IT Field Employment/Job Crisis at 35... What to do?

[digiram]

There definitely are decent IT opportunities in lower cost areas as many companies like to save on backend costs.

 

[rcpratt]

I can't imagine living in NYC with that salary. Holy crap.

It's not like you have to live in the mountains of West Virginia either. There are plenty of cities with a lower cost of living. Dayton, KC, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Raleigh-Durham...

 

[Svnla]

Wow, $36K in NYC? It is like $18K here. OP, you need a new job with better pay.

See the sticky employment thread in which I posted a few links with salaries > $36K and with lower cost of living.

 

[AdamK47]

Wow, $36K in NYC? It is like $18K here. OP, you need a new job with better pay.

See the sticky employment thread in which I posted a few links with salaries > $36K and with lower cost of living.

Nah, he's fine. If he was concerned about his current job and low salary he would have made a thread about it by now.

 

[Svnla]

Nah, he's fine. If he was concerned about his current job and low salary he would have made a thread about it by now.

This is what he said in the first post:

What would you do if you were in my situation?

And I told him what I would do if I was in his situation. A new job with better pay. I do not care if the new job is IT or shoving dirt or walking the dogs but $36K is not cutting it in NYC, maybe in cheap living areas and if he is single.

I would go to night school (see if his employer would pay for the tuition) and slowly get better skill/knowledge to get a better higher paying job. If his mind is not in IT, then ask himself what is is good at/want to spend time with and go on from there.

 

[Red Squirrel]

36k seems on par with what a typical IT job here would pay outside of working for the bigger companies like telcos and mines. But yeah for NYC that seems crazy low, don't even know how you'd survive on that given even renting a janitorial closet costs more than owning a house here.

 

[AdamK47]

This is what he said in the first post:

You told him he needed a new job with better salary. That's good information to offer him. If he didn't know that, he should have created a thread about it in the first place.

 

[RichUK]

Maybe think about a different line of work and leave IT?

 

[AdamK47]

On a serious note, I started out doing technical support. Did it in 2000 and 2001. I figured it would be a good stepping stone for something better. It was just that. I transitioned from tech support to QA after getting good recognition for the problems I was taking in from the front lines. Made a career out of SQA over the past 16 years. Had to work my way from the bottom doing entry level manual testing. It scaled up from that in various increments over the years to the point where I'm now doing large scale load testing and automation framework architecture.

 

[holden j caufield]

Learn virtualization something like, vmware esx, hyper-v, xen. There are a ton of jobs that revolve around that. And you can make your own lab on your pc or laptop and learn via youtube. You can work as a sys admin for a company, an msp/var, noc, datacenter, etc.

 

[Kaido]

Learn virtualization something like, vmware esx, hyper-v, xen. There are a ton of jobs that revolve around that. And you can make your own lab on your pc or laptop and learn via youtube. You can work as a sys admin for a company, an msp/var, noc, datacenter, etc.

I've personally shifted a lot into virtualization over the past year or two. Just did a few hosts today actually. Soooooo much easier than dedicated single-OS physical servers haha!

 

[bob4432]

I personally think you need to work on yourself and learn to deal w/ the stresses that drove you out of school so many times before. I would think that if you go into a different/larger company and there are additional stresses, you may become ill again thus the cycle starts over again. Mental health is just as important as physical health.

 

[Dulanic]

It's mostly just getting into a area you think may have areas you'd be interested in. Ex, I worked my way into finance and after a couple years managed to work up from doing claims to management. Then was able to get myself over towards analysis with risk area and in 10 years quadrupled my salary.

It's really just getting your foot in the door somewhere you can work up from with room for growth.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

 

[Kaido]

So here's my story... Fresh out of High School, I got very ill. I had to drop out of several colleges because of my health and did very poorly in college. Eventually, in the course of the next 11 years, I barely managed to get an AS Liberal Arts in a community college and at around 25 I tried to do a 4 year school again. Same thing happened. Health suffered, had to drop out.

At 29, I found a crappy private school and enrolled, because small size classes, and friendly environment were easier for me to handle. I first got a BS in Data Communications, and then an MS in Information Systems. I also got a CompTIA A+ Certification.

Now here's my problem. After all that schooling, I can honestly admit that they didn't really teach me anything. Well, that or barely thought me anything at all. My Information systems program was heavily focused on Web Development. I learned the basics of HTML, JavaScript and CSS. And that's pretty much it. The rest was useless fluff! In the course of the program I realized I hate programming with all my heart. It's boring, too difficult, tedious, and just not my thing. But I pressed on, not wanting to waste the time I put into that degree.

So here I am today, with a Masters Degree I might as well shove up my *** and a shitty 36k/year job as a help-desk support technician. When I ask myself what I can do today, the answer is pretty much just "fix and troubleshoot computers". I cant say I know much of anything else.

