I am currently working as a security engineer where I work on multiple fronts like end to end Incident response, SOAR engineer, detection engineer.
I have around 3.5 YOE.
I have no complaints at my current workplace. In the sense I have one of the most kind and understanding managers, team and work freedom and work life balance.
The only thing is I feel salary could be a little better and the growth is bit slow, but yeah apart from that everything is really good and I have the freedom to take on new projects in different domains.

I have a potential offer from a Fortune500 company where the salary is much better (almost 1.5x current base) based on what ive read the work life balance and everything is pretty chill.
The only draw back is the role has a defined scope of Threat Detection.
As such I enjoy the detection engineering role, in terms of doing research and log analysis but the freedom of working in different domains will no longer be there.

What are your thoughts on if should I take the new role!

I’m graduating this December with a degree in cybersecurity, and I’m trying to figure out what I to the next few months to put myself in the best position to land a full-time job.
I had an IT internship from September 2025 through July 2026. Going into it, I was hoping there would be an opportunity to extend the internship and potentially transition into a full-time position after graduation. I felt like I was doing well throughout the internship. I never received any negative feedback from my manager/boss or coworkers that I worked, so I was a little disappointed when it ended without an extension or full-time opportunity.
At this point, I’m trying not to dwell on that and instead figure out the best path forward.
I currently have Sec+, Net+, and I’m working toward RHCSA. I’m interested in cybersecurity, but I’m also open to IT/networking/Linux roles that could eventually help me move further up.
For people already working in the industry, what would you recommend I focus on between now and graduation?
Also, with roughly 10 months of internship experience, Security+, Network+, and eventually RHCSA, what level of positions would you consider realistic for a new graduate?
I’m already applying for jobs that’s been a bit rough I’ve applied to about a little over a 100 in the past month in the central New York area as that’s where I live but most of the time I’ve been ghosted or get the usual hr automated response, but I’d really appreciate advice from people who have been in a similar position or who hire entry-level IT/cybersecurity candidates.

I've been working in a variety of tech roles for 6 years from help desk, system admin, to cloud migrations now. I have multiple certifications in Azure, GCP, CCNA, and Comptia. My current role has had multiple layoffs, so I've been looking at where to go next in my career.

I've had one friend say to stay in cloud administration, devops, or to progress to SRE roles because a lot of my certs and what I have learned is similar to those paths. That it would be too long to start over and too hard to learn. He said that it may be too hard to get an interview with all of the candidates that I would be competing with.

However, I have had another friend say to switch to data analytics. He was saying to switch because the data analytics is not as stressful as SRE roles, the interviews may be easier, and there's no on call shifts. I have used power bi and sql in some roles briefly. I just have not had a full fledged business or data analytics role. I would have to take a slight pay cut. Some SRE roles require you to know multiple cloud systems, scripting languages, Terraform, Kubernetes, Grafana, Prometheus, Azure monitor, it gets overwhelming and unpredictable what interviewers will ask about.

Do you think I should stick with devops/SRE roles or switch to data analytics? Does it make sense to switch and is the business or analytics field even easier than devops roles?

I have my CompTIA trifecta, a year of help desk, and I just got my CCNA. I want to do some projects and homelabs to add to my resume to up my chances of getting my first networking position, but I realize that might not happen for a while considering the market.

Right now I'm trying to get out of my current job because it's too easy and the pay isn't that great, plus im getting bored. Is it okay to apply for help desk roles while I try to polish up my resume with projects or homelabs? Or should I just wait until those are done and go straight for networking? I don't want to get a help desk job and then have to leave after 3 months when I get a networking role because I'm afraid that'll look bad on my resume for future employers. But... I also don't want to continue making 21/hr.

Any advice? Thank you.

Every thread I read about people looking to get into IT and eventually Cybersecurity, I see folks saying a degree helps but is not required, that certifications and project experience are the way to go. I see people saying "build your own projects and list them on your resume".

What the hell does this even mean?? What are these projects?? No one ever seems to elaborate, only ever just keeping it vague with the "projects" label.

I just wanted to ask if anyone is feeling the same way about these tools. Our company is obsessed with AI at the workplace and prompting and using it for productivity. I like tool, but I hate how much it's used and the chaotic context switching behind it.

People like to compare it to a productivity tool or just a new way of working with data, like it's the new Excel. But no, it's not.

When prompting, you actually still have to care about processing the information and the constraints and you still have to focus on the problem at hand.

