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This is a small rant and I’m sure there are other posts similar but I wanted to relate specifically to my situation:

I’ve worked in intern/entry level software and IT positions but nearly all of them have been hybrid positions not entirely devoted to IT and all requiring me to spend a lot of time with things completely unrelated. I’m pushing closer to 30 years of age and its still hard for me to explain to people what I do for a living, and I feel like sometimes I can’t even explain it to myself, because I don’t really fall in any specific field. I’m trying to figure out the next step in my career but I do know this -

I want to pursue further into the Tech/IT world and ultimately would like to become somewhere in the realm of a Network Administrator and be in the IT department of a company.

What I don’t know - Where should I begin if I really don’t have the knowledge and skills to strongly present or market myself to a company? I’ve talked to some people and I get different responses: Some say I need to get a Masters in Information Systems, some think I should get into a trade/tech school, some think I should start with some online courses. My issue is committing to something that won’t really pay off in the long run. I don’t want to spend a year looking into online courses if there is an easier/faster route I should be taking.

Mainly looking for some general advice to someone who is a novice in the IT department, who is a professional googler and needs to step up the career game. Please don’t be too harsh =)

9 Spice ups
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Definitely do NOT go and get a random masters degree that’s like throwing money away.

The most universal masters IMO is an MBA. But you said you wanted to do technical work, not manager etc. ?

Do you have any certs? What kind of experience do you have? How long have you been doing 'IT internships?

It usually works like so:

‘know someone’ > expereince > certs > degree

So the best way would be finding a junior job or something that does exactly what you want to do.

So you want to get into networking?

2 Spice ups
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I am about your age and was in the same position. Some people on here will tell you not to bother with a degree and some will disagree. My advice is to at least obtain an Associates Degree in something IT related if not a Bachelor degree. I wouldn’t waste your time with a Masters in my humble opinion.

I have my B.S. in IT Management. After school was a rough go and I needed to work part-time in IT on top of my Internship while in school to really even obtain interviews for full-time work. I ended up working for the same University in a full-time position I was working part-time for and did that for 2 years in sort of a Helpdesk/Desktop Support role until my position was eliminated due to state budget issues. Those 2 years allowed me to shadow systems administrators and network administrators and that allowed me to realize I am far more interested in learning about server administration and less network administration.

Those 2 years allowed me to create a resume that looked decent and finding desktop support/analyst/etc type roles was easy. I am still working toward a few certifications (MCSA, etc) to weasel my way into systems admin type work.

Just like everyone else you have to put in the time and learn and grow. Things won’t happen overnight and just be confident in yourself.

1 Spice up
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As I briefly mentioned I’ve worked relative IT positions but was only an intern when working directly with IT. At my current job I host local software on servers that I maintain, but all of it is under the scope and supervision of IT, so its really like I scrape the surface but don’t get a lot of real deep meaning to what is going on, and I want that. Networking just seems like a strong path that is something that will always be needed. I’ve looked into system admin work as well, but it seems like that is a lot of server maintenance which isn’t what I think I want to be doing.

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Have you tried to get a job with an MSP ? they usually expose you to a bunch of stuff and you get a steep learning curve.

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Take a look at your resume and rewrite it focusing on the IT/tech roles of the jobs you had. Look at it again and look for what it’s missing, would an IT cert really tie together the experience your portraying?

Ultimately, I think the most efficient way forward is to try to leverage the experience you have and try to get into a junior position that has a lot of opportunity for learning. However, if you are missing some of the basics, you should probably try to fill in those gaps with some self-study.

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I went back to school at the age of 38, graduated at 40 and was hired full time where I interned. My suggestion is to go to go to a 2 yr program or a certificate program, get some basics and grow from there. Can’t hurt. My 2 cents.

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Maybe post a sanitized version of your resume here,

You were super vague about how long.

If i’d get a resume and see someone has been interning for 8 years, i’d feel weird about that as well.

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I wouldn’t chase a degree, especially if you aren’t sure. Online courses only get you so far as well, they give you knowledge but not the actual hands on to do the work most of the time. Try comparing your skill set to what companies are looking for in a Network Administrator, aside from the experience aspect what are you missing that you need to work on? A good starting point would be to see that and start working on those skills. It could also be your resume and you aren’t marketing yourself as well as you could be.

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An A.S. Degree in network systems and 2 certificates, A+ and Net+, will go a long way to getting you noticed in the IT employment field. If you add the Security+ certificate, even better. An A.S. degree is fairly inexpensive from a JuCo.

2 Spice ups
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Breaking into IT? MIS masters or CCNA? Why a MS in MIS is not for everyone, but isn’t as complete a waste of time as others say it is .

It’s an oft discussed topic here, but this was probably the most detailed I’ve gotten about it.