What entry-level IT jobs are still in-demand currently?

[WhatShouldIDo]

Hello everyone,

Let me explain my situation:

I'm out of the IT field involuntarily for 5 years and I really have no clear idea on what would be my next best course of action if I want to return to the IT field?

Any advice anyone could give me here, I'd really appreciate it.

It's been around 5 years since I had been laid off from a small company doing tech support for their products. That was way back in August of 2011, and from then on I have not been able to find anything really relevant to IT that is really entry-level, most were either already filled up, or required lots of work experience and/or a Professional IT certification which I do not have. In the end, I just ended up working at a restaurant through help from a contact; a friend of a friend, which eventually became my friend and it was almost blind luck and chance that I even end up working again, but I've been out of commission some time in this field.

The IT job I previously had or title I held was a Technical Support Specialist.

In reality, it was more of a Customer Service Rep and/or Support type of job sitting at a help desk all day in a call center kind of environment. I would mainly take any calls from customers and guide them through on how to get various products made by the company I work for, to work or we would have to authorized warranty service and repairs. I also had to do the same on answering any emails from a ticket support system and sometimes very rarely on some occasions we would also provide support to them communicating in a realtime internet chat. It can get really frustrating dealing with difficult people over the phone, believe me. Especially when some of them refuse to listen, or simply aren't honest about what they are trying to do. It just turned out to be significantly less than what I had expected. But I had student loans to deal with at the time and the school had helped me get this job and even that took quite some time, almost an entire year if I remembered correctly.

In the beginning I figured it would be great and this would be what I wanted to actually do day after day, and then reality kicked in after 2 years working there. At that time, I was fresh graduate out of school had also completed an internship a year prior (2006) then I had been hired a year after in 2007.

But as the time went by and because of the recession things had slowly begin to go downhill. They actually laid off and cut staff before I started working there and then slowly cut staff and lay workers of bit by bit here and there.

I begin to find myself more and more that I must work there just to help pay off student loans I had taken out, and everything else was not a pleasant or enjoyable experience after the first year. I did not like it but was in a situation where I can't just simply quit and ditch everything or a bigger problem of mines. will never be resolved

The biggest problem that I had figured out why I was not satisfied with this kind of job was that this is an IT job and position that is entirely focused on providing service to Customers from all over the country and troubleshooting issues with products made by the company therefore it became really frustrating due to the complete "lack of control" over many factors, because it's all external problems.

The frustrations I got from working at this job had made me think back to a time when I had done my internship for school. The internship I had completed was more of an in-house kind of IT job. Where all of the support are provided locally AND on-site. It was a completely different experience and a huge drastic change where I actually found no faults and did not find anything I have a hard time tolerating in my internship compared to the Tech Support job.

I realized that if I was working at an IT job where the support is only provided for within the company, internally, then I know I would have more control over how to resolve problems. Such as within an institution or organization like a school or something.

What kind of entry level IT jobs should I be looking for that isn't so focused on providing support via a Call Center format? I really would rather work in something like what I had done in my internship where the computer and network issues are troubleshooted on-site and I would go room to room to adjust and fix any problems when they occur, and taking all the equipment into inventory, as well as backing up critical information such as imaging hard drives. I don't know if there is enough of these kind of Entry-Level positions opened and available locally or not. Would that type of IT job be Desktop Support Technician or something?

Because I really do not want to go back to the Call Center format type of or kind of IT job as I found myself to really not being able to tolerate it and can become very frustrated with it that I would really just want to quit.

The other major problem I had was there were really no advancing opportunities, and I never even got a raise after 3 years working there. I believe it's just the way it is since it was a small company. They had lied to me when I first had interviews with them about promotion and advancing opportunities internally. There was none of that in reality. I had the same pay of $15 an hour the entire time.

To be frank, working at the restaurant just didn't cut it for me either, it was just better than remaining unemployed any further than I currently had been, which was for about an entire year. I didn't really hold a real job until sometime in 2013.

I became really unhappy again and that job was also much more frustrating and stressful than ever before. So I told myself that I did not want to surrender to this reality and I would absolute refuse to accept this reality as my fate and my future.

So I had to take action, again. And I did, I did do something about it. So in the present, I have returned to a local Community College for something like an Administrative Support or Office Administration type of major because I just know that I can have some transferable skills that can be applied from what I've previously learned and that would be helpful.

The previous school I had gone to which had also helped me get the IT job and internship was a 2-Year "Private" School but that were For-Profit and more than likely lacked Regional Accreditation so think I would be pretty much back to square one if I want to really get something like a 4 year standard degree. I haven't exactly figured this part out.

So I have an Associate's Degree which I doubt is really even worth anything anymore since I made a really bad decision and had gone to a terrible school in the first place. That school had closed down and went out of business eventually and I could not even go back there to Audit any classes or courses or get additional help from their career services even if I had wanted to.

