Feeling nervous applying for higher paying positions

[NoNameNoob]

Hi guys,

I've been in IT for about 4 years now. I'm currently a noc analyst making 19/hr. While i'm fairly comfortable at my current position, it was brought up that there's minimal room if any to move upward. I was taking a peak at the job boards and saw a few positions that I think i'd be able to at least grow into. These weren't senior positions but the pay is +20-30k of what I make now. I put in a lot of additional study time over the past year and half for certifications (ccna,ccnp) along with general IT reading. I still feel a bit hesitant applying for these positions though. With these higher paying positions i'm picturing long hard technical interviews that I'm not sure I'd be able to do well in. Did any of you guys feel the same way? A little anxious or hesitant? Any advice or tips?

I think the anxiety stems from an interview I had earlier in my career. I had a phone interview with a person with HR for a company, got through the beginner technical questions and personality interview. Ended up driving an hour to the location, sat down with the HR person and their IT guy. The IT guy looked at my resume and literally said "this is it?" while looking at the HR guy. He then asked me 2 pretty hard technical questions and abruptly ended the interview. Lol, that was in 2015.

[NEODREAM]

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Even if you don't get the job offer, being exposed to the interview experience/process for those types of positions will prepare you for future opportunities.

[100k]

Hi guys,

I've been in IT for about 4 years now. I'm currently a noc analyst making 19/hr. While i'm fairly comfortable at my current position, it was brought up that there's minimal room if any to move upward. I was taking a peak at the job boards and saw a few positions that I think i'd be able to at least grow into. These weren't senior positions but the pay is +20-30k of what I make now. I put in a lot of additional study time over the past year and half for certifications (ccna,ccnp) along with general IT reading. I still feel a bit hesitant applying for these positions though. With these higher paying positions i'm picturing long hard technical interviews that I'm not sure I'd be able to do well in. Did any of you guys feel the same way? A little anxious or hesitant? Any advice or tips?

I think the anxiety stems from an interview I had earlier in my career. I had a phone interview with a person with HR for a company, got through the beginner technical questions and personality interview. Ended up driving an hour to the location, sat down with the HR person and their IT guy. The IT guy looked at my resume and literally said "this is it?" while looking at the HR guy. He then asked me 2 pretty hard technical questions and abruptly ended the interview. Lol, that was in 2015.

I hear ya man and went through something similar about a month ago. I did not get the job but it opened my eyes to how unprepared I was for the interview. I have the skills but have not interviewed for over 3 years. You also have the skills so believe in yourself and learn from all failures. Preparation is key and keep trying! You know it's time to move on hence the anxiety. You can do it and will.

[TechGuru80]

Lol “this is it”...unfortunately people who work in IT aren’t always the best at communicating without being condescending...that’s why they work with tech and not selling.

The only way you get better at interviewing is by interviewing. What’s the worst thing that happens? You don’t get the job but get to hear what kind of questions are asked.

Everybody has had bad interviews but if you live life in fear, you will never advance.

[NetworkNewb]

Practice and prepare for any type of question they may ask. Look at the job ad and try and think of any type of technical question they may ask. Try and study up on the topics in the job ad. Then, go online and look up behavioral type interview questions. Come up with stories where you succeeded, where you screwed up and learned from it, where you had to go beyond your standard job duties... Those types of questions.

Just like you how you studied for your certifications, you should be studying alot and preparing for interviews.

[hurricane1091]

I wouldn't worry about it. I interviewed for 3 jobs earlier this year after being in IT for 3 years. 1 sounded above and beyond me at with architect attached to the title and all this SDN stuff in the description, and the other two sounded perfectly within reason. I'll let you guess which job I got.

[ITSec14]

Anyone who acts like that during an interview should make you think twice about the job anyway.

[NOC-Ninja]

Listen to this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kILVFRlUtT8

You are not the first. You are not the last. You have to jump.
I was on your spot before. People talking ****, people putting me down... In my head, i dont give a fk what they say. I did whats best for me and here I am. Dont ever think your anything less than any other fks. That interview that get you destroyed. Dont worry about him. Let me tell you. I went to a wireless interview a long time ago. The wireless guy destroyed me. Now I am a CCIE and his not.
See how the world works?

[Phalanx]

Anxious? Fearful? I've been in the same position.

Watch this:


Genuinely one of the best motivations I've ever had.

[networker050184]

Everyone get's nervous for interviews and changing jobs always brings some level of anxiety. Anyone interviewing you will know this. You need to just go to a few and work through it. You'll either realize you know your stuff and your confidence will grow (not to mention a new job!) or you'll find out you're not ready and hit the books again. Practice makes perfect as they say.

[dhay13]

I got a call several months ago about a security related position with a big law firm. My current title is Systems Security Engineer (almost 3 years at this job). My last job I was a System Admin but managed AD, GPO's, firewall, etc. The recruiter gave them my resume and came back saying the hiring manager saw my resume and said 'he only has 2 years of security experience'. My guess is he only looked at my titles and didn't read the whole thing. The recruiter asked me to write a detailed report of security related tasks and how long I did them. I told her nevermind, I wasn't interested in working for them now. I got a call about a month later for a role with the same company. As soon as they told me the company I told them I wasn't interested in working for them.

[Fayz]

That's the problem with a lot of recruiters and hiring managers. They don't read the resume thoroughly and one has to explain to them every aspect of their job.

[scaredoftests]

Never let your fear take over your fate. Apply.

[jaguaar]

Also dont forget that often companies inflate the job responsibilities in job description. reality is often quite different

[LordQarlyn]

That's just normal anxiety. As others stated, apply anyway. And most of the time, the job postings are inflated or outright ridiculous, like required X number of years in a particular application that hasn't even been out that amount of years. (in 2014 saw a job that required 10 years in Hadoop, seriously).

Hell if I matched the job requirements to the actual job I did, I wouldn't fully qualify for most of the jobs I had; if employers were strict about exactly matching them, I'd never have gotten hired.