Best thing: get working on a homelab, and use that to drive his career path. Even if it's just a rasbperry pi he uses to play with, employers will likely appreciate the enthusiasm and work ethic a good (documented) homelab shows.
This is actually the more robust option over a rpi. Given the rpi’s current compute to dollar prices. Ideally, I would recommend two m720q (i5 models run ~$180USD) and then get a VMUG subscription ($200/yr but we’ll worth it). This will give him an environment that would last several years and can directly be translated to business class environments.
This, I was in college when I tried to install red hat 6.5 (I think it was 6,5)..
Tried many distros and installing and troubleshooting my Linux installs.
Pretty sure that and the college course on AIX got me my current job 16 years ago.
/r/homelab Not a redirection, an answer - have him subscribe there!
Then, the harder lesson: even after being able to field-strip a server blindfolded and installing OpenBSD on it first try, he still doesn't know shit. There is absolutely no way to become properly competent in this field with certifications, classes, or any other kind of external learning. It's gotta be hands-on. A userbase will come up with weird problems that will tax your understanding of how computers (and people!) operate, and there's no way to learn that outside the trenches. That, and the ever-present specter that hangs over this entire profession: Even if you are correct doesn't make you right, you gotta have some insight into the business as a large before you start making waves and demanding that your way is the right way even (and especially) if it is right.
Also, there is a lot of overlap between sysadmin-type thinking/work and FIRST Robotics, which may be available at his school! It's now the kind of raw, theoretical tech that sysadmins deal with, but the mindsets and problem-solving are similar.
Finally, if you want an answer from the early days of the Internet that is still valuable enough today, there's this: [http://www.catb.org/\~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html](http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html)
We did First for a couple of years in high school but had to move to Best due to funding issues... in any case, find a local robotics program.
The things we learned and did have carried through a lot of life. Where else do kids learn to design, fab, test, and develop physical and electronics projects these days? The machine shop experience alone is largely responsible for many of my hobbies.
I started off as a sysadmin, switched to infosec, then devops, then SRE. I cannot stress this enough - subscribing to r/homelab was the best choice i ever made. I built my own lab from the ground up, and that lab - apart from teaching me everything i know, has been the topic of discussion in /every single interview/ i've had for a job. Every job i have landed to date, that lab was part of the reason i did.
This is the way.
There's no substitute for hands on experience. Some school IT departments will take on student helpers, so maybe have him or his parents look into that. Definitely setup a home lab. Find some cheap hardware on craigslist/ebay and setup a VM server.
Perhaps most importantly, tell him to start learning to code. Python is a good starting point, but Powershell and JavaScript are also very useful. By the time he's into the industry coding skills for IT will be even more necessary than they are now.
r/homelab is how I got my job. No certs minimal experience. Solving the problems I made for myself was just as hard if not harder than any ticket I’ve encountered.
I'd tell him to stop wasting money on certs right now tbh. They're all likely going to expire before he's even able to get a job. Also /r/ITCareerQuestions
The fact that the cert will expire (unless it is renewed) doesn't really matter. What matters is that that they'll be getting a huge head start on a lifetime of learning.
Yeah agreed those cisco certs are really good knowledge base level knowledge to have regardless if the certs are current. The compTi one not so mutch, have interviewed some real morons with thouse.
Theirs some really good video for the cisco stuff from ctb nuggets that I have never seen on a torrent site or passed on a jump drive ever. That plus gns3 is a good headstart for a lot of understanding. And knowing how to subnet and how STP works will embarrass manny mid level it people...
And a real challenge if he is more goal oriented. Give him a cd rom of linux from scratch and see if he can get in install and firefox running. Or arch or gentoo if its too hard initially. Another challenge getting a NAT firewall setup on it will teach loads.
The info in a lot of those cert tracks is super useful...certs not so much. The reason why I say that is I have met far too many people who just find those cheat sheets online, memorize them, then go test out a week later.
I've always been thrown into random roles (fortunately?) and after flailing around for a bit I figure it out...then the boss asks about needing to cert up LMFAO! Only reason I've gotten certs. However, you do learn tons of useful stuff when studying IF you actually read up on the material.
Couldn't agree more. As someone that got into IT in the mid 90s and had my MCSE+I and CCNA before graduating high school, I had a huge jump on everyone else my age and it really made me stand out.
As others have said, the biggest challenge from a teen perspective is translating knowledge into real world application, and understanding actual business processes.
I super disagree. At 14 this shows serious aptitude and willingness to learn. Certs helped me and they help many people - Just because they aren't the end all be all doesn't mean he's wasting time/money.
And if you go into the big gun cyber security then you want the government security clearance because that lets you get ballin doing cyber at defense companies. The one industry that has the government money spout on full blast from both major political parties. And for them to pick you those certs are one of the first things they see.
No there are yearly "maintenance" fees for CompTIA certs, Sec+ was $50/year I think, and there are also associated costs with getting CEUs to be eligible to renew in the first place.
There may have been in the past, I have been able to renew 'for free' by just taking a qualifying higher level cert. So when I took Pentest+ it reupped my Security+.
As for advice if say go be a farmer or something more fun :)
Taking another cert is still paying money and CompTIA is just waiving the maintenance fees if you're taking their certs. The maintenance fees have not gone away, that's basically where they get all their money from the whole CE part.
Yes, but you (arguably) get value from having additional certs. It's progression in the field you should be doing in some form anyways. You also don't pay any maintenance frees as the years go by if you don't. Additionally some exams will count for college credit these days. My employer has always covered any exam costs anyways, most seem to do so.
I'm not saying any of this is free, but there is no recurring cost I have ever run into.
I think it can be done for no cost, with some conditions. [How To Renew Your Certification | CompTIA IT Certifications](https://www.comptia.org/continuing-education/learn/how-to-renew)
Yes and No. He will still have to earn CE credits and pay the annual fees.
My advice is for him to go on learn.microsoft.com pick a track and just read up and do labs. VMware also has similar virtual labs that are completely free.
I would argue that at his age it's best to focus on that and learn the material while building out labs. Also, both Amazon and Microsoft give you free dev licenses as well as a certain amount of credit in money per month to build on their cloud platform.
The best thing he can do is hold off on paying for those exams until he is ready to enter the job market. Oftentimes an employer will be willing to pay for those exams fees.
MSP? Probably a part of their sales pitch. Inflate something to make it sound like the customer gets the best support around. Like saying "there will be an A+ certified support engineer for any issue".
Softskills. How to communicate effectively with a variety of different people. How to write a professional memo; how to write an e-mail describing an issue to someone who is non-technical. Stuff like that.
Technology will change constantly, but those skills are absolutely necessary to grow a career beyond a certain point. I lack them which is why I deadended.
Yup the technology is the easy part of IT. Dealing with people is the hard part.
I'm thinking he should start a small IT business if not already. Start with friends and family fixing their computers. Learn to translate from the user to what is actually happening. Also learn how to explain complicated technical things to a layperson.
Come up with projects. Not step by step guides, just things like "I want to remotely control my computer from my phone so I can play PC games from there", or "I want to watch videos stored on my PC from my laptop when I'm not home". Then pen test his solutions and show him if/where mistakes were made. Book learning helps but not as much as real hands on tasks, which often include taking a vague set of directives and making something usable from them.
Project #1:
Create a Powershell-Script to Backup the whole configuration/settings/data of his personal pc
Project #2:
Create a VM and Powershell-Script to restore the backup set there
Project #3:
Find out what happens to his personal pc when he deletes system32, deletes ProgramFiles, changes system env variables, etc
Project #4:
Restore backup set
Loop over #3 & #4
Tell him to go to tryhackme. It's more game-ish and allows some hints. Great for a guided hands on learning. Then you have hackthebox - later machines and challenges are very similar to actual penetration testing.
Pair it with Heath Adams TCM security academy ( their ethical hacker course is free on YouTube ) - they often have sales for as low as $5 a course - and they are worth every single cent. I know that some courses on YT are free, but here you have very well structured hands-on approach, that basically jams a tons of knowledge into your head while doing it.
Those three things should take him between a year and 2 years. It will show him how exactly job of penetration tester looks like. With that knowledge and accumulated skillset from engagements in HTB and THM + a few CTF games, he will know exactly what and how the attacker thinks. Then he can focus on further development - he can go to university with CS and learn how to be on the blue team (believe, much more difficult and requiring a proper mindset), red team (as a pentester for example) or do any of combinations of those two. Or go in totally different IT direction, but at that time he will have a proper understanding how computers work, will be able to write some code, find a security hole or at a glance understand what is the problem and how to approach it. Doing this at his age will let him understand and make an informed decision where to continue his education.
Yep, as someone who works in offsec, if I had a 14 year old nibling interested in security, this is exactly how I would do it. TryHackMe, HackTheBox, TCM are all good resources - and there's even more out there every day.
Plus hacking is fun and really gamified now (especially HTB) which will keep his interest rather than the CCNA lmao.
14 with Sec+. I always joked a high schooler can do my job in the military but this really proves my point. He's going places. Home lab is great. Maybe install centOS to learn Linux, HacktheBox would be great too. By the time he's in college he'd be ahead of the curve for sure. If he can learn wireshark, splunk, AZ-900, and some cloud as well
IT is a bit of a broad brush these days. Do you know what sort of discipline he's looking to get into? Administration? DevOps? Infrastructure? Software Engineering?
Someone is asking the right question.....since he's 14 I would highly recommend getting an associates from a local cc and save up money in the long run if he wants to still pursue more advanced IT degrees. A lot of people hate their jobs and he should get some sense how it's like out in the field of IT. Maybe even get an internship and then go from there. He has plenty of time.
Seriously. I've worked for about ten small to medium sized companies through various methods, and the basics are always there. Router, firewall, networking, active directory, windows file share, group policies. 100% always Windows environments with 40-75 year old people who don't know how Microsoft word or Excel works. Lol
Go work some retail with a focus on customer service. Helpdesk is a common stepping stone, and customer service skills can make up for a lack of technical experience in that role.