And unfortunately I never really got back to getting the A+ CompTIA certification, but since I'm currently in a situation where I really don't know what my best course of action and I have many doubts about if there is really any more I could really do to return to IT and whether if it's really worth my time anymore therefore I have not decided to study and prepare for any kind of IT Certifications.

Although I'm thinking about studying and taking the very basic CompTIA's IT Fundamentals exam as an assessment to see if I am able to even pass that OR if it would be preferably that I should get help on finding a relevant IT job that meets the criteria on what I would rather do on daily basis.

A former colleague of mines eventually moved on from that same company and he more or less got an IT position that needed him to work with Active Directory, Imaging Hard Drives, Setting up and Configuring Outlook and Troubleshooting computer problems in-house going from room to room. And he managed to do this without any of those Major IT certifications and he also Only has a 2-year Degree relevant to IT. So it makes me wonder if it's really possible to go back to an entry-level IT job without any major IT certifications or a solid 4-year degree.

Thank you for reading, I know it was really lengthy, I really appreciate your patience. Please advise what would be my best options from this point if you have any ideas.

 

[1etherer]

You hit the nail on the head, working for an internal company is a lot more better and you will always be providing real IT support for AD, servers, MS, apple, hardware, software etc.


So places like Schools, GOV (although I believe the US outsource a lot, I might be wrong), media companies etc..


when looking for a job just call them or make sure its internal support for the company only, if you want to progress in the company, its good to join a IT dept that has sub dept like, desktop support, 2nd line, infrastructure, network engineers and IT security, then you could move into them areas later on.


Otherwise just join a small team of 4-5 who do everything, learn what you like and then after 1yr to 2yrs move on to a new position or stay with them if they pay you well.


I would really suggest taking CompTIA A+, one, because you will learn all the basics again which you will need and two, because the employees will see you are willing to learn and prove you are committed to getting back into IT.


Getting just CompTIA A+ will open up more employers who do want atleast one cert on a CV(it just helps broaden your scope).

 

[MidnightShadow]

So, if you're not a fan of the idea of helping customers outside of the organization that you're working for, entry-level IT is going to be even more scarce. I worked for Geek Squad for 2.5 years in the store and then for 5.5 years as a field technician going to homes and businesses before I got into a government position that is more "internal," as you describe it. That said, I procrastinated before making the move. My current job with the government requires a couple of years experience. Don't sell yourself short, but you may have to start short to get back into the field as well.

If you get with the right company, they will pay for, or reimburse you for, any certifications you get, which will help you move along in the field to bigger and better things.

 

[Lexluethar]

My advice would be to take an entry level position in a help desk or service desk / desktop support role. Most companies will put that a help desk or desktop support role requires 2 years or more of experience which is BS. Be realistic but I would apply for those positions - i got my first IT job working for a very large restaurant IT department doing help desk support (100% phone IT support) for the restaurants. They said 2 years experience was required but I had zero, all i had was one Microsoft certification and my A+.

Regarding the 'supporting people outside of the company' comment - i honestly wouldn't focus on that. What you need to focus on is getting your feet wet and back into the industry. Once you are back in IT and you have a year or so experience under your belt lots of other opportunities will come up. Getting hung up on who you are supporting or where those people are is kinda silly, you really need to focus on what matters like enjoying the job you are doing and expanding your skillsets.

I would suggest getting your A+ and Net+ and a Microsoft 10 certification while applying for entry level IT positions like help desk and desktop support.

 

[WhatShouldIDo]

So, if you're not a fan of the idea of helping customers outside of the organization that you're working for, entry-level IT is going to be even more scarce. I worked for Geek Squad for 2.5 years in the store and then for 5.5 years as a field technician going to homes and businesses before I got into a government position that is more "internal," as you describe it. That said, I procrastinated before making the move. My current job with the government requires a couple of years experience. Don't sell yourself short, but you may have to start short to get back into the field as well.

If you get with the right company, they will pay for, or reimburse you for, any certifications you get, which will help you move along in the field to bigger and better things.

It's not so much whom I'll be helping and assisting, but HOW I would actually be helping them. I realized I had very little control on how I can actually resolve the problems Over The Phone that they had been experiencing and it's just not what I had envisioned and wanted to do compared to the experience that I first had when I was an intern working in an IT department of a local high school.

I'm certain that when an IT job is internal they would be less frustrating even if the Support and Troubleshooting process was primarily all given by Phone, because then I would still have more control on how I could actually resolve the problems that I am troubleshooting. If I remember correctly, sometimes you could remotely fix a computer workstation, which is something I never really had the opportunity to do with the last company I had worked with. And then if assistance from the help desk side is not enough they can dispatch a technician to the room to try and resolve the problem and troubleshoot it directly onsite. I would rather be someone that gets dispatched and goes from room to room within company to resolve and troubleshoot computer problems.

