Employment advice

[78trevor]

Hello. I am looking for advice on finding a job in the IT/tech space but after a couple months of looking and passing the comptia a+ exam i have had no luck. My expectations are not high im only looking for entry level positions. Im wondering if im applying to the right positions as i have been applying for help desk and tech 1 positions. Like i said i have passed the comptia a+ exam but i also worked as staples as a tech for 2 years. I have some college education flr unrelated studies but i never finished. Please help with any advise. Thank you

[Guest]

On 8/29/2019 at 2:47 AM, 78trevor said:

Hello. I am looking for advice on finding a job in the IT/tech space but after a couple months of looking and passing the comptia a+ exam i have had no luck. My expectations are not high im only looking for entry level positions. Im wondering if im applying to the right positions as i have been applying for help desk and tech 1 positions. Like i said i have passed the comptia a+ exam but i also worked as staples as a tech for 2 years. I have some college education flr unrelated studies but i never finished. Please help with any advise. Thank you

As someone who was in your shoes not too long ago, experience goes a long way for employers. My A+ cert didn't mean diddly squat, but my two years as a Staples Tech (yeah me too!) spoke more to my skills. You should keep applying but try following up with a phone call or in person to ask about the position, that'll show your interest and might separate you from the rest. Employers want someone personable, especially if you're in the help desk sector, and that's hard to do through an online resume but make sure in that resume you highlight your customer service and how you can deal with people.

 

Also it's who you know, not really what you know. Reach out to friends and maybe some college buddies to see if you can get an in that way.

[dalekphalm]

On 8/29/2019 at 2:47 AM, 78trevor said:

Hello. I am looking for advice on finding a job in the IT/tech space but after a couple months of looking and passing the comptia a+ exam i have had no luck. My expectations are not high im only looking for entry level positions. Im wondering if im applying to the right positions as i have been applying for help desk and tech 1 positions. Like i said i have passed the comptia a+ exam but i also worked as staples as a tech for 2 years. I have some college education flr unrelated studies but i never finished. Please help with any advise. Thank you

The short answer is that you can be doing everything right, and still not find a job. Patience is the key.

 

You need to be patient. Apply to everything you qualify for. Apply for things you might not qualify on paper for, but you know you could do, as well.

 

Finishing or going back to College would also be a good idea - or taking a technical diploma or similar type of program in an IT field.

 

The CompTIA A+ is kind of useless for actual IT (I'm talking SysAdmins, etc). It's great for Level 1 helpdesk, or for people who fix computers at Best Buy or independent repair shops, but it won't get you much beyond that.

 

Which means you either need more experience in the industry (hard to get without the qualifications), or you need additional qualifications.

 

So here's my suggestion: Go back to College and take some kind of general IT program, or start doing Certs (Microsoft Certs, Cisco Certs, VMWare Certs, etc) in whatever area within IT that interests you most. Bonus points if you do both.

 

Personally I went to College for IT, and I didn't bother with any certs (don't even have my A+) - that may change eventually, but it hasn't held me back so far.

 

Edit: @Stylized_Violence I too worked at Staples - I started as a sales associate for Electronics with helping occasionally in the EasyTech dept, then was promoted to lead the EasyTech repair dept in another store.

[wasab]

Maybe you need a retrainer token to respec your skills and stats.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

Edit: @Stylized_Violence I too worked at Staples - I started as a sales associate for Electronics with helping occasionally in the EasyTech dept, then was promoted to lead the EasyTech repair dept in another store.

EasyTech! Holy hell I remember those days. I also lead my department, good times man. If the store in my city hadn't of closed down I'd probably still be there. You enjoy your time there?

[dalekphalm]

1 hour ago, Stylized_Violence said:

EasyTech! Holy hell I remember those days. I also lead my department, good times man. If the store in my city hadn't of closed down I'd probably still be there. You enjoy your time there?

For a while - but when I moved to the second store, the GM was a douche (legit telling me to try and sell everyone who comes in a TotalRepair regardless of what they needed), and they were so focused on sales numbers. 

 

I hate high pressure sales, which is why going into IT was always the end game. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

For a while - but when I moved to the second store, the GM was a douche (legit telling me to try and sell everyone who comes in a TotalRepair regardless of what they needed), and they were so focused on sales numbers. 

 

I hate high pressure sales, which is why going into IT was always the end game. 

Same with my leadership; my immediate supervisor said if I couldn't make the sale in the first five minutes to just give up and move to the next customer. And to try and sell our more expensive laptops first, regardless if the customer even needed the power. Best part of the job was helping someone find what they needed, I genuinely liked that aspect, but leadership was garbage. Oh well, at least we've both moved on to bigger and better things.

[The_Prycer]

I was in your shoes when I had just gotten my A+ too.

 

Because I absolutely hate anything to do with help desk call centers I decided to be GeekSquad at Best Buy instead. Luckily I already worked there as Computer Sales so my bosses knew I knew stuff about computers since they saw me reading CompTIA books on lunch every day and the transfer was pretty easy. GeekSquad does not require any certifications or really any experience and the work was pretty easy.

 

Did that for 3 years, got to list 3 years of repair experience on my CV, and now I work as the IT guy for a brokerage firm that pays me substantially better than Best Buy.

[Tsuki]

one option, while not perfect, is to go through contract companies.  they can usually find openings for you. its definitely not a perfect solution, but it can get your foot in the door and get you something to put on your resume.

[Radium_Angel]

On 8/29/2019 at 2:47 AM, 78trevor said:

Hello. I am looking for advice on finding a job in the IT/tech space but after a couple months of looking and passing the comptia a+ exam i have had no luck. My expectations are not high im only looking for entry level positions. Im wondering if im applying to the right positions as i have been applying for help desk and tech 1 positions. Like i said i have passed the comptia a+ exam but i also worked as staples as a tech for 2 years. I have some college education flr unrelated studies but i never finished. Please help with any advise. Thank you

Have you looked in gov't sector? Most of those entry level IT jobs don't care about a college degree, and really only care that you know what you are doing.

[78trevor]

Hey thank you guys this is all good advice.  I really appreciate this and yeah i had a lot of fun as a staples tech. I havent really thought about government work but it might be a good place to check out. Im planning on doing more certs rather than school at least for now. Im thinking server certs. But not sure to continue through comptia or somewhere else any suggestions?