Anyone in IT That Can Issue Some Career Change Advice?

shroomish on 10/11/2023 - 09:07
Last edited 10/11/2023 - 10:17

Ive been offered a crash course in IT and i need to select a specialisation. I've no experience in this sector and am wondering whats the best area to choose with an eye for getting my foot in the door.

edit. Ive researched each area. my IT skills are basic to the extent that I run linux installs and a little bit of basic networking. What I was hoping for was something like "yeah, my company is always looking for "x" or I did "x" and it led me to where I am now or If i had my time again i'd do "X"

AI/Machine learning

Cloud Computing

Customer relations management

cyber security

data analytics

digital marketing

IT operations and support

product management

programming / software dev

project management

user experience / interface

web dev

Education & Work

Comments

  • AustriaBargain on 10/11/2023 - 09:17
    +1

    That's a wide range. What actually interests you?

    • shroomish on 10/11/2023 - 10:14

      cyber security but it seems oversupplied and i question if a crash course is adequate. i expect regardless of what i do the frist job would be call support.

      • AustriaBargain on 10/11/2023 - 10:21
        +1

        You'll find that call support is the kind of job they'll post on the job board if your course is at tafe. They even offer a topic on help desk, though honestly you can learn it all on the job I reckon.

      • netjock on 10/11/2023 - 11:49

        Cyber security is not over supplied. Common sense is always in short supply.

        It is basically hand holding people to not expose themselves to getting hacked. It is like the aged care industry of the internet.

        No selling involved because the hackers / scammers are your best business development team there is.

      • cimrak on 11/11/2023 - 12:27

        What part of Cyber security are you interested in? It's a very wide ranging topic, and a lot of people miss this.

        Are you interested in hands-on penetrating? If so, red team roles are few and far between. Reviewing/maintaining existing security stance of organisations is easier to get into.

        Do you like report writing? This can be 90% of a low- to mid-level security analysts role.

  • Montyjpm on 10/11/2023 - 09:21
    +1

    With all the recent hacking, "Cyber Security" is something that will help you as well as Cloud Computing. Make sure your course has pen-test and something close to CEH.

    • shroomish on 10/11/2023 - 10:20

      oh I'll look into that, cheers.

  • klonky on 10/11/2023 - 09:23

    I would say cyber security its pretty much future proof. But maybe watch some youtube tutorials on each subject and see what interests you the most.

    • shroomish on 10/11/2023 - 10:19

      I'd like that but it seems rather popular at present and its significantly less than a degree.

    • ylukman on 11/11/2023 - 08:57

      I did had a discussion with my TAFE teachers about this. I asked: with the rise and development of AI/ML nowadays, I assumed there will be time where AI/ML will do the monitoring and mitigation? But then, won't the attacker can also use AI/ML for attacking? If like that then it will be AI vs AI, so won't learning of how to use cyber security tools became obsolete as well? He answered, it will, but we don't know when.

  • 1st-Amendment on 10/11/2023 - 09:25

    whats the best area to choose

    How long is a piece of string?

    • shroomish on 10/11/2023 - 10:11

      i included a qualifier in that sentence.

      • 1st-Amendment on 10/11/2023 - 10:16

        i included a qualifier in that sentence.

        You mean this: "for getting my foot in the door."?

        Good luck… you're going to need it…

        • shroomish on 10/11/2023 - 10:18

          thanks for your advice.

  • Cheaplikethebird on 10/11/2023 - 09:31
    +4

    Depends, what's your IT knowledge like and what are your personal strengths (interpersonal, analytical, etc) ??

    Everyone says cyber security because it's in the headlines and there's strong demand but personally I think you need solid experience and a strong interest in all things IT to be effective in security but I'm probably biased from having dealt with consultants who don't have a clue and just parrot the latest security guidelines.

    • shroomish on 10/11/2023 - 10:12
      -1

      cyber is "in" but from my research its highly oversupplied and realistically needs 5 plus years of experience.

      • Cheaplikethebird on 10/11/2023 - 10:27

        What are your strengths and weaknesses? That will be the best way to determine pathways that might be a suitable fit.

        What's your Meyer-Briggs personality type? I mean it's mostly BS but will provide some indication.

        If you're just looking for an entry point it's level 1 helpdesk.

        • shroomish on 10/11/2023 - 10:50
          +1

          M-B has been wholley debunked, but it seems fitting jordan petersen wrote a phd thesis on it.
          Introvert / average maths

          • Cheaplikethebird on 10/11/2023 - 10:55

            @shroomish: Ok if you're an introvert I would probably steer away from the following…

            Project Management
            Product Management
            Digital Marketing
            IT Operations and Support (although you may still need to use this as an entry point)

            Try coding?

            • wolfox on 25/11/2023 - 15:29

              @Cheaplikethebird: @Cheaplikethebird Hi , do you know any other roles beside Project/Product management ?

  • bobbified on 10/11/2023 - 09:51
    +1

    You should actually look at each one to see if it fits your personality. There's a reason it's rare to have someone doing, say, "data analytics" that can also do "customer relations" - those roles require very different types of people..

    • shroomish on 10/11/2023 - 10:15

      ive cetainly looked. I was just after some insider knowledge as ive no experience in the sector

      • bobbified on 10/11/2023 - 10:57
        +1

        But you've still listed everything there. If you don't have the type of personality/attributes to be a say, programming / software dev, because attention to detail isn't one of your strong points (it is required for programming), it's kind of pointless even if everyone tells you that's the "best option".

