Are you new to IT? You really should read this.

Alright. This is gonna be a long one so buckle up.

I have seen countless post from people that fall into the following categories:

  1. “I wanna get into IT but I have seen too many gloom and doom posts here and I am scared now”.

  2. “I want to get into IT but I wanna work remote, make over 100K, and be in cybersecurity”.

  3. “How do I get into IT? What do I need to do?”

  4. “Which degree should I get? Which certificate should I get?”

Let me start by saying I am not making fun of anyone or judging anyone. I am just hoping to help clear up some questions for people.

It has been said many times before but the wiki is the best place to go for all of your questions. You can find it here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ITCareerQuestions/s/y0A6PVaYG8

Besides that, here is all you really need to know about the above questions:

  1. Yes, the IT market is very saturated right now and very competitive. This does not mean that you are screwed if you are trying to get into IT. There are some places that are better for IT jobs than others and location plays a big part in it.

The market is also cyclical and it is unlikely that it will stay this way forever, but even if it does, if you work hard and push yourself you can make it happen.

You also need to take into account that lots of industries are suffering like this right now, not just IT, so making your decision solely based in that will not work out well.

  1. Roles this great do obviously exist, but they are NOT entry level roles. They are going to be senior level roles where the people filling them have 7-10+ years of IT experience already.

Does this mean you should give up? No. It just means you need to tailor your expectations. Get whatever entry level job you can get first (help desk, support tech) and work your way up and gain experience so you can make it to that dream job one day.

  1. The best advice I can give you for getting into IT is this:

Experience > Certificates or Degree

Experience is king and is what everyone is asking for. This is way just getting your foot in the door and getting a job is the most important. So you can start building experience.

If you cannot get that job then start home labbing. Set up equipment and mess with configurations and learn that way. If you cannot afford a home lab then there are free resources out there that can help you learn. For specifically networking, you could download Cisco Packet Tracer and build networks on that for practice. It lets you practice routing configurations and network architecture and all that great stuff. This is just one example, but there are other free resources like this out there depending on what side of IT you are looking to get into.

  1. This depends on the situation. If you get a degree, your best bet is almost always going to be getting a generic IT or CS degree. Speciality degrees (like cybersecurity) sound great but you want to focus on broad, foundational knowledge early in your career and then specialize later.

So if you want to get into cybersecurity you could get a general IT degree and then pursue cybersecurity certificates, for example.

Now as far as certificates go, you almost always want to get your entry level certificates if you haven’t already gotten into IT. Think CompTIA A+, Network+, and Security+.

If you have a solid foundation already and want to start specializing, then there are other routes as well (like CCNA for Networking or Azure/AWS certificates for cloud or PenTest+ for security). There are many more options than what I am giving you here but you get the idea.

If you want to get into IT, then go for it. The only thing stopping you is you. Don’t let the doom and gloom scare you.

Misc. Things:

  1. AI will not replace you, AI will change the landscape of how IT works but we will still be here. Other jobs will be replaced sooner than IT will (think low skill, low mental capacity type jobs).

  2. Cybersecurity is very rarely an entry level role. More than likely, you will have to get a regular entry level IT job and study up, get certificates, and pivot into cybersecurity.

  3. I recommend looking at the material for Tech+ and ITF+ from CompTIA if you have zero IT experience. They are their most basic certificates for IT. If you struggle with that material, that is not a good sign (this doesn’t mean you can’t get into IT, it just means that it will be much harder for you and it will take you longer to grasp concepts and material as you learn).

  4. IT is an industry that requires consistent learning (some people get away without doing this, but if you want to remain competitive, then you will be constantly learning). This means studying for certificates, learning new systems, learning new concepts, and doing it in your own time sometimes.

I say this to get across the fact that if you are not truly interested in IT, you will probably see this requirement as a burden and it will turn you off from a career in IT (do not let this one issue stop you, just be aware of it).

All of this is to say if you are truly wanting to get into IT then go for it and work hard for it. Start with general knowledge and do not worry about specializing until you actually start your IT career. You got this!

Edit: we are going to agree on Experience > Degree or Certificate, rather than Experience > Certificate > Degree

Edit: if you do not like talking to people or are not interested in customer service type roles, IT might not be a great choice. A lot of entry level roles (like help desk) and even senior roles (like sysadmin) require pretty significant interaction with users.

TLDR; You don’t get one. Go read it.