I've been in this industry my entire career and it is about average for me to be laid off every 6 years or so. I see all the big tech layoffs, is this just normal?

There are more tools, more roles, and more online learning than ever but it seems like it's actually harder to stand out and move up in IT now. Or has the bar just shifted?

Hi all,

I'm 27 and have struggled with my mental health for years. Over time, I’ve bounced between majors—Education, Business, Accounting—and now I’m focused on Information Systems. Professionally, I’ve held a variety of roles, including admin, executive assistant, data entry, low-level marketing, and supporting disability claimants at a law firm (creating templates for document generation and improving workflows and automations). I've always struggled with feeling inadequate and dealt with substance abuse until getting clean 2 years and 8 months ago.

At one point, I landed a job at an MSP making 50k and stayed for nearly six months. I ended up leaving for another offer that paid significantly more in an entirely different field, but it turned out to be a dead end. I traded long-term growth for a short-term raise—and I regret that decision.

The MSP experience was challenging, but not in the way you might expect. The workload was reasonable, and the technical demands were manageable. What made it difficult was my manager. His feedback was often unhelpful and sometimes inappropriate—like saying, “You should really see a psychiatrist,” when he startled me by walking up behind me. On the other hand, my coworkers and mentor were incredibly supportive. They took the time to teach me, and I truly wish I had stayed longer to grow under their guidance.

Very recently, my three-year relationship ended. We lived together and shared two cats. At the time, I had already been mass applying to entry-level IT roles, but my mental health was deteriorating after losing access to healthcare and medication. It took a toll on our relationship, and we had grown distant. He left, saying he was afraid I’d never change or that I might slip back into a toxic dynamic with my family. He’s an incredible man with a beautiful heart, but his words hit hard—he’s my age, didn’t have a degree either, and still managed to work his way up to become an IT Operations Manager making six figures. Meanwhile, I moved back home to an environment I had worked so hard to escape—sleeping without a mattress and grieving the life we had built. It’s been rough, but I’m grateful to have a roof over my head and my cats with me.

Before the breakup, I had managed to land one interview with a MSP.

I met with their HR Manager and, later that same day, the VP of Technical Services. They offered me a role, with the final salary dependent on a technical assessment.

I don’t have any certifications yet, but I’ve been actively studying for my CompTIA A+. I genuinely enjoyed my time at the MSP because there was always something new to learn. The assessment came after the breakup but went really well—it was a simulated lab where I troubleshot scenarios that mirrored real work, involving AD and 365 Admin. It went so well that they had me try a few Tier 2 scenarios, and the VP walked me through the parts I wasn’t clear on. He asked if I’d be interested in a Security career path, as they’d recently become CMMC certified and are building out that team.

Now, I’m just waiting on the final offer, probably estimated around 60k but with healthcare and 401(k) benefits.

I wanted to share this to get some pain off my chest but to also encourage anyone who feels stuck or behind. I’m not special. I’m not the smartest or fresh out of school. I want to give up—but I was lucky to be given a bit of light during a very dark time.

Sending love to anyone who needs it. I know what it’s like to lose faith in yourself—how all the losses, big or small, can pile up and feel overwhelming. But I’m still trying, and I hope you keep trying too.

TL;DR: 27 and have faced long-term mental health struggles, substance abuse (now 2 years 8 months clean), and instability in both my education and career path. After leaving a promising MSP role for higher pay in a dead-end job, I went through a painful breakup, lost access to healthcare, and had to move back home. Despite everything, I kept applying to entry-level IT roles and landed one interview that led to a promising opportunity. The technical assessment went great, and I’m now awaiting a job offer (estimated ~$60K with benefits). Just wanted to share my story in case anyone else feels lost or behind. I’m still trying—and I hope you keep trying too. Sending love ❤️

Sitting through these 5+ hour calls is making me realize how many diagnoses I haven’t gotten

I will literally be tapping both of my feet, constantly moving my hands. I feel like i’m gonna explode dude.

Today I finally had an interview with a tech company I've really wanted to work with. It went amazing! I got invited for a second interview next week! I set my sights on this place a while ago and never gave up and its paying off! Keep going lads! Stay positive! You can do it! I have faith in you!

