<p>I have an A.A. already and am now trying to work on a bachelor's. Also, I should mention that I am working as a full-time security guard. However, it really sucks because I am having to work the night shift right now at my job and it's an 11pm to 7am shift with Monday's and Tuesdays off. I can't really get a better shift right now. </p>
<p>However, what this shift is making me realize is how much I despise working the night shift. On the night shift, I never get to see any of my friends, it makes it very hard to date, and it makes it hard to have any sort of social life what-so-ever. I really hate it! </p>
<p>I would prefer to get an IT job where I am working only in the days with preferably weekends off. Is this just about impossible in the IT field? Also, I am thinking about going for programming/web design instead. Do they typically just work your typical 9 to 5 with weekends off?</p>
<p>Most IT and programming jobs are regular day jobs, although programmers are often given some flexibility in exactly which hours they work.</p>
<p>In some companies there will be IT people working at night doing things like network maintenance and installing software across computers on the network. Larger companies with a worldwide customer base will need IT people on duty 24/7 to make sure things are running smoothly. </p>
<p>What about IT help desk? Can I get a regular 9 to 5 job doing that? I just don’t want to continually work every Friday and Saturday night. I have no life doing this! </p>
<p>I call help desks between 9 and 5. People are there.</p>
<p>I can understand why you would prefer regular hours, but for a first job, I wouldn’t be so picky. “Paying your dues” is part of the process. After a year or two, tell your company you want better hours or find a different employer.</p>
<p>I’m already “paying my dues” now. I have been working this lousy midnight shift for 3 months now almost. It’s literally driving me mad! I have no life, can’t ever see my friends, and am awake when everyone else is asleep! I feel like I am continually alone. Isn’t there another way to pay my dues? For instance, would I be more marketable if I got more certifications under my belt? When I start the job I will have the CompTIA A+ Microcomputer Technician certification and Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) certification. If I got more would it help? If so, which certifications would you recommend? </p>
<p>I don’t care if I have to wait a while to find a job, as long as I eventually find one with the hours that I am requesting. I have plenty of job security with my current job, and I am no longer desperate for a job. Also, what do they start help desk people at in terms of salary? Like maybe 10-12 bucks an hour? </p>
<p>Working as a security guard is not paying your dues when it comes to looking for an IT job. Consider your first IT job as an apprenticeship, where you sacrifice some things in order to get your foot in the door. You’d only have to do it for six months or a year before looking for something better.</p>
<p>I’m a programmer and am not exactly sure what help desk jobs pay. From what I can tell, if you’re working at a help job desk at a Cable TV provider or an ISP, where you’re dealing with the general public, you don’t make that much. The help desk people who are employed at my company are technical gurus, and I would think they’re making pretty decent money.</p>
<p>What about volunteering? Could I work my current security job and volunteer at an IT place to get some experience while I am working my current job? I just really despise the night shift, that’s all. </p>
<p>You aren’t paying your dues at a company that will eventually put you in the IT job you want. You are “paying your dues” in your own mind, but not in a way that is productive except that it pays your bills while you are in school.</p>
<p>There are plenty of IT jobs that are ‘day jobs’, but often they do require some flexibility. If you are installing something into a production environment, you might need to run and check some jobs at night a couple of times a months. Or go in on a weekend for something. Things to think about when you accept a job:</p>
<ul>
<li>Obviously don’t accept a job with regular night shift hours.</li>
<li>Find out if there is an on-call expectation for your job and what it is. Some IT jobs you are on call whenever something goes wrong. But lots of places they rotate on call. So you might be on call say one week a month. You work your regular day shift AND try to handle off-shift things that come up. But in IT you can often handle problems or deployments from home by dialing in, so it isn’t as disruptive as you might think. And you have a few weeks of no call for every week you are on-call.</li>
<li>Some companies have cycles of business that mean the IT people have expectations beyond 9-5 at certain times of the year. An example might be a big-box retailer that is open Thanksgiving evening, and does the bulk of their business between Thanksgiving and Christmas. You may have to be in the office on Thanksgiving (my last retail client required that of the IT staff). They can’t afford ANY downtime on Black Friday, or really throughout the month or so of holiday shopping time. So no vacations in that window at that particular company.</li>
<li>If your position works a lot with offshore teams (more and more common in the IT world), sometimes there are meetings at hours that are not in the 9-5 window.</li>
</ul>
<p>As you move up in the IT world, a lot of times the need for night hours for deployments and on-call goes away (THAT is when you have paid your dues).</p>
<p>@intparent I really appreciate your post. Also, I would like to clear the air a little bit because I don’t think that I have truly expressed what I want vs. what I am willing to give on. I believe that the message that I am conveying is that I am a newbie in the IT world that wants a perfect 9 to 5 shift with every single weekend off, is never willing to come in at night to finish some extra work, is never willing to work a holiday, and is never willing to be on-call what-so-ever. If I have conveyed this, I am very sorry because that is not me at all. The bottom line is this:</p>
<p>Currently I work a full-time job that has consistent hours. The job is 11pm to 7am Wednesday through Sunday. I NEVER get a weekend off EVER. Also, the only two days that I ever get off are Monday and Tuesday and those are lousy days to be off, because no one ever wants to do anything on those days. Also, I currently am set to work EVERY SINGLE major holiday or important day of the year: I worked Memorial Day and I am also going to have to work Christmas, Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years, and New Years Day. Plus, being on the nightshift is already lonely and no one is ever up when you are up.</p>
<p>What I am actually looking for is just a plain and ordinary 8 to 4, 9 to 5, or 10 to 6 IT job with weekends off. I realize that I may have to be on call one week a month, and that it may prevent me from being able to go out on a typical Friday or Saturday night with friends. However, that is fine, and I would accept that. However, I would not want to be on call 24/7 because that would drive me nuts. Also, I would like to be paid at least $10 an hour at this job and would like it to be a 40 hour job. I hate these jobs that are so called, “flexible schedule” jobs that will work you 25 hours one week, 30 the next, and then 15 the next. I don’t want to be duking it out with my co-workers for hours. I would like to have consistently 40 hours like I’m getting now. It’s hard to survive on “flexible schedule” hours. Also, I would gladly come in for overtime on occasion as well. Finally, I understand that sometimes I may have to work a night or something if a project deadline is coming up and I’m ok with that as well. Is this being too picky? </p>
<p>My kid worked night shift at a big box retailer last summer. She actually sort of liked it, but I hated it (she lived at my house). She just finished her freshman year at college, and has a research position for the summer on campus with a professor. She loves it, and we were just talking about how much better it is than going back to her old job this summer!</p>
<p>I think you are not being too picky. Night shift is not good for your health, either. But finding a good daytime job without the requisite academic background can be challenging. I will say that certainly some IT jobs for AA grads could very well be night shift jobs. They are going to be the lower skilled jobs (monitoring that things are running smoothly at night, etc). But if you just need any job while you are going to school nights (i assume that is when you are working on your four year degree), then you need to start figuring out what you ARE qualified for now and start applying for ‘day jobs’. Or else put up with the night job for a couple more years while going to school until you can make the switch.</p>
<p>@intparent No, you don’t have to have a full degree to do IT and I know that for a fact. Most IT companies tell me that I can get on board with their company help desk if I just have an A+ certification. By next semester, I will have that certification, the Microsoft certified professional certification, and I will now Microsoft Office like the back of my hand. I will be ready by the end of Spring semester. You don’t need a full degree to do IT, just certifications. </p>