** Official IT Thread ** - Come in for some tech!

[chaunce54]

Just got out of the 2nd interview.

Turns out it was a surprise scenario based technical interview, and they had me using TeamViewer on a machine near them so they could watch everything I did.

I missed the mark on the first one, but found the problem on the others. At the end they asked me to self critique myself and I was brutally honest.

My nervousness got the best of me and I overthought myself out of simple solutions. Thankfully they appreciated my candor and said they would be in touch.

Nice. A good company will appreciate that and could end up being a leg up for you.

[dcbone30]

Just got out of the 2nd interview.

Turns out it was a surprise scenario based technical interview, and they had me using TeamViewer on a machine near them so they could watch everything I did.

I missed the mark on the first one, but found the problem on the others. At the end they asked me to self critique myself and I was brutally honest.

My nervousness got the best of me and I overthought myself out of simple solutions. Thankfully they appreciated my candor and said they would be in touch.

What was the scenario?

[Voidgaze]

What was the scenario?

-First one was zoom volume automatically lowering itself
-Second was a deleted file that's no longer in the recycle bin
-Third was file explorer opening a whole new window everytime a file is opened
-Fourth was a pdf file stuck in MS paint format
-Fifth was changing the default browser

I found the answer to everything but the first scenario but I was very close.

They really just want to see if I had the capacity to solve simple issues. Overall I think it went well because they said they'll be in touch for round 3 soon. I probably won't hear from them for another week or two.

[dcbone30]

-First one was zoom volume automatically lowering itself
-Second was a deleted file that's no longer in the recycle bin
-Third was file explorer opening a whole new window everytime a file is opened
-Fourth was a pdf file stuck in MS paint format
-Fifth was changing the default browser

I found the answer to everything but the first scenario but I was very close.

They really just want to see if I had the capacity to solve simple issues. Overall I think it went well because they said they'll be in touch for round 3 soon. I probably won't hear from them for another week or two.

Were you allowed to google? I literally wouldn't know off the top of my head any of those except 4 and 5

[Voidgaze]

Were you allowed to google? I literally wouldn't know off the top of my head any of those except 4 and 5

Lol right? I was allowed to google answers but I had to do it on the dummy machine they had me remote into.

I feel like they would've let me know if I had done poorly so I think my round 3 chances are good.

[dcbone30]

How's log4j treating everybody? It's been a wild week here, although I'm glad I'm not a sys admin anymore where most of the grunt work is being done.

[chaunce54]

How's log4j treating everybody? It's been a wild week here, although I'm glad I'm not a sys admin anymore where most of the grunt work is being done.

Already got signatures on the IPS and WAF. Our team only had one vulnerable system, so we're decomming it since we don't really use it anymore.

[Voidgaze]

Haven't heard back since my round 2 interview, and I don't expect to until after NYE, but there's been some new developments.

Guy on the district side has me covering as campus tech for a high school. However I have:

-No building access
-No elevated rights to access windows settings like Device Manager, Services.msc, etc
-No key to the technicians closet to get printer toner

LOL, thankfully today has been much better, and I've been winging it so far. But damn are they unprepared. Pretty sure the guy who chose me to stand in for the main tech is testing to see how I handled it.


I honestly should be upset, but I'm not since my supervisor just let me know I'm getting a $2 raise. So I'll put up with the BS since I'm actually being paid a wage worth the trouble.

[niospecv]

I wanted to be a network engineer when I started, but I went down the cloud path and now I want to do software engineering.

My path is different. I'm a Systems Administrator V going down the cloud path. Hoping to finish this August.

BTW, software engineers are the rockstars of the IT world. They get paid a chit ton. Some get paid $1 million annually at a FAANG.

Netflix only hires top notch software engineers and pays them ridiculously well. No entry-level coder for them. lulz

[AXnyc]

Guys looking for advice. I moved to a different country and looking to make a career change. I have 17 years as a Train Dispatcher and Project Manager in Transportation..... No railroads here lol.