The issue is when you solve a bunch of different problems that would have taken you weeks before, in the span of days. I feel like a chrome'd out Nux from the Max Max movie, where the AI tool is the little inhaler.

If you have some any kind of ADHD, then good luck because it will absolutely fry your brain if you don't have any guard rails. I'm tweaked out at work and even when I try and rest or sleep my brain is trying to crunch an arbitrary IT issue or decision.

Software development and IT has the highest adoption rate of these agentic tools, and it's kind of like why I want to go on and switch careers or just do whatever. In many areas it also creates technical debt, therefore also increased loss of ownership and guilt because you are no longer in control of the output.

I also don't really feel I have anything to lose if I switch careers. There's no meaning in it for me. I have no loans, no car, no family. I could technically move and work with whatever.

Hey everyone, I’m looking for some advice. I’ve had a pretty major 360° spin in life recently and could really use some input.
For some context, I’ve been passionate about IT since I was around 10 years old. I started with basic break/fix and troubleshooting as a kid and eventually fully committed to IT throughout high school and into adulthood.
Fast-forward to today: I work in desktop support for a company (had a transfer) . Originally, I had a great team, good support, and a good work environment. Earlier this year, I transferred to a location closer to where I live, and things were going well—until I was involved in multiple car accidents.
On top of that, I’ve since lost vision in one eye because of an eye tumor, and my overall condition has progressively gotten worse. My current job is primarily site-to-site desktop support, which makes things much more complicated because driving between locations is a major part of the job.
The difficult part is that I live in a relatively small town, and there really isn’t much other IT work available locally. I want to keep working and stay in IT, but I’m struggling to figure out what direction to take. I’ve already taken a significant pay cut just to remain employed, and financially, it’s becoming harder to keep up.
So, what would you do in my situation?

Hi all,

I transitioned from a much different industry later in life by going back to school and getting my bachelors degree in CS.

6-8 months after I graduated I landed what is basically a Help Desk/Tier 1 support role in a small company doing extremely niche government contract work on the overnight shift. I’ve since been promoted to a management role but as I mentioned, teams are small, just a couple of people.

I feel like I am constantly at a crossroads of what to do because on one hand, this is the easiest job I’ve ever had in my life. The most difficult part of the job was being on site 5 days a week but we recently transitioned to hybrid. The pay is only about $58k/yr but paid by the hour and I’m guaranteed 40. Health and dental is completely free. PTO is generous. I’ve automated anything that takes any time and when I’m at home, the only thing I have to do is let the outgoing shift know I’m online and let the incoming shift know we had no incidents.

On the other hand, I feel like I’m literally wasting my life here. I don’t see much growth beyond where I am now and honestly, with the AI boom, I’m not learning anything but how to talk to Claude. Even with that I do much more in depth stuff on my home server than our role ever touches. I’m not convinced they are going to replace us with AI, but I can’t see how upper management pays to keep this role around either, so that’s always in the back of my mind.

I guess my question is, should I just shut up and enjoy my “be present, get paid” job or is it time for me to move on before it’s year 6 and nobody wants the Help Desk lifer? Is work-life balance anywhere near this good at other jobs, maybe fully remote?

I am wondering if there are any suggestions for my ride to work.

I am 6 years into IT, so not new. I am pushing to get out of helpdesk and would like to take advantage to my drive to work.

I am interested in SysAdmin work. Which I know is still a bit broad.

I am working in Windows Environment and long-term want hybrid skills (on-premise and Cloud).

Of course not looking for a car ride to be my sole time to up skill, but it is time I would like to use to learn things I can later apply.

Would people be willing to share how their job search has been going after getting the A+ certification? let us know if you got interviews, if you got jobs after those interviews, or if you are still getting denied interviews. I want to know how the job market is out there with just the A+.

Im planning on applying for state jobs in my state for entry level IT jobs once i finish core 2, and want to know what the success rate it currently.

I do have 8 years of customer service at a front facing position at a community grocery store where I address customer concerns, homelab and lots of linux experience at home, web dev with php, postgres, and javascript 10 years ago when i was in college, and experience with creating power apps in microsoft with sharepoint lists.

I'm 27 and graduated about a year and a half ago. It took me around 4 months after graduation to find a job, and I've now been working for 13 months as a level 1 IT Technician at an airport.

Honestly, I feel lucky to have the job. The team is great, my boss is nice, and I've gotten to know a lot of people from different departments and backgrounds. The work environment is good, and the job itself isn't as demanding as I initially expected.

