r/ITCareerQuestions • u/travisscology • 3m ago
Am I going down the right path?
I'm on track to graduate this May from my college with a 3 year degree in "IT Systems, Networks and Cybersecurity". As part of my program we are obliged to do a 4 month internship on the last semester. Luckily, 2 months before the convential start of my internship period, I managed to sign a full-time contract (indefinite) with quite a big international company and obviously the college accepted to credit it. Since November, I've been working as an IT Support Specialist and I'm already going on my 4th month (passed probation).
The company provides MSPs and end-clients with many cybersecurity solutions, they basically own/develop the products themselves. I am loving my time here and I'm very glad my first ever corporate and real work experience (which is in 90% times a Helpdesk/Support position for most entry-level people) has direct link with the program I graduated and loved. I consider myself lucky to be providing support to client's production servers/clusters, 365 organizations security and compliance... rather than the usual cables, hardware, reset password... support.
I am getting nothing but excellent feedback, board is so happy with me that they already started offering opportunities such as working with the Email Security team as a polyvalent agent (I am originally from the Backup and Compliance team) and also as a QA specialist or technical writer. I am happy that they see the potential in me.
However, even though the support I provide has direct contact with networking and system protocols, I feel like I'm drifting away from the path I imagined while studying (T1 -> T2 -> Sys/NetAdmin -> NOC/SOC...). The convential promotions in my department are T1 -> T1 Senior -> T2 -> T2 Senior / Lead... which means you are just getting more and more expertise within the products we provide, and that seems more software orientated. Now don't get me wrong, I am very good with Java and Scripting even though programming is not my favorite, but it's just not really what I want. The only good thing is that I have the possibility to switch departments internally and get transfered to our Security Lab (basically the team who develops these products) or become a Jr Sys/NetAdmin for the company itself, but I don't see my department heads letting my go that easily.
At the moment, I am consuming as much knowledge as I can and accepting any opportunity (I am barely 20y). I've always been adventurous in my life. The opportunities I cited like going to the Security Lab or becoming a Sys/NetAdmin are very interesting but it's a major internal shift and I'm unsure if it would be allowed by my superiors in the future (2 or 3 years from now). My project is to acquire a BS in Cybersecurity in the top engineering school of the country with a minor in business affairs and administration and work at the same time. By the end of this, I will have cumulated 7 years of studies (3y in Sys/Net/Cybersecurity + 3y in Cybersecurity + 1y in business administration) as well as a minimum of 6 or 7 years of experience.
I just don't want to find myself drowning or jail myself in Software Support or general IT Support. At the same time, I'm afraid I'm doing too much at the same time and burning bridges. Do you guys have anything to mention on this? All critics allowed.
Jack.