I did apply to local retailers such as Best Buy, Staples, and Micro Center (I think that was what it was called) and I did not get anything back. And I think it could be because I lack any IT certifications and/or because I do not have a 4-year college degree.

However, I do see an opening position for a very low-level Computer Lab assistant at the Community College I am currently attending and it sounds and feels much closer to the ideal type of IT work I would want to do on a daily basis as it's on-site, although I do see a Call Center Help Desk within the lab itself, but they do not have any openings for that portion of the department.



I even figured that if I dealt with the problems customers are having it directly face to face, then communications would be significantly easier and I would have still have more control on how I could resolve the problem they had been experiencing.

The same goes for field service technician kind of IT job position. Because it is much more direct therefore the communications are completely face-to-face with the customers or clients and you would be working completely on-site with all of the equipment you need to test and troubleshoot the problems reported by them rather than directing and guiding someone over the phone which is what I do not want to go back to doing again day after day after day.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

...directing and guiding someone over the phone which is what I do not want to go back to doing again day after day after day.

Man I hear that phone support has to be one of the worst aspects of an IT support job IMO. Not only do you have to rely on a non-technical person to communicate a technical issue to you accurately, but you have to rely on them to correctly implement whatever fix you come up with as well.

Me: Ok, next we're going to pull the power cable out of the router.
Them: I don't know which one iz power so I pulled out all the cables is that right?
Me: ....

Unfortunately it IS pretty difficult to land an internal-only IT gig with not much experience or paper.
I can only echo what the others have said: get at least one easy-to-get cert and keep on applyin' you'll likely still have to do phone support, but so long as that's not *all* you're doing I'd take the job if/when offered.

 

[MidnightShadow]

I'm certain that when an IT job is internal they would be less frustrating even if the Support and Troubleshooting process was primarily all given by Phone, because then I would still have more control on how I could actually resolve the problems that I am troubleshooting.

You would be surprised. An end user is an end user, no matter what. Even an "internal" job you still have to consider them your customer, so it can be frustrating. Every company has those few people that the IT team likes to hide from!

I did apply to local retailers such as Best Buy, Staples, and Micro Center (I think that was what it was called) and I did not get anything back. And I think it could be because I lack any IT certifications and/or because I do not have a 4-year college degree.

Best Buy doesn't require any certifications or college degree, even for Geek Squad. I think they list that the Agents are required to have A+, but they haven't started enforcing that in the least. A good portion of our guys aren't certified.

Me: Ok, next we're going to pull the power cable out of the router.
Them: I don't know which one iz power so I pulled out all the cables is that right?
Me: ....

SOOO many times! I still don't understand the folks who think "wireless" printers shouldn't even have a power cord... "It's suppose to be wireless!"

 

[WhatShouldIDo]

You would be surprised. An end user is an end user, no matter what. Even an "internal" job you still have to consider them your customer, so it can be frustrating. Every company has those few people that the IT team likes to hide from!

The less remotely the problem is dealt with the more control the technician would have to resolve the issue. I get that remoting into a client or customers computer can help reduce frustrations in troubleshooting when working from a help desk, even if it was dealing with clients that are external customers.

But unfortunately I didn't get that opportunity for the company I had worked for.

There was also no service or field service technicians I could just simply dispatch to the customers or clients location so that someone could just test and try to resolve the issue for them locally and then therefore I would be able to move on to the next incoming call, etc.

If there had been at least something like that then I probably would less problems and still have some control on resolving the technical problems they are experiencing. I probably would have overall not dislike the experience as much.

I know and I understand that realistically everyone will always have to deal with difficult people and learn to tolerate them. Otherwise it's impossible to maintain and keep any job, unless somehow if someone got a good paying job and works 99% of the time by themselves or something but that is unlikely going to happen realistically.

Best Buy doesn't require any certifications or college degree, even for Geek Squad. I think they list that the Agents are required to have A+, but they haven't started enforcing that in the least. A good portion of our guys aren't certified.

They must have changed and updated requirements or something. I could have sworn I read that they did, but that seems like they no longer absolutely require an A+ Certification, saw 2 openings locally, may consider applying to them soon:

"What are the Professional Requirements of a Geek Squad Consultation Agent?
Basic Requirements:

• 3-6 months working experience

Preferred Requirements:

• High School diploma or equivalent
• Associate degree in general electronics or computer repair
• 1+ years retail or customer service experience
• 1+ years experience diagnosing or repairing PCs or consumer electronics"

"What are the professional requirements for a Geek Squad Advanced Repair Agent?
Basic Requirements:

• 3-6 months experience in customer service
• 1+ years experience diagnosing or repairing PCs or consumer electronics

Preferred Requirements:

• High School diploma or equivalent
• Associate degree in PC repair/Networking
• 1+ years retail or customer service experience
• A+ certification or equivalent"

It seemed like they have made it more flexible than before and that the A+ Certification is only a "Preferred" requirement instead of a "Must Have" requirement.