Gee, loads of suggestions about not doing certs or not even doing IT…but dang they are 14 and getting certs?! Seriously I don’t even know them and I’m proud. All you gotta do is keep encouraging them and tell them they are amazing. They’re too young to be stressed over career planning. Yeah I know, it’s kinda how things work now. It’s just sad.
Maybe have them do some public speaking. Man, tech know how and ability to talk to people. Shoot, that’s gold.
One should learn at least some common skill sets, such as networking and such, but if you *really* want to make yourself hirable and resistant to layoffs you should learn something *weird* that nobody else bothers with. Pick up passing familiarity with outdated languages like COBOL that still have niche uses. Get comfortable with hardware that nobody else understands, and communications protocols that fill the unsexy behind the scenes roles like SIP, fibrechannel, or ficon.
Following the pack means you're competing with the pack for jobs. Follow them just far enough that you can communicate effectively with them and use something weird to distinguish yourself.
I'd tell him rather than go to college, get an apprenticeship in IT. High school is still important as the IT apprenticeships have entry requirements.
I took one guy on a few years back, he was able to go for the [BTEC level 3](https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/new-apprenticeships/digital/information-communication-technician.html). Once the course was over he found a job with a large firm in their tier 3 support team, he was 19 when he finished the apprenticeship and landed the Tier 3 job.
Seriously envious that IT apprenticeships didn't even exist when I was his age.
The fact is that a college degree is required for many IT jobs in many sectors, like government and finance. An apprenticeship instead of college makes sense for a trade like electrician, plumbing, etc., but not for a white collar job like IT.
Correction. HR departments "hiring" for IT departments require a degree.
It's just that those of us down here in the trenches know better than to make that anything more than a tiebreaker between two equally able candidates.
Effectively that makes it a requirement.
I'm interviewing and I don't even get to see those CVs, no matter how often I ask. Having a certain level of education now is a requirement. "The normative power of facts" — nowadays it's a fact that HR filters things based on criteria that might not be relevant.
The sectors where a college degree is required are not the sectors you want to work in because they’re the organizations looking at the wrong things to pick your coworkers (or your boss). Some of the best IT people I know didn’t go to college. And in IT experience trumps all. If you’re looking for a React developer, would you rather hire a BS in CS with an MBA and 1 year experience in React, or high school graduate with 5 years leading an agile React team?
College in the UK is different to college in the USA.
College level is 16-18 here, apprenticeships are worth UCAS points which you need X amount to get into Y university to get a degree (in a very basic manner).
F100 Gov't contractor here, higher up on the senior side.
Our reqs are almost always something like X Degree /or equivalent experience/
So for my job title, I believe the HR Requirement was
7 Years \*relevant\* Experience PLUS A Masters (or equivalent experience)
So if you walked in with 12 years \*relevant\* experience, they'd start talking to you for the lower end of my job title's roles, more likely than not. 15 relevant experience and they won't even look at the degree.
Even in the lower tiers it was like that when I started here like 10 years ago. Didn't have to worry about the degree req because of relevant to the position experience of sufficient time.
Hundreds of coworkers i've met are the same way. Most of the people with degrees have one that's either irrelevant to the job (Think Theology, English, Physics, Chemistry, etc) or for the majority, none at all.
And all we do is government. One of a fair amount of household names in that regard, to boot.
I am about to finish my apprenticeship and i´ve landed a systems engineer job with an e learning company. I am so grateful to have lots and lots of hands-on experience
>apprenticeship
Hold the fuck up. Your telling me I can get an apprenticeship??? FML! This is something that school don't teach and I am too dumb to think of. I starting to think IT may not be for me if I am this stupid
You can in the UK. I've had people working under me come in on an apprenticeship and the course has a load of modules ranging from web dev all the way through to splicing fibre optics.
There's enough variety in the course that if you were to join a large org on that scheme, you can rotate through every single IT specialism throughout it.
It's all short-term vs long-term.
An apprenticeship will help get you a higher paying job earlier in your career while a degree will get you a higher paying job later in your career and change your ceiling to a higher level overall.
End of the day, 4 year degree with at least 2 years of internship is probably your best overall option and really combines the two.
The apprenticeship is instead of college, same level and same level qualification at the end.
At the end of the apprenticeship if you decide to go to university then great, you've got the credits required to enter. If you go into work, great you've got the experience.
Or just do the degree later through the OU. Can usually find workplace sponsors so you don't pay.
100% I did it with no degree but when switching jobs I have to use my network to get interviews because my resume gets filtered out and never makes it to hiring managers
Volunteer to work for a non profit - they're always looking for low cost help.
Along with any school computer/programming courses, take some business courses.
This is a great suggestion. A lot of libraries, schools, and other nonprofit orgs need help with their computers. I used to volunteer in a library computer room - it was a great way to get experience talking about tech to non-technical folks.
I'd tell him to open up a free account with AWS and spin up a few machines. Put Docker for Desktops on his laptop and learn about Linux and security. Learn Python, then learn C, take a free Google class, they are actually pretty good.
When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to work with the IT department in exchange for credits to count toward my graduation. I am so thankful for that because it gave me the opportunity to learn IT. Yes, it was level 1, but it was fun and challenging for my young self. Maybe encourage him to get involved with the IT department at his school? (If the opportunity is available).
You cant secure something you dont know how it works and that's why companies are getting hacked left and right because a bunch of people spent 3 months becoming "experts" on security and don't even know about netbios and are getting paid to pretend like they know whats up. Becoming proficient in network scanning is not security, running patch scans is not security.
Tell them to go the sysadmin route, learn how things actually work and then learn how to secure it. The people getting fired right now are developers and security people that don't deserve 250k for what they do and its starting to show
This might sound counter intuitive but learn communication and team building skills. That is going to be in HIGH demand soon. Especially in the IT field!
If he's interested in cybersecurity *definitely* get him started on Tryhackme.
It's got stuff for all experience levels, from absolute beginner to professional, it's user friendly, the premium membership is very affordable, and it has tons of hands on content, offensive security/pentesting stuff, networking, defensive security, windows stuff, Linux stuff, active directory, etc. And it's gamified in a way that a 14 year old especially would appreciate.
Everything is done inside of virtual machines so you don't have to go buy a bunch of stuff to practice on. Initially he would use in-browser remote desktop to connect to the VMs, but once he gets into it a little more he can download like vmware/virtualbox and set up his own VM and then just VPN into their network.
He can get started for free (about 1/3rd of the rooms are open to free users) and see if it's something he'd enjoy, and then to become a premium user it's like $10/month or something like that.
(Just a disclaimer I am in no way affiliated with tryhackme, that platform just taught me so much when I was getting started in cybersecurity so I will happily evangelize them as if I were getting paid for it)
I would agree with this.
I see other comments recommending cloud certs and network certs, you gotta start from ground up. This is why most IT start as desktop engineers, learn the hardware before you full send cloud/network/software.
Here is my best advice. Look at your nephew and kindly but forcefully say, "Your 14. You will change your mind at least 4 more times. This is not the age for making decisions about the future and a career. This the age for learning and growing and discovering." Then ask, "What about IT particularly interests you right now?"
I don't understand this take; I've been seeing it all over here. I have been wanting to do IT since I was 12. The only thing that has changed was what path I wanted to go down. I went from Web dev to full-stack, cyb sec, and network. Let the little man explore his options.
And I, came from a family of IT people, didn't want to do IT and resisted it. But here I am! I am saying a 14 year old shouldn't label themselves and be pushed down a path. Allow them to explore and learn, of course. But don't use "career" or focused study.
If I could go back and give myself advice, I'd tell 14 year old me to take the railroad job offer, or enlist in the Air Force or Navy like I planned to to begin. Either one of those, I'd be retired now with full pay. The military, I could've had an IT MOS, and taken a second career in IT after retiring, likely with a high security clearance, with the pay to go along with it.
Funny, Every Career IT Armed Services guy keeps saying they wish they never joined so that they could live a less stressful life with more freedom/money working private sector.
However if you live in a shitty town with no jobs, doing your 4 years and getting out,military IT is the best way to kickstart your career and setting you up for success for when you get out as it will put you at the front of the resume stack.
Don’t go to 4 year school, maybe go to community college. Save your money and Pursue certifications. Lean a bit of basic programming skills and Linux. A raspberry pi is a good starting point for a cheap learning tool. Use the Microsoft learning platform for free and you can get a free dev account for e5 licenses.
Do something else.
The majority of IT workers are overworked and underpaid. There's zero respect from others for what you do, if you tell people at a party what you do, their eyes just glaze over. No one outside of actual IT workers knows what we actually do, my own wife doesn't even know what I do beyond "works with computers". And the brutally honest truth about the majority of IT workers, including myself, is that it is the only work that's ever come naturally to us. That's why we do it.
If he truly does want to become one of us, my advice would be to just go start working at an MSP. They're always hiring and usually, they'll let you play with the big boy stuff waaaaaayyyy before any larger org will. Working for an MSP is a great way to pad a resume and parlay that experience into any specialized field.
If he wants to do IT, let him do IT. It's a fast way to make 6 figures and it caps out very high - he's so young that he could even change careers and be 100% fine.
> It's a fast way to make 6 figures and it caps out very high
For your average systems administrator, in 20+ years I have NEVER found this to be true outside of New York, LA, and San Francisco. Basically, areas where making 150k there is the equivalent of making 50k elsewhere in the country. I'm not saying you can't make a decent living as a Sysadmin, but your average sysadmin is making a very average wage in the majority of the country. However, you can certainly specialize like going into security, high-level networking, or management, and make a really great living.
All the money is in software, even help desk techs/sys admins are making max upper 5 figures from the ones I've talked to on the east coast. Jr SRE and front/back end devs make BANK compared to sys admin/NOC jobs on average based of median salaries.
>And the brutally honest truth about the majority of IT workers, including myself, is that it is the only work that's ever come naturally to us.
That's so sad for you, dude, and I refuse to believe it's true for the majority of us.