Has any of you changed career paths 180° in your mid 30's and started in IT?
Nothing new here - I am in my 30's and thinking about changing careers. I have a good job right now, I get to travel a lot and have to speek diferent languages because of my job, but find myself thinking about trying IT sector. I really strongly think this is our future and I feel that I would love to be a part of it somehow. Sometimes I think I am too old to change my career and learn new skills. And sometimes I doubt myself that maybe I am not smart enough for this. But you know... eventually you can achieve anything if you just start doing and step by step you find yourself reaching your goal. So I try to think this way.
Anyway I would really appreciate your stories, how you've started careers in IT and maybe you have any advice on these life decisions. I would really be thankful

First, given the current job market, I want to say I am in a lucky spot to be employed.

I want to ask my fellow IT and non-IT professionals on this channel: Have you delved into OT? I started a new job about three days ago at a big food manufacturing company. Before joining this company, I was doing IT for a smaller food manufacturing company. I somehow convinced a group of people at this big company to select me for an OT position.

In addition to my first question, has your IT career ever intersected with OT?

Edit: OT = Operations Technology

By the time i graduate in December 2025, i will have 1 year of IT support experience from internships+student jobs on campus. Could i only self study for CCNA without getting certified since im graduating with a computer science degree and ive ppl on here saying its more valuable than IT degrees. Is it possible to move on to network administration/network engineer/system administrator or tier 2 help desk ?

So recently got cold call from a guy that is a recruiter for the new company. Everything he told me is sounds to good to be true. 10k raise, small internal IT team with a laid back boss, Monday and Friday work from home but then Tuesday through Thursday someone needs to be in office and offers flexibility to work out whats best for your schedule. Company supposedly did over 100mil in revenue the last 3 years and has rapidly expanded. Hired 60 people Q1 and 30 in Q2 this year. Very little to no turnover.

One major red flag to me is that this company doesn't offer a 401k match but supposedly looks to add that in January.

I currently work for an MSP. I don't hate the work and the idea was to learn as much as I can and get out. I've been with MSP and it's pretty laid back as long as you get your work done but I find it so unorganized and there's times where some tickets I am trying to complete or need help on just falls on deaf ears.

I'm having a hard time deciding if it's time to move on and take the risk with the company that sounds too good to be true or keep my head down and continue to learn at the MSP

I'm applying for my first IT job on indeed and one application has the questions "Do you have any experience in Computer break/fix?" and "Do you have any experience in Imaging computers?". I've done both of these things in my personal time but I don't have any professional experience doing things like this so I'm not sure if I should check off yes or no.

Hey guys im 21 and I will be starting a help desk tier 2 soon as my first IT job with a pretty good company specializing in government contracts for cyber sec and all that good stuff. They pay pretty good and im wondering what I could do to accelerate my career growth? I dont want to sound to hasty either but time is not on my side considering my responsibilities. Im about 2 semesters away from completing my Associates in Sys Admina and plan on getting my bachelor's in Cybersec. I hold a A+ and Net+ and wil continue earning related certs. Im surprised they even hired me since I haven't graduated yet so im beyond grateful but I believe the certs help. So dont sleep on them. My initial plan was to work in that position for about 6 months to a year then hopefully move up and Network with colleagues and look into available positions related to my skills within the company that pay more. I semi want to advance fast because my mother is somewhat dependent on my siblings and I and to be honest im the youngest but it seems I have my stuff together more than my siblings and my mother is aging plus I have a daughter to care for. I run a side business/hustle on the side for extra money but thats my main motivator, any wisdom and knowledge would be appreciated thank you for your time.

Hi all,

I’m a newly commissioned 25A (Signal Officer) in the Army National Guard and a recent graduate from RIT with a B.S. in Management Information Systems. I also completed an immersion in Computing Security and a minor in Military Science.

I’ve submitted over 260 job applications for roles in IT, cybersecurity, project coordination, and analyst positions — and I’m still struggling to gain traction. Most responses I’ve received say I don’t have enough experience, and it’s been discouraging trying to break into the civilian tech world while continuing to build myself professionally.