SOOO many times! I still don't understand the folks who think "wireless" printers shouldn't even have a power cord... "It's suppose to be wireless!"

Wireless to me always just meant "less" wires, not "absolutely no wires". Otherwise they would have called it Wire-free instead of wireless. It's just the way other people are, because you can't expect everyone to be technically fluent or minded, we may laugh at them for it, or find them offending us for not understanding and knowing about what we understand and know.

Man I hear that phone support has to be one of the worst aspects of an IT support job IMO. Not only do you have to rely on a non-technical person to communicate a technical issue to you accurately, but you have to rely on them to correctly implement whatever fix you come up with as well.

Me: Ok, next we're going to pull the power cable out of the router.
Them: I don't know which one iz power so I pulled out all the cables is that right?
Me: ....

Unfortunately it IS pretty difficult to land an internal-only IT gig with not much experience or paper.
I can only echo what the others have said: get at least one easy-to-get cert and keep on applyin' you'll likely still have to do phone support, but so long as that's not *all* you're doing I'd take the job if/when offered.

I have seen an internal part-time position available and open for a Computer Lab Technical Assistant at the school that I'm currently attending so that is as internal as it could get, and it does not require any of the Certifications, but I can tell why it doesn't since the job requirements and duties looks really really basic. I agree on no all I'd be doing, if there are confirmed remoting type of troubleshooting possibilities and/or at least the ability to at least dispatch service technicians locally or something then I think I'd be able to still manage and tolerate it even if it's going to be a help desk phone support role again. Otherwise I just might have to try something else that is different.

I haven't got around applying to that position yet since I'm caught up with school assignments and working on the weekend. The pay really isn't much, feels more like an internship and there are absolutely no benefits. I already posted what the job description is like in this link (previous link was only a thumbnail):

What is the ideal amount of experience to have and as well as what experience to have, as in what particular areas of entry-level IT in order to land those internal-only IT gigs?

I was in the phone and email support for around 4 years, and I could not get any interviews for IT relevant jobs through out the following 2 years, and then I ended up working in something now that is entirely different.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

If it helps, my first internal gig was advertised specifically as a "junior" role and paid 24k a year. Take what you can get at first, the better jobs will likely ask for at least 1-2 years experience in a similar role.

 

[MidnightShadow]

"What are the Professional Requirements of a Geek Squad Consultation Agent?
Basic Requirements:

• 3-6 months working experience

Preferred Requirements:

• High School diploma or equivalent
• Associate degree in general electronics or computer repair
• 1+ years retail or customer service experience
• 1+ years experience diagnosing or repairing PCs or consumer electronics"

"What are the professional requirements for a Geek Squad Advanced Repair Agent?
Basic Requirements:

• 3-6 months experience in customer service
• 1+ years experience diagnosing or repairing PCs or consumer electronics

Preferred Requirements:

• High School diploma or equivalent
• Associate degree in PC repair/Networking
• 1+ years retail or customer service experience
• A+ certification or equivalent"

It seemed like they have made it more flexible than before and that the A+ Certification is only a "Preferred" requirement instead of a "Must Have" requirement.

It's definitely only a preference. Being retail like it is, it isn't easy to find certified folks. They will take what they get. Also, note that it says "or equivalent," which basically means as long as you know your stuff, you're good. I still work there part time two days a week as an ARA. Where are you at again?

What is the ideal amount of experience to have and as well as what experience to have, as in what particular areas of entry-level IT in order to land those internal-only IT gigs?

I was in the phone and email support for around 4 years, and I could not get any interviews for IT relevant jobs through out the following 2 years, and then I ended up working in something now that is entirely different.

That depends on when you were hunting for jobs. IT isn't an easy field to get into, and when the economy was bad several years back it was even harder. I would encourage you to keep trying now that things have improved.

Four years of support is good, but make sure you haven't forgotten everything. Brush up on all of your operating systems from Windows XP to Windows 10. My current job with a county government could probably be considered entry-level. There were no certifications required, no really previous experience except that I know my stuff on computers. During the interview, the guys had me perform a series of tasks on a laptop they had setup.

When I was supervisor of Geek Squad in the local store, I would do the same thing when I had interviews come in. I would have a series of technical questions that only somebody who has/had done the work would be able to answer versus just hiring Joe Custom-Build Gamer Guy off the street who actually knew nothing about computers.

So basically, know your stuff. Have your resume reflect your skills appropriately. Look in the places that folks may not think about. The county job I have? It wasn't on Monster or USA Jobs or Indeed or in the local paper. I had to go to the county web site and search. Turn the stones over and you'll be surprised what you might find. Good luck.