1y ago

Go back to school in debt or do sysadmin work?

I feel like the post's title does not do this one justice, anyway, I recently graduated college with an associate's in computer programming, however, I honestly lack skills beyond very basic programming skills. I have ADHD and autism and have a ton of trouble self-teaching myself things, I managed to teach myself some intermediate skills in docker and general Linux system administration when I was younger and still use it today. I feel like getting a job as a sysadmin might make more sense but for some reason, I feel like on paper my resume would just hit the shredder.

I lack min wage work experience as I did not work in college and I kinda wonder if I have the work a min wage for like 2 years to get a normal job. and if I should get off HRT cause min wage jobs in the south don’t like trans people, and that it’s just gonna get banned anyway

5 comments

Firstly, SysAdmin is great for people with ADHD. It's neutral for Autism, no better or worse than other tech fields.
Secondly, what you're looking for is an entry level helpdesk type job. It'll likely pay ~$20/hr. You don't need any experience at all to land this job. You'll need to do that for 2-3 years and then you'll be ready for jr. SysAdmin. Your associates goes partway, but you'd need some certifications to get a foot in the door. The CompTIA certs are a good place to start. M365 certs are good too. Look at Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert.
You'll want to know the basics of computing before the interview. Here's a list of things I ask, if you can give me a coherent answer on even a few, you make it past the first interview:
What are the basic components of a PC? Explain the difference between RAM and storage? What's an SSD? What's RAID? What does DHCP do? What does DNS do? What's a subnet? How does a subnet mask work? What's the difference between routing and switching? How does a MAC address work?
I have to be honest, I'd be wary of hiring a trans person, only because the people I work for are very conservative. I'd worry that the workplace would be uncomfortable for you and that you'd be happier somewhere else. That said, if you were the best candidate for the job, and actually wanted to work with us dumb rednecks, I'd hire you anyway.
- Secondly, what you’re looking for is an entry level helpdesk type job. It’ll likely pay ~$20/hr. You don’t need any experience at all to land this job. You’ll need to do that for 2-3 years and then you’ll be ready for jr. SysAdmin. Your associates goes partway, but you’d need some certifications to get a foot in the door. The CompTIA certs are a good place to start. M365 certs are good too. Look at Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert.
  Yeah I see that, I have also seen a few that seem to pay a bit more but require Docker and Kubernetes experience which I kinda have. And yeah certs likely would not be a bad idea.

I have a few options for going to college in a blue state, I graduated with honors so I feel like some merit scholarships could happen, but I feel like out of state "fees" is really what is killing that plan and ensuring I need student loans, which would also require a job since you usually need to make payments on the interest when it comes to private student loans as parent plus loans are not an option since neither of parents want to cosign
- I don’t have a whole lot of advice, but my student loans (had both public and private) didn’t require any payments while I was taking classes. I think I even had 6 months after graduation before I needed to start making payments.
  I did hold a part time job just to reduce the amount I needed to borrow, but that just went to rent, food, car insurance, etc
  The merit scholarships for a school in a blue state sound like a good idea worth pursuing. And look into women-in-STEM scholarships. There were a bunch of those available, at least 20 years ago when I was in school
  
  I looked around at private before and most require some level of repayment while in school, including interest repayments. Federal does not but I am limited since my parents don't want to cosign.