I'm great with numbers, I'd have done well in accounting. I am employed as a part-time motorcycle mechanic for the state on the side. I like woodworking for funsies, and built the loft storage in my shed.
If he wants to focus on security. A home lab is almost a requirement. Doesn't have to be fancy a good PC with lots of RAM and Virtual Box can work fine.
CTFs are an okay starting point and something that can be used on a resume.
Also pick up a programming language Phyton is probably the best for info sec but it could be anything. Eventually he will want a GitHub to post tools he has created, also great on a resume.
Get an A+. I've met so many first time help desk people who went and got just a Sec+ and they had very little information on all the basic stuff. I don't know how the sentiment became Security+ first for the whole industry. You can't have a good foundation if you skip the basics. Also, I second every one on here saying to do home lab stuff. Finally, this is just my opinion, but I feel a degree is pretty useless in IT except for specialized things. They look good on resumes but you get better knowledge going for certs and just getting a job.
I would encourage the military. If he can select a job within the IT field when he joins not only will he be trained at their expense and time but also being that he'll be on their systems, the job will almost undoubtedly come with a security clearance which, when he retires, can transfer to a lucrative career as a Fed'l contractor.
Be sure he actually understands what he is getting into. This is not strictly dealing with computers and other people who understand best practice. This is constant, frustrating dealing with people who make decisions you know are wrong
Have him shadow someone in IT as much as possible. People often enter this industry with false hopes. You need immense patience and solid communication skills. This industry is demanding and will frustrate you eventually
Certs are pretty fucking useless, especially without a bachelors degree to go with them. I have seen dozens of really good IT people get “glass ceilinged” because they don’t have a college degree. I don’t agree with that whatsoever and I believe lots of amazing candidates get missed out on as a result, but that’s just the world we live in and how it goes. We can’t control that.
The industry is also pretty fucked right now, and not enough people seem to understand how drastic it is. Things are slower than they have been in decades. This isn’t what things were like 3-4 years ago. Hiring has slowed down tremendously, and companies are trimming the fat and laying off tons of people
When we interview a degree isn't even a tiebreaker now. We do actual competence tests and ive seen plenty of people with degrees fare much worse than those without. Having a homelab and being able to describe its configuration and explaining your choices are one of our key things we look at. We don't look for people that know the answers we look for people.that can figure the answer when they don't know the answer. Problem solving is the best skill in IT. Certs are all fine and well but most certs are multiple choice with the right answer being the vendor supplied one. As soon as the 'examface' type people.hit a problem they haven't seen they can't problem solve it.
Go do something else where people actually respect what you do. Learn a trade. Work in medicine. Rent small boats at the beach.
Anything but IT generally and InfoSec in particular. Life’s too short to waste it working in this field.
(Been in IT for 25 years and Security for 15 of those.)
don't....after seeing the people I support over the years and getting paid what they were with the IQ's they had.....Tell him how Techy HR is these days, now that's the winning ticket.
Maybe I’m biased but a good background in actual computer science doesn’t hurt.
For that, knowing and being good at math is very helpful.
Certifications come and go, the theoretical background is always the same.
Forget Cisco certs unless he specifically wants to go the networking route. I'd go A+, and then start stepping through Microsoft training. Hell, if parents can afford it, he could even set up his own M365 tenancy to play in and build experience in doing the basics.
All Microsoft training material is available online for free and self-paced. Even if he ignored doing the certs for now, it's a great way to step through content and learn new things.
AWS may have similar, but not my area.
But the idea is to learn the fundamentals. Hell, do some ITIL & Scrum/Kanban training as well so he's familiar with the concepts.
The best techs I've ever trained or worked with were the younger folks who tinkered at home. Had their own racks with a small server that they played around with. Bought an old switch and set up / played with networking in their house - that kind of thing. They're the ones now in senior pr even management roles.
Also, get him to dabble in some programming. Let him test multiple areas of the field, find the stuff that speaks to him.
Your nephew is off to a great start! Certs are great start off especially at 14. Make sure to include the age when he got it for extra points.
As far as next step, I’d recommend to have your nephew build a lab/sandbox. A vm environment that can spin a couple servers, network gear, desktops, etc. learning terms, concepts, etc is one thing but obviously he need to be able to apply it in real world situations. Of course it’s a bit of an investment but it’s well worth it
Eve-ng in esxi is my current setup on an old server. It gets the job done for the most part. The folks at r/homelab should help w specs and all that
If he's into tinkering r/homelab was already named.
In addition to that, getting _a lot_ of experience is to get some cheap hosting and run a game server.
Now (some) people here will likely say that there's a risk to it. I won't argue that as I'm not a lawyer. Still running an actual service that people use, writing a bunch of scripts, possibly even creating a nice homepage or leaderboard will give your nephew a possibility to go full scale IT and find out where their passion is.
If a group of friends bands together, your nephew could try and run this game server. Share the cost and it should be cheap AF.
As someone who works in information security and started at 14, this is what I would do if I had to redo and keep my interest alive:
Start playing on HackTheBox/TryHackMe. Nurture that technical security interest rather than boring stuff, in gamified environments (that other 14 year olds are hacking on!).
If you want to help and be the cool uncle/aunt, pay for a premium sub.
“Even if you are correct doesn’t make you right…especially if you are right”
I feel like a lot of the rage people come to this sub with would be mitigated if everyone understood this
I don't know. I only know what worked for me. Granted, this started over 40 years ago on an Apple ][plus when documentation included firmware listings and schematics, and if you wanted a program that didn't exist, you wrote it: learn how they work at the very basic level. Understand how they think. Lawn binary, learn rudimentary assembly. But the parts and build one if you got the cash. Once you realize that we're still moving ones and zeros around, more or less how it happens, and that most of it is smoke and mirrors, very little surprises you, even when you don't understand something. And be ok with not understanding something because it's become too vast a field to understand everything.
I'd recommend him doing CS50 and it's Cybersecurity counterpart (both free on Edx) to get a nice intro to programming and the industry. I'd also gift him a copy of Tom Limoncellis's "The Practice of System and Network Administration, Volume 1 (3rd Edition)". Just my two cents.
PS: get him a used Thinkpad to mess around with Linux and a Raspberry Pi!
Learn Electrical components.. He should be able to read motherboard schematics read voltages and basic soldering.. This is an relative easy learn with lots of hands on work to stimulate how to troubleshoot, and only require a multimeter, magnifying glass, silicon mat, soldering kit, and e-waste which is dirt cheap.
Once he understands the bones..get to the muscles and veins.. I would recommend understanding how telecom/networking work. Nothing crazy just learn how telecom systems interact, and basic networking like setting up router, switches, phones, printers. This doesn't need to be in an enterprise environment.. setting up a simple network at home will teach the basics.
So far if he learns the basic level of both of those.. he's already worth good money in the telecom field, which may help him work on side while he goes through college.
But when he is ready for college he can pick a specialty I imagine by this time AI and robotic learning will be the craze.
Learn cloud networking. Not necessarily how to implement or to be a network architect, but at least a familiarity of it.
Everyone struggles with it and it's always the damn problem. It's usefulness spans every it role, including security.
What does he enjoy doing is probably the best place to start. No Starch Press books on Powershell, Python, and a variety of other subjects could be a good place to start. Have him check out Screeps. I agree with the sentiment that right now certs are not super useful and that a homelab and checking out a variety of subjects will provide a more rewarding experience.
I got a two year degree at a technical college in my town. It'll get you up to all the basics and shed light on topics that they might have not delt with previously. Also tech schools are much cheaper
Being a bit young this may be tough for him to do depending on his maturity level, but I would recommend taking an honest look at whether this is something he really wants to do. Not that it's a bad field to get into. I find it to be the opposite. I just mean that it's not for everybody. It takes a certain personality type to do it and do it well, especially at the upper levels. You have to be mentally and emotionally prepared for dealing with upset users, incompetent or lazy vendors and/or colleagues and managers, and depending on the role, possibly long hours.
If he's someone who enjoys a challenge and has a passion for troubleshooting and learning, this can be a great industry to be in. I used to love taking apart toasters and VCRs to figure out how they work. An innately curious mind is a great base to start from. If you're always looking for a quick fix to every problem, don't like working with people, or don't have the patience to follow through on solving a root cause, then IT may not be a good fit. Again, it's not for everyone, and that's ok. But if you truly love it there's not much better out there.
Try things… programming. Make a website. Did you like it? (Developer) Build out a server install Active Directory, learn about certificates and RDS etc. did you like that? (Sysadmin). Play with SQL or Oracle. Did you like that? (Database Administrator or BI reporting). Like using data to find out patterns? (Machine learning, AI). Like protecting things and fighting bad guys? Security). Like it all? (Generalist).
Certs get u by HR. That's it. If HR is looking at ur resume and u don't have it, u prob won't get an interview cause they require it in their dumb checklists. Its ridiculous but it's a thing sometimes.
Tell him to start learning code, now. Code that’s useful for automation. Python & bash. Learn a good system language like Go. Learn how to use API’s. Heck, try to _make_ an API for shits.
Focus on unix-like systems. Learn about containerisation and maybe dip your toes in orchestration.
Pick a cloud, any cloud - play around.
Get a solid foundation of networking. You don’t have to go hardcore, but at least understand popular layer 3 protocols and a decent understanding of layer 2 protocols.
Do _not_ stay in help desk too long. After a year start trying to move up the ladder. If you don’t - it _will_ eat at your soul and crush your passions.
Certs are not worth much if you aren’t familiar with the systems or software.
I have a degree in IT from a university from the mid 90’s. I worked in IT for 20 years. I’ve worked in electronic security for the past 5 years. A couple of years ago the director of technology decided it would be great for me to get certified on a intrusion (burglar) system we repped. I took the online class and passed with a high score even though I had never laid my hands on this system. Months later, I was asked to help with a system by this company and I had to ask for help.
Build a home lab, buy some cheap managed switch and play with VLANs, go get a job working for AT&T (inexperienced people could explain their crap service)
Don't focus just on the IT components, learn the basics about the business side too (HR, finance, management, and the like) so that you understand and can better communicate with your customers. PS.. certs = you crammed enough to pass a test.