I am looking to make a career change to something remote where I can still work in US. I don't need to make 100k...honestly 40-50k would be enough. Is system administrator something that you can learn via certifications with no college degree? I know it's a broad question but how long is the cycle of learning certifications to be able to apply for a job or internship?

Basically I'm just looking for some suggestions, if you had to start over now, what field would you look into that allows you to work remote. Also I can take a year or 2 a fully dedicate myself to studying full time. Any boot camps you would recommend?

Thank you for your advice bros.

[niospecv]

Guys looking for advice. I moved to a different country and looking to make a career change. I have 17 years as a Train Dispatcher and Project Manager in Transportation..... No railroads here lol.

I am looking to make a career change to something remote where I can still work in US. I don't need to make 100k...honestly 40-50k would be enough. Is system administrator something that you can learn via certifications with no college degree? I know it's a broad question but how long is the cycle of learning certifications to be able to apply for a job or internship?

Basically I'm just looking for some suggestions, if you had to start over now, what field would you look into that allows you to work remote. Also I can take a year or 2 a fully dedicate myself to studying full time. Any boot camps you would recommend?

Thank you for your advice bros.

I don't think you can jump straight into a System Administrator position without a proper IT background with certs.

I'm a Systems Administrator V and I'm 21 years in IT. In order to be a Systems Admin, you need a solid foundation. That usually means starting off at helpdesk. Some IT folks in helpdesk make 40-50k but those are rare. It's more likely to be 25-35k. Also, degrees are pretty much worthless in IT. Certs and a portfolio of your work(only some jobs require this) matter.

At the very least, get your CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Network+. This should get you in the door for a helpdesk position. From there, you'll have a good idea where you want to go. This is what I have and I'm a Sys Admin. I'm currently studying for my AWS, Azure, and GCP certs along with Python.

You should know that you always have to keep learning and expanding your knowledge or you will get left behind. Good luck brah.

[JeffPesos]

Das it boyos.

Your boy is finally in the building.

Spent the last 6 months finishing my comp sci degree then used the degree/CCNA to land a 12 month contract for an NOC Engineer role at a Fortune 500. Basically equivalent to a NOC Analyst/Technician tier 1 support at an NOC.

Absolutely stoked. In the next year, I will be studying for my CCNP then my OSCP all while doing python and learning as much as possible on the job.

This job market is weird for newcomers. 95% of the entry level positions are either mislabeled or require 3 years experience. So glad I don't have to worry about this part of the game anymore.

[Voidgaze]

Sup boyos. Been a minute since I've checked in.

I'm 3 months into an internship and the cracks are finally showing. The current systems admin I work under has been the only consistent support for the company for 11 years. Lots of internal and tribal knowledge have made it a challenge to learn all of the systems. Unfortunately they want me to learn more of their systems faster at the insulting rate of $18hr. For the knowledge being offered you would think it's a good deal, but keep in mind I have 3 years of general IT experience yet they couldn't even match my previous jobs rate of $20. Small organization. Understandable right? No.

The turnover there has been consistent for one consistent reason. Pay. Now I get zero benefits, no remote option, and they while they promised I could be "flexible with my schedule" my boss "prefers" that I come in from 8am to 4pm while he works remote at his leisure. He's a smart guy, very knowledgeable and I have nothing against him personally but he hasn't done the best job teaching me the ropes and his documentation has a lot of holes in it. On top of that I have failed to fulfill tasks set by him because he left out a detail that was critical to finishing my job. I've grown tired of looking like a jackass on his behalf and in the current economy with gas and rent rising the pay just simply isn't worth the financial strain right now.

With that being said I started shotgunning out resume's when he pulled me into a meeting to tell me about something I did wrong...but was actually his fault. Even if they offered me full time I cant work under someone lacking so much self awareness. They've gone through a few other "interns" before me and now I know why. It's a shame, my sister recommended this job and I realized he had no fuking clue what she was talking about.