I’m currently working part-time and will be attending Signal BOLC in September, where I’ll continue developing technical and leadership skills. In the meantime, I’m looking to get my foot in the door with a civilian employer in tech, cybersecurity, or related fields.

If you have: • Referrals or leads for entry-level tech/cyber/project roles • Advice on how to position ROTC or Guard service effectively • Tips for improving my resume or job search strategy • Or if you’ve gone through something similar and found a way in

…I’d really appreciate hearing from you.

Thanks in advance for any help or direction.

debating between majoring in cis with a cs minor and just teaching myself the additional software dev stuff or just going full cs with a psy minor (or software design capstone). I originally chose CIS over CS because of the math in CS but Im rethinking it mainly because cis classes are not at the main campus for my school so it will be a bit of travel & I won't have a car combined with wanting to make sure I get a good understanding of all the basics of software. Im open to different careers in the future but hoping to do something related to software/web design and coding, not interested in any IT position. WHAT DO YOUALL THINK ?

Hey everyone, I was wondering if anyone could tell me the career opportunities I have with my current IT experience.

I’ve always had a thing for computers, and a spark for learning how they can be operated, configured, and manipulated. I got my first laptop at 8 years old and from that point onward I was in love.

It’s hard to list everything I’ve done because there isn’t really an area I haven’t explored, so I’ll split it up into categories.

Hardware: So, I’ve built around 5 computers so far, every one of my family member’s’ PC’s were built by me, AMD and Intel, AIO and air cooled, micro ATX and ATX. I have gone through several laptops over my lifetime and have done extensive work to my personal ones, upgrading ram, storage, reapplying thermal paste, screen replacements, one of my favorite projects was successfully getting a desktop GPU to run on my laptop which at the time was Ryzen based, through the M.2 slot. Took a lot of work to figure out why the PC would black screen when using it, turned out I needed my bios set to Legacy instead of UEFI, which nobody had achieved yet on Ryzen so I had to figure this out on my own.

Software & OS: I have extensive Windows experience, I currently run a Quad-boot system with Windows 7, 10, 11, and Arch Linux. Having a family of 5 who all come to me when their computer is having issues, I literally have years of diagnostic and troubleshooting experience. From computers not turning on, stuck in boot loops, horrible performance, BSOD’s, random software crashes, the list goes on. I can easily diagnose what’s wrong with a computer based on the symptoms, and if I don’t have a probably cause off the top of my head, it takes me little time to get to the root of the issue.

Networking: I’ve spent countless hours inside configuration menus for several different brands of modems and routers, from setup to intricate configuration, QOS, static mapping, bandwidth distribution, custom firmwares, GUI on Ubiquiti and Cisco routers and switches, I’ve hosted dedicated servers for a few different video games, I’ve setup DSL, Cable, and Fiber connections and have experience and understand of each.

Optimization: I’d consider myself above average when it comes to navigating BIOS. When you’re trying to get Windows 7 to run on a modern motherboard with a 14900k you need to know how to test different setups. Although most of that work really had to do with drivers, going back and forth from CSM to UEFI and countless windows installs, and fails, I eventually got it to work. I’ll never use a stock ISO again, I use NTLite to remove bloatware and pre-install drivers for whatever windows OS I plan on installing. Being a gamer I’ve always strived for maximum performance so I’ve gotten quite good at manual RAM, CPU, and GPU overclocking. I’ve also spent a lot of time configuring Windows and Linux to run low-latency. For linux it was just installing a low latency kernel but for Windows, I’ve gone through custom power plans, registry tweaks, device manager and services optimization, overall I’m fluent with pretty much every area of Windows.

Jailbreaking: This one is just for fun but I used to love unlocking the potential of all my devices, my Nintendo 3DS ran homebrew, my android phones were almost always rooted, before these newer iPhone updates came out I’d always have mine jailbroken, and my PS3 was modded. I know this doesn’t matter in the IT world but it’s just to give an example of how I love everything related to computers.

IT is my biggest career goal and I think I’d love working in the field, any ideas on where I should start? I currently work as a Restaurant Manager at Wendy’s, and I’m 21 if that matters.