I don't think going back to school at 35 to start all over again in a different direction would be a good idea. I honestly don't think I can handle it all, what with all that Trigonometry, Pre-Calulus and Calculus they will most definitely bombard me with. I would most definitely get sick again with all the stress, and will be forced to drop out. I barely remember any programming, and I don't think I want to do it.

What would you do if you were in my situation? How can I break this deadly cycle and hopefully get a 70/80k/year job? 36k is just not enough to make any kind of a living in New York City.

A lot of people say... "Well, what do you expect? You don't know shit, and you are not marketable. You didn't go to a prestigious college, and did not get a good education. No wonder you are stuck in this position!"

Hearing things like this, doesn't help. I wonder what I can do in my particular situation to help myself.

Once upon a time I published a book on how to choose a career & interviewed hundreds of people about their jobs, so I'll throw myself out there as something of an expert on jobs. Some initial thoughts:

1. You are not, by any means, stuck in this job, or at that pay scale. You live in America and are free to pursue anything you want; no one is holding a gun to your head, no one is preventing you from changing companies, and there are tons of great-paying jobs that need qualified people like yesterday. So don't feel like this is "it" for you or that you're locked in there forever...if you continue on this path of actively looking for a new, better-paying job, in a few year's time your post will be a distant memory.

2. One of my favorite quotes is: "There are only 2 problems in life: you don't know what you want, and you don't know how to get what you want". So for starters, you know that you want more pay (70/80k annually), which is good. You know you don't like programming, so we can X that out. You already know how to study, how to create a resume, and how to show up to work, so you're already 90% of the way there. Now we just need to narrow down the focus a little bit with a few more questions!

3. Also, last time I checked, something like 84% of people were unhappy in their jobs, so don't feel alone. A lot of people struggle with their careers!

4. Are you willing to move, or are you set on living in NYC? (not a problem either way, just a question)

5. Do you want to stay in computers, or do you want to try something new? (both are good options!)

6. Are you willing to put in the work to achieve your goal of a 70/80k/year job? That typically means sacrificing evenings & weekends for education to help you get into a better-paying job. I had a friend who went to school on nights for like 11 year to go from being in sales processing ($21k/yr) to medical ($60k/yr, nurse or something). That's an extreme timeframe, but it paid off for her because that time was going to pass either way, and now she makes a comfortable living instead of struggling. On the flip side, I had a coworker at my last job who constantly complained about his current position & wanted to move up in IT and get paid more, but wasn't willing to work. Can't climb the mountain if you don't want to walk up the trail. Dude was bright & a good worker, but just wasn't willing to put in the least amount of effort to change his situation.

7. Are you willing to reconsider further education if it means achieving your goal? Specifically, are you willing to try out some new habits to help you reduce your school stress? I had similar issues going to school and I have a couple tips for you that can really help, if you want them.

8. Looping back into what you want to do, think about it like changing rails on a train track...by switching gears, you can go in vastly different directions. One great perspective tool to think about is: "What would your 5-year-old self think about you? What would your 95-year old self think about you?" Most of us will probably live to be 100 years old thanks to having access to good-quality food & medicine from birth; at 35, that means you still have 65 years of time left. I'm guessing you don't want to be stuck at a job where you're unhappy making a wage you're not satisfied with, only to then retire, live on medicaid & social security, and then die (not to be morbid, just putting things in perspective). Or, would you like to find something you're really passionate about & that pays well and that you would really enjoy doing for the next 35+ years of your working life? Sometimes we need to see things from that bigger perspective in order to help us make decisions in our current situation.

So for some encouragement: there is a better-paying, more fun job out there waiting for you. You're very literate (you wrote a whole page post in clear English), you have typing skills, you have computer skills, you work in a technical field, and it sounds like you're a reliable worker who does an honest job. Many people in IT don't realize how far ahead of the pack that really puts them compared to other people. You'd be amazed at how many well-paid managers, even in the $100k salary range, aren't able to do the majority of those at all. So all you're really dealing with is, at the moment, being stuck in a low-paying, unfulfilling job. It is only temporary. The world is your oyster!

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

No matter what - REGARDLESS of what ANYONE here (or IRL) will tell you - no fucking school can prepare you for the real world. Period.

You're talking about colleges - the place where we have liberal snowflakes that need safe spaces. Do you think they can honestly even scratch the surface of the real world? You have everything from learning the industry, learning the companies software solutions, learning about the HR bullshit, and learning how to climb the corporate ladder. None of those can really be taught at the college class level. You just kind of have to throw yourself into the lion's den and expose yourself to things through experience.

That said, with things like an MS in Information Systems, you are definitely getting table scraps. What all did you learn on the side? Mine was a business degree in Computer Information Systems - and the market is totally ripe for people that can understand proper accounting principles on top of knowing IT solutions/development. So I can definitely relate to you - I didn't want to do programming 24/7, especially on a large mass scale where I had to depend on others. That said, if you don't have business experience that might not be your best bet either. Might be to get some certs the likes of Cisco or MS for admin work (DBA, Network, etc..)