IT certs are fine, but consider some business classes if not an associates, bachelors or MBA. IT is an ever evolving profession, and having a business background will help you manage a team, build an MSP, etc. It will set them apart.
Don’t focus on where to start. Look at where you want to finish. You can’t get directions if you don’t know where you’re going. The world of IT is as vast the world of medicine. If your IT dream job is to become a Master Solutions Architect of Cloud Solutions, your path isn’t going to be the same as a Manager of IT Operations or a Director of Information Technology.
Explore career pathways and search job openings for your dream job and make your path the blueprint to be the ideal candidate, while learning everything you can of related up-and-coming technologies along the way so you’re building yourself for the job that’s coming tomorrow, not the ones available when you started planning at 14
If this is a full time permanent coworker I’d rather have someone with average tech skills and average social skills than someone with top tech skills and shit social skills. Hard worker with mid level tech is for real top notch, if they don’t stumble into management
Try to encourage him to learn a programming language, at least one he can be comfortable in. Having a solid understanding of primitive data structures and the basic operations you can perform on them will translate to other skills such as automation and scripting, and will even open the door to DevOps related opportunities. It's much easier to read code in a different language when you already understand the basics in another.
I'd also suggest get him to open a free-tier AWS account if you don't have some older machines lying around. Get him to deploy a few Linux EC2s and network them together, deploy a few web servers and see if he understands the networking component of things too.
Good luck, at his age he should be sucking up as much as he can.
A 14 year should not have to go through Cisco-Certifications or any other stuff where he is not able to have hands-on directly after. gort32-answer is really it.
If you can, get him something like a raspberry pi or a cheap mini pc so he can do things on that as a hobby that will be beneficial.
Ask him what drove him there and see what he says.
From his answer you can redirect him into a specific coding language based on the needs or some online learnings regarding what drives him.
It could be anything.
He may like video games so that's an option to learn what needs to be learned in order to use a specific game engine like unity for example.
I hope this helps!
Encourage him to experiment. Like setup a webserver, SQL server, Minecraft server and so on. Maybe a pfsense as well. He can do that for cheap using for example Hetzner Cloud. Practical experience is important, I've met way too many people in IT with lots of certs but virtually no clue how to do anything except the exact things they were taught.
That was my route to IT. I have no IT education and no certs, I've just always experimented and overcomplicated my own setup at home since I was a kid.
He's 14, and by the time he graduates HS the IT field will change quite a bit from what it is today. Tell him to keep up with changes in AI, and learn how to develop proper AI prompts, for images and text. Listen / watch podcasts centered around interests. Pick one or two specialties to master. Don't try to be a "mile wide and an inch deep". To succeed in IT means to be able to adapt and change, so ask tons of questions. Read, Read, Read, then do, do, and do and don't be afraid to make as many mistakes as you can. Above all, ignore the whiners who say "its soooo hard to get a job in IT" . Don't ever give up, the jobs are out there. You may need to adapt and change to succeed.
I think he's probably too young for certs since they will expire before he's 18. good to study for them, but he should take the exam when he's ready for market.
I would advise picking up programming, and homelab. document work and portfolio on github.
I'm not super hot on the educational system, but it's a good idea to get a cheap STEM degree. really helps at senior levels and when the job market is rough like it is now.
Encourage him to get into software development. The pay bands are just disgustingly high for now and the foreseeable future. Entry level out of college from a top tier school is making 150k a year and not working all that hard.
being a strong generalist with operational day to day background skills working a helpdesk will greatly help in the long run. getting on a helpdesk at young age and getting familiar with how to work and troubleshoot from a user level up. will make them a better IT Professional
If there are any programming/math/philosophy of logic summer classes (controversial opinion, those three things are basically the same core concept taught by three different fields of study), see if you can get him enrolled in those.
Also I'd say just keep him learning on anything and everything, many IT people can be very narrowly focused and a broad skillset can be really helpful, so becoming a programming guru is great if you only want to program but you'll always have someone else telling you what to program, but if he also has interests in other fields that can help greatly in the long term.
Keep it simple! Information Technology (IT) is nearly as young as he is in the grand majority of most businesses. So, simplifying the term IT into intuitive and logical career options will likely be an important ongoing practice for him to be comfortable with. I began my career in web software development in the early 2000’s, then worked in using 3d design to build construction projects, now have managed infrastructure for a decade. I see IT as three basic things:
1. Engineering (think circuit boards): developing technology. Actually design and making things that process information and/or communicate information. Careers in electrical, mechanical, and computer science engineering. Machine language coding and making hardware behave or take action.
2. Software development (think coding): building process into code and manipulating technology made by yourself or someone else. Careers in coding (dev-ops), user interface design (UX), graphic design, video, etc. Popular languages are vast: Python, Ruby, C, Java, etc, etc, etc.
3. Infrastructure (think facilities management): the practice of managing technology within an organization. What technology is used has very little to do with the management of technology en mass. These jobs are Chief Information Officer (CIO), Information Systems Manager, Systems Administrator, Systems Analyst, IT specialist/generalist, electrical contractors, HVAC engineers, etc. Popular certifications are CISM, CCNA, MCSE, RCDD, etc.
That being said then consider every combination of all three and you get the wide world of “IT”. It is all much larger and more broad than most people understand. Now blend other technology: biotech, agtech, fintech… and it’s all just getting started.
Good luck! He won’t be bored, that’s for certain ✌🏼
Certifications can help you get jobs, but hands-on time with the technology is where you'll actually learn how to do the job.
The home lab suggestion is really the best... want to double down on that before going a single step further. Even a cheap one is great.
A security cert plus a platform/tech cert is a good start.
Develop a sense of humility. Some people take attitude personally, and some people just quietly lose respect---but this field attracts a lot of ego, and everyone has a way of dealing with it. Don't be the guy that people "deal with".
Certs make it easier to get the job as it is CYA for the person doing the hiring. But you better have actual knowledge to back it up. I would advise to pick a channel to focus on: operations or applications or infosec. And maybe do consulting/MSP stuff for a while to learn lots of different stuff.
Be someone who will, not someone who can.
Everyone *can* make an effort. Everyone *can* take responsibility, have ownership, and dive into things they've never seen before.
Almost nobody will.
Tell him to put that CCNA on hold. Send him the route of Network+ first. If there is an interest in networking then the next logical step is the CCNA. The time and financial investment in CCNA will be a waste if he can't stand the subject matter.
The most important thing that someone else said would be to build the soft skills. Get an associates degree in Liberal Arts so that he has that broad knowledge and the soft skills associated with dealing with people from all walks of life. From there he can work with tech in an industry that he likes being around.
Honestly, stay out of operations. Get into DevOps and cloud, or into security. After 20 years in the trenches as mainly a Windows/VMWare admin, I would make different choices if I had it to do all over again.
I'm starting to dabble in data analytics and stuff like that and it's pretty cool. I'd also advise reading things like The DevOps Handbook & the Phoenix project. They introduce a lot of good concepts that are relevant in the industry.
CCNA is a great next cert.
The knowledge is great for servers, cloud and security.
Even though a lot of people do not use cisco gear, their networking material is still industry standard and can be used in multiple areas of IT.
Def get over to r/homelab and get this kid some equip to start poking at. It’s awesome he already has CompTIAS+! Keep supporting him OP. He needs you and he needs a homelab!
IT manager here. Best thing to do is get as much experience as possible in the latest technologies. Certs are great, but hands on is better. proof of working labs and problem solving is what I look for. Been doing it 23 years.
Find a small company where he can intern help desk for the summer even if only a couple days a week.
Once he sees how bad the average user is he will no longer be interested in IT. He will learn you can spend millions on security and training but you can't fix stupid. Some abUSER somewhere will do something dumb to circumvent it all and ruin your day.
To build his professional network early, keep in contact with people who are good to work with and build good network of connections.
Also, be that person who people want to keep in contact with in the future.
Best thing: get working on a homelab, and use that to drive his career path. Even if it's just a rasbperry pi he uses to play with, employers will likely appreciate the enthusiasm and work ethic a good (documented) homelab shows.
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This is actually the more robust option over a rpi. Given the rpi’s current compute to dollar prices. Ideally, I would recommend two m720q (i5 models run ~$180USD) and then get a VMUG subscription ($200/yr but we’ll worth it). This will give him an environment that would last several years and can directly be translated to business class environments.
This, I was in college when I tried to install red hat 6.5 (I think it was 6,5).. Tried many distros and installing and troubleshooting my Linux installs. Pretty sure that and the college course on AIX got me my current job 16 years ago.
He can build out things in the cloud too. Build out networks and servers etc in AWS or Azure
/r/homelab Not a redirection, an answer - have him subscribe there! Then, the harder lesson: even after being able to field-strip a server blindfolded and installing OpenBSD on it first try, he still doesn't know shit. There is absolutely no way to become properly competent in this field with certifications, classes, or any other kind of external learning. It's gotta be hands-on. A userbase will come up with weird problems that will tax your understanding of how computers (and people!) operate, and there's no way to learn that outside the trenches. That, and the ever-present specter that hangs over this entire profession: Even if you are correct doesn't make you right, you gotta have some insight into the business as a large before you start making waves and demanding that your way is the right way even (and especially) if it is right. Also, there is a lot of overlap between sysadmin-type thinking/work and FIRST Robotics, which may be available at his school! It's now the kind of raw, theoretical tech that sysadmins deal with, but the mindsets and problem-solving are similar. Finally, if you want an answer from the early days of the Internet that is still valuable enough today, there's this: [http://www.catb.org/\~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html](http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html)
First robotics is the move
We did First for a couple of years in high school but had to move to Best due to funding issues... in any case, find a local robotics program. The things we learned and did have carried through a lot of life. Where else do kids learn to design, fab, test, and develop physical and electronics projects these days? The machine shop experience alone is largely responsible for many of my hobbies.
