On 8/23/07, Martin Tran <martinqt@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi everyone,
I've been in the IT area for about a year or so. I came from an
engineering background from University of Maryland and never really
gone into that working field. So I jumped into working IT b/c I liked
being around computer and learning the ins and outs on certain
processes. Right now, I'm working in Helpdesk (I'm recently in charge
of Symantec administration side since no one in my company wanted to
claim it...I have also took initiative to make batch files for many of
the applications used on users workstations) and wanted to know how I
can better myself with certifications or if I should get my masters in
information systems?
I definitely do not want to be in the Helpdesk (since the pay isn't
great at all) position for long and wanted to improve and grow into
being a security or network or even a system administrator. Yeah it
sounds like I want to get up and start fast making it BIG as an IT
guy, but I know I work hard in what I do since coming from a different
study/background.
So right now I picked up a Network+ book by Sybex written by David
Groth. That seems pretty good to start I think. And after I was done
with that book and exams, I wanted to grab myself a Security+ book
too.
If you guys can give me advice on your success and some insight on a
direction on certifications(or go back to school for a masters in
Information Systems) I would greatly appreciate it!
Sorry for the long email :( but what is the going salary for a
helpdesk position? Or with my qualifications, what should I be aiming
for?
B.S degree in Engineering @ the University of Maryland
Focus area was Electrical and Mechanical (Minor)
1+ experience working with MSOffice, Symantec, MACS, Win98/00/XP etc
In charge of Symantec Clients/server etc
Thanks in advance for your feedback and sorry for the long email. Take care
Salaries will depend deeply on location, so are not worth much talk,
except to note that they'll likely be higher in large cities,
especially if those cities are on one of the US coasts.
What to learn? Well, that depends on what you want to focus on.
However, I can recommend a few things:
1) Learn a cross-platform scripting language - my vote is for perl,
but python, ruby and others are popular.
2) Get the new edition of Limoncelli's book. Compare prices on it at
bookpool.com and Amazon, and maybe a couple of others, but you'll like
find bookpool has better prices, and they've never disappointed me. My
favorite technical bookstore.
3) Subscribe to relevant mail lists. This is one, for security, but
don't overlook OS-specific lists, or lists that cover other areas of
interest. Only you know your tolerance for S/N ratios, and volume of
email, but I subscribe to probably 30 lists under various accounts,
and have become quite good at using my delete button.
HTH,
Kurt
