Re: [BLUG] considering a job in computers

Just FWIW, what worked for me was getting a job with a small business who had traditionally outsourced all things IT. I hired in an unrelated position (bookkeeping, specifically). Gradually, my "Oh, that's not a big deal; I can fix that!" translated into the powers that be realizing, "Hey, we'd be money ahead if we hired a new bookkeeper, and let Ana handle the computers (and marketing, which had fallen to me in about the same way.) They were well aware that I wasn't really-truly qualified, but with a good sense of when to give up and yell for help, that kind of on-the-job training can add up to some good skills and solid experience.

--
Ana Greavu
U-AgI Norwood's Linux Hypervisor (Xen)
U-AgI Thunderpaws Blackheart NA NAJ PS1 PJ1 CL2 CL3-R (Jett)

On Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 11:50 AM, Steven Black <blacks@indiana.edu> wrote:

On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 07:13:36PM -0400, Mark Warner wrote:
> I'm a middle aged working class hero that got "into" computers about ten
> years ago. (I'd been using them in the workplace since the early
> eighties, but considered them 'magic boxes'.) I'm totally self taught,
> with no credentials and no tech-related work history.

Mark, part of the problem here may be that when it comes to grunt labor
fixing computers (particularly Windows computers) there are a number of
clear certifications that they look for. If you really want to repair
computers, you should probably look in to getting A+ certified.

I mean no offense when I say "grunt labor", but it is actually how many
manufacturers have seen the issue. I knew a fellow in the late 90's
that repaired computers for a number of manufacturers. Depending on the
problem a different component would be replaced. There was none of the
elegance or thought required to replace either the right part or to
preserve the user's data. The first thing replaced was generally the
hard drive, and that without informing the owner. He didn't like it, but
that was all the manufacturers were paying for. If he did anything else,
he'd be doing it for free. They either had backups, or they knew their
error and would have backups in the future.

Again, if you can solve problems and communicate well with people I'd
still recommend starting in a support position somewhere. Unfortunately,
depending on your existing commitments, this may not be something you
can afford doing.

If you want to get in to software, there are plenty of people that
started off by making a great piece of software on their own. This is
something that can be worked on as a hobby while maintaining a day job
making ends meet. With an end product that is open source, it is easy
for a potential employer to look at some of your actual work to decide
whether you have the skills they are looking for.

Cheers,
Steven Black

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