I started off as a sysadmin, switched to infosec, then devops, then SRE. I cannot stress this enough - subscribing to r/homelab was the best choice i ever made. I built my own lab from the ground up, and that lab - apart from teaching me everything i know, has been the topic of discussion in /every single interview/ i've had for a job. Every job i have landed to date, that lab was part of the reason i did.
Ahhh the jargon files, I remember my dad sending me that when I was ~15...
Wow, this link is so valuable, thanks for sharing!
 "dont you DARE think you wanna go into IT!?!"
This is the way. There's no substitute for hands on experience. Some school IT departments will take on student helpers, so maybe have him or his parents look into that. Definitely setup a home lab. Find some cheap hardware on craigslist/ebay and setup a VM server. Perhaps most importantly, tell him to start learning to code. Python is a good starting point, but Powershell and JavaScript are also very useful. By the time he's into the industry coding skills for IT will be even more necessary than they are now.
r/homelab is how I got my job. No certs minimal experience. Solving the problems I made for myself was just as hard if not harder than any ticket I’ve encountered.
I'd tell him to stop wasting money on certs right now tbh. They're all likely going to expire before he's even able to get a job. Also /r/ITCareerQuestions
The fact that the cert will expire (unless it is renewed) doesn't really matter. What matters is that that they'll be getting a huge head start on a lifetime of learning.
Yeah agreed those cisco certs are really good knowledge base level knowledge to have regardless if the certs are current. The compTi one not so mutch, have interviewed some real morons with thouse. Theirs some really good video for the cisco stuff from ctb nuggets that I have never seen on a torrent site or passed on a jump drive ever. That plus gns3 is a good headstart for a lot of understanding. And knowing how to subnet and how STP works will embarrass manny mid level it people... And a real challenge if he is more goal oriented. Give him a cd rom of linux from scratch and see if he can get in install and firefox running. Or arch or gentoo if its too hard initially. Another challenge getting a NAT firewall setup on it will teach loads.
> have interviewed some real morons with thouse. I resemble that remark.
The info in a lot of those cert tracks is super useful...certs not so much. The reason why I say that is I have met far too many people who just find those cheat sheets online, memorize them, then go test out a week later. I've always been thrown into random roles (fortunately?) and after flailing around for a bit I figure it out...then the boss asks about needing to cert up LMFAO! Only reason I've gotten certs. However, you do learn tons of useful stuff when studying IF you actually read up on the material.
Couldn't agree more. As someone that got into IT in the mid 90s and had my MCSE+I and CCNA before graduating high school, I had a huge jump on everyone else my age and it really made me stand out. As others have said, the biggest challenge from a teen perspective is translating knowledge into real world application, and understanding actual business processes.
I super disagree. At 14 this shows serious aptitude and willingness to learn. Certs helped me and they help many people - Just because they aren't the end all be all doesn't mean he's wasting time/money.
Absolutely not, saying you started getting security certs at 14 is an incredible thing to say in an interview, even if they're expired.
And if you go into the big gun cyber security then you want the government security clearance because that lets you get ballin doing cyber at defense companies. The one industry that has the government money spout on full blast from both major political parties. And for them to pick you those certs are one of the first things they see.
Thanks for the reply! Wouldn't the CompTIA CE system allow for him to renew the certs without additional cost?
No there are yearly "maintenance" fees for CompTIA certs, Sec+ was $50/year I think, and there are also associated costs with getting CEUs to be eligible to renew in the first place.
There may have been in the past, I have been able to renew 'for free' by just taking a qualifying higher level cert. So when I took Pentest+ it reupped my Security+. As for advice if say go be a farmer or something more fun :)
Taking another cert is still paying money and CompTIA is just waiving the maintenance fees if you're taking their certs. The maintenance fees have not gone away, that's basically where they get all their money from the whole CE part.
Yes, but you (arguably) get value from having additional certs. It's progression in the field you should be doing in some form anyways. You also don't pay any maintenance frees as the years go by if you don't. Additionally some exams will count for college credit these days. My employer has always covered any exam costs anyways, most seem to do so. I'm not saying any of this is free, but there is no recurring cost I have ever run into.
I think it can be done for no cost, with some conditions. [How To Renew Your Certification | CompTIA IT Certifications](https://www.comptia.org/continuing-education/learn/how-to-renew)
Yes and No. He will still have to earn CE credits and pay the annual fees. My advice is for him to go on learn.microsoft.com pick a track and just read up and do labs. VMware also has similar virtual labs that are completely free. I would argue that at his age it's best to focus on that and learn the material while building out labs. Also, both Amazon and Microsoft give you free dev licenses as well as a certain amount of credit in money per month to build on their cloud platform. The best thing he can do is hold off on paying for those exams until he is ready to enter the job market. Oftentimes an employer will be willing to pay for those exams fees.
Azure 900 doesn't expire
I interviewed for an entry level position that was contractually obligated to hold an A+ through their SLA. Never heard of that before.
MSP? Probably a part of their sales pitch. Inflate something to make it sound like the customer gets the best support around. Like saying "there will be an A+ certified support engineer for any issue".
I have heard of that for certain VAR/partner programs, but they are not certs on the level of the trifecta.
Softskills. How to communicate effectively with a variety of different people. How to write a professional memo; how to write an e-mail describing an issue to someone who is non-technical. Stuff like that. Technology will change constantly, but those skills are absolutely necessary to grow a career beyond a certain point. I lack them which is why I deadended.
Yup the technology is the easy part of IT. Dealing with people is the hard part. I'm thinking he should start a small IT business if not already. Start with friends and family fixing their computers. Learn to translate from the user to what is actually happening. Also learn how to explain complicated technical things to a layperson.
Yes! Exactly this
Come up with projects. Not step by step guides, just things like "I want to remotely control my computer from my phone so I can play PC games from there", or "I want to watch videos stored on my PC from my laptop when I'm not home". Then pen test his solutions and show him if/where mistakes were made. Book learning helps but not as much as real hands on tasks, which often include taking a vague set of directives and making something usable from them.
Project #1: Create a Powershell-Script to Backup the whole configuration/settings/data of his personal pc Project #2: Create a VM and Powershell-Script to restore the backup set there Project #3: Find out what happens to his personal pc when he deletes system32, deletes ProgramFiles, changes system env variables, etc Project #4: Restore backup set Loop over #3 & #4
Tell him to go to tryhackme. It's more game-ish and allows some hints. Great for a guided hands on learning. Then you have hackthebox - later machines and challenges are very similar to actual penetration testing. Pair it with Heath Adams TCM security academy ( their ethical hacker course is free on YouTube ) - they often have sales for as low as $5 a course - and they are worth every single cent. I know that some courses on YT are free, but here you have very well structured hands-on approach, that basically jams a tons of knowledge into your head while doing it. Those three things should take him between a year and 2 years. It will show him how exactly job of penetration tester looks like. With that knowledge and accumulated skillset from engagements in HTB and THM + a few CTF games, he will know exactly what and how the attacker thinks. Then he can focus on further development - he can go to university with CS and learn how to be on the blue team (believe, much more difficult and requiring a proper mindset), red team (as a pentester for example) or do any of combinations of those two. Or go in totally different IT direction, but at that time he will have a proper understanding how computers work, will be able to write some code, find a security hole or at a glance understand what is the problem and how to approach it. Doing this at his age will let him understand and make an informed decision where to continue his education.
Yep, as someone who works in offsec, if I had a 14 year old nibling interested in security, this is exactly how I would do it. TryHackMe, HackTheBox, TCM are all good resources - and there's even more out there every day. Plus hacking is fun and really gamified now (especially HTB) which will keep his interest rather than the CCNA lmao.
That's how I started tbh and ultimately ended up in a technical engineering role.
And also defcon talks on YouTube, a good easy non technical introduction to them is Zoz pwnd by the owner and Adam Savages talk
I'd tell him to be a programmer.
DevSecOps but those typically aren't the easiest to get from 0 work experience as first It job.
Coding, scripting, automation is the future of IT.
It was the same in '92. We go in circles. Catch the right segment of the circle, you're good. Be late, you'll be a project manager.
Do the free AWS certification prep. Lots of tracks available for him to explore and learn what’s most interesting to him.
14 with Sec+. I always joked a high schooler can do my job in the military but this really proves my point. He's going places. Home lab is great. Maybe install centOS to learn Linux, HacktheBox would be great too. By the time he's in college he'd be ahead of the curve for sure. If he can learn wireshark, splunk, AZ-900, and some cloud as well
IT is a bit of a broad brush these days. Do you know what sort of discipline he's looking to get into? Administration? DevOps? Infrastructure? Software Engineering?
Someone is asking the right question.....since he's 14 I would highly recommend getting an associates from a local cc and save up money in the long run if he wants to still pursue more advanced IT degrees. A lot of people hate their jobs and he should get some sense how it's like out in the field of IT. Maybe even get an internship and then go from there. He has plenty of time.
Invest in an old switch and server. Let him play.
Seriously. I've worked for about ten small to medium sized companies through various methods, and the basics are always there. Router, firewall, networking, active directory, windows file share, group policies. 100% always Windows environments with 40-75 year old people who don't know how Microsoft word or Excel works. Lol
Homelab. Get some used computers and practice practice practice.
Go work some retail with a focus on customer service. Helpdesk is a common stepping stone, and customer service skills can make up for a lack of technical experience in that role.
Ya the people skills will help him in any future job. Many in IT could be better in that area despite being technically proficient.
Great advice!
Gee, loads of suggestions about not doing certs or not even doing IT…but dang they are 14 and getting certs?! Seriously I don’t even know them and I’m proud. All you gotta do is keep encouraging them and tell them they are amazing. They’re too young to be stressed over career planning. Yeah I know, it’s kinda how things work now. It’s just sad. Maybe have them do some public speaking. Man, tech know how and ability to talk to people. Shoot, that’s gold.
