Interested In An IT Fresh Start?
As factory jobs and sales floor-level retail positions become more scarce and obsolete, many workers find themselves without compatible, entry level positions. It's hard to get started in a new industry without getting a degree, and to many people, the Information Technology (IT) world seems inaccessible. Almost every field has an entry level tier that requires basic, relatively cheap training, and a few details about IT entry level can help you understand the right ways to get started without spending thousands on a degree or random certifications.
Help Desk Call Centers
Call centers are still relevant because of the continuing need to support customer problems with voice-based, dynamic, and relatable assistance. Automated systems still need a lot of work, despite the growing sophistication of artificial intelligence, and despite the first two generations who grew up with household computers becoming adults, the world still isn't populated by naturally-skilled computer experts.
Help desk call centers are the people who help with installing new programs, troubleshooting technical errors, removing viruses, and other tasks that the average computer user needs help with. Although many people can use computers better at a basic, web browsing and video watching level, errors can be tough without knowledge of the system.
Sometimes it's less about knowledge of the system and more about access to the system. A completely competent technical customer could call in with an issue that they can't solve on their own because the errors is on the business' side, or the solution requires specific actions that can't be easily automated.
At this level, you simply need computer competence and the ability to be trained. If you're the kind of person who can clean up a virus from your computer, make changes to program settings, or install computer hardware at a basic level, it's within your grasp. Employment staffing services will be looking for a customer service personality who isn't afraid to learn technical details.
Entry Level Programming
Programming is technically part of the Computer Science (CS) career path than the IT career path, but this distinction is largely at the academic level. Programming is the creation of software, firmware, and other digital content by using combinations of text called programming languages.
The term programming language is scary to some people, as languages such as Java, C#, and Ruby are different languages as much as English, Spanish, Japanese, or German are different, but they're not all extremely difficult to pick up. Many languages such as Java and C-based languages are English-based, and are more about writing code in complex abbreviations.
Careers in programming are a bit skewed because the academic world has a firm grip on higher tier programming work. It's easier to get hired by major companies by having a degree, but if you want to avoid shelling out cash for a degree, start treating programming like art. Get a portfolio.
Get any other job while you practice programming, preferably an IT-related job to keep yourself in a related mindset. Look up different popular programs, mobile apps, and code requests to figure out what people want and start making your own solutions. The key here is to make working code that follows rules of programming, and there are many free courses out there to help with both hard concepts and style.
Contact an employment staffing services professional to discuss the IT and CS fields for a set of jobs that can deliver fresh starts without a lot of cash investment.