I'm having a bit of trouble finding a job that doesn't require 2-5+ years of experience.

Any suggestions on where to start to look for a System Admin/IT job that may be looking for a entry level person like my self with little job experience?

Just finished with a Networking and System Administration Degree.

Any tips work, resume ideas, cover letter advice, websites.. etc..

I'm currently using monster as my main go to find job openings.

did you get an internship? that counts as experience.

if you went to a half decent college, they should have a career services center to help you find jobs. you really should start looking in your last semester or earlier. you dont wanna graduate without a job lined up.

your first job might not be exactly what you want as a sys admin. look into other jobs like dba, security, qa, etc

apply to jobs that are looking for 2-5 years experience. they might have another more entry level position available, especially if they like you and you interview well.

if you still have problems, have you looked at other states?

Check Dice, that's geared towards tech stuff.

Internships, projects, anything you worked on in school.

Yeah I really regret not getting an internship in school. Wish that would have been preached to do so or required.

I'll keep looking, I'm looking within a few states. My cousin is helping me with my cover letter/resume to go over things again, I already had it done from career services on campus a few months ago but obviously it's not working. I feel like I'm looking in the wrong places, but maybe I'm not applying to enough jobs.

This week I'm going to take a shotgun approach and just going ham on everything whether they want 2+ years or not I guess..



Okay sweet, I'll check it out!

This post was edited by Trev on Jun 8 2015 08:39pm

Certifications, certifications, certifications.

My cousin is a Lead Systems Engineer for a Fortune Top 5 company and that's what he stressed me to do. That is huge.

Good luck with the job search.

Just apply over and over at different places.

Experience doesn't usually matter that much, if you know what you are doing, you know what you are doing, 2-5 years isnt going to change that.

Make sample projects to show employers, to show them that you actually learned something in school. This right here alone will get you a job at 70% of places.

Most college graduates in the IT, Networking, Programming industry have no actual experience in any way, and have no idea how to start programming/networking/etc. They are basically expensive paper weights until you can train them.

If you have skills and usefulness when you apply, you will get hired.

I appreciate all the information guys!!

Where do I start for these certifications?
Can I do them online, which ones, and does anybody know the costs/free?

For general purpose certs, I'd say to skip things like A+ or N+, but knowing the material would be hugely beneficial. You've already got the degree, and I don't see those two giving you much ROI at this point. Maybe study for and earn the Security+ cert? After that I'd say to look into client or server certs for Windows, the MCSA's in Win 7/8 and server 2012. If you're a linux fan, look into the Linux+ or LPIC exams. For networking check out the Cisco CCNA tracks.

Most free IT certifications don't carry much weight except with the vendor that produced them. A few free that come to mind are solarwinds, backup academy, and rackspace's cloudu. There are some gems though, mostly because they're fun, like this one:
https://ipv6.he.net/certification/
That being said, you're better off with the non-free certifications since there's actually a demand for many of them.

Contract positions are your friend. Post your resume on all these career sites and wait for the recruiters to call you.

If you can afford to, you could try to intern for $10/hr for 3-6 months for experience. A+ Certification would at least get your resume looked at, but nothing beats experience.

Internships and contract jobs are two great options already suggested.

I would add I've seen a major video game companies offer both, particularly Arenanet and Blizzard. Check those every so often.

Based on the fact you just earned a degree, also check out the career center of your institution. If they don't have one or you did distance learning, pop in to one at your nearest university. At mine (University of Washington) they never asked if you were a student there. They offer individual sessions and group classes for cover letters, resumes, you name it. And it's all FREE.

Wish you the best with this.

This post was edited by Lifesong on Jun 18 2015 06:15pm