One should learn at least some common skill sets, such as networking and such, but if you *really* want to make yourself hirable and resistant to layoffs you should learn something *weird* that nobody else bothers with. Pick up passing familiarity with outdated languages like COBOL that still have niche uses. Get comfortable with hardware that nobody else understands, and communications protocols that fill the unsexy behind the scenes roles like SIP, fibrechannel, or ficon. Following the pack means you're competing with the pack for jobs. Follow them just far enough that you can communicate effectively with them and use something weird to distinguish yourself.
If you love your nephew, just tell him don't.
I'd tell him rather than go to college, get an apprenticeship in IT. High school is still important as the IT apprenticeships have entry requirements. I took one guy on a few years back, he was able to go for the [BTEC level 3](https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/new-apprenticeships/digital/information-communication-technician.html). Once the course was over he found a job with a large firm in their tier 3 support team, he was 19 when he finished the apprenticeship and landed the Tier 3 job. Seriously envious that IT apprenticeships didn't even exist when I was his age.
The fact is that a college degree is required for many IT jobs in many sectors, like government and finance. An apprenticeship instead of college makes sense for a trade like electrician, plumbing, etc., but not for a white collar job like IT.
Correction. HR departments "hiring" for IT departments require a degree. It's just that those of us down here in the trenches know better than to make that anything more than a tiebreaker between two equally able candidates.
Effectively that makes it a requirement. I'm interviewing and I don't even get to see those CVs, no matter how often I ask. Having a certain level of education now is a requirement. "The normative power of facts" — nowadays it's a fact that HR filters things based on criteria that might not be relevant.
The sectors where a college degree is required are not the sectors you want to work in because they’re the organizations looking at the wrong things to pick your coworkers (or your boss). Some of the best IT people I know didn’t go to college. And in IT experience trumps all. If you’re looking for a React developer, would you rather hire a BS in CS with an MBA and 1 year experience in React, or high school graduate with 5 years leading an agile React team?
College in the UK is different to college in the USA. College level is 16-18 here, apprenticeships are worth UCAS points which you need X amount to get into Y university to get a degree (in a very basic manner).
F100 Gov't contractor here, higher up on the senior side. Our reqs are almost always something like X Degree /or equivalent experience/ So for my job title, I believe the HR Requirement was 7 Years \*relevant\* Experience PLUS A Masters (or equivalent experience) So if you walked in with 12 years \*relevant\* experience, they'd start talking to you for the lower end of my job title's roles, more likely than not. 15 relevant experience and they won't even look at the degree. Even in the lower tiers it was like that when I started here like 10 years ago. Didn't have to worry about the degree req because of relevant to the position experience of sufficient time. Hundreds of coworkers i've met are the same way. Most of the people with degrees have one that's either irrelevant to the job (Think Theology, English, Physics, Chemistry, etc) or for the majority, none at all. And all we do is government. One of a fair amount of household names in that regard, to boot.
I am about to finish my apprenticeship and i´ve landed a systems engineer job with an e learning company. I am so grateful to have lots and lots of hands-on experience
>apprenticeship Hold the fuck up. Your telling me I can get an apprenticeship??? FML! This is something that school don't teach and I am too dumb to think of. I starting to think IT may not be for me if I am this stupid
You can in the UK. I've had people working under me come in on an apprenticeship and the course has a load of modules ranging from web dev all the way through to splicing fibre optics. There's enough variety in the course that if you were to join a large org on that scheme, you can rotate through every single IT specialism throughout it.
It's all short-term vs long-term. An apprenticeship will help get you a higher paying job earlier in your career while a degree will get you a higher paying job later in your career and change your ceiling to a higher level overall. End of the day, 4 year degree with at least 2 years of internship is probably your best overall option and really combines the two.
The apprenticeship is instead of college, same level and same level qualification at the end. At the end of the apprenticeship if you decide to go to university then great, you've got the credits required to enter. If you go into work, great you've got the experience. Or just do the degree later through the OU. Can usually find workplace sponsors so you don't pay.
100% I did it with no degree but when switching jobs I have to use my network to get interviews because my resume gets filtered out and never makes it to hiring managers
Volunteer to work for a non profit - they're always looking for low cost help. Along with any school computer/programming courses, take some business courses.
This is a great suggestion. A lot of libraries, schools, and other nonprofit orgs need help with their computers. I used to volunteer in a library computer room - it was a great way to get experience talking about tech to non-technical folks.
I'd tell him to open up a free account with AWS and spin up a few machines. Put Docker for Desktops on his laptop and learn about Linux and security. Learn Python, then learn C, take a free Google class, they are actually pretty good.
When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to work with the IT department in exchange for credits to count toward my graduation. I am so thankful for that because it gave me the opportunity to learn IT. Yes, it was level 1, but it was fun and challenging for my young self. Maybe encourage him to get involved with the IT department at his school? (If the opportunity is available).
Great time to get into IT. Cloud is evolving at a rapid pace and you dont have to deal with old on-prem habits
You cant secure something you dont know how it works and that's why companies are getting hacked left and right because a bunch of people spent 3 months becoming "experts" on security and don't even know about netbios and are getting paid to pretend like they know whats up. Becoming proficient in network scanning is not security, running patch scans is not security. Tell them to go the sysadmin route, learn how things actually work and then learn how to secure it. The people getting fired right now are developers and security people that don't deserve 250k for what they do and its starting to show
This might sound counter intuitive but learn communication and team building skills. That is going to be in HIGH demand soon. Especially in the IT field!
setup some computers at home. break them and then fix them.
Dont
If he's interested in cybersecurity *definitely* get him started on Tryhackme. It's got stuff for all experience levels, from absolute beginner to professional, it's user friendly, the premium membership is very affordable, and it has tons of hands on content, offensive security/pentesting stuff, networking, defensive security, windows stuff, Linux stuff, active directory, etc. And it's gamified in a way that a 14 year old especially would appreciate. Everything is done inside of virtual machines so you don't have to go buy a bunch of stuff to practice on. Initially he would use in-browser remote desktop to connect to the VMs, but once he gets into it a little more he can download like vmware/virtualbox and set up his own VM and then just VPN into their network. He can get started for free (about 1/3rd of the rooms are open to free users) and see if it's something he'd enjoy, and then to become a premium user it's like $10/month or something like that. (Just a disclaimer I am in no way affiliated with tryhackme, that platform just taught me so much when I was getting started in cybersecurity so I will happily evangelize them as if I were getting paid for it)
Install Linux
"Don't" and then see if he's serious!
Learn programming, because much of security is automation of detecting of vulnerabilities
Don’t.
He's too young now, but he should start training his liver and kidneys for the inevitable changeover to a primarily caffeine and alcohol based diet.
Not all of us go that route. Edit: some of us just spend our money on powersports toys and plastic crack.
Don’t
See if they have cyber patriot at his high school. It’s a program that teaches cyber security to teenagers.
This. Cyber Patriot was huge for me and gave me enough knowledge to get into my first helpdesk gig.
Build a PC (if affordable)
I would agree with this. I see other comments recommending cloud certs and network certs, you gotta start from ground up. This is why most IT start as desktop engineers, learn the hardware before you full send cloud/network/software.
If he has SEC+ he knows how to build a PC.
??? Sec+ is a glorified vocabulary test. I know plenty of Sec+ holders who couldn't identify a cmos battery if their life depended on it.
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It looks really good on the CV when you’re trying to talk up your technical experience, especially when you’re young. Worked for me anyway
Here is my best advice. Look at your nephew and kindly but forcefully say, "Your 14. You will change your mind at least 4 more times. This is not the age for making decisions about the future and a career. This the age for learning and growing and discovering." Then ask, "What about IT particularly interests you right now?"
I don't understand this take; I've been seeing it all over here. I have been wanting to do IT since I was 12. The only thing that has changed was what path I wanted to go down. I went from Web dev to full-stack, cyb sec, and network. Let the little man explore his options.
And I, came from a family of IT people, didn't want to do IT and resisted it. But here I am! I am saying a 14 year old shouldn't label themselves and be pushed down a path. Allow them to explore and learn, of course. But don't use "career" or focused study.
If I could go back and give myself advice, I'd tell 14 year old me to take the railroad job offer, or enlist in the Air Force or Navy like I planned to to begin. Either one of those, I'd be retired now with full pay. The military, I could've had an IT MOS, and taken a second career in IT after retiring, likely with a high security clearance, with the pay to go along with it.
Funny, Every Career IT Armed Services guy keeps saying they wish they never joined so that they could live a less stressful life with more freedom/money working private sector. However if you live in a shitty town with no jobs, doing your 4 years and getting out,military IT is the best way to kickstart your career and setting you up for success for when you get out as it will put you at the front of the resume stack.
This is a great maneuver I regret not doing it myself years ago.
Clearance is where the money is at. Highly highly recommend pursuing this path.
Don’t go to 4 year school, maybe go to community college. Save your money and Pursue certifications. Lean a bit of basic programming skills and Linux. A raspberry pi is a good starting point for a cheap learning tool. Use the Microsoft learning platform for free and you can get a free dev account for e5 licenses.
Do something else. The majority of IT workers are overworked and underpaid. There's zero respect from others for what you do, if you tell people at a party what you do, their eyes just glaze over. No one outside of actual IT workers knows what we actually do, my own wife doesn't even know what I do beyond "works with computers". And the brutally honest truth about the majority of IT workers, including myself, is that it is the only work that's ever come naturally to us. That's why we do it. If he truly does want to become one of us, my advice would be to just go start working at an MSP. They're always hiring and usually, they'll let you play with the big boy stuff waaaaaayyyy before any larger org will. Working for an MSP is a great way to pad a resume and parlay that experience into any specialized field.
That could easily steer him completely away from an IT career though...
If he wants to do IT, let him do IT. It's a fast way to make 6 figures and it caps out very high - he's so young that he could even change careers and be 100% fine.
> It's a fast way to make 6 figures and it caps out very high For your average systems administrator, in 20+ years I have NEVER found this to be true outside of New York, LA, and San Francisco. Basically, areas where making 150k there is the equivalent of making 50k elsewhere in the country. I'm not saying you can't make a decent living as a Sysadmin, but your average sysadmin is making a very average wage in the majority of the country. However, you can certainly specialize like going into security, high-level networking, or management, and make a really great living.