        • shroomish on 10/11/2023 - 12:16

          Ok. Thanyou

  • paulh1977 on 10/11/2023 - 10:08
    +1

    Cyber, AI and Data Science are the 3 big speces at present

  • Tricon on 10/11/2023 - 10:37

    Project management. You can use this elsewhere.

    • shroomish on 10/11/2023 - 10:51

      Yeah i was thinking this too.

      • bobbified on 10/11/2023 - 11:39

        That's what I do and I work closely with all the other types of roles you've listed there. People management [skills] is more than 50% of the PM role. If you have what's necessary and enjoy sitting in meetings all the time, do it. It can be difficult, painful, stressful and every thing else, but it can also be personally rewarding too. There's a reason the pay is that high.

  • tabz on 10/11/2023 - 11:12

    IMO, regardless of what career path you choose, if you're just starting out in IT and want to open up a lot more opportunities, you're going to need to learn how to code to some degree.

    So of the ones you listed, I'd say starting off with this one would have the best technical foundations if you want to actually specialise and do something else later:

    programming / software dev

  • shroomish on 10/11/2023 - 12:15

    Thanks. Ill look into this further.

  • BoltThrower on 10/11/2023 - 12:48
    +1

    Cybersecurity if that's where your passion is. The community is great and there's a lot of free courses online.
    A Pen-testing friend of mine sent me these links.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As6g6IXcVa4&list=PLG49S3nxzA…
    https://tryhackme.com/
    https://academy.tcm-sec.com/

    Data analytics has applications in a lot of fields, as does AI/ML. Everything is going the way of AI and our edge will be in our lateral thinking and the clever application of it. Data Science and Analytics (and engineering) will be very useful.

  • barge-in hunter on 10/11/2023 - 14:23

    product management

    project management

    user experience / interface

    These (while in the IT industry) can be quite broad and don't require any specific IT experience. BUT, if you're interested in building technical skills, I would suggest something different.

    Outside of saying "Cyber because it's so hot right now", no one can tell you which area you'll enjoy enough to stick with. You shouldn't be considering a career change solely because there is a need in the market for that role right now - by the time you're built up some experience, everyone else will have as well.

  • mlbrooke on 11/11/2023 - 07:26

    Cyber security is over subscribed, despite the term “skills shortage” being bandied about a lot, shortage relates to organisations not willing to spend to hire resources. It is a great field to work in though so if you are offered a job then you should jump to take it. It does not have to be “technical” there are a plethora of different roles.

    But, if I was staring over and needed to reskill through a course or degree then I would be doing Data and AI, for business AI solutions can solve immediate problems and help with profitability through better informed decisions based on data.

    The business I work for has many AI projects in the go at the moment and this will not be slowing down in the next 3-5 years which is more than enough time to reskill and be a valuable asset to the industry.

  • ylukman on 11/11/2023 - 09:11

    IMHO, future proof I think is always Product Development, which is not in your list, only a niche people can do it and can't be delivered good enough with only a crash course. It needs passion, how to knowledge and time.

    All operators work can and will one day being replaced whether we like it or not. I forgot where I read about AI/ML, machine doesn't have to be perfect. It only needs to do a slightly better job than human. Which I deduce that as a human, we also need to be slightly better than machine in order not to be left out.

  • Rob-4x4 on 11/11/2023 - 15:48

    Where I work normal entry qualifications for IT jobs are at least a 4 year IT or related discipline ( maths, engineering etc) degree.

    For AI work you usually also need a good mathematics grounding as well if you really want to get into the AI sector.

    So maybe consider that path or possibly doing uni part time while working in entry level roles like pc support and similar …

  • kiitos on 13/11/2023 - 11:36

    Was this offered by your company? How big is your company, and how big is its IT dept? Do you have any other qualifications? What do you like and dislike about your current role?

    Cloud and DevOps seem to be in demand, which would work into your networking experience.

  • mitchalbrown on 15/11/2023 - 10:51

    Hi,

    I’ve worked my way up through the ranks from a customer support role for an online store to helpdesk to systems administrator and now am a cloud engineer/dev ops.

    If I were to offer any advice it would be to just get on a helpdesk in a company that offers exposure to a variety of technologies… put your hand up for everything, look for ways to automate/script manual and repetitive tasks that have been around for ages and your path will just appear ahead of you.
    I thought I wanted to be a network engineer coz it sounded cool and paid heaps of money… it wasn’t until I started doing it as a small part of my overall role that I realised I didn’t really enjoy it. That’s ok but it wouldn’t be if I had gone through a crash course on it and came out the other side no wiser, I could just move on with the rest of my role.

    Helpdesk will give you general skills and the ability to interpret the needs of end users. This is more important than anything!

    I can’t imagine getting hired in cybersecurity with no experience.

  • imalobster on 20/11/2023 - 19:14

    Like what kiitos mentioned I'd go the cloud/devops/platform/sre route if you can. This space will just continue to grow as more businesses remove their physical data centres. Gives a good taste of everything as well. You may be responsible for spinning up k8 clusters for ML teams, or backend servers for web apps, or automatic DNS management etc. etc.
    IMO it requires true passion to keep up with best practices, and be prepared to always learn, but the same could be said for any area in IT

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