r/ITCareerQuestions

I interviewed with an MSP today. It's just the CEO and 1 other guy. I don't have any IT experience only recently acquired my A+ certification. I just got bad vibes from this position, like I'd be exploited and something just feels off not sure how to describe it. Has anyone else experienced something like this? I feel like I have to take the offer if extended as I have been searching for a bit now and given how hard the market is so I feel like denying it would be crazy. But idk something feels off.

I'm looking to get my A+ certification to get a Help Desk role or similar. My friend who works in IT says it is the standard certification for breaking into this type of role.

My problem is I don't see a ton of locally available jobs that I could get with the A+ certification. I could commute further out or look for remote work. So given this is it worth getting the A+ certification knowing that there aren't a ton of local jobs for it, but instead knowing that I will need to commute or look for remote work?

I have my ITIL4 and it expires in December. In order to renew I’d have to spend around $300-$600. Do people actually check/care?

I was wondering, as someone who would eventually like to move up the career ladder. Is there a main/common technical difference or knowledge difference in Tier 1 and Tier 2 across most enterprises?

By common, I mean, is there a certain set of skills or knowledge base that Tier 2 typically has or does it vary from company to company mostly?

Preferably online that actually helps you. I know YouTube and UDEMY have some stuff. Any info on reputable courses would be super helpful.

Backstory: I was laid off 5 months ago from an MSP where I was a tier 2/JR network admin for 1.5 years. (2 years total of MSP experience)

I finally landed a corporate contract for 6-12 months. It’s a tier one paying 100k and I’ve began my first few weeks here already.

Will working a tier 1 hurt my career trajectory? Or should I take an MSP tier 2 role?

MSP role: tier 2+, It’s hybrid but I’d be their 4th tech and they don’t have an office.

I’m told I’ll get a chance to learn a lot, but worried that I’ll be stuck constantly doing onsite low level and not enough project work even though they said they want all their techs to be on the same level, and access to everything.

I’m still interviewing for other roles as I hope I can land a permanent job eventually.

What’s your view on this?

I’m a senior in college majoring in IT with a concentration in cybersecurity. I recently applied for two internships at a major company in my city: one in Azure AI and the other in cybersecurity.

I heavily tailored my resume for the cybersecurity position. I included projects such as building a SIEM using Splunk and Suricata, my CompTIA Security+ certification, and my experience working with virtual machines.

Despite all of that, my resume never made it past HR for the cybersecurity position.
Meanwhile, that exact same resume made it past the initial screening and HR for the Azure AI position and is now being forwarded to the hiring manager.

Here’s where I’m confused. The Azure AI position requires extensive knowledge of containerization, Python, and C++. None of those skills are listed on my resume, and I’m not too skilled with them either.

So somehow, the position I specifically tailored my resume for rejected me, while the position I’m arguably less qualified for is moving me forward.
Im pretty confused here is this an ATS thing, an HR thing, or am I just clueless how the hiring process works?

Been looking to hop jobs for a while and I've noticed a trend when applying for Network Engineer positions.

I look at the job descriptions, and confirm my experience checks all the boxes. I make sure my resume mentions most, if not all of the keywords they're looking for. I also make sure to really emphasize and highlight any Network engineer/admin projects that I've worked on at home and at previous roles. I apply and submit what I believe is a pretty good resume where I should at least get a call back.

I've seen rejection emails come back within an hour of applying even though the posting doesn't close for another 3 weeks. But a lot of those rejection emails come in at 2am or even 3am - Times where it's very unlikely an HR screener is going to be actively reviewing resumes to reject, and sending out rejection emails.

I'm not saying I'm perfect and deserve a call back, but I'm starting to think maybe my resume isn't getting passed AI screenings and is getting auto rejected as soon as it gets submitted. Is this a thing? If so, how could I tailor my resume so it can get passed the first screen and actually get reviewed by a person? Should I include more Keywords when applying?

Just had an interview with a company that aligns very well with my experience.

The software they want me to manage is honestly so niche that saying what it is might practically doxx me. I currently manage a very similar piece of software for a competitor in the same industry, so I already have pretty relevant experience with it.

Guess what they said? "Well, we really want someone who has experience related to the role"

Do you know how frustrating that is? I can GUARANTEE I am the ONLY person within a 100 mile radius that has experience in software in that industry, yet they act like I am applying for a job that I have no related experience with?

