College student – what am I doing wrong? How important art certs vs degree? /u/pomkombucha CSCQ protests reddit

I am roughly halfway through a degree in Cybersecurity and would say I understand more than the average Joe, and more than the bare bones entry-level IT professional in most areas and on par with the basic stuff in other areas (discrete mathematics for example). I have a professionally made resume and have created several python scripts which I’ve shared on github, as well as some random html/css stuff, in the hopes that it shows I have drive for self teaching.

Still, I have had incredible difficulty finding any jobs that will even give me a call back.

The 1st one that responded offered $13/hr which I just literally can’t afford to live off of. I can’t even pay my rent with that. The 2nd, I supposedly passed the 1st interview and then they never followed up for a 2nd interview, while also expecting me to work 6 days a week and on call for the 7th. I was willing to do it because it’s a higher wage than what I make now and hands on IT experience, but they seemed to fall off after the holidays and never reached out again.

All of that being said, I haven’t gotten my certs yet. due to both money and time constraints.

How important are certs for landing a job nowadays? I was under the impression that general knowledge could get you an entry level position, let alone formal education in the field. I do know that I will have to get higher level certs as time goes on (CISSP, for example). My main hindrance is money atm, since I am a (cliche) broke college student and just can’t afford to fork out $400 for even an emergency, much less an IT test.

That being said, I’m really only trying to get my feet wet in the industry and get hands on experience in a corporate environment rather than a home environment. My degree eventually requires an internship to complete my high concerns me whether I’ll be able to get one, since I can’t get a call back for a job even!

What’s the current climate for these kinds of jobs? Is the issue that I don’t have an entry level cert like A+, Net+, Sec+, etc? Or is it something else? Should I get an internship under my belt? Focus on highlighting other things on my github than scripts? I’ve been considering reaching out to my local computer fixer lllc and seeing if he’ll let me intern for him, just to have something under my belt. Would you consider that helpful or pointless?

Any advice is deeply appreciated.

I am roughly halfway through a degree in Cybersecurity and would say I understand more than the average Joe, and more than the bare bones entry-level IT professional in most areas and on par with the basic stuff in other areas (discrete mathematics for example). I have a professionally made resume and have created several python scripts which I’ve shared on github, as well as some random html/css stuff, in the hopes that it shows I have drive for self teaching.

Still, I have had incredible difficulty finding any jobs that will even give me a call back.

The 1st one that responded offered $13/hr which I just literally can’t afford to live off of. I can’t even pay my rent with that. The 2nd, I supposedly passed the 1st interview and then they never followed up for a 2nd interview, while also expecting me to work 6 days a week and on call for the 7th. I was willing to do it because it’s a higher wage than what I make now and hands on IT experience, but they seemed to fall off after the holidays and never reached out again.

All of that being said, I haven’t gotten my certs yet. due to both money and time constraints.

How important are certs for landing a job nowadays? I was under the impression that general knowledge could get you an entry level position, let alone formal education in the field. I do know that I will have to get higher level certs as time goes on (CISSP, for example). My main hindrance is money atm, since I am a (cliche) broke college student and just can’t afford to fork out $400 for even an emergency, much less an IT test.

That being said, I’m really only trying to get my feet wet in the industry and get hands on experience in a corporate environment rather than a home environment. My degree eventually requires an internship to complete my high concerns me whether I’ll be able to get one, since I can’t get a call back for a job even!

What’s the current climate for these kinds of jobs? Is the issue that I don’t have an entry level cert like A+, Net+, Sec+, etc? Or is it something else? Should I get an internship under my belt? Focus on highlighting other things on my github than scripts? I’ve been considering reaching out to my local computer fixer lllc and seeing if he’ll let me intern for him, just to have something under my belt. Would you consider that helpful or pointless?

Any advice is deeply appreciated.