Q. I have a few questions, and if you're a network admin (or have been one), I'd deeply appreciate your time ^_^
I'm 17, and will be a senior this year, and I really wanna go into the field. I love technology, and there's an ITT tech in a nearby city, where I could get my bachelors in data security. I'm 90% sure this is what I want to do with my life, but would really be grateful for some advice from those that have experience in this field first hand.
I'm a girl, so will I be discriminated against in this field? I read that women aren't exactly prominent in the field of technology...?
When you were attending college, what kind of part time job did you have?
Once you graduated, how did you get your career off the ground? What kind of opportunities did you have?
What does your job involve on a day to day basis?
And lastly, is the pay really that good? I've read that the median income $77k? I'm not just in this for the money, trust me, I've grown up rather poor and would like to make a decent living--one where I wouldn't have to worry about bills/buying things I may want.
I'm 17, and will be a senior this year, and I really wanna go into the field. I love technology, and there's an ITT tech in a nearby city, where I could get my bachelors in data security. I'm 90% sure this is what I want to do with my life, but would really be grateful for some advice from those that have experience in this field first hand.
I'm a girl, so will I be discriminated against in this field? I read that women aren't exactly prominent in the field of technology...?
When you were attending college, what kind of part time job did you have?
Once you graduated, how did you get your career off the ground? What kind of opportunities did you have?
What does your job involve on a day to day basis?
And lastly, is the pay really that good? I've read that the median income $77k? I'm not just in this for the money, trust me, I've grown up rather poor and would like to make a decent living--one where I wouldn't have to worry about bills/buying things I may want.
A. OK, I'll start from the top.
I'm 27, a Network Admin in a large Hospital in the UK, and we run multiple systems for all areas of the Hospital (Blood tracking, xray, data storage, record histories etc), as well as maintain and install hardware/software throughout.
Females. You should not be discriminated against at all. If anything, women are under-represented because it's not a subject which many women find interesting. I suppose it's a bit like nursing, there's not a huge amount of guys that do that. I've currently got a team of 12, and 4 are women. They're every bit as equal as the guys, and there's no difference in workload/type of work, or pay.
In College, I had a part-time job delivering pizzas. That's got nothing to do with the field, or industry, but y'know, paid for my beer.
Once graduated, I looked on websites and in local newspapers for IT related work. Your first job might not be as a Network Admin. Many people have to start off slow, and work on the Helpdesk, or on Desktop support for a couple of years. I did Helpdesk work, then Desktop Support, then I ran a Helpdesk of 5 people, and now I'm a Network Admin. It helps to learn the systems from the bottom up. A couple of years experience with the setup of the organisation really, really helps in the interview for the next job. I actually beat a guy with more qualifications for my job, because I already knew the systems and setup inside out.
It's also worth remembering that every organisation is different. From the anti-virus they use, to their mail servers, to the way they ghost image machines, it will be bespoke to that organisation, so it's hard to join a team half way up the rankings and hit the ground running.
Daily, I start with ensuring backups are complete, and then give the green light for a member of staff to swap server tapes (there's 42 of them, so it's a pretty big job), and then I'm allocated jobs from our Helpdesk that are shared out amongst the staff. These can range from setting up new users, to allocating fixed IP Addresses to new printers, or as I've been doing today, putting a new switch into a hub to help expand how many users can work in a particular department.
Lastly, the pay in the UK is pretty average. Those median income figures are way inflated due to contractors, who are paid by the day, and so their annual income is this massive figure, that they never actually reach, because to get that $77k they'd have to work every single day of a whole year.
There is the option of contracting, which I've done, and although it paid way more, any holiday or sick days were unpaid, and you are paid for the work you do, rather than have a contract. You're also at the mercy of the employer suddenly deciding you're no longer needed, and then you're out of a job with a day or so notice, just when you'd got to know everyone.
Working for an organisation with it's own IT department is, in my experience, the best way to go. The pay is less than contracting, but you're so, so much more secure, knowing you have a full contract, with sick pay, and holiday allocations etc, and of course, you're protected by HR/Personell rules.
I wouldn't say I was badly paid, at about $50k.
I'm 27, a Network Admin in a large Hospital in the UK, and we run multiple systems for all areas of the Hospital (Blood tracking, xray, data storage, record histories etc), as well as maintain and install hardware/software throughout.
Females. You should not be discriminated against at all. If anything, women are under-represented because it's not a subject which many women find interesting. I suppose it's a bit like nursing, there's not a huge amount of guys that do that. I've currently got a team of 12, and 4 are women. They're every bit as equal as the guys, and there's no difference in workload/type of work, or pay.
In College, I had a part-time job delivering pizzas. That's got nothing to do with the field, or industry, but y'know, paid for my beer.
Once graduated, I looked on websites and in local newspapers for IT related work. Your first job might not be as a Network Admin. Many people have to start off slow, and work on the Helpdesk, or on Desktop support for a couple of years. I did Helpdesk work, then Desktop Support, then I ran a Helpdesk of 5 people, and now I'm a Network Admin. It helps to learn the systems from the bottom up. A couple of years experience with the setup of the organisation really, really helps in the interview for the next job. I actually beat a guy with more qualifications for my job, because I already knew the systems and setup inside out.
It's also worth remembering that every organisation is different. From the anti-virus they use, to their mail servers, to the way they ghost image machines, it will be bespoke to that organisation, so it's hard to join a team half way up the rankings and hit the ground running.
Daily, I start with ensuring backups are complete, and then give the green light for a member of staff to swap server tapes (there's 42 of them, so it's a pretty big job), and then I'm allocated jobs from our Helpdesk that are shared out amongst the staff. These can range from setting up new users, to allocating fixed IP Addresses to new printers, or as I've been doing today, putting a new switch into a hub to help expand how many users can work in a particular department.
Lastly, the pay in the UK is pretty average. Those median income figures are way inflated due to contractors, who are paid by the day, and so their annual income is this massive figure, that they never actually reach, because to get that $77k they'd have to work every single day of a whole year.
There is the option of contracting, which I've done, and although it paid way more, any holiday or sick days were unpaid, and you are paid for the work you do, rather than have a contract. You're also at the mercy of the employer suddenly deciding you're no longer needed, and then you're out of a job with a day or so notice, just when you'd got to know everyone.
Working for an organisation with it's own IT department is, in my experience, the best way to go. The pay is less than contracting, but you're so, so much more secure, knowing you have a full contract, with sick pay, and holiday allocations etc, and of course, you're protected by HR/Personell rules.
I wouldn't say I was badly paid, at about $50k.
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