Job hunting while having a job.

@clos4life adding on to what @Invisible Fan said, experience is king in IT as it’s really a trade more than a career you can be prepped for in college. Another way to add in some ‘experience’ is to say you’ve had your own IT Desktop repair business. That could at least get you an entry level Desktop job. Senior Desktop techs make more than teachers in Texas (unfortunately).

 

Thank you to everyone for the valuable information being provided.

 

No problem happy to help.

 

Round 4 on Wednesday. Come on, man. 4 rounds is excessive. It's not like I'm interviewing to be the CEO.

Historically, I am feast or famine when it comes to interviews. I have had several terrible ones, including the worst interview of all time. So that I was able to put out 3 consecutive great interviews was a miracle; pushing it to 4 is a lot.

 

There's so many roles in IT that it's definitely not too late to get into. Hell, I don't even have an IT related degree and it's been my career for almost 10 years.

In terms of certifications, I think most places if you want to get a support desk role look for at least a Comp Tia A+ cert(double check that before getting one I may be wrong).

Support desk work is definitely rough but it'll expose you to many different aspects of IT as some places require that you wear many hats. Maybe a place requires that you become a SME for a certain application. See if that application is widely used and what path you can go down with that. Have one friend that used/learned a specific SAP module in one of his first jobs, now makes bank as an implementation consultant for that SAP module.

 

The job offers pouring in are insane. I had no idea that I would get this sort of response. It's so crazy that it's given me the luxury of finding the perfect match.

I highly encourage everyone to look at the market for their own skills, and if you're behind (or even average) on pay or even barely unhappy with your position, put your info out there.

Again, this is the former recruiter on Fiverr who revamped my resume & LinkedIn for $160. Money well spent.

 

Tell them your current employer has a no crack break policy that is causing you to rethink your future there.

 

It’s the 2020s so fentanyl breaks, which all of the Zoomer companies are like, so vibing on.

 

Round 4 coming up for me too. If it wasn’t for one of the biggest selling points of the company for me- keeping the culture- I would be rolling my eyes too. It also gives me a chance to get an even better sampling of the company culture, direction and leadership.

 

I wrote it before so I'll just quote that post. This is the short version of the story but you get the idea.

Spoiler

 

I feel ya, my current job I had 4 rounds with the last being with the CEO, he basically said if you made it this far you must be qualified so just tell me about "YOU". 2 Days later I got the job so good luck man...........I hate interviews, when I feel I did horrible they say I did well, when I think I did well I never got a call back so who the hell knows

 

Thank you, good information as well. I appreciate it!

 

I think the key to interviews is just like the key to life; be yourself. You can't be more comfortable than being yourself. That includes being honest. You can trip up on lies. Honesty sells. 'We like this guy, he's lacking in x category but we feel like he can learn'. Make sure to keep it professional at the same time. If you're a loudmouth jackass, curtail the jackass part. If you cuss like a sailor, be aware of what you're saying.

A couple of tips for both interviews and speeches

• Be yourself
• Speak slowly, like you're reading a book to a kid. Since you know the subject matter, you will be conveying with confidence anyway
• If you get anxiety or nervous, ask your doctor to prescribe a beta blocker (high blood pressure meds). It's a valid use for them and they work to calm you down. Bonus: Viagra is a beta blocker so you can get a two for one, but don't use it for in-person presentations or interviews.

 

I've always thought that these two traits make me a not-great interviewee:

1) In general, I'm not a super chatty guy with people I don't know. I wouldn't say I'm antisocial at all, but I'm usually not the one who starts the conversation.

2) When I do talk about myself, it is often in a jokey, self-depricating way. So selling myself as the absolute best person for the job because of all these amazing accomplishments I have is not natural to me.

But I have found that what has helped recently is being better prepared (no ****, Sherlock). I have an outline of my "previous job experience" speech and have answers written down for those interview FAQs. So I don't have to do a ton of thinking of new things on the spot.

I've also been careful to talk about my past job changes without saying a single negative word about anyone or any place I've ever been. Why did I leave employer 2? Well the real answer is because it was a **** show with all the senior leaders fighting over the vacant VP slot. But instead what I say is, "my dad had an excellent experience with employer 3 when he was a patient and I was excited to go there because of their desire to be the best in the world at what they do." That sounds much better, and no one pushes back on it.

So, if you're like me, and probably have some self-confidence issues deep down you've never fully confronted, or have some of that good-old imposter syndrome, I would suggest writing down as much as you can pre-interview to try and get ahead of the potentially tricky situations.

 

You could always drink before the interview to loosen up a little. The kids give themselves vodka enemas so you can't smell it on their breath.

But I stick to my advice of being yourself. If the people there don't like you, they won't like you when you're hired. Best to avoid that even if it hurts.

 

Doesn't that **** burn?

 

Like a gentle spring rain shower, perfectly safe. Give it a try.