u/MediocrePass4780

Hi everyone, I wanted to ask hypothetically, if someone had 4–5 years of cloud/Devops engineering experience, primarily with AWS, and the market shifted heavily toward Azure, how difficult would it be for them to find a cloud engineering job in a difficult job market like the one we’re in now? Would having mostly AWS experience significantly hurt their chances if most of the available Cloud/DevOps jobs were Azure-oriented?

Hi everyone, I just have a quick question. Once you start gaining solid infrastructure experience, whether that’s in system administration, network engineering, or another infrastructure role, does it generally become easier to move into other infrastructure-oriented roles, even if the roles are different from each other and despite job market conditions, so even if the job market is really bad?

So for example, if you wanted to move into network engineering coming from system administration for the first time, or move into cyber security engineering coming from cloud engineering for the first time etc.

I posted this question on another forum, but I also wanted to post it on here just to get some more feedback. I’m kind of stuck between going into software engineering or IT and could really use some advice. My end goal is cybersecurity, either as a cybersecurity analyst or engineer. My original plan was IT support → system administration → cybersecurity. I’m hoping to move through the first stages relatively quickly, ideally spending around a year to a year and a half in IT support before moving into system administration, because I’d like to reach a more livable salary of around $50K–$60K as soon as I reasonably can and then work up from there. While I’m searching for an it support job, I’m starting to learn and prepare for a system admin job in the meantime.

The problem is that getting an IT support job has been really difficult in the current job market. I’ve been trying to get my foot in the door, and honestly, it’s becoming pretty demoralizing. Because of that, I’ve started considering software engineering → DevOps → cybersecurity instead, mainly because I feel like I could reach that $50K–$60K range faster through software.

The problem is that I genuinely don’t enjoy software development. I struggle with the creative/abstract thinking that comes with coding, and looking at hundreds or thousands of lines of code can become overwhelming for me. If I’m being honest with myself, I don’t want to be a software developer. The main reason I’m considering it is the money. However if people who actually enjoy software development and are good at it are struggling to find jobs right now, I’m worried about my chances when I’d be entering the field mainly for the salary.

I’m also concerned about AI potentially reducing the amount of junior-level software development work and possibly affecting entry-level salaries. If that happens, then the main reason I’m considering software engineering disappears, and I could end up spending all this time preparing for a career I already know I wouldn’t enjoy.
So I’m really torn. I want to go into IT because I think I’d actually enjoy it more and it leads toward the career I ultimately want, but I also want to be financially stable relatively soon. I don’t know what to do.

Hi everyone, I just have a quick question i’ve been wondering about. If you’re working towards becoming a cybersecurity engineer and you’re building your experience towards it by following a path like 2 years helpdesk → 2 years system admin → 1 year cybersecurity analyst, and the the job market gets bad and you’re laid off, what happens then? If cybersecurity analyst jobs are mostly mid-level and you’re competing against people with 3–5 years of security analyst experience, and you only have one year of cyber security analyst experience , and you face the same problem when applying for system admin jobs because you only have 2 years of experience, are you basically out of luck? Would my only choice be to fall back down to helpdesk? How does this type of career progression and accumulated experience work during a bad job market?

I know IT is different from many other fields because you often have to work your way up the ladder instead of starting directly in the role you ultimately want. This means your earlier experience may not be directly in your target field. Since experience becomes especially important in a bad job market, how does that affect someone in IT who is progressing through different roles?

Hi, I wanted to ask how difficult majoring in nursing really is. I’m considering going back to school for nursing because I’ve been struggling to find a job in my current field.

The biggest concern is the cost. I already have a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, so I believe the financial aid options would be limited to loans, meaning I’d be taking on a significant amount of debt. I want to make sure I’m making a smart decision before committing to it.

For anyone who has gone through an accelerated nursing program, how difficult would you say it actually is? The school that I am thinking about requires at least an 80% to pass certain classes, so I’d really like to get an idea of how challenging the coursework is and how manageable it is for someone coming from a different field.

Hi everyone, I’d really appreciate some feedback. I’ve been trying to get an IT job for a while, but I’ve been struggling because of the current state of the IT job market. I’ve started looking into other careers, and I’m considering going back to school to become a radiologic technologist.

I already have an associate’s degree and a bachelor’s degree, so I don’t know if those would help out towards the program but correct me if I’m wrong but a radiology technician is a 2 year degree program if I’m not mistaken.

For anyone who works in the field, I wanted to ask if you think it’s worth it. Is there a lot competition right now? Is the job market for this pretty rough like IT and software development, or is it generally better for radiologic technologists? This next question might sound a little silly, but is there any risk of AI negatively affecting this career? I know it’s a healthcare career, but I was just curious. Also, are there opportunities to move up from radiologic technology and increase your pay over time? For example, with nursing you can eventually become a nurse practitioner. Is there a similar career path for radiologic technologists?

I’m just trying to find a career where I can start earning a decent income without spending several more years in school. I’d really appreciate hearing from people who are actually in the field.

Hi everyone, I’d like to get some feedback on something.
I know someone who has been struggling to find a job in tech because of how difficult the current job market is. They’re considering going back to college and switching careers to nursing. They already have a bachelor’s degree from Penn State and are looking into an accelerated nursing program at a school like Thomas Jefferson University.

