Tech trends...education...and midlife crisis...

delerium

I wasn't sure where to turn, but thought I would start in this general discussion forum. At 33 and being an art director/graphic designer for 12 years I think I'm having a mid-life crisis. Design doesn't fulfill me anymore, but the Mac OSX platform does. I average about 4-6 hours everyday scouring tech sites, mac sites and everything in between for trends, tips, tricks, rumors and information. I'm not sure my goal in doing so, but I do know I enjoy it immensely.



Now to my point. Over the years I have slowly developed my mac administration skills and have begun doing it on the side. I would consider myself an 8 or 9 on a scale of 10 for a power user. My friends and work associates may give me a 10, but there is ALWAYS something I don't know. This administration work for fun and for friends is now turning into something I think could be a new direction in my life and I have some questions and need some help.



Concerns:

?12 yrs experience with top notch ad agencies, but zilch tech jobs

?No formal tech education besides real world

?Small mac user base could lead to small market for jobs?



I would like to be a mac adminstrator, but unsure of what formal education would be required and what would be the most beneficial. Plus, what extra skills/education such as network admin knowledge would be beneficial? I want to develop a skill set that would have the most broad reaching and highly desirable interest in todays and TOMORROWS market.



Is there anyone out there that has made such a leap in their career? Is there anyone out there that can give me just a few ideas for education (or if it is even beneficial)?



I do know it will take LOTS of work and time. I'm not looking for immediate gratification. I just want to have my career going in the right direction with something that lights me up inside.



Are there any mentors out there???



Thanks in advance for your patience and kindness in regards to this topic.

mcq

if you're trying to become a Mac admin, you'll probably want to get Apple certified for something. If you haven't looked into it, check Apple's training/certification site:



http://train.apple.com/cert/

delerium

Thanks MCQ. I have checked into Apple's certification programs. I am interested in pursuing them too. I want to make sure though that after spending a few thousand dollars...that they would prove beneficial.



Anyone out there with experience in Apple certification and if the cost to benefits all worked out well?

alcimedes

tough call. a few things would be hard for you.



first is that the job market in general isn't all that great.



second, Macs need a lot less administering than PC's do. so a large Mac shop will have less need for admins than a large PC shop would.



third, there are a lot of places where Macs are being phased out, and so you've got some well experienced competition out there.



that being said, i work doing Mac and PC administration, and i have 0 formal training, and no certificates of any kind. i happened to be working someplace and got into the admin. side by accident. when i'd left i had 9 years experience, which is what got me my job now.



best of luck to you though, nothing would be more blissful in my mind than if the PC's were gone and i only had to administer Macs. it's not that they aren't without their problems, they just are so much easier to fix.

trumptman

I have a friend who does administration and I was offered several jobs in it back when the tech bubble was just starting. I avoided it like the plague for the following reasons.



Most jobs hand you a cell phone and a beeper and basically expect you to drop life whenever either one of them go off.



A lot of tech companies are run by lying jerks who sell you a one time solution and then never want to here from you again. Likewise they will intentionally avoid supporting something or half-ass it on purpose to advance an agenda. (witness Apple with USB 2.0 and Microsoft with Outlook)



The pace of change is simply too fast. The rules seem to change from release to release and there are plenty of times where they simply jettison everything and expect you to start again. (Especially true of the web)



Just my two cents,



Nick

delerium

Thanks alcimedes. I agree with everything your saying. From a tough job market in general to the small apple market plus the fact they 'just work'...it's going to be tough.



Your situation is similar to mine...after being in design shops for so long and administering/networking the computers myself...I would hope for a situation that I just seque over from design to administration in the same company.



All the information and experience I'm hearing is awesome.

delerium

Hey trumptman...the pace of change is fast alright. Thats why I think formal training may not be <that> beneficial. It could be that real world experience and being at the right place and right time is the key.



I will look further into certification and continue my personal mac admin work on the side. It generally provides a few hundred dollars a month. Who knows...maybe it will be a domino effect as more people tell their friends.



Anyway you look at it...Macs rule...and there is no way of losing.



Thanks, Jay

pesi

several years ago, i used to do a little bit of on-the-side mac administration while i worked at CompUSA (my customers trusted me, but not the stores's techs...)



anyway, it was all good for a few months, but eventually i ran out of customers once i fixed all their problems



i'm sure if i had been a little bit more aggressive, i could have picked up more work, but i was working three jobs at the time as it was.



you might look into expanding your freelance admin work a bit, to build up a customer, base, contacts, etc. that might be the best way to go.

alcimedes

lol, that reminds me of my tech support i do on the side. i see my Mac customers once every 3-4 years at most.



my PC customers? at least a few times a year.







a lot of the time the Mac folks just don't know how to do something new. it's not that anything's broken.