What to do with 3 to 5 years.....

Hello all :-)

I am not currently working. I left retail and sales to be a full time carer for my disabled son.

In 3 to 5 years, he will no longer need me and I will be looking to return to work.

I don't want to go back to sales or retail and would like a career in IT.

My question is, what, in the next 3 to 5 years is going to be most in demand and worth certifying for now whilst I have the time at home to study. Getting work experience in this time isn't an option, so I am have all this time just to study...but study what? My initial thoughts were coding ( but what language )....any thoughts!?

Thanks all.

Security, security, security. That will be huge. Especially

network security.

 

A path towards this might start with learning computing

basics, then networking, then network security. There are

some good resources out there, even if you don't officially

go to school/training.

 

A lot of experimenting at home can get you part of where

you want to go.

 

So for certification, that path might mean:

 

A+ --> Network+ CCNA --> ??

 

or something like that.

 

I would think there will be alway be demand for DMBS

(database) pros. There will be plenty of demand for

programmers/developers, but more and more of them

graduating, I would think, so competition will be fierce.

 

Many guys I know find a small niche and work for

themselves within that. For example, one person I met

just does accounting/bookeeping support.

Are you good at troubleshooting computers and handling phone calls?

Let me add to what Cryptodan wrote. Are you good

with handling stress? Multitasking? Time pressure?

Can you be diplomatic and polite on the phone when

clients/colleagues do stupid things/say rude things?

 

One of the other crucial aspects of working in IT is

the empahsis on lifelong learning. While it's more true

for some areas of IT than others, every IT worker needs

to commit to frequent or constant learning. If you don't,

your skills will likely become outdated and you might find

yourself unemployed or at least, reaching a plateau

in your position/pay/status.

Thanks all.

I have worked and managed call centre teams, retail teams and sales teams. Stress, targets, multitasking is not an issue. ;-)

And am happy to commit to ongoing learning and training, I'm just trying to decide in what direction to push myself.

Thanks again.

Then I'd start looking for remote help desk jobs you can do from home. That way you can see what needs to be done.

I couldn't commit to work for a few years whilst caring for my boy. I can find a few hours a day to study, but its 20 mins here, 20 there....work and employment isn't an option.

The world will probably always need standard break-fix

technicians. That means people who fix computers when

they're not working properly, but may not have programming

or other higher level skills.

 

We'll probably always need people to do debugging.

 

One area I'd stay away from: Software testing/Quality Assurance.

Most companies have developed the idea that they don't need

third parties to test their software, that the programmer/developer

can test it him/herself. Those companies also are increasingly trying

to automate test procedures without humans. These are terrible mistakes

but it's all about cost-cutting.

 

DBA (Database Administrators) will probably always have work.

 

Any skills with networks will probably be popular. Network technicians,

network administrators are very much in need nowadays.

 

BTW, it's common for North American corporations to offer terrible

wages for certain IT jobs, then whine to the government that workers

are spoiled when they get no applicants.

 

I have an old friend who has skills that maybe 20 or 30 people

on earth have. His technical IQ has been assessed my psychologists

as "not possible to estimate". Yet some employers offer him work

at $20.00 an hour. That's Canadian dollars.

 

BTW, a good place to start once you've developed some tech.

skills is at temp agencies. Many IT/professional got at least part

of their start working part-time or short-term contracts through

those agencies. That includes me. Just be careful there, as some

of them are unethical and will say anything to the client to get

you the position. Oh, the stories I could tell.

Edited by Shplad, 29 June 2021 - 05:17 PM.

I couldn't commit to work for a few years whilst caring for my boy. I can find a few hours a day to study, but its 20 mins here, 20 there....work and employment isn't an option.

Then learn through play. Try this, try that. Experiment. Do a few lab

exercises. Ask yourself questions and try to find the answers.

 

Without curiosity, you'll never be good at IT.

 

My friend I mentioned above acted as a sort of mentor for me.

Finding a mentor, even one who explains things once in a while

can be very helpful.

Edited by Shplad, 29 June 2021 - 05:18 PM.

Then I woukd browse the forums here and see if you can help fix any issues and receive feedback.

How much are you looking to make?  You need to answer this question first before you will get good advice.  Help Desk is IT, but you're looking at $12.50 to $20 an hour or $26,000 to $41,600 a year.  Numbers may be off on the low end, I haven't looked for work in over five years.

 

With IT employers are looking for three things: college degree, certifications, experience.  With two of the three you can easily get a position, all three will get you a position with better pay.

 

Three to five years is forever in the IT world.  Hence why you have to be always learning.

 

While Security will always be a hot item there is a lot of stress that goes with that.  One tiny little mistake and the whole organization could be taken down.  Take a look at Colonial Pipeline, one unused account left active and you make world wide news.  Or your company could choose the wrong vendor for patch support, Kaseya anyone.  The problem I have with a Security role is that in the end I'm not 100% responsible for the outcome.

 

Once you make a decision and decide to start working in IT I will say that the temp agencies are the way to get your foot in the door and gain experience.  I'd personally recommend against the larger companies, Manpower and Kelly, as you'll make less money.  I've been paid better by local companies that I'd never heard about.

That's good advice, Kilroy. I myself was a "Kelly girl" at one point,

even though I'm male.

 

However, the other side to that equation, is it got me in the door

at IBM. IBM provided some great technical and customer service

training. And IBM on the resume.

Edited by Shplad, 09 July 2021 - 12:25 PM.

Are you a us citizen, pass a drug test, and have the ability to get a clearance?

That's good advice, Kilroy. I myself was a "Kelly girl" at one point,

even though I'm male.

 

I worked for both Kelly and Manpower, though that was back when I was more of a clerical admin.  I worked for a local contract company and was making a dollar an hour more for the same type of work.  I will also tell you that if you mention you're working for a contract company no other contract company will work with you.

 

I've turned more than one contract job into a full time job offer.  I look at contract work as a long term interview.  The company gets to see how you work and you get to see how the company works.

Interesting. I never had that experience. As soon as they saw the word

"IBM" on my resume, there were lots of offers. But that was a long

time ago.

 

The other thing I suggest is to be somewhat of a generalist if you

want to just be a tech. Technology changes so quickly these days, that

whatever you specialize in could be obsolete in a few years, and then

you're back to training all over again. I had a few minor specialties,

but was a good generalist, and I had lots of interview offers.

 

If you learn to code, you'd better learn to do so with some security

thinking in mind. People are starting to realize that having lax security

is a terrible idea.

 

Be friendly to anyone else you meet in the industry. You never know

when they might have a connection to a job. This happened to me.

Edited by Shplad, 15 July 2021 - 03:32 PM.