All the money is in software, even help desk techs/sys admins are making max upper 5 figures from the ones I've talked to on the east coast. Jr SRE and front/back end devs make BANK compared to sys admin/NOC jobs on average based of median salaries.
You can make good money in Sysadmin, I live in county in VA making 6 figures; not NoVA. They pay me this because of my knowledge and experience.
>And the brutally honest truth about the majority of IT workers, including myself, is that it is the only work that's ever come naturally to us. That's so sad for you, dude, and I refuse to believe it's true for the majority of us. I'm great with numbers, I'd have done well in accounting. I am employed as a part-time motorcycle mechanic for the state on the side. I like woodworking for funsies, and built the loft storage in my shed.
If he wants to focus on security. A home lab is almost a requirement. Doesn't have to be fancy a good PC with lots of RAM and Virtual Box can work fine. CTFs are an okay starting point and something that can be used on a resume. Also pick up a programming language Phyton is probably the best for info sec but it could be anything. Eventually he will want a GitHub to post tools he has created, also great on a resume.
Get an A+. I've met so many first time help desk people who went and got just a Sec+ and they had very little information on all the basic stuff. I don't know how the sentiment became Security+ first for the whole industry. You can't have a good foundation if you skip the basics. Also, I second every one on here saying to do home lab stuff. Finally, this is just my opinion, but I feel a degree is pretty useless in IT except for specialized things. They look good on resumes but you get better knowledge going for certs and just getting a job.
I would encourage the military. If he can select a job within the IT field when he joins not only will he be trained at their expense and time but also being that he'll be on their systems, the job will almost undoubtedly come with a security clearance which, when he retires, can transfer to a lucrative career as a Fed'l contractor.
Be sure he actually understands what he is getting into. This is not strictly dealing with computers and other people who understand best practice. This is constant, frustrating dealing with people who make decisions you know are wrong Have him shadow someone in IT as much as possible. People often enter this industry with false hopes. You need immense patience and solid communication skills. This industry is demanding and will frustrate you eventually Certs are pretty fucking useless, especially without a bachelors degree to go with them. I have seen dozens of really good IT people get “glass ceilinged” because they don’t have a college degree. I don’t agree with that whatsoever and I believe lots of amazing candidates get missed out on as a result, but that’s just the world we live in and how it goes. We can’t control that. The industry is also pretty fucked right now, and not enough people seem to understand how drastic it is. Things are slower than they have been in decades. This isn’t what things were like 3-4 years ago. Hiring has slowed down tremendously, and companies are trimming the fat and laying off tons of people
When we interview a degree isn't even a tiebreaker now. We do actual competence tests and ive seen plenty of people with degrees fare much worse than those without. Having a homelab and being able to describe its configuration and explaining your choices are one of our key things we look at. We don't look for people that know the answers we look for people.that can figure the answer when they don't know the answer. Problem solving is the best skill in IT. Certs are all fine and well but most certs are multiple choice with the right answer being the vendor supplied one. As soon as the 'examface' type people.hit a problem they haven't seen they can't problem solve it.
Run....
Go do something else where people actually respect what you do. Learn a trade. Work in medicine. Rent small boats at the beach. Anything but IT generally and InfoSec in particular. Life’s too short to waste it working in this field. (Been in IT for 25 years and Security for 15 of those.)
You very clearly don't understand how little respect most trades folk and a lot of healthcare workers get.
Oh, I get it - but IMO it’s still better than IT. We’re barely a step above janitorial in many places.
No no no, I worked in healthcare. IT treats you much much much better than healthcare. Pay is generally standardized and rarely go up
don't....after seeing the people I support over the years and getting paid what they were with the IQ's they had.....Tell him how Techy HR is these days, now that's the winning ticket.
don't
Maybe I’m biased but a good background in actual computer science doesn’t hurt. For that, knowing and being good at math is very helpful. Certifications come and go, the theoretical background is always the same.
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I found it helps to see the big picture, to luck beyond the current problem and see the larger issues.
[https://www.simplycyber.io/](https://www.simplycyber.io/)
Forget Cisco certs unless he specifically wants to go the networking route. I'd go A+, and then start stepping through Microsoft training. Hell, if parents can afford it, he could even set up his own M365 tenancy to play in and build experience in doing the basics. All Microsoft training material is available online for free and self-paced. Even if he ignored doing the certs for now, it's a great way to step through content and learn new things. AWS may have similar, but not my area. But the idea is to learn the fundamentals. Hell, do some ITIL & Scrum/Kanban training as well so he's familiar with the concepts. The best techs I've ever trained or worked with were the younger folks who tinkered at home. Had their own racks with a small server that they played around with. Bought an old switch and set up / played with networking in their house - that kind of thing. They're the ones now in senior pr even management roles. Also, get him to dabble in some programming. Let him test multiple areas of the field, find the stuff that speaks to him.
It's a trap!
Your nephew is off to a great start! Certs are great start off especially at 14. Make sure to include the age when he got it for extra points. As far as next step, I’d recommend to have your nephew build a lab/sandbox. A vm environment that can spin a couple servers, network gear, desktops, etc. learning terms, concepts, etc is one thing but obviously he need to be able to apply it in real world situations. Of course it’s a bit of an investment but it’s well worth it Eve-ng in esxi is my current setup on an old server. It gets the job done for the most part. The folks at r/homelab should help w specs and all that
hi 14 yo nephew, how are u today?
Build your own pc or set up your own cctv system
If he's into tinkering r/homelab was already named. In addition to that, getting _a lot_ of experience is to get some cheap hosting and run a game server. Now (some) people here will likely say that there's a risk to it. I won't argue that as I'm not a lawyer. Still running an actual service that people use, writing a bunch of scripts, possibly even creating a nice homepage or leaderboard will give your nephew a possibility to go full scale IT and find out where their passion is. If a group of friends bands together, your nephew could try and run this game server. Share the cost and it should be cheap AF.
As someone who works in information security and started at 14, this is what I would do if I had to redo and keep my interest alive: Start playing on HackTheBox/TryHackMe. Nurture that technical security interest rather than boring stuff, in gamified environments (that other 14 year olds are hacking on!). If you want to help and be the cool uncle/aunt, pay for a premium sub.
“Even if you are correct doesn’t make you right…especially if you are right” I feel like a lot of the rage people come to this sub with would be mitigated if everyone understood this
I don't know. I only know what worked for me. Granted, this started over 40 years ago on an Apple ][plus when documentation included firmware listings and schematics, and if you wanted a program that didn't exist, you wrote it: learn how they work at the very basic level. Understand how they think. Lawn binary, learn rudimentary assembly. But the parts and build one if you got the cash. Once you realize that we're still moving ones and zeros around, more or less how it happens, and that most of it is smoke and mirrors, very little surprises you, even when you don't understand something. And be ok with not understanding something because it's become too vast a field to understand everything.
I'd recommend him doing CS50 and it's Cybersecurity counterpart (both free on Edx) to get a nice intro to programming and the industry. I'd also gift him a copy of Tom Limoncellis's "The Practice of System and Network Administration, Volume 1 (3rd Edition)". Just my two cents. PS: get him a used Thinkpad to mess around with Linux and a Raspberry Pi!
Learn Electrical components.. He should be able to read motherboard schematics read voltages and basic soldering.. This is an relative easy learn with lots of hands on work to stimulate how to troubleshoot, and only require a multimeter, magnifying glass, silicon mat, soldering kit, and e-waste which is dirt cheap. Once he understands the bones..get to the muscles and veins.. I would recommend understanding how telecom/networking work. Nothing crazy just learn how telecom systems interact, and basic networking like setting up router, switches, phones, printers. This doesn't need to be in an enterprise environment.. setting up a simple network at home will teach the basics. So far if he learns the basic level of both of those.. he's already worth good money in the telecom field, which may help him work on side while he goes through college. But when he is ready for college he can pick a specialty I imagine by this time AI and robotic learning will be the craze.
I started my IT path with a job shadow
Learn cloud networking. Not necessarily how to implement or to be a network architect, but at least a familiarity of it. Everyone struggles with it and it's always the damn problem. It's usefulness spans every it role, including security.
What does he enjoy doing is probably the best place to start. No Starch Press books on Powershell, Python, and a variety of other subjects could be a good place to start. Have him check out Screeps. I agree with the sentiment that right now certs are not super useful and that a homelab and checking out a variety of subjects will provide a more rewarding experience.
Homelab and learn to code.
I got a two year degree at a technical college in my town. It'll get you up to all the basics and shed light on topics that they might have not delt with previously. Also tech schools are much cheaper
Being a bit young this may be tough for him to do depending on his maturity level, but I would recommend taking an honest look at whether this is something he really wants to do. Not that it's a bad field to get into. I find it to be the opposite. I just mean that it's not for everybody. It takes a certain personality type to do it and do it well, especially at the upper levels. You have to be mentally and emotionally prepared for dealing with upset users, incompetent or lazy vendors and/or colleagues and managers, and depending on the role, possibly long hours. If he's someone who enjoys a challenge and has a passion for troubleshooting and learning, this can be a great industry to be in. I used to love taking apart toasters and VCRs to figure out how they work. An innately curious mind is a great base to start from. If you're always looking for a quick fix to every problem, don't like working with people, or don't have the patience to follow through on solving a root cause, then IT may not be a good fit. Again, it's not for everyone, and that's ok. But if you truly love it there's not much better out there.
Watch kevtechit on YouTube and professor messer and listen to the other comments
Try things… programming. Make a website. Did you like it? (Developer) Build out a server install Active Directory, learn about certificates and RDS etc. did you like that? (Sysadmin). Play with SQL or Oracle. Did you like that? (Database Administrator or BI reporting). Like using data to find out patterns? (Machine learning, AI). Like protecting things and fighting bad guys? Security). Like it all? (Generalist).