The plus side is that I got some Windows Server 2012R2 exposure, more Active Directory Experience, imaging, Vsphere, RDP, and some light networking including some rack work. That has finally started getting me some hits so hopefully I can be in a remote position paying $21 at the very least.


Cliffs
-Got an "internship" recommended by my sister
-They lowballed me on pay, but I thought it was worth the experience
-Rising COL + Commute is becoming a financial strain with poverty pay
-I learn that the "internship" is only an internship for budgeting purposes so they can short us on pay.
-Brb no benefits, no parking spot, no remote work, flexible but I'm actually accommodating everyone else's schedule.
-Brb but they can afford a building expansion, new T.V, and 3 new hires with 1 one them being extremely unecessary
-Bad communications, poor processes, I take the fall for bosses mistakes, boss is long winded and unintentionally leaves me hanging when he's needed
-Done. Leaving.

[niospecv]

Sup boyos. Been a minute since I've checked in.

I'm 3 months into an internship and the cracks are finally showing. The current systems admin I work under has been the only consistent support for the company for 11 years. Lots of internal and tribal knowledge have made it a challenge to learn all of the systems. Unfortunately they want me to learn more of their systems faster at the insulting rate of $18hr. For the knowledge being offered you would think it's a good deal, but keep in mind I have 3 years of general IT experience yet they couldn't even match my previous jobs rate of $20. Small organization. Understandable right? No.

The turnover there has been consistent for one consistent reason. Pay. Now I get zero benefits, no remote option, and they while they promised I could be "flexible with my schedule" my boss "prefers" that I come in from 8am to 4pm while he works remote at his leisure. He's a smart guy, very knowledgeable and I have nothing against him personally but he hasn't done the best job teaching me the ropes and his documentation has a lot of holes in it. On top of that I have failed to fulfill tasks set by him because he left out a detail that was critical to finishing my job. I've grown tired of looking like a jackass on his behalf and in the current economy with gas and rent rising the pay just simply isn't worth the financial strain right now.

With that being said I started shotgunning out resume's when he pulled me into a meeting to tell me about something I did wrong...but was actually his fault. Even if they offered me full time I cant work under someone lacking so much self awareness. They've gone through a few other "interns" before me and now I know why. It's a shame, my sister recommended this job and I realized he had no fuking clue what she was talking about.

The plus side is that I got some Windows Server 2012R2 exposure, more Active Directory Experience, imaging, Vsphere, RDP, and some light networking including some rack work. That has finally started getting me some hits so hopefully I can be in a remote position paying $21 at the very least.


Cliffs
-Got an "internship" recommended by my sister
-They lowballed me on pay, but I thought it was worth the experience
-Rising COL + Commute is becoming a financial strain with poverty pay
-I learn that the "internship" is only an internship for budgeting purposes so they can short us on pay.
-Brb no benefits, no parking spot, no remote work, flexible but I'm actually accommodating everyone else's schedule.
-Brb but they can afford a building expansion, new T.V, and 3 new hires with 1 one them being extremely unecessary
-Bad communications, poor processes, I take the fall for bosses mistakes, boss is long winded and unintentionally leaves me hanging when he's needed
-Done. Leaving.

The kinda job you are seeking will not be remote. You have to be present. If you go the software route then you can do remote. Software = coding, dev ops, cloud engineer, etc.

You're on the hardware path boyo.

[dcbone30]

The kinda job you are seeking will not be remote. You have to be present. If you go the software route then you can do remote. Software = coding, dev ops, cloud engineer, etc.

You're on the hardware path boyo.

u wot m8

[Voidgaze]

The kinda job you are seeking will not be remote. You have to be present. If you go the software route then you can do remote. Software = coding, dev ops, cloud engineer, etc.

You're on the hardware path boyo.

You misunderstand. I don't mind being onsite, and I'm not looking for any shortcuts in the IT industry. I'd like to build a career in IT, but right now I'm just focused on getting rent paid and preparing for the coming economic hardship later this year.

