  7. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    I remember when Windows came on floppy disks :) I'd also spend ages messing with config.sys and autoexec.bat to squeeze more out of that 640k
     
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  8. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    It's funny mate, I remember being a new kid on the block. I look around these days and feel in the middle but can imagine a time when I'm saying these kinds of things to the next generation ha ha I wonder with automation if there won't be many jobs in IT in 10 years, who knows
     
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  9. Theprof

    Theprof Petabyte Poster

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    I know what you mean! I was 19 when I started... I am now getting closer to 30 and starting to see next generation IT pros entering the field. Times sure have changed and the jobs too! Automation is a thing, and it will most likely eliminate certain tasks.. but the jobs and careers will evolve and become a different field all together.
     
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  10. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    Ah the bad old days of dos extenders, couldn't believe it having come from an Amiga when my dos programs ran out memory after 640k !
    Then I had to link against DOS/4GW.

    "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates

    My first Windows was also Windows 3.11 - Windows for Workgroups, but I started with a C64 about 10 years earlier.

    I also had the 'joy' of trying to force dos drivers into extended memory.
     
  11. SimonD
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    SimonD Terabyte Poster

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    Damn you're all whipper snappers.

    I first started playing with the ZX Spectrum (48k), moved up to the Amiga, played with DOS, Windows 3.11, 95, 3.11, 95, 3.11, 95, ME, 98...... you get the idea.

    I was using the internet when it was still called CompuServe and Prestel.

    I then joined the Army at 16, still very much into IT, I spent 10 years serving and still had computers, more often than not more powerful than my commanders and would always get calls asking how to do something on the PC (usually Word Perfect for DOS rather than Windows) etc.

    I started playing network games (original Warcraft, Doom, Duke3D etc) that lead to me getting in to networking (IPX\SPX rather than TCP\IP).

    Then I left the Army and had to get a career, now at the time I could have gone in to Long Distance Lorry driving (lots of my Army colleagues still do that today), become a Policeman (I spent time working as a Military Policeman) but wanted to do something that would pay me for my hobbys, unfortunately Porn was out so then I decided to move in to IT.

    In my first year in IT I became a Novell CNE, spent a couple of years doing that then moved over to the world of Microsoft and Windows NT.
    Spent a few years supporting Windows environments both on the Server and Desktop side and then moved in to Systems Management with SMS 2003 and then SCCM 2007. Around this time got in to virtualisation as well and decided that's where I wanted my career to move in to (for me the next logical step).

    18 years after getting in to IT I am now the manager of a Cloud Operations team looking after virtualised workloads and loving it (for the most part, the politics I can leave behind).

    I spent more time as a contractor than permy and quite honestly love that life style but having a young family with a stay at home mother brings with it some difficulties which is why I have just reached my 4th year as a perm member of staff.
     
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  12. Theprof

    Theprof Petabyte Poster

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    Pretty cool experience! I am sure you miss the techie days unless you're still hands on :)
     
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  13. SimonD
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    SimonD Terabyte Poster

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    Definitely still techy. Unless I can find a decent management role with VMware technologies I will be looking for a techy role next time around.
     
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  14. Shinigami

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    Funny you mentioned that, Bill is quite adamant he never said it, but some phrases never die :) (supposedly there's no proof that this particular quote was ever said *shrug* )

    I started work repairing computers in a mom and pop style computer repair and sales store after feeling more or less ready to fix computers having done so for myself and my friends. I was also doing some remote/freelance work for a few game companies in level design and so on (but it didn't pay all that well). Ended up being hired in my first Enterprise when a head hunter overheard me speaking a little Japanese (and the company in question needed someone who could take care of Japanese employees computers which were not installed in English or French, as was typical for that company with offices in Switzerland).

    Ended up growing up from there having done MCSE's and swapped companies several times.
     
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  15. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    Nice one Shinigami, with of course you ending up working for MS itself. You've done great mate. Is Bill quite hands off technology these days? The only thing I read is his humanitarian work, which is of course great, but I do like hearing him still being a nerd. I hope that comes across in the right way, I like people to stick to what they're famous for ha ha
     
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  16. Shinigami

    Shinigami Megabyte Poster

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    Yeah, I ended up being 'vouched' for a job at Microsoft, by my ex-Manager who joined MSFT a year after I left the company we worked at (it was a great company, we were a good team, and he's still a good friend of mine). We kept in touch (while I was employed in a Security related role at a Bank) and he dropped many a bit of advice regarding his work at Microsoft Enterprise Service (Consulting Services).

    The more I heard, the more I felt I could probably do that type of work, and so he opened a door for me to discuss things with HR and the Services department. Hiring process took a long time (over 20 hours of interviews spread over many sessions), but next week I will celebrate my 5 years as an FTE :)

    I don't think Bill does any 'technical' work per-se anymore, but he has a keen business mind and was asked by Satya to provide guidance when Steve stepped down. Bill's back at MSFT on a ~30% basis, and there's still bits and pieces of technical info and ideas that trickle down from him time to time, but he also has his family and spends the remaining time on his charities.
     
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  17. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    Cheers mate, its interesting. Also wow on the amount of time your interview took! That's a lot man, well done. I think my interview for my last job was 50 minutes ha ha
     
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  18. Theprof

    Theprof Petabyte Poster

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    I think it's typical for large organizations like Microsoft, VMware, Cisco, etc to have very thorough interviews... I've interviewed for one of those types of companies in the past and had 4 technical interviews on various different technologies, plus two more interviews with Sales/leadership team. It was for a senior consultant role.
     
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  19. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    Sounds like I need to get out more ha ha
     
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  20. Theprof

    Theprof Petabyte Poster

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    Just a little ;)
     
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