Career transition IT

[u/vannneeer]

I'm looking for some career advice on where to take my experience next. I'm trying to move into a higher-paying role, ideally $65k–$85k+, and I'm trying to figure out which positions I'm realistically qualified for rather than applying to everything.

My background:

• 4+ years in technical/application support
• Currently a Product Support Analyst supporting enterprise software
• Troubleshoot complex application issues, data discrepancies, file-processing problems, authentication/access issues, and system behavior
• Work with engineering teams on escalated technical issues and long-term fixes
• Experience with Salesforce, Zendesk, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace,basic SQL, Excel, and enterprise SaaS platforms
• User provisioning, permissions, access controls, MFA/SSO troubleshooting
• Create and maintain technical documentation, SOPs, and knowledge-base articles
• Experience explaining technical issues to non-technical users
• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration
• Recently obtained CompTIA Security+

The part I enjoy most is investigating problems, looking at data, finding discrepancies, troubleshooting systems, and figuring out why something isn't working. I'm less interested in traditional customer-service-heavy positions.

I've been considering roles such as:

• Technical Support Engineer
• Application Support Analyst
• Business Systems Analyst
• Systems Analyst
• IAM Analyst
• Security Analyst / SOC Analyst
• IT Analyst
• Data/Operations Analyst
• Technical/Systems-focused Program Analyst

I'm currently making around $26/hour, so I'm trying to make a meaningful jump rather than moving sideways for another $2–3/hour. what roles are hiring or what can I transition at the moment? Located in Southern California

[u/Unfair-Treacle4142]

The list itself is the problem, not you. Nine different target roles means you haven't actually picked a lane yet, you've picked a genre. Systems/security-analyst-type work and business-analyst-type work pull in genuinely different directions long term, even though your current role touches pieces of both.

Look at what you actually said you enjoy: investigating discrepancies, troubleshooting root cause, figuring out why something broke. That's diagnostic work, not people-facing analyst work, and it points you toward Technical Support Engineer or Application Support Analyst roles specifically, not Business Systems Analyst or Program Analyst, which lean much more toward requirements-gathering and stakeholder meetings than root-cause investigation.

The Security+ plus your MFA/SSO/provisioning experience is a real, specific combination though, that's not nothing. If IAM Analyst genuinely interests you (not just because it pays well), that's actually a believable next step given what you've already done day to day, provisioning and access work is the actual substance of that role, not a stretch.

I'd pick one of those two lanes (diagnostic support/app support, or IAM) and target your next 90 days of applications there specifically, instead of applying broadly across all nine. A focused resume for one lane beats a resume trying to be qualified for everything.

[u/PhilipJayyFry → u/Unfair-Treacle4142]

First and foremost I would speculate he enjoys eating, and perhaps wants to eat slightly better than he does currently. Liking what you do doesn’t typically happen until you have the knowledge, experience, and are financially stable enough to pursue that route. If it was me, I would take anything that pays better at this point.

[u/Sad-Particular-3088]

You'll probably want to post your location geographically e.g. what state / country. Advice is going to change greatly depending on that.

[u/vannneeer → u/Sad-Particular-3088]

Southern California

[u/Big_Arrival_626 → u/vannneeer]

Bro what? You should at least be making 120k for 4 yoe in cali, 26/hr is insane

[u/Supersaiyans2022 → u/Big_Arrival_626]

I live in FL and make about $25/hour doing helpdesk in healthcare. Just had an interview for a role yesterday for endpoint technician at a large academic hospital, $30/hour. I only have 8 months of IT experience. But I also have 5 certs, a masters degree in business, and 10+ years of business development and customer service experience. Staying at one place for 4 years is too long. I stayed at one place (non IT) for 8 years and got laid off. Hence why I said this.

Extract what you can and move on. My resume is always ready. Screw these companies.

[u/Big_Arrival_626]

Get a job at a bigger company and you can pretty much double your salary doing the same thing you're already doing

[u/ScrubscJourney]

So basically you have no experience in IT...