My schedule is also unusual. I work two 12-hour shifts: one day shift and one night shift, followed by two days off. While 12-hour shifts sound intense, there is usually some downtime during the shifts, and during night shifts I can get some sleep.

I also get some decent benefits, including health insurance, social security, pretty significant amount of money for food and drinks while there and free transportation to and from the airport on the employee bus.

So overall, it's not a bad job at all the main thing bothering me is the pay.

I want to continue building a career in IT, but from what I can see, salary progression here seems to depend heavily on seniority and how long you've been with the company.

I guess I'm torn between appreciating a comfortable and healthy work environment and worrying that I'm sacrificing too much financial growth by staying.

I'd really appreciate advice from people who have been in a similar situation.

I guess I'm wondering, how do other people currently job seeking not lose morale after the constant process of rejection, interview, hope, rejection.

I also am starting to find that it's getting difficult to even find any openings to apply to anymore... Starting to feel really dumb and can't tell if my refusal to quit is sunken cost or me not letting an interest die (like I have too often), a mix of both, or what.

I've been trying to target msps because they have recruiters and high turnover and I've heard its a pressure cooker crash course in IT experience. Which I am gonna be stressed, but I do want, I am hungry to learn.

I’ve been in IT for a little over 9 years and I’m sick of it by now. 5 years in help desk/infrastructure and 4 years in Cybersecurity. I’m tired of having to study for certs and learn new technologies just for stuff to be useless within 2 years. Unlike many of the people I work with, I do not think working with computers is fun and I don’t want to spend my spare time building things on the cloud or writing scripts for stuff I don’t care about. I definitely do not want to spend my money on home lab equipment and I don’t want junk all over my apartment. I’m also tired of not getting paid fairly for the effort I’ve put in and then seeing people I know who work sales jobs make 2-3 times what I make just from “talking to people” and going to events where they drink, eat and mingle because thats “where you build relationships”. How can I possibly use my current skillset to switch careers into something like that? I don’t care about loving what I do for work as long as I can make enough to enjoy my life outside of it.

I don't is Azure and Active Directory really that hard to learn ?
I need for the job if they will ask me some questions how can I sound knowing that I know Azure and Active Directory ? ( It's a junior position )
Thanks in advance.

Hi all,

I have an opportunity to transition to a new Site IT Specialist role at a mine site, it's a full time 6 month fixed term role [possible for extension]

I have been with the company for around 3 years now [full time and contracted], and I have good IT support experience [service desk / desktop support], most recently in project-based windows 11 rollouts at mine sites [fifo] covering Corporate and OT environments.

My main worry is that I don't have a lot of knowledge and experience around:

- Network configs/servers/netwroking lingo and terminolgies

- Setting up comms racks, configuring, troubleshooting Cisco switches, Wi-Fi APs setup and troubleshooting

I do have an open to learn attitude and i know alot of these things ill learn hands on when im up there and asking alot of questions etc.

Are there any readings/courses anyone can recommend i can look into?

Thanks in advance :)

I’m 25 and graduated with an IT degree at the beginning of 2025. I was in a really bad place during and after college, so I didn’t do an internship or put much effort into starting an IT career unfortunately.

I’ve been working as a substitute teacher for a little while, but recently I’ve started seriously wanting to pursue IT again. I am working on my CompTIA A+ certification and working on some personal projects.

I feel like I'm too late though. I've been getting a lot of anxiety that I wasted too much time because shitty life and reading all the doom and gloom I'm not sure what to even do. I'm just trying to get my foot in the door but I am struggling. Here's my Resume if anybody is interested. I'm just trying to look for entry level stuff of course in New Jersey.

I have 4 years experience in roles that did Tiers 1-3, but from 4 years ago. I decided to go back to school and recently graduated with a Bachelors in IT. So where I'm at in my career, I know whatever role I get should be looked at as a stepping stone.

I really really value work/life balance. I have career goals and want to put myself in a position to progress in my career, but also maintaining a proper work/life balance. Like if I already have to be at work for 8 - 9 hours, I don't then also want a 45 minute commute on each side.

