Question A

[OfficeNinja]

Ok, hopefully I got you primed to care to want to hear my questions and hopefully answer.

I'm thinking, rather than sell plasma... I make $100/wk that way, I can make $400 hustling IT work. Yes, I'll do more work finding customers and paperwork than laying on my back getting my life drained from me transmuting plasma to paper but, that's my opportunity cost.

Someone sees me on whatever media (any suggestions to offer this), and they want to backup family photos (data backup), not having problems seeing their device screen (screen replacements), I dunno... any other services you think I could offer, adding Ram or other components?

Without necessary liability insurance at first, I want jobs I can do with them present or where they can see me.

I just want to come up with a second line of income.

So, there it is. Hopefully not too tl;dr. Now to Question B.

 

[GTP]

hustling IT work.

"Hustle IT work?
We are professionals. We dont need to "hustle " anyone.
I think your attitude pretty much sums up where you're at at this stage.

Good luck in the future.

 

[OfficeNinja]

That IS one definition of "hustle". I was thinking more of sports, Like "Charlie Hustle", hustling after something you want.

To Question B - what are your standards for arbitrage because obviously I posted here.

 

[OfficeNinja]

In fact, I posted my quals in the "prequels"

 

[OfficeNinja]

Ok, ouch. Gonna say it, Ouch.

If you are going to troll, troll on. I'm dead serious.

 

[fastremotehelp.com]

Ok, I'll bite. There's plenty of room in this field for people of all skill levels. You don't have to be an electrician to install a ceiling fan. You don't have to be an A+ Tech to upgrade the RAM. You do have to be knowledgeable, and that takes time and leads to experience. Or you can do what everyone reading this forum fears, which is buying higher capacity RAM and simply wedging it in the slot and hoping it works. Many years ago I was called by a customer whose teenage son had tried to upgrade the RAM by sticking a DIMM into one of the expansion slots on a Windows 98 box. A burnt smell ensued.

So I applaud your efforts to get started. All of us started somewhere, and with no more than your present skills. If you are willing to learn and grow, the opportunity is here. Please don't represent yourself as a technician to your customers. Good luck!

 

[trevm999]

I was a pizza tech once. Already had A+, $20 for any job + parts. I was trying to get experience and make some money on the side to use for tools. I certainly did get an education. One of my laptop jack solder jobs failed after a week and I had to absorb the cost of a new motherboard. On a different laptop motherboard replacement, I ordered a similar one from eBay, but it ended up taking DDR3 instead of DDR2, so that's where my profit on that job went.

If your goal is to make money, then you have to act like a business, and there are certain things businesses do to protect themselves.

 

[Larry Sabo]

Perhaps look for a place willing to offer you an apprenticeship, so you can acquire the necessary experience and relevant knowledge. But lose the attitude/glibness; it will work against you.

 

[Mike McCall]

I once quoted a repair at $55 that turned out to be above my skill level at the time. I had to pay another tech $120 to do the job correctly. The customer paid the $55 I quoted. My best education has always had a cost to it.

 

[fastremotehelp.com]

Well, actually... if you're charging for it then yes, you do.

Good point. You are right of course. Yet here in the states, there are lots of guys without licenses doing this, just check craigslist. And to my continuing surprise, there are still no licenses or training required for complex computer work & networking. The state of Florida requires more training for someone who is painting fingernails in a nail salon than they do for someone installing a medical records system in a doctor's office.

 

[Bryce W]

The computer business, whether doing break/fix or MSP work, takes a bit of time to build up a client base.
If things are tight to the point to where you need to sell plasma, it might be worth working for someone else first (in the industry or out of it).
Just to provide a bit of stability until you can build up your own client base. It's a bit of a slower-burn than a get rich quick thing.

 

[Mick]

And to my continuing surprise, there are still no licenses or training required for complex computer work & networking.

Yes - I find that odd, too. It's the same here. Even the clients don't seem to care. I've never been asked if I'm qualified, or even if I can produce any evidence that I know what I'm doing (which has been a bit of a blessing at times). Having said which, it's not a question I ask many tradesmen/persons myself.

