| I got my first Commodore 64 in the early 80's when | | | | know are also gamers. This is a great entry level IT |
| I was around 7. The Commodore 64's | | | | job with many paths to grow. From this job you |
| manual came with code samples for the basic | | | | can advance to higher level desktop support, move |
| programming language so I would type the code in | | | | into server support or become an IT manager. |
| myself to see if I could make a balloon move | | | | The options are endless and lucrative. |
| diagonally across the screen. For some reason I | | | | If you've ever attended a LAN party you've seen |
| remember it was white on the blue background with | | | | the networking skills that are required to |
| what I assume was a "C" in the middle. This was | | | | get everyone networked together to play. This is |
| my first taste of programming and how I could use | | | | a path to a Network Engineer. These are the |
| a computer to make a game (although not a very | | | | people responsible for among other things |
| fun game, just watching a balloon move.) | | | | connecting all pc's, servers and other hardware |
| Flash forward to my college years when I got my | | | | together through a network. This is another great |
| first "modern" pc with the windows 3.1 | | | | path with many ways to grow in the job. |
| operating system. Anyone who has tried to install | | | | This next one is in my opinion the most difficult path, |
| a pc game knows there are sometimes major | | | | it is to learn programming languages to write your |
| problems that you need to resolve before running | | | | own independent video games. There are some |
| World of Warcraft, Counter Strike or Spore. | | | | amazing indie games out there. I would love to |
| Problems like the wrong version of direct x, | | | | work for Rockstar Games and attach ping pong balls |
| incompatible video card drivers, and lower than | | | | to horses for motion capture, but I did not go |
| needed machine capacity like memory. Microsoft | | | | that route and do not have the skills. |
| has made some advancement in this area with | | | | All of the professions listed here will take some extra |
| Windows XP and even the much disliked Vista, but | | | | training, but the skills you have already acquired put |
| there are still plenty of crashes during game play to | | | | you ahead of anyone trying to get the same position |
| deal with. | | | | without the experience gained from your passion for |
| Working through these issues to get a game running | | | | playing video games. |
| gives you a lot of the skills you need to become a | | | | Remember when someone tells you that you're |
| desktop support technician in an IT job. The main | | | | wasting your time playing video games, you are |
| responsibilities of this job are to troubleshoot pc | | | | also building some valuable skills that can lead you |
| issues, install software and make hardware changes | | | | into a future career. |
| like adding memory. A lot of the best IT people I | | | | |