Seems like employers are just wanting some unicorn person and mind you, this isn't even a remote role, so I'm not competing with the entire country.

I applied for this computer repair did an interview and for 2 weeks nothing I called left my name asking about it nothing. Then I go up there the guy said it was filled okay why couldn’t someone text or email that I wasn’t even looking for a call. Do jobs have to tell you? Im just curious it would’ve been nice to get a reply saying no we hired someone else.

I’ve been in tech now for 16+ years - it feels like there’s no passion, direction, or goals anymore. The last 2 years has broken the minds of every executive, and all they can do is talk non-stop about rapid change, without elaborating on what needs to change, and what we’re supposed to be changing to.

Then there’s the layoffs, that are so random and aimless that there is no incentive to be a high performer anymore - you can be dropped just as quickly as a low performer, regardless of experience or skill set.

Material, practical ideas have given way to hyper fast concepts that may or may not be implemented, but it doesn’t matter because we’re already on to the next thing anyway. The numbers don’t add up anymore, and defensible results and measurements are a thing of the past when compared to speculation on how a new AI tool could improve efficiency. VPs want to know how to improve efficiency before they want to know what it is a team does.

The industry is in for a nightmare of a hangover once reality catches up.

Hi everyone, I was looking to pick some brains.

I’ve been in IT for about 7 years now.
MSP IT Support > MSP 2 Support Engineer > Network Security Consultant.

Feeling underpaid at 105K. I primarily work with Zscaler, Netskope, Cisco ASA/FTD/FMC, and Fortinet solutions. I handle kickoff, discovery, design, implementation, and handoff. Work primarily consists of greenfield deployments, health checks, and migrations from one technology to another (ASA>FMC/FTD, Secure Client > Zscaler, etc. Projects usually go from 2 months - years.

I’m not really sure where to go from here. I’m strongest in Zscaler and Netskope since that’s more interesting to me. Getting rusty with the firewall deployments.

Certifications are AZ900, Cisco CCNA + SNCF, Fortinet NSE4, 5, and 7 (x2, Firewall + SDWAN), and every Zscaler certification offered.

I am trying to stay on track with this industry and how fast it changes. I know I’m already tardy to cloud deployments.

I’m thinking AZ104 > SC500 and create some labs. Terraform too.

Or CISSP and try to move into GRC?

My skills lie in critical thinking and attention to detail. I’m currently fully remote and I want to keep it that way. I enjoy putting my head down, working through tasks/lists, being left alone. Saying that, I will also mention that I’ve done B2B sales before IT and can turn on the social charm when needed. I just don’t enjoy doing that all day, it’s tiring.

Any tips for me, community? Would this post make more sense in another subreddit?

Hey everyone!

I'm looking for some advice on the best path forward in my IT career.

A little background: I previously worked in logistics as a freight broker/logistics coordinator for about 6–7 years. I eventually decided to switch careers because, in my experience, the hours were pretty brutal, and I wanted something with better long-term growth and work-life balance.

I made the jump into tech through a nonprofit organization (NPO) that offered IT training, where I learned the fundamentals and earned my CompTIA A+ certification. I also have a A.S in computer science.

Since then, I've started experimenting with Linux, self-hosted cloud services, networking, and building out my own home lab for CCNA and self-hosted cloud services. I've really enjoyed the hands-on side of things, especially figuring out how different systems and services work together.

I'm currently working as a data collection operator for autonomous vehicles, where we use Linux-based laptops as part of our daily operations. The pay and benefits are great (although the PTO could definitely be better, lol), so I'm not necessarily in a rush to leave. However, I want to continue developing my technical skills, gaining practical experience, and making myself more marketable for future opportunities.

The nonprofit I attended also offers additional IT courses for free, including a CCNA course starting February 19, which I've already signed up for.

My biggest interests are Linux, cloud infrastructure, AI, and networking, and my long-term goal is to transition into a cloud engineering role, ideally as efficiently as possible without skipping important fundamentals.

I'd love to hear from people already working in cloud engineering, DevOps, infrastructure, or related fields.

