r/ITManagers • u/wtf_com • 13d ago
Advice Looking for Some Advice
TLDR: Been in IT for over 20 years, no certs or degree, self taught. Getting degree gated out of positions I want and can't land anything lower because employers accurately view me as a flight risk. (which to be fair I am.) Looking for help with direction or if I should take up goat farming. Tried the network which I haven't been maintaining, no hits. Canada based.
Quick background - been in IT since I was 22 (45 now). Started and the bottom and worked my way up - finished my last job in January as a solo IT manager for a resource company after 10 years; left due to toxic environment and burn out. Recovered over 4 months and have been applying to positions since beginning of May.
Running into a large block in the form of degrees and certs or my lack of them. Didn't have a training budget for much of my career so I'm mostly self taught. I'm looking to get into a strategic advisory position, it's where my interests and skills are currently are (did a bunch of M&A work at the company that helped me solidify what I enjoy) either short term (Project Management) or long term (IT Director).
However, can't land a job; had three job interviews so far, one rejection, one stalled for four months (probably not first choice) and one I declined because the offer was from a company that would put me right back into the same place I left due to burn out.
Just looking for advice or direction from people who might have been there before. I understand the market is terrible but bills still need to be paid.
Edit: Have been looking more into contracts lately as a way to land something temporary.
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u/Anthropic_Principles 13d ago
After 20+ years, your degree or lack of should not matter. My resume is 100% skills and achievements, I never mention education anywhere.
Getting a few certs would help tho.
2
u/Equivalent-Wear-6699 13d ago
Right? Oh you've been in this field for 20 years but didn't get a vaguely relevant bachelor's when you were a kid? Rejected
1
u/Ok_Wasabi8793 13d ago
Depending on region lots of gov jobs in Canada don’t accept just experience to get screened in for interviews. In some cities that’s the majority of the work.
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u/Anthropic_Principles 13d ago
That's appalling, even the mad as a badger trump regime has dropped the degree requirement for IT jobs.
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u/Ok_Wasabi8793 12d ago
Canada be Canada. It’s just kind of the union environment if they write you need something in a posting you need it. Most IT jobs get tons of applicants in my area so they don’t go to equivalent these days
1
u/aec_itguy CIO/CISO 12d ago
| After 20+ years, your degree or lack of should not matter.
and yet, it absolutely does. (ATS)
3
u/Living-Video-3670 13d ago
If you're going for another management gig, or project management, ITIL v5 Foundation is a good start to help you out. Seems like everyone wants some sort of ITIL cert these days, at least from my experience. If you're good at self learning then you can just snag the book, and pay for the exam. Unfortunately the exam isnt cheap. It was over 600 USD when I took it a couple months ago. The exam however isn't super difficult. You've probably already been using ITIL in some form or fashion during your time in management and might not have known it. That was the case with me. I had a lot of "so that's what thats called" when studying for the exam. Best of luck to you!
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u/JahMusicMan 12d ago
Agree. I just landed a job so I was applying to tons of jobs and ITIL was mentioned (or at least AI mentioned it LOL), in the majority of the posts with many of them requiring or making it a focus.
Glad I got ITIL v3 foundations like a decade ago and looking to update it to v5
4
u/OregonTechHead 13d ago
First, the job market and global economy is horrific. You're not likely going to find a job in 2 weeks. Honestly, finalist for 3 positions, and 1 offer in less than 3 months isn't at all bad.
But, if you feel like you're being over looked because of lack of certs, just get the certs? You should see a pattern of what certs the market is looking for, so move towards acquiring them.
2
u/Unqualified_Goose 13d ago
Do you have a PMP or other PMI certification?
0
u/wtf_com 13d ago
planned but not yet.
0
u/OregonTechHead 13d ago
It sounds like you already know the answer of what you should be doing.
What are you looking for from us?
2
u/PerfectReflection155 13d ago
It is a huge field, not really sure what positions you are going for?
Personally I just do Microsoft certs like az-104 and so on to help keep on top of things.
2
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u/TechnologyMatch 8d ago
this sounds less like a skills problem and more like a positioning problem. 20 years, solo ownership, and M&A exposure is real leadership experience, but hiring filters often miss it when it is not translated into the language they expect
contract work could be a smart bridge. it lets you solve a clear problem, rebuild your network, and show strategic value without forcing yourself into another long-term role that repeats the burnout cycle
you may not need to grind every cert like a game side quest. one targeted credential or project story that supports the advisory path could be enough to get past the gate, the bigger work is making the next move fit the leader you want to become
1
u/cookerz30 13d ago
While I can't offer advice as a youngin myself, I can say I treat my job as a source of income, and that's it. I've done concrete, roofing in snowstorms, and other shitty jobs. I'll take the stress of IT work any day over those. Burnout is real, but I've been in worse.
1
u/Emmortalise 13d ago
Your previous employer and role count a lot. If you were the only IT person in the company, you might have been amazing. You might have been awful but nobody will know.
If you worked for a company that nobody knows about and didn’t have peers, then what’s to prove you did a good job.
If however you worked for a company that everyone knows, then people know you that you were “good” because a company with their choice of staff chose you.
Degrees only matter at the start of your career. L
1
u/JahMusicMan 12d ago
That's great that you want to do strategic advisory, IT Director, or PM work but take a step back and look it from a recruiter's point of view.... does your title and accomplishments and duties actually line up with these roles? Do you think a recruiter is going to look at your resume/profile and think this IT Manager guy will be a perfect fit for strategy M&A, PM, or IT Director vs hundreds of others who are applying who actually held these roles?
You need to be realistic about your opportunities and focus on the positions with the highest odds of you landing an offer. Location matters. Remote jobs have fierce competition plus 100 times more spam unqualified candidates. I'd focus on (if you aren't already) on onsite and hybrid jobs only IMO.
IMO, the job market. is TOUGH. Lots of layoffs, tariffs, AI, etc. This means you are facing less jobs with more competition. If an opportunity comes along that doesn't quite fit your "ideal" job, you might have to take it, for now until a better opportunity comes along. That's what I'm doing.
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u/bonksnp 13d ago
I mean, you said it yourself.
Running into a large block in the form of degrees and certs or my lack of them.
A four year degree probably isn't worth it at this point but I would probably pick a mid level cert that you are familiar with and go take it just to at least have something on your resume.
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u/boshaus 13d ago
I grabbed a WGU degree, came with a bunch of certs too. I was able to knock it out in a few months.
If you want to optimize for time you can do sophia and study.com transfer credits first, then enroll WGU, speed run degree. Given your experience you'll know most all of it already so it goes fast.