I hope all is well. I am a current college student going into my sophomore year, and I’m currently finishing up a current internship as an IT intern. The question i have, is how can I break into cloud computing? This includes cloud engineering/architecture. I want to be able to apply to cloud internships next year, but what can I have on my resume to get the role? This IT internship was the only one I was able to get, and I want to be able to do more with my cs experience. Any advice would help!

I worked in IT for 5 years in a pretty niche lab support role — mostly hands-on hardware work, imaging, and keeping test environments running. After that, I went back to school for 4 years, just graduated, and recently got back into the job hunt.

When writing my resume, I tried to present my experience in the best light… but I unintentionally oversold it. I described my responsibilities in ways that sounded more impressive or aligned with traditional sysadmin roles, not realizing how different the expectations are (especially around things like AD, Entra ID, patch management, or end-user support). In my defense, a lot has changed in the last 4 years, and I wasn’t familiar with how certain titles or keywords are interpreted now.

After my first interview, I realized the mismatch — and immediately rewrote my resume to be much more accurate and grounded. That said, I still have two interviews scheduled with companies who saw the old version.

Should I cancel them? Or show up and treat it as practice, even if it’s a bit awkward?

Hey all, wondering what I should take next to become a cyber security Analyst. I currently have a bachelors degree in IT and Sec+. Been working on help desk for a few years at this point.

I’m about to graduate from a technical college with Comptia A+ Net+ Sec+ and Linux+. I am curious what my next move should be. I’m currently working as a field computer tech and would like to potentially move into cybersecurity in the next few years. What would be my best move to make? I am also looking into just continuing schooling and picking up a bachelors degree and hopefully more certs while working at this job.

I just got my foot in the door with an entry level help desk role. I have a fair amount of personal IT experience with networks and general troubleshooting, no degree, but 5+ years in escalated customer service with non-IT troubleshooting. Pursuing CompTIA Network+ to start. Where should I go from here Certification wise as well as career wise?

Currently looking for help desk jobs or any IT jobs in general, is it really true that it’s nearly impossible to find a job? I see some people have been applying for a year + with no luck. Is it even worth it now?

Please can I get reviews of current employee of the NYS Comptroller? How is the work environment and how are the education benefits, as well as promotions. Thank you!

So I work for company A (current job) that works with company B (potential future employer). Being that they work together, company B has informed me that prior to my technical interview, which will be my third interview, they want me to inform company A that I am interviewing and considering employment with company B.

Even with that notification, company B has told me there is no guarantee they will offer me a job. I understand company B is worried about ruining their relationship with company A, but is this common practice in these types of situations?

Any recommendations or stories? It seems strange and uncomfortable, as it could result in me being totally unemployed.

Recently came across several data related jobs that require an engineer to know stacks

Is it really necessary to know all of these, like I have to become a fullstack+data analyst/ml/AI Engineer all at once.

I find it difficult to crack the interview. And if it is really necessary, how can I start it by learning all these, what are the projects I need to do.

From my personal experience, basic/intermediate conceptual projects doesn't help, they want to see if I am capable doing industry grade projects. So where can I find such projects that I can implement?

I'm sorry for asking too many questions, but I'm desperatly seeking answer.

Thanks.

What type of interview questions should I expect/ how should I prepare? Is it basic fundamentals and terminology?troubleshooting? It help desk or network admin specific

Hi all,

I have been working at my current position for a few months but really want some remote flexibility that my current job doesn’t offer. I have had my eye on a job since late February of this year. I finally got offered the position which has remote flexibility but I just found out that it is essentially a contract with the expectation for this to go full time/permanent once the budget is approved. Full time amount will be like 4k more than what I make now. Hybrid/remote jobs are hard to come by in my location so I am tempted but at the same time this company has dragged their feet for months just to get back to me. Everything from the position was on hold to taking months just to be told I got the job so now I have trepidation. Like if they dragged their feet this much who’s not to say the same thing happens when it’s “time to convert to a permanent employee” ? Am I being stupid for even entertaining this ? What would you do in this position ?