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**bird_dog0347** · 10-23-2014, 01:18 PM

I've been in IT since right after high school (1999) and never got a degree. I started out in a small business, then kept moving up and now work for a big ass bank. When I started I was THE IT guy, it was just me. As mentioned earlier those days are over unless you're good making 30-40k at a small company. It's been said many times already security and programing are very hot and will never go away.

I myself hate programing/writing code so I focused more on the infrastructure/security side. You need certificates, then you're at least in the door, but a guy with no certs and 2 years experience will likely still get the job over a guy with certs but no experience.

I currently (and for the last 5 years) am focused only on application delivery, security, and infrastructure specializing in F5 products. There is a massive shortage of people who actually know and understand these boxes, we need many more people. Jobs for that stuff will start around $65-75K and go WAY up from there. Let me know if you want some insight to where to start on that stuff, but it can be learned at home with VM editions and some studying.

10-23-2014, 01:18 PM	#11
bird_dog0347 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Age: 44 Posts: 114	I've been in IT since right after high school (1999) and never got a degree. I started out in a small business, then kept moving up and now work for a big ass bank. When I started I was THE IT guy, it was just me. As mentioned earlier those days are over unless you're good making 30-40k at a small company. It's been said many times already security and programing are very hot and will never go away. I myself hate programing/writing code so I focused more on the infrastructure/security side. You need certificates, then you're at least in the door, but a guy with no certs and 2 years experience will likely still get the job over a guy with certs but no experience. I currently (and for the last 5 years) am focused only on application delivery, security, and infrastructure specializing in F5 products. There is a massive shortage of people who actually know and understand these boxes, we need many more people. Jobs for that stuff will start around $65-75K and go WAY up from there. Let me know if you want some insight to where to start on that stuff, but it can be learned at home with VM editions and some studying.