• Is CCNA a good next step, or should I prioritize Linux, AWS, or Azure certifications?
• What practical skills or homelab projects would make me more competitive for cloud engineering roles?
• Are there any certifications, courses, or learning resources you'd recommend?
• Given my background and current position, what would be the most realistic path toward becoming a cloud engineer without taking a significant pay cut?

I'm open to suggestions, constructive criticism, and hearing about other people's experiences making a similar transition.

P.S. I have ADHD and currently don't take medication for it, although I plan to start treatment soon. If anyone has ADHD-friendly study methods or resources that helped them stay consistent while learning IT, I'd appreciate those suggestions as well.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I got an offer for an role I interviewed for today and I'm sooo grateful because I haven't been happy in my current role for awhile (did a lot of self studying to get here). The hiring manager personally called me to tell me I got the job and in the middle of him telling me, I excitedly said "omg!" (and then let him continue talking). I know first impressions matter.. and I'm pushing 30 lmao, could that have come off weird? I wanna have a good relationship with him if I'm gonna be working with him (I have a couple problems with my current bosses and don't want that to continue). At the end of the call, I did say thank you and that I was excited.

I got an offer for an internal role I interviewed for yesterday. I have pretty much been on PTO this whole week, except Wednesday. But I was only at work for 5 hours because I was so sick. So when I went in on Wednesday, I had a BUNCH of email (I usually don't look through them because a lot of it goes to my team distro and most of those issues are usually being taken care of). I only looked for an email from the hiring manager for my interview yesterday (I was going to attend the interview, even while on PTO).

A few hours after the interview yesterday, the hiring manager personally called me to tell me I got the job. I asked when I'd receive a written offer letter and he said it should come to my email but he also didn't seem sure how that process worked so I told him I'll keep an eye out on my email. That was 1PM, I checked my email at 7PM and I had an email from the hiring manager telling me to fill out some HR paperwork so I can move to next steps. I didn't realize HR actually sent that paperwork on Monday at 9PM, it was marked critical and I missed it. I sent an email back to him and HR saying "I must have missed seeing this, sorry about that" and asked if they could send the paperwork again because the link they sent me wasn't working. I'm worried this looks like a bad first impression to the hiring manager who will be my boss soon. I wanna have a good relationship with him if I'm gonna be working with him (I have a couple problems with my current bosses and don't want that to continue).

I have been working in Intune for the last 5-6 years. MECM even longer I’m an 18 year vet. 90 of my work is wiping, resetting devices and working on tickets SD can’t fix. My colleague mentioned the other day I need to stop applying for desktop support and start applying for Intune admin roles (which is a role I have in Azure and no other desktop engineers have).

I have a bachelors in MIS, just got CompTia A+, and 4 years of customer service/fast food experience, what should i do next to land lvl 1 msp job? (Network+, AZ/MS certs, ITIL)

Hi all! I come from a SDE background (and took up some TPM responsibilities during my SDE role). I'm currently unemployed and have been applying to TPM roles as I've been wanting to transition. I happened to get passed an initial screen for a Technical Account Manager role and might have some interviews soon. I've no idea how to go about preparing as I never even thought of interviewing for a TAM. I didn't know that role even existed. Would appreciate any kind of help or advice! thanks!

*Domains of the company are APIs/ Cloud/ AI.

I’ve been working at a bank for nearly 8 years, the last 3 on the IT service desk. I have a bachelor’s in IT, CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, AWS Cloud Practitioner, and Linux certifications. I’m also studying for my CCNA as well as for my masters in IT.

My long-term goal is to become a network engineer. I’ve built a strong relationship with our IT Operations team and have assisted them with several projects, most recently helping with a phone system conversion and upgrading routers at our branches. Unfortunately, they don’t anticipate any openings for at least another year.

Recently, the IT Operations manager and director of IT recommended our applications team manager to consider me for a role as an Application Administrator . The role pays $83k–$113k (currently making $67k) and involves SharePoint, Fiserv DNA, IIS certificates, Tomcat, Tableau, OnBase, and SSO integrations.

The hiring manager seems interested in bringing on someone familiar with our environment and developing their technical skills.

My biggest concern is whether taking this position would move me further away from my goal of working in networking.

Would you consider this a good step up from service desk, or would you hold out for a networking/infrastructure role? How transferable is application administration experience to networking or infrastructure positions?