I enjoyed providing support for everyone in the office, the staff were happy to finally have T1/T2 support to address their backlog of issues. This is simply a problem of working in a "controlled chaos" environment where the organization is the source of its own problems.

I won't go into anymore detail and you're free to tell me I'm being unreasonable or lazy. All I know is that we shouldn't be excusing bad behavior on the part of the employers.


"If you don't like it, then leave".

I did, and I also now work remotely getting paid a fair wage. Normally out of pride/principal I prefer to see my assignments through regardless of the issues, but that has always been to my detriment. I have to look out for my own interests first.

[niospecv]

You misunderstand. I don't mind being onsite, and I'm not looking for any shortcuts in the IT industry. I'd like to build a career in IT, but right now I'm just focused on getting rent paid and preparing for the coming economic hardship later this year.

I enjoyed providing support for everyone in the office, the staff were happy to finally have T1/T2 support to address their backlog of issues. This is simply a problem of working in a "controlled chaos" environment where the organization is the source of its own problems.

I won't go into anymore detail and you're free to tell me I'm being unreasonable or lazy. All I know is that we shouldn't be excusing bad behavior on the part of the employers.


"If you don't like it, then leave".

I did, and I also now work remotely getting paid a fair wage. Normally out of pride/principal I prefer to see my assignments through regardless of the issues, but that has always been to my detriment. I have to look out for my own interests first.

Gotta do what you gotta do.

[JeffPesos]

anyone here in DevOps? If so, what exactly do you do?

My take on it based on what I'm reading is that it seems to be kind of like a jack of all trades type of environment. Seems to take some networking/cloud knowledge along with linux and programming.

I'm in the networking field and I honestly love my job, but I would love to do something that involves python since I seem to know it a decent amount.

It seems to be a good blend of Infrastructure and Software Development and I feel that might be the direction I want to go, but I don't really understand it at this point. Once I get my CCNP I will probably try to pivot into Cyber, but still not quite sure yet.

[TokenWhiteKid]

Sup guys, figured I'd try this out.

Come in and talk about your IT job, goals, hobbies, what certs you're working on, and whatever else you'd like.

I'm currently an System Engineer working towards going back to school for my BA and focusing in Cyber Security.

im working on music. thats technically IT right?

[dcbone30]

Anybody work in a SOC? Do you/your team have too many tools to keep up with?

I've been in my position for a good bit now (SOC Manager), and I've started to realize we suffer from tool bloat/tool sprawl in the worst way. This is my first job in a SOC, but we literally have like 20-30 tools and me and my team fundamentally are supposed to master all of them yet we don't really have the bodies or time to specialize within the group. Is this what people mean when about when they talk about SOC burnout?

I've interviewed some people for analyst positions, and I realize most of them who have SOC experience explain that their SOC is broken up into groups who specialize into a handful of things. Something that looks kind of like this:



While me and my team are basically just the analysts that cover all of those circles above ( Analyst ----> Manager)

Am I the only one here?

[GenocideAttack]

Fuark brahs after a decade lurking in this thread I finally made it. Got a job as an IT specialist- being overpaid cause I have a bachelor's. If it wasn't for this forum I would've been working in retail thank you I love you all.

[dcbone30]

Fuark brahs after a decade lurking in this thread I finally made it. Got a job as an IT specialist- being overpaid cause I have a bachelor's. If it wasn't for this forum I would've been working in retail thank you I love you all.

Grats brah! What's your day to day look like?

[SwimLiftRunGrl]

Hi all. Has any one successfully recovered a text file that contains a bunch of gibberish characters that used to be plain English words? I have one text file (.txt) that I created in Notepad and saved it as UTF-8 encoding. I was able to read it with notepad, editPad, and word with no problem last month. Yesterday I opened the same file and everything became gibberish characters. I googled and tried whatever suggestions I found. Here are some things I did that did not worked:

- recover previous versions
- open in word and try different encodings
- save file as different format
- scan laptop for any viruses/malware but found none

I have a feeling that this file might be corrupted but don't know how. I can read all my other text files. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

[GenocideAttack]

Grats brah! What's your day to day look like?