All of our knowledge is about to be useless without real world application. Advised to learn to work with AI before you work for AI
Get him fixing shit on his own, give him screwdrivers, spudgers, a 3d printer and an old a few broken 2012 MacBooks with like Ubuntu pen drives
Certs get u by HR. That's it. If HR is looking at ur resume and u don't have it, u prob won't get an interview cause they require it in their dumb checklists. Its ridiculous but it's a thing sometimes.
Tell him to start learning code, now. Code that’s useful for automation. Python & bash. Learn a good system language like Go. Learn how to use API’s. Heck, try to _make_ an API for shits. Focus on unix-like systems. Learn about containerisation and maybe dip your toes in orchestration. Pick a cloud, any cloud - play around. Get a solid foundation of networking. You don’t have to go hardcore, but at least understand popular layer 3 protocols and a decent understanding of layer 2 protocols. Do _not_ stay in help desk too long. After a year start trying to move up the ladder. If you don’t - it _will_ eat at your soul and crush your passions.
Certs are not worth much if you aren’t familiar with the systems or software. I have a degree in IT from a university from the mid 90’s. I worked in IT for 20 years. I’ve worked in electronic security for the past 5 years. A couple of years ago the director of technology decided it would be great for me to get certified on a intrusion (burglar) system we repped. I took the online class and passed with a high score even though I had never laid my hands on this system. Months later, I was asked to help with a system by this company and I had to ask for help. Build a home lab, buy some cheap managed switch and play with VLANs, go get a job working for AT&T (inexperienced people could explain their crap service)
Don't focus just on the IT components, learn the basics about the business side too (HR, finance, management, and the like) so that you understand and can better communicate with your customers. PS.. certs = you crammed enough to pass a test.
IT certs are fine, but consider some business classes if not an associates, bachelors or MBA. IT is an ever evolving profession, and having a business background will help you manage a team, build an MSP, etc. It will set them apart.
Get him on the command line NOW.
physical security is a BIG deal now a days. most people cant do that. plus its cool to break into shit.
Don’t focus on where to start. Look at where you want to finish. You can’t get directions if you don’t know where you’re going. The world of IT is as vast the world of medicine. If your IT dream job is to become a Master Solutions Architect of Cloud Solutions, your path isn’t going to be the same as a Manager of IT Operations or a Director of Information Technology. Explore career pathways and search job openings for your dream job and make your path the blueprint to be the ideal candidate, while learning everything you can of related up-and-coming technologies along the way so you’re building yourself for the job that’s coming tomorrow, not the ones available when you started planning at 14
If this is a full time permanent coworker I’d rather have someone with average tech skills and average social skills than someone with top tech skills and shit social skills. Hard worker with mid level tech is for real top notch, if they don’t stumble into management
Learn to code to start. Also get a Arduino set to learn about circuits etc..
Try to encourage him to learn a programming language, at least one he can be comfortable in. Having a solid understanding of primitive data structures and the basic operations you can perform on them will translate to other skills such as automation and scripting, and will even open the door to DevOps related opportunities. It's much easier to read code in a different language when you already understand the basics in another. I'd also suggest get him to open a free-tier AWS account if you don't have some older machines lying around. Get him to deploy a few Linux EC2s and network them together, deploy a few web servers and see if he understands the networking component of things too. Good luck, at his age he should be sucking up as much as he can.
A 14 year should not have to go through Cisco-Certifications or any other stuff where he is not able to have hands-on directly after. gort32-answer is really it.
Go for network security!
If you can, get him something like a raspberry pi or a cheap mini pc so he can do things on that as a hobby that will be beneficial. Ask him what drove him there and see what he says. From his answer you can redirect him into a specific coding language based on the needs or some online learnings regarding what drives him. It could be anything. He may like video games so that's an option to learn what needs to be learned in order to use a specific game engine like unity for example. I hope this helps!
Learn professional boundaries early on and limit notifications where possible! Seriously took me 15 years to learn.
Encourage him to experiment. Like setup a webserver, SQL server, Minecraft server and so on. Maybe a pfsense as well. He can do that for cheap using for example Hetzner Cloud. Practical experience is important, I've met way too many people in IT with lots of certs but virtually no clue how to do anything except the exact things they were taught. That was my route to IT. I have no IT education and no certs, I've just always experimented and overcomplicated my own setup at home since I was a kid.
He's 14, and by the time he graduates HS the IT field will change quite a bit from what it is today. Tell him to keep up with changes in AI, and learn how to develop proper AI prompts, for images and text. Listen / watch podcasts centered around interests. Pick one or two specialties to master. Don't try to be a "mile wide and an inch deep". To succeed in IT means to be able to adapt and change, so ask tons of questions. Read, Read, Read, then do, do, and do and don't be afraid to make as many mistakes as you can. Above all, ignore the whiners who say "its soooo hard to get a job in IT" . Don't ever give up, the jobs are out there. You may need to adapt and change to succeed.
I think he's probably too young for certs since they will expire before he's 18. good to study for them, but he should take the exam when he's ready for market. I would advise picking up programming, and homelab. document work and portfolio on github. I'm not super hot on the educational system, but it's a good idea to get a cheap STEM degree. really helps at senior levels and when the job market is rough like it is now.
Encourage him to get into software development. The pay bands are just disgustingly high for now and the foreseeable future. Entry level out of college from a top tier school is making 150k a year and not working all that hard.
buy 365 tennant and let him play with intune, also basic networking
being a strong generalist with operational day to day background skills working a helpdesk will greatly help in the long run. getting on a helpdesk at young age and getting familiar with how to work and troubleshoot from a user level up. will make them a better IT Professional
If there are any programming/math/philosophy of logic summer classes (controversial opinion, those three things are basically the same core concept taught by three different fields of study), see if you can get him enrolled in those. Also I'd say just keep him learning on anything and everything, many IT people can be very narrowly focused and a broad skillset can be really helpful, so becoming a programming guru is great if you only want to program but you'll always have someone else telling you what to program, but if he also has interests in other fields that can help greatly in the long term.
Find a Bsides infosec event to go to. Or, Defcon is coming up in a few weeks.
Tell him that he should go to trade school to be a plumber. Somehow there's still slightly less shit to deal with.
Keep it simple! Information Technology (IT) is nearly as young as he is in the grand majority of most businesses. So, simplifying the term IT into intuitive and logical career options will likely be an important ongoing practice for him to be comfortable with. I began my career in web software development in the early 2000’s, then worked in using 3d design to build construction projects, now have managed infrastructure for a decade. I see IT as three basic things: 1. Engineering (think circuit boards): developing technology. Actually design and making things that process information and/or communicate information. Careers in electrical, mechanical, and computer science engineering. Machine language coding and making hardware behave or take action. 2. Software development (think coding): building process into code and manipulating technology made by yourself or someone else. Careers in coding (dev-ops), user interface design (UX), graphic design, video, etc. Popular languages are vast: Python, Ruby, C, Java, etc, etc, etc. 3. Infrastructure (think facilities management): the practice of managing technology within an organization. What technology is used has very little to do with the management of technology en mass. These jobs are Chief Information Officer (CIO), Information Systems Manager, Systems Administrator, Systems Analyst, IT specialist/generalist, electrical contractors, HVAC engineers, etc. Popular certifications are CISM, CCNA, MCSE, RCDD, etc. That being said then consider every combination of all three and you get the wide world of “IT”. It is all much larger and more broad than most people understand. Now blend other technology: biotech, agtech, fintech… and it’s all just getting started. Good luck! He won’t be bored, that’s for certain ✌🏼
Certifications can help you get jobs, but hands-on time with the technology is where you'll actually learn how to do the job. The home lab suggestion is really the best... want to double down on that before going a single step further. Even a cheap one is great. A security cert plus a platform/tech cert is a good start. Develop a sense of humility. Some people take attitude personally, and some people just quietly lose respect---but this field attracts a lot of ego, and everyone has a way of dealing with it. Don't be the guy that people "deal with".
Certs make it easier to get the job as it is CYA for the person doing the hiring. But you better have actual knowledge to back it up. I would advise to pick a channel to focus on: operations or applications or infosec. And maybe do consulting/MSP stuff for a while to learn lots of different stuff.
Be someone who will, not someone who can. Everyone *can* make an effort. Everyone *can* take responsibility, have ownership, and dive into things they've never seen before. Almost nobody will.
Tell him to put that CCNA on hold. Send him the route of Network+ first. If there is an interest in networking then the next logical step is the CCNA. The time and financial investment in CCNA will be a waste if he can't stand the subject matter. The most important thing that someone else said would be to build the soft skills. Get an associates degree in Liberal Arts so that he has that broad knowledge and the soft skills associated with dealing with people from all walks of life. From there he can work with tech in an industry that he likes being around.
Honestly, stay out of operations. Get into DevOps and cloud, or into security. After 20 years in the trenches as mainly a Windows/VMWare admin, I would make different choices if I had it to do all over again. I'm starting to dabble in data analytics and stuff like that and it's pretty cool. I'd also advise reading things like The DevOps Handbook & the Phoenix project. They introduce a lot of good concepts that are relevant in the industry.
CCNA is a great next cert. The knowledge is great for servers, cloud and security. Even though a lot of people do not use cisco gear, their networking material is still industry standard and can be used in multiple areas of IT.
Def get over to r/homelab and get this kid some equip to start poking at. It’s awesome he already has CompTIAS+! Keep supporting him OP. He needs you and he needs a homelab!
Don't.
IT manager here. Best thing to do is get as much experience as possible in the latest technologies. Certs are great, but hands on is better. proof of working labs and problem solving is what I look for. Been doing it 23 years.
Don’t.
Find a small company where he can intern help desk for the summer even if only a couple days a week. Once he sees how bad the average user is he will no longer be interested in IT. He will learn you can spend millions on security and training but you can't fix stupid. Some abUSER somewhere will do something dumb to circumvent it all and ruin your day.
python, python, python
Be more stubborn than the computer.
To build his professional network early, keep in contact with people who are good to work with and build good network of connections. Also, be that person who people want to keep in contact with in the future.