How is anyone supposed to get their first job in IT networking or security?

Question

I just graduated with two degrees in IT networking and security, I have a CCNA and a Security+, and I spent a few years working for my college to tutor other IT students, but every "entry level" job I see in either field has hard requirements for years of experience in those specific roles already. I've applied for over 40 of them where the experience requirements were on the lower end, because people have told me that those are often inflated. But whenever I've heard back from any of them, the feedback I keep getting is that I don't have the experience they're looking for.

I've run my resume and cover letter by a bunch of people who say it looks good, so I don't think that's it.

Some people have recommended headhunters, but as far as I can tell these days they're not much different from Monster or Glassdoor- they just take your information and spit out a bunch of related job postings and tell you to go for it. I also have a LinkedIn page that's completely filled out, but I'm just not really getting any offers except for a few low-level and low-paying help desk/tech support jobs.

So how does anyone actually get into any of these fields? I don't mind working at a help desk for a while, but my concern is that the track out of the help desk and into the networking or infosec departments is too long and I'm going to forget 75% of what I know during that time since I won't be using it, and also there's always a line of people ahead of me who want any openings in those departments as well so it seems like it will take forever (one interviewer told me, "Well, anything's possible" in regard to my chances of getting there within five years). So what am I missing here?

Answer 1

I'm just not really getting any offers except for a few low-level and low-paying help desk/tech support jobs.

Those are the jobs you should be taking. That's how you get your foot in the door in the IT profession (and probably with any/every other professional career). Once you're in the door, you start building real world experience, skills, and knowledge. Then you work your way up the ladder, either at the same company or by applying for progressively more challenging and demanding positions at other companies.

You may have some training and education but nobody is going to hire you as a system or network administrator except at companies that aren't going to pay well for those positions and are looking for someone like you who will accept those positions and low pay because they know that's how they'll be able to break in.

I worked for a year as a help desk tech and then found a job posting for a company looking for a system/network administrator. The salary was half of what an experienced system/network administrator would normally earn. I took the job because I knew it was my opportunity to break into the position I really wanted. I worked at that company for 5 years, over which time I tripled my initial starting salary and earned the title Senior Systems/Network Administrator.

I haven't looked back since. 20 years on and I now work for myself, commanding an hourly rate commensurate with the best IT Consulting firms in my area.

Answer 2

So how does anyone actually get into any of these fields?

As with any field, you need to have the right background that an employer is seeking. And you need to get lucky.

I'm just not really getting any offers except for a few low-level and low-paying help desk/tech support jobs.

Sometimes you need to start in lower-level roles and work your way up to your desired position. When I was looking for lower-level workers for my teams, I often looked internally first. That often meant hiring someone from the Help Desk or Customer Support.

Answer 3

I was in your position too early in my career 20 years ago. That "Catch 22" of needing experience right out of school killed me in a major-metropolitan area. I got the door slammed in my face countless times. I even had some internship experience I thought I could bank on, which unfortunately didn't help.

I talked to many headhunters, and while they seem helpful at first, you have to realize they are only sales people trying to sell you, and not actually capable of giving you a job.

Eventually I got desperate, and took a technical job in a smaller town that didn't have the candidate pool a larger city would have. I think we both were a little desperate. While I only worked at that job 2-years, the experience I learned has been instrumental in each job I landed since. Like the other answerer said, I can now command top dollar for my experience anywhere I choose.

Answer 4

I honestly can't believe anyone in IT can't find a job right now. Every single company I know, both my own and all our customers, is looking for IT people.

ignore the requirements posted in the job description. Most of them are put there by HR people who know nothing about IT. Nobody expects you to satisfy them all, most will be happy if you satisfy around half. In fact, every single job I've had in my 30 year career had a few requirements that I didn't satisfy, and it never mattered.

connect to people in the field - sign up with industry organizations in your specific sub-field that organize regular meetings in your area. For me that was ISACA, for your area it might be something else. Check for the ones with reasonable yearly fees ($100 or so), not the golf-club-exclusive ones - those we set up to fleece the MBAs and rich kids.

write to companies that you are interested in, even if they don't currently post job offers. Several companies I know have simply given up on posting job offers and rely on word-of-mouth, job fairs or "recruit a friend" employee programs, because they tried finding people on the open job market for so long that they feel it's a waste of money.

attend university job fairs. That is where companies who are happy to hire someone with no job experience go to.

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Another not strictly related advise: Experience doesn't have to be job experience. Have you contributed anything to a Free Software project? Do you have a github account with some projects you can show off? Count those things as experience, they matter.