Pretty boring but can’t really complain. I fix minor issues like setting up the meeting room for calls and provide help desk support to the work from home people.

[JustiNtense]

I've been studying for the A+ 1101. I've been using Messer and Dion's practice tests. Probably going to take the test in a couple of weeks.

Anybody happen to have any notes they can share or resources that helped you?

[niospecv]

I've been studying for the A+ 1101. I've been using Messer and Dion's practice tests. Probably going to take the test in a couple of weeks.

Anybody happen to have any notes they can share or resources that helped you?

You got this brah. I took that test back in 1999. LOL I feel old af.

[niospecv]

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[Inputlite90]

Hey guys,

I'm studying for the CompTIA Network+ exam. Been going hard the last 10 days. Watched Professor Messer's videos and read a 1000 page book. Now I'm taking practice exams(and failing them). So I decided to take notes of the questions I missed.

Goal is to get my Network + then get Security + then CCNA.

I currently have the A+, MCP(Microsoft Certified Professional) and AWS Cloud Practitioner certs.

I also have 2-3 years of experience working as a Desktop Support Analyst.

After I get all those certificates(Net+,Sec+,CCNA) do you guys think I will be able to land a Network Engineer(admin) position? Or am I going to have to work at a NOC for a couple years?

Thanks guys, awesome thread, I read all the pages

Edit: There's so much to memoriza(acronyms, phrases) etc. Anyone have any tips on how to best memorize these things? I've been writing them down and something tells me I'm going to have to rewrite each phrase 10+ times.

Edit2: Does anyone know of any good advanced subnetting videos?

[niospecv]

Hey guys,

I'm studying for the CompTIA Network+ exam. Been going hard the last 10 days. Watched Professor Messer's videos and read a 1000 page book. Now I'm taking practice exams(and failing them). So I decided to take notes of the questions I missed.

Goal is to get my Network + then get Security + then CCNA.

I currently have the A+, MCP(Microsoft Certified Professional) and AWS Cloud Practitioner certs.

I also have 2-3 years of experience working as a Desktop Support Analyst.

After I get all those certificates(Net+,Sec+,CCNA) do you guys think I will be able to land a Network Engineer(admin) position? Or am I going to have to work at a NOC for a couple years?

Thanks guys, awesome thread, I read all the pages

Edit: There's so much to memoriza(acronyms, phrases) etc. Anyone have any tips on how to best memorize these things? I've been writing them down and something tells me I'm going to have to rewrite each phrase 10+ times.

Edit2: Does anyone know of any good advanced subnetting videos?

Seems like you went backward. Most folks get A+, Network+ Sec+ and then work their way to MCP/AWS/Azure.

I'm a Systems Administrator V and I only have my A+ and Network +. Working on my AWS solutions architect and microsoft certified azure fundamentals. I hope to have both of these by March 2023. My goal is to switch roles to a Jr. Cloud Engineer but we'll see what the future holds. I have AWS SysOps, Python, Linux, AWS DevOps, Kubernetes, Docker and more on standby.

It's a never-ending journey.

[Inputlite90]

Seems like you went backward. Most folks get A+, Network+ Sec+ and then work their way to MCP/AWS/Azure.

I'm a Systems Administrator V and I only have my A+ and Network +. Working on my AWS solutions architect and microsoft certified azure fundamentals. I hope to have both of these by March 2023. My goal is to switch roles to a Jr. Cloud Engineer but we'll see what the future holds. I have AWS SysOps, Python, Linux, AWS DevOps, Kubernetes, Docker and more on standby.

It's a never-ending journey.

Yeah, I'm all over with the certs lol.

Damn you got lucky to land that job with just your A+ and Network +.

Edit: I tried to learn programming(Javascript) and it was WAAAY over my head. Kinda sucks because employers like a guy that can code :'(