I had been paid to do computer things before I got my first IT job. By then I already knew how to re-install Windows, build computers from parts and write some VBA code for Excel.
By the time I got my first IT job I had a Law degree and I was running Linux exclusively on my workstation (part of the deal with the uni friend who “turned” me and provided tech support for about 18 months until I no longer needed it).
Did some certs to get some pieces of paper - A+/Linux+/MCP/CCNA aiming to get a Support job. Discovered that I was the only person in a class of 30 who actually had an interest in IT beyond a job - later I would realise this is a very valuable commodity. Hired before I did all the certs for this very reason.
Got a fairly low paid job for a small company that exposed me to lots of different experience like running cables, screwing in wall sockets, dealing with customers on the phone, Windows desktop admin, Linux firewall admin, Linux server admin, data centre work, NAS etc.
Then I moved into a Linux network admin contract role role for a bit. Then got an enterprise level 2 support role (providing support to network admins). In the company for 12 years and counting - changed roles 4 times. Learned to code writing support tools (PHP and HTML) eventually learned JS also, turned out I was really really good at it and now I’m writing infrastructure code for one of the product groups.
My advice would be to learn the lower levels of the stack - networking at the protocol level, Linux, SQL without ORMs, vanilla programming with no frameworks until you start writing your own at which point pick the best on the market. Learn to run your code in a Docker container.
Passion, integrity, obsession with delivering results are very valuable - cultivate these and market them to the best of your ability. Be the person that steps up to do boring jobs that help other people - I volunteered to run our server lab that was used by other engineers and wrote some tooling to do things faster. Eventually people notice and you will learn a lot.
Avoid shift work like the plague it is and do your best to limit on-call exposure.
I like my job - it pays well enough and at my senior level offers plenty of flexibility for managing my time and what I work on.
By the time I got my first IT job I had a Law degree and I was running Linux exclusively on my workstation (part of the deal with the uni friend who “turned” me and provided tech support for about 18 months until I no longer needed it).
Did some certs to get some pieces of paper - A+/Linux+/MCP/CCNA aiming to get a Support job. Discovered that I was the only person in a class of 30 who actually had an interest in IT beyond a job - later I would realise this is a very valuable commodity. Hired before I did all the certs for this very reason.
Got a fairly low paid job for a small company that exposed me to lots of different experience like running cables, screwing in wall sockets, dealing with customers on the phone, Windows desktop admin, Linux firewall admin, Linux server admin, data centre work, NAS etc.
Then I moved into a Linux network admin contract role role for a bit. Then got an enterprise level 2 support role (providing support to network admins). In the company for 12 years and counting - changed roles 4 times. Learned to code writing support tools (PHP and HTML) eventually learned JS also, turned out I was really really good at it and now I’m writing infrastructure code for one of the product groups.
My advice would be to learn the lower levels of the stack - networking at the protocol level, Linux, SQL without ORMs, vanilla programming with no frameworks until you start writing your own at which point pick the best on the market. Learn to run your code in a Docker container.
Passion, integrity, obsession with delivering results are very valuable - cultivate these and market them to the best of your ability. Be the person that steps up to do boring jobs that help other people - I volunteered to run our server lab that was used by other engineers and wrote some tooling to do things faster. Eventually people notice and you will learn a lot.
Avoid shift work like the plague it is and do your best to limit on-call exposure.
I like my job - it pays well enough and at my senior level offers plenty of flexibility for managing my time and what I work on.