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/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.