The main concern is paying for the program. From what I’ve read, financial aid can work differently when you’re pursuing a second bachelor’s degree, and Jefferson’s accelerated nursing program is pretty expensive—I believe the cost is around $50K or more.

I’ve also read online that Jefferson can be relatively generous with financial aid, but I’m not sure how accurate that actually is, especially for someone who already has a bachelor’s degree. I’d like to hear from people who have actually gone through the process.

Has anyone here gone back to school for nursing after already earning a bachelor’s degree, particularly at Jefferson? If you weren’t in a strong financial position to pay for the program yourself, how did FAFSA and financial aid work out for you? Were you able to get grants, scholarships, loans, or other assistance, and how much did you ultimately have to pay out of pocket?

I’d really appreciate hearing about other people’s experiences, especially anyone who went through Jefferson’s accelerated nursing program.

Hi everyone. I know the job market is pretty rough right now, and I had a question I was hoping to get some perspective on.

If it’s already difficult to land a help desk position, I would assume that moving from help desk into a system administrator role would be even more difficult, given the higher level of technical knowledge and responsibility involved.

But would the same thing apply to someone who is already a system administrator trying to move into cybersecurity?
For example, let’s say someone has 1-2 years of help desk experience followed by 2–3 years of system administration experience and is now trying to transition into cybersecurity for the first time. How difficult would that transition be in a bad job market like the one we’re experiencing now?

I’m particularly interested in cybersecurity engineering, but I’d also be curious about the transition into a cybersecurity analyst role.

I’ve read that system administration is a very strong foundation for cybersecurity engineering because sysadmins already have experience with operating systems, networking, identity and access management, servers, permissions, troubleshooting, etc. I’ve also seen people say that security engineering teams may prefer candidates with infrastructure backgrounds, such as system administrators or network engineers, over candidates coming from less infrastructure-focused security roles.

So, realistically, how much would someone with 2–3 years of system administration experience (plus prior help desk experience) struggle to break into cybersecurity for the first time in a difficult job market?
Would that infrastructure experience make the transition significantly easier, or would they still be competing against candidates who already have direct cybersecurity experience?

Hi, I’m trying to prepare myself for a software engineering job, but I’m not sure exactly what I should be practicing in terms of building projects and implementing features.
I understand that I need to know things like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, a frontend framework such as React, a backend programming language, APIs, databases, CRUD operations, etc.

What I’m struggling with is knowing what types of projects and features I should actually build to practice the kinds of work I would be doing on the job.

For example, I know I would most likely need to be able to build features such as:
User registration and login
Password reset through email
File upload and download
Search functionality
User accounts/profiles
CRUD operations
But what other features or types of projects would be good to practice?

Basically, I’m looking for a list of real-world software features that a junior software engineer might commonly be expected to build or work on, so I can use them as a roadmap for my projects and practice.

Hi guys I have a quick question. I was wondering how employers would view a candidate with 2 years of help desk experience and 2 years of system administration experience when applying for system administrator positions. Since many system administrator roles are considered mid-level, I often see job postings asking for 3–5 years of system administration experience.

In a job market like the current one, what would someone with that background’s chances be realistically speaking? I understand that the general idea is to work your way up and build experience over time, but I’m curious how that experience would be viewed if the job market became very competitive while you were in the middle of that progression.

Would a candidate with 2 years of help desk and 2 years of system administration still be competitive for mid-level system administrator roles, or would they likely struggle against applicants who have 3–5 years of direct system administration experience?

I was just curious what is your starting salary for an entry-level data analyst? I’ve read it’s around 50 to 60 K but I’ve also seen some people say as low as 40 K so I’m just curious what the general idea is

I was just curious what is your starting salary for an entry-level data analyst? I’ve read it’s around 50 to 60 K but I’ve also seen some people say as low as 40 K so I’m just curious what the general idea is

Hi, I have a goal of trying to get into cyber security and my roadmap plan was to work in helpdesk for a year and then move up into system administration, and then from system administration move up into cyber security.

However, it’s been really rough trying to get a helpdesk job right now and I was wondering if I was to get a couple certifications like for example, the comp TIA network plus and security plus, Azure 900, and splunk core certifications, will that help me get a helpdesk job, but also help speed up my transitioning out of helpdesk because if I can, I would like to get in and out of helpdesk in six months and move into system administration.

This is obviously considering I am ready for a system admin job by those six months, but I was just wondering will getting the certifications alongside having projects for system administration help speed up my process in getting in and out of helpdesk in six months, would that be possible?

When you’re making projects for your résumé, does each project have to have all the tools in one or can I make multiple projects displaying my skills with each tool? For example, let’s say I have one project where it’s mainly focused on Excel. I have a second project that’s mainly focused on SQL. I have a third project that’s focused on tableau, etc.

Thank you for any feedback in advance

When you’re making projects for your résumé, does each project have to have all the tools in one or can I make multiple projects displaying my skills with each tool? For example, let’s say I have one project where it’s mainly focused on Excel. I have a second project that’s mainly focused on SQL. I have a third project that’s focused on tableau, etc.

Hi, I want to become a data engineer, but I know that it’s not really an entry-level position. Is becoming a data analyst and working there for a year enough for me to then go into data engineering? Is that a good roadmap?

Hi, I want to become a data engineer, but I know that it’s not really an entry-level position. Is becoming a data analyst and working there for a year enough for me to then go into data engineering? Is that a good roadmap?