 

[britechguy]

And to my continuing surprise, there are still no licenses or training required for complex computer work & networking. The state of Florida requires more training for someone who is painting fingernails in a nail salon than they do for someone installing a medical records system in a doctor's office.

And I'd say that's because, given the scope of possibilities for computer work in general and the rate of change in the computing industry, it's really not practical for government to set standards. They'd never be able to keep up.

And even for things where they do set standards (and as a formerly licensed speech and language pathologist, I can speak to the licensing requirements for that) a very great deal of that amounts to: Get your certification from whatever entity is the certifying body (or one of the certifying bodies) for your area of expertise and give us proof. Follow our continuing education requirements (if any, in my case it was 10 hours per calendar year).

The government itself is not testing or certifying, just ensuring that you have met the qualification standards from an entity that's in the position to know whether you are minimally qualified or not. And this is a lot easier to do in professions where the pace of change in terms of what you have to do most of the time, day to day, doesn't change almost literally day to day.

This is one of the reasons I find a lot of the formal certifications that do exist in the computing industry to be of questionable value. The skills needed to obtain the same credential can change at a blindingly fast pace and someone who already holds one from, say, 5 years ago may now know next to nothing about what is needed to get that credential now if they are not actively "in practice" and learning those skills as they become needed on the job.

Working on computers is much like working on cars, and what you knew about working on them 20 years ago will still apply in certain aspects, but a great deal of it will not. Learning by doing and as changes come along is the norm.

 

[fastremotehelp.com]

This is one of the reasons I find a lot of the formal certifications that do exist in the computing industry to be of questionable value. The skills needed to obtain the same credential can change at a blindingly fast pace and someone who already holds one from, say, 5 years ago may now know next to nothing about what is needed to get that credential now if they are not actively "in practice" and learning those skills as they become needed on the job.

True. I picked up my MCSE in the Windows 2000 era, and only shortly before I went out on my own. I took the class which took about 4 months, and passing all seven exams took another 3 months or so. Oddly enough, I built only a couple of domains for clients. Almost all of my business clients were workgroup-based, and it's still the case today. I've never had to calculate a subnet mask. And sadly, not a single client has ever asked to see my certs, they just want their computers to work. But at the same time, I have to say that getting that credential has helped me understand small networks and how they fit into larger networks in a way that the pizza techs never will. It helps to know what DNS actually does, rather than simply plugging in Google's 8.8.8.8 and just hoping it works. When I meet someone with certs it just means to me that this person made an effort to improve his or her professional career.

 

[britechguy]

When I meet someone with certs it just means to me that this person made an effort to improve his or her professional career.

Which may be true, or may not. I have seen many, in many professions, go to get certs for stuff they already know backward and forward. Those certs did nothing but allow them to put a series of letters after their names that they otherwise could not. And there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not the fact that they have that cert that actually gave them the expertise it implies.

And a great deal of what I've seen in my careers has led me to be very circumspect about long sequences of letters after a name being indicative of quality or competence. [It's also sad, but true, that far too many seem to do "brain purges" immediately after training, where they seem to lose everything they gained almost instantly.]

 

[fastremotehelp.com]

Which may be true, or may not. I have seen many, in many professions, go to get certs for stuff they already know backward and forward. Those certs did nothing but allow them to put a series of letters after their names that they otherwise could not. And there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not the fact that they have that cert that actually gave them the expertise it implies.

I think of the certs as an indication of effort, and maybe a basic level of understanding stuff, supplementing their real-world experience, not replacing it. Like when I get the resume of some kid that did four years in the service, in some military specialty. I don't need the kid's experience in assembling machine guns, I don't need him to calculate the correct range for a mortar. His service record is some proof that the kid was able to get up on time, learn something, and then do that something. To me, that's a great indication that if I hire him, he will show up on time, read the material I give him, and make an effort to correctly practice what I teach him...he will follow the multiple step process I give him, because he's already proven that he can follow a multiple step process. That's a formula for a good employee.

 

[callthatgirl]

Hustle IT lol. Yeah, you got the right, 13 years and I still hustle every day. We all have to hustle. You have to be a tech, business owner, marketing expert, operations manager, executive admin, therapist, etc. The old days of just posting an ad on Craigslist goes away.

 

[frase]

You forgot accountant