I went helpdesk, desktop support, data center/noc, sysadmin, cloudeng, devops.
The hands on stuff is so important imo and it set me where I am today. I see so many people struggling trying to learn in the cloud when hands on basics can really help with the fundamentals.
I started my career doing help desk when I was 18. I learned a bit of everything from network, system, programming, security, Linux, Cisco, Windows… even some hardware fixing, and rj45 wires connection!
To me it was a fantastic playground because I was able to put my hands on different systems, understand how an enterprise network was working and code all those little hacks I needed for my job.
Of course it was a different time than today but I still think it is a great way to enter the field and have a solid foundation. Plus you also get a sense of what end-users are doing that can put an organization at risk. 👇