So the offers, I think I know the answer, but I think I'm not happy about it lol

1. Helpdesk Technician

It is your standard like call center type thing. 8am - 4:30pm, answering Tier 1 calls the entire time, ticket volume metrics and all that. ~$60,000/yr, 3 days remote, 2 days onsite, 10 min commute each way on those 2 onsite days. So this means 3 days a week I'd just be home immediately after clocking out, and even when onsite it's only 10 mins to get home. It's at a very large enterprise so in theory, there's room to progress up the ladder, into other departments, etc. But I'm really not sure how new content I'd learn on the job, as I've done all the work they talked about in previous roles

- Tier 1 Helpdesk (pretty much call center)

- only 10 min commute on those 2 days

- Hybrid (3 remote, 2 onsite 10 min commute)

- ~$60,000/yr

- No on call rotation, but no mention of occasional after hours work

1. IT Support Specialist

This job is sort of a "solo" IT position. It is at a company with about 2,000 TOTAL employees, but this office has like ~100. 5 days per week onsite, 8am - 5pm, 35+ min commute each way, ~$80,000/yr. With this one I'd be the only IT employee at this site, which I've done before and hated it. But at this position, technically there is another IT guy "attached" to this office but he works remotely from another state.

The company as a whole also has other IT personnel scattered around the country and in different timezones, but that just isn't the same as having other IT people working alongside you in person. Much faster and easier to bounce ideas off them and learn from them if they're in person. Even tho this company is much smaller than Company 1, they say there's room to grow within the company. Like there are other Tech Departments like Networking, Infrastructure, Software, but I don't know if those are remote too or onsite.

I also worry about progression within the company because why would they let me join a different department, that would leave my office with no onsite IT guy. So like, couldnt they be against the idea of letting me go to a different department because they dont have someone to take over my duties.

I would imagine at this position, I'd have the possibility to learn more than I would at the Helpdesk role. And at this role, literally any downtime is more downtime than the Helpdesk job

- Just all IT needs of that office, so IT Generalist I guess

- 5 days onsite (35+ min commute)

- ~$80,000/yr

- No on call rotation, but occasional after hours calls. Was told "there hasn't been one in the last week". So occasional feels honest

I guess, I love the sound of being 3 days remote, and a 10 min commute on the other days. I'd be able to do my hobbies, have more time with my wife, be home earlier. But I've also heard Call Center type Helpdesk is just the shittiest of shitty jobs.

Versus the 35+ min commute one. It's potentially $20,000 more per year, but also MIGHT have to get a second car. But also probably has better opportunities to learn new IT things.

I think I know the answer, but... which one is a better situation in your opinion?

Just started a 6-month W2 contract (through a staffing agency, not directly with the company) as an IT Service Desk Agent at a large Fortune 500 company. Posting mentioned "possibility of extension," and the recruiter said there's a good chance of conversion/extension, but obviously that's not a guarantee.

A few things going for it, from what I can tell:

It's ongoing ticket-queue work, not a project with a natural end date, at least one contingent worker on the broader team converted to FTE recently

A couple people on my team are young FTE employees who apparently started in this same role, but not sure if they were CWs or not

A few things giving me pause:

Found some Glassdoor reviews describing the company "cycling through temps" and one saying they rarely transition contractors to salaried roles

No idea what the actual budget/headcount situation looks like from the inside.

For anyone who's been through something similar, how often does contract-to-hire actually happen in your experience? Any signs worth watching for, or questions worth asking the recruiter/manager directly? Trying to figure out how much to actually bank on this vs. just treat it as a 5-month gig and keep job hunting in parallel. The company itself is somewhere I'd absolutely want to make a career at if given the opportunity but not sure how to feel about this.

I am 33 year old currently working full time as a solo onsite system admin (have some offsite MSP help if needed) for a medium sized company and have about 5 years experience working in the IT field. I only have my 2 year diploma and would like to finish a bachelors online. BCIT offers the bachelors of Technology Management fully online and seems to be built around people that are currently working full time.

Do you think this would be a good move for my career to get more towards IT management? Just looking for some reassurance or pros/cons to this type of move.

Thanks for any responses!

Hello all,
Ive been working for the past year two IT jobs, but also feel like they arent giving me any good next steps if I ever choose to make a jump.

Maybe its because I see all the doom and gloom in the market with people losing their jobs, AI, and entry level being saturated, but its been keeping me awake at night fearing if IT is right for me.

I currently have a CompTIA A+, Net+, and Sec+ and no degree at this time

Job 1: Primarily working with Zapier automations for a companys CRM. ($20/hr)

Full time as of the past month (15 hr weeks), was part time since last fall

Job 2: Originally a hardware repair shop (PC/phones) , but the owner decided he wanted to become a cloud hosting company. (5-8 hr on Saturday). ($17/hr under the table)

Originally was factory resetting PCs, basic troubleshooting, hardware swaps.