EDIT: Oh also a side note - No matter what, don't try to pigeon hole yourself. If you see a job that you would want, gives good pay - but you think MIGHT be outside of your knowledge or pay grade - immediately dismiss all those thoughts and hit the fucking apply button. It's pretty much how I got my first big boy job out of college - shooting fish in a barrel.

EDIT2: OH, and my "first big boy job" was working Credit/Collections for large companies (e.g. collecting from Best Buy to pay their invoices). Doesn't sound like fun - but it was my foot in the door. Now I'm a consultant for IT based accounting.

 

[holden j caufield]

Also I know circumstances happen and nobody know what you went through. Hopefully all is better now but you can pass most any college (except maybe engineering or comp sci, etc) without doing much. I've taken prereq classes econ, calc, stats with 1 or 2 hours of studying before the final. 11 years is really dragging it out.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

It's definitely tough. I used to live in Central, IL. It is *VERY* hard to get qualified workers there. Unless you want a couple acres of ground and/or a decent amount of hunting/fishing there is almost nothing appealing to someone that did not grow up in a rural area. For someone that is used to living in a large city, they will more than likely be miserable moving to a smaller/rural area. The inverse isn't so true. There's a number of GenX/Millennials that grew up in rural areas and GTFO when they could. Never to come back. It's evident by flight/popution growth from midwest states and rural areas

That's funny, after living in one of the biggest cities in the nation all my life I would kill to live in a rural city - the problem is simply being a small city that has my job and will still pay my current salary.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

IT was awesome in the early 2000's, so many jobs and opportunities. Now IT is seen as a cost, like janitorial services, and companies want to outsource it or pay near minimum wage. There are still good IT related jobs out there but it's super cut throat and you probably have to live in a big city if you want it to pay half decent but then your costs of living go up and quality of life goes down so it's practically not worth it. When they say you have to be "marketable" they basically want you to have every cert imaginable etc so your life is spent studying and getting these certs and always staying up to date etc... at that point you live to work. I got lucky myself and found a fairly cushy job in telecom so I will ride it out for as long as I can, but I like to look at what's out there in terms of jobs for fun in case I lost mine and there's really not much unfortunately, at least not in my area. Most jobs also require like 10 years of experience in software/technology that has not even been out for that long.

Best bet is to probably start a small IT consulting business, but that's not easy, people arn't willing to pay. You charge $100 to fix a computer and they'll just go buy a new one instead.

Eh - having large username/password hacking dumps is kinda giving it a comeback Yes? Maybe I'm wrong /shrug.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah does not hurt to apply to a job that you may not know right off the bat. That's kind of what I did with my current job working at a NOC. I knew practically nothing about the telco side of the company. I could maybe know what a certain piece of tech did, like I knew what a DMS was or how a 48v system worked, but not more than that.

Though the issue is most jobs now is they seem to require lot of work experience. Even entry level jobs now are being posted with requiring 3-5 years of experience. Some even specify a max. I saw one where you needed at least 3 years of experience but no more than 5. Its hard to get experience if you can't actually get a job in that field.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Eh - having large username/password hacking dumps is kinda giving it a comeback Yes? Maybe I'm wrong /shrug.

Actually it might. Companies might smarten up and realize they can't just outsource IT to the lowest bidder in India.

Now if we can get a couple massive cloud hacks that would really stir things up for the companies that moved all their stuff to cloud, and recreate the IT jobs that were lost. In addition to IT, it would probably create lot of temporary data entry jobs too, as most cloud companies probably don't make it easy to migrate away so you'd be entering lot of the data by hand.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Actually it might. Companies might smarten up and realize they can't just outsource IT to the lowest bidder in India.

Now if we can get a couple massive cloud hacks that would really stir things up for the companies that moved all their stuff to cloud, and recreate the IT jobs that were lost. In addition to IT, it would probably create lot of temporary data entry jobs too, as most cloud companies probably don't make it easy to migrate away so you'd be entering lot of the data by hand.

Hold my beer....

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/07/technology/business/equifax-data-breach/index.html

 

[Red Squirrel]

Hold my beer....

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/07/technology/business/equifax-data-breach/index.html

Yep heard of that one. Will be interesting to hear what exactly happened if it comes out.

 

[Kaido]

At least you're not this guy:

https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/comments/6ypvca/tifu_by_applying_for_engineering_jobs_and_telling/

 

[Red Squirrel]

At least you're not this guy:

https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/comments/6ypvca/tifu_by_applying_for_engineering_jobs_and_telling/

LOL that is actually pretty funny. I'm not one for contacting a company that I applied for because it makes you look desperate, but I'd almost be tempted to contact them to clarify the reason for checking the box. They might just laugh at you and not consider you but it probably would not hurt.

 

[NoTine42]

Move here:
https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=17044620011