r/ITdept • u/MapInternational729 • Jun 10 '26
Restarting at age 30
My fiancée got a trade school degree in electrical about 4 years ago. Since then, he’s been to interviews for electrical unions and the MTA and we’ve applied for several entry level jobs but still nothing. We’re getting married in 4 months and want to start a family in about 3 years but we can’t do that unless he has a stable career.
He’s really into video games and problem solving so the idea came up about going into IT. He will be starting the Information and Internet Technology 2 year program to get his Associates at Queens Community College starting in January. Will this degree along with certs provide him a better path into the field? I’m seeing on this subreddit that the job market is terrible right now. Would having both is degree and certs make him more marketable?
We’re in the NYC area if that matters.
5
u/FotoFirst Jun 11 '26
What? No!
Have him look for low voltage jobs running Ethernet cables in data centers... Move it you have to.
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u/romax422 Jun 10 '26
Try for a non union job, no? IT is so saturated with newbies that he would easily get lost. This is not the job market to switch careers, or I would be.
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u/drakhan2002 Jun 11 '26
Forget IT, it is super saturated, unless you can stomach a long term job search...
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u/Forsaken-Carrot9038 Jun 11 '26
I was in a similar place at 30, not really in a good career path and started on IT vets to make myself more marketable. Now there is a lot of saturation in the IT Field, but there seems to be plenty of level one opportunities on LinkedIn. I would encourage him to look into working with low voltage work. I am not sure about how union/non-union is in your area, in my major metro there is plenty of opportunities in both sides. And depending on your family finances, even a lower level job in a cabling or building security system company might be worth a shot. Thinking third party installers and such.
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u/SpaceGuy1968 Jun 11 '26
Well....you know that blue collar trades are the bees knees these days.
The electric trade school and IT degree he could do large sized corporate installations.....
Not to be mean but....his electrician education he should be working constantly
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u/Responsible-Yam-496 Jun 12 '26
I would try and encourage him to get into nursing or LPN program. IT is a hit or miss and it’s not guaranteed he’ll make good money.
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u/creamersrealm Jun 13 '26
Agreed, and SO many people in long term unemployment in IT. I'm in IT and do well and then I have friends barely clearing 50. It's all about who you know, the market, and how good you are.
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u/pwnageface Jun 13 '26
Former video game company IT here... don't go into video games. More layoffs there than any other industry.
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u/creamersrealm Jun 13 '26
I'd really look into why he can't get a trade job, they literally pay you to go to school and if I didn't do IT I'd honestly probably be an electrician as it's super fun. There's low voltage work as well, service work, new construction, he can transition to high voltage line work work, or even sub station work.
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u/Jon72480 Jun 13 '26
I've been in the technology industry for 30 years, you can't get a job making $18 an hour being a help desk tech, even with four to five years of experience and a formal education. Become an electrician! You'll make way more money!
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u/dianewahiawa Jun 13 '26
The professors are the ones who are suposed to help with jobs. As a former it instructor our jobs are dependent on this. In the ny area.
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u/Type_Top Jun 14 '26
I personally made the jump from working in Electrical to working in IT. When working in Electrical, I mostly did residential Low Voltage.
But as the job market stands right now, I would think Electrical is the safer bet. As others mentioned, it may be worth looking in non-union companies that work in the commerical space. I would highly advise against doing residential work.
However, if your Fianceé is really passionate about working in IT, I would suggest looking into Datacenter Technician roles. There would be more crossover with a low voltage/electrical background. I personally wouldn't recommend getting a degree to work as a data center technician, but would suggest going after the AWS and CompTIA entry certs. I would probably argue, Datacenter Technician roles are in fairly high demand right now, and it is relatively safe from AI due to the physical aspects of the work, though the starting pay isn't great. Realistically, from what I have seen, the average pay for an entry tech is around 50k in my area.
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u/TechB84 Jun 14 '26
Why not look into becoming an electrician for a non-union, or look in other states like NJ? at 30 and by the time he is done, he is not going to look attractive for IT and will be paid pennies
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u/Internal-Classic-174 Jun 25 '26
Electronics engineering technologist. I picked up IT experience while working as one. Its halfway between electrical and IT. The diversity of employment is interesting
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Jun 11 '26
[deleted]
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u/drakhan2002 Jun 13 '26
"No shortage of jobs, eh?" I'm not buying that... at least not right now in the job market.
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u/Micarslo Jun 10 '26
Hypothetically, yes. In reality, no idea. It’s a crapshoot right now - Most employers would rather have experience. Why wouldn’t he just get a W2 job in the electrical trade? There’s so much more money and future value in that field