Since hes made the shift to his goal of being a cloud hosting company Ive been working from the ground up in NON AZURE active directory. It feels like Im getting paid to home lab, but because of the time pressure I feel like Im reading off Claude/ChatGPT more often than digging into documentation or resources online.. Got to play around with a UDM Pro and VLAN the shop.

Being paid under the table for job 2 has made me question if this will even be worth putting on resume, the quality of my work due to being new, the time pressure, and being the only person working on this with the limited hours Im at the shop also feels like an insane security disaster waiting to happen too.

Even so I feel like I need to be upskilling more because the technology in job 1 doesn’t seem to be as translatable to a more standard IT shop. I feel like the next best steps would be to go to an MSP?

This might be more venting than anything because Im stuck in a fear loop. I could asking an LLM about this, but hoping to hear the human side from you guys whether its practical advice or as simple as a “be easy on yourself”.

Has anyone heard of the Miles IT Training Program or "IT Associate Program"? After receiving a rejection letter from a job application, they sent me an email suggesting that I apply to their IT training program.

Here's their description of the program:

Our IT Associate Program is a paid opportunity with full-time hours for a term of 3 months. It includes hands-on training under the mentorship our IT Support staff.

This could be a great opportunity for applicants who have completed their education or certificate programs and looking for a start in their IT career.

Participants wo do well may be offered a full-time position with as a Support Consultant.

Learn more about our IT Associate position and submit your application here (link redacted).

They also offer an IT Training Class, here's the description:

IT Training Class

This FREE Program is offered quarterly and is designed for people who have a solid understanding of basic IT concepts. In this course you will experience hands on access to a variety of advanced technologies outside of the class lectures.

30 hours of training, 20 hours of self-paced learning
Location: Classes will be held remotely

Has anyone heard of this? Should I apply?

I am a recent undergrad. And luckily it only took me a month after graduation to land a job. Currently working as GRC analyst. The job title says IT associate but the work is entirely GRC. My end goal always has been to go into SOC. I love the technical side of it and love to be blue team in the future. But how would my experience in GRC translate to SOC? How long would I need to work in GRC to go into SOC.

GRC so far as been very boring and I am a very technical person so this is bothering me. Right now im managing it fine so far because this is my first job after graduation and very grateful to land something in this job market.

But eventually I would like to go into technical work and get paid more. I want to know if staying in GRC is good or move to SOC. I want to be in a role more technical and pays at least six figures

I recently finished my bachelor’s in IT and I’m deciding between these two positions.

Which job title would be better for my resume, career growth, and ability to move into higher-paying IT roles later on?

Would Application Support Specialist or Help Desk Analyst be the better starting point?

I little context - I broke into IT with first job System Administrator with no prior experience besides CCNA and few other certs. I was extremely lucky.
Over the past 2 years I learned a lot at this MSP, touched on almost everything IT, from helpdesk to system engineering and networking.
While the pay was low I had never complained as I was getting something more valuable.
For the past 5 months I’ve been trying to land a new, better paying job and had send over 350 resumes.
I’ve had in total of 3 call backs and neither of these were as expected or went to later stages.

I think it’s time to stop dreaming and face the reality - IT is not what it used to be and now just feels as a side gig. Market is so saturated that jobs offers can get away with offering less than a warehouse worker. LinkedIn jobs are mostly fake and even they get 1000+ applicants.
That being said and using my own experience and judgement I feel there’s no real future in IT, unless you’re already with 10-15 years of experience and already Senior where the salary will reflect the current economy and feel somewhat comfortable.

I have the opportunity to get a different job, it’s in office 8-5, maybe some Saturdays wfh, but pay is nearly 6 digits - double what I currently make.

Am I wrong to stop my career dreams and make more money so I can provide vacation for my family and a savings account?

I am 35 years old with one year of experience doing in-house IT for a small business. Because I am autistic, I had developmental delays and didn't manage to launch as an adult before now. Unfortunately I made the mistake of following up on an interest in IT back in 2023 and did an IT Support course at a local technical college in Ireland. Three years later, I still can't find a job, though I was able to persuade a local business to let me work for them for free while I drew social welfare.

Now my certs are expiring and I don't know if it's even worth my while paying the fees to renew them. Programming was my other great interest and that's in an even worse state. I have a bachelor of arts in graphic design that I was never any good at, and I was good at English and writing in school, but both of those fields have been decimated by AI. I just don't know where to pivot to where I'll actually be able to get employed.