I.T. Support for School Districts - Day in the Life

What is it like to work I.T. support for school districts in the education system? In this video I share my experience working in the information technology department for school districts.
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[@bannerboygamez3485]

School districts are a great way to gain experience when you are new to IT, and you get the holidays off, but pay wise it very hard to be sustainable if you have a family to do for a long time. You usually can make more in corporate but you also don’t have as many holidays off. So it’s a trade off. After almost 2 years in school district IT I’m ready to do something different.

[@Itcareerquestions]

Definitely very true. Pay can suck sometimes but the perks can make up for it.

[@jasonw3303]

yep that’s what i did . learned in schools, moved to corporate

[@youngmingo103]

I want to start in school. Im currently attending an accredited school to learn I.T. How do I get into school as entry level ?

[@bannerboygamez3485]

@@youngmingo103 look for jobs on the school district website that are in your area and apply. Usually the lower income title 1 district are easier to get into since they can’t be too picky about the candidates that apply since a lot of people tend to avoid them. You can try the good school district with better income but they tend to be more picky since they feel more people will apply and have a bigger candidate pool. Usually the lower income district won’t have the best reviews online but they are easy to get your foot in the door and later on you can transition to a better district or into corporate later on if you want.

[@bannerboygamez3485]

@@youngmingo103 the lower income also tend to pay better since they are almost desperately trying to recruit candidates than the better/higher rated districts. Not always true but I’ve witnessed it.

[@ashleynikol4906]

Thank you so much for your video! I just got hired as a campus tech and i am coming from no prior experience. So this helps me a ton!

[@ZayoProd]

How id it going ? I got offered today, what is your salary in your area?

[@Vec135]

Any information on this 2 years later?!😮

[@skylargaming7157]

I have an interview tomorrow for a campus IT tech job. nervous!

[@Hardpelicn]

It's so nice and refreshing to hear good stories like this helping in schools. While it doesn't seem like the most overly complex issues to us, your help makes a tremendous difference to the end user that just wants everything to work!

[@laurenbthatsme]

I loved watching your face light up as you were telling the story about the projector issue and the little girl. It was very clear that you truly love what you do.

[@Spraybottle521]

Hey man, love the videos and they really got me excited about becoming an IT again by submitting my resume to all IT jobs I could find. And I got one working for a fairy large school district. Been there for about 4 months now and you’ve been a big help getting me there. Thank you!

[@Itcareerquestions]

That is awesome man! Congratulations! Good luck to you and I'm glad I could help!

[@Complex32]

New sub checking in! Wow! Thank you for the substantial and diverse IT videos. Just started my first IT support position and its in Education. This video was great. Thanks again.

[@camz3713]

Thanks for the video. Very informative, while delivering the info with in an energetic way!

[@bannerboygamez3485]

Zach you’re right if it plugs in they expect you to support it from computers, printers, projectors, smart boards, mobile devices, I’ve even had to work the audio mixing board and stage automation panel in auditorium, using ladders and scissor lifts for projectors. Things get interesting on a scissor lift when you have to go 30-40 feet in the air to service tall ceilings in auditoriums lol. Even support software and some of the software I support I never was trained to use it or support it so I’m learning on the spot

[@Itcareerquestions]

Haha yeah I would never get my fat ass up that high in the air. I would have to draw the line there. But I could see an argument for it being my responsibility to service.

[@kentlewis2715]

Literally 100% of this video is accurate

[@Old-Tires]

I agree I have been working at a school district as a technician for about a year and a half and the part about one to one I agree with most. Most of the tech tickets I get are for vandalized 1-1 devices and I am assigned to 6 different schools 2 middle schools and 4 elementary schools some of the middle schools have 100+ broken devices waiting for repair and the 1-1 device initiative is poorly implemented at several schools in the school district I work at. I notice at some of my schools the kids are not held accountable when they damage their device and they get another new to them device assigned to them some kids are breaking 3 or more devices and the media specialist gives the kid another device they should not be continually handing the kid another device after they damage theirs and the kids are not being charged for the damage either in many cases. I think 1-1 devices are a terrible idea the kids don't care about the devices and there is an endless amount of vandalism to the 1-1 devices and rules regarding accountability are not followed at many schools which results in even more damaged 1-1 devices. Overall the job is really good I enjoy it I just wanted to comment on how I agree with the video about the 1-1 devices requiring a lot of support.

[@ascheme9705]

I just accepted a job for Campus Technician, and I'm SO HYPED!

[@alejandromarin5797]

No B.S. During the video, I love when people are raw and truthful, thank you, great video!

[@FunkyMonk_]

Very helpful video! I have been looking into working for a school district when I graduate. I heard this is one of the most enjoyable jobs in IT; I love the idea of helping teachers and students because it has more meaning, and I have heard it is a lot less stressful as it has a good work/home balance. You have made my decision more clear, thank you!

[@JJFlores197]

it has its ups and downs. In my experience working at my local school district, I wouldn't consider it a low stress job all the time. For us in IT, our most stressful time is just before school starts after summer break ends. We get inundated with tickets of teachers who all seem to want everything setup right now. I'm exaggerating, but it does feel like that at times. You also have that one teacher or staff member who seems to need help almost every single day with the same problem. It does get frustrating at times.

[@jacobsteele2929]

Thank you, very inspirational

[@THomasJPeel]

Excellent video!

[@GooganSenko]

I took an IT job at a school 8 months ago....you're Summer Break hits the nail on the head there!

[@GooganSenko]

really enjoy it though! the IT crew is like family and the school district is local....couldn't be happier!

[@EpicPCCheatGamer]

I first started as a custodian at a community college where I live. I was finishing my bachelor's degree online but had very little work experience. I interviewed for the helpdesk and as a technician but did not get the full time job. I was offered a part time paid internship. I did the same things you did for 9 months. Then, another helpdesk position opened up (full time with benefits). I was trained for a quite a bit on the helpdesk during my internship and assisted many end users too. I interviewed again and was more confident and prepared. I got the position. I have been full time for almost 5 months but I have learned a lot even being part time last year. It has been rewarding and well worth it with the pay, benefits and the experience working in a college. We are going to be busy reimaging computers, upgrading our Xerox copiers and running many cable runs too. Thanks for the videos Zach or Zack. H or K?

[@G-yc5ql]

Thanks for this man, I just applied for two different districts for help desk. Now we wait....

[@phatthayasaohin8202]

Thank you so much for this information, Zach! I've been following your channel and your content's been so helpful for me! I completed CompTIA A+ and got my first IT job as an IT support for public schools nearby, I am so excited that I will start this Thursday. Quick question for you, did you have your own tools when you started? I wonder if I should at least have my own set of some basic tools to start. Thanks again! I really appreciate you.

[@cool24a]

Thank you for this Video! Working for EPISD for 15 years.

[@Itcareerquestions]

No problem!

[@myldreed]

Wow I have been wanting to apply for an IT job at EPISD for a while now, but I never find any openings. Let me know if I can send you my resume!

[@MrEricFord17]

I just started my IT career this week i will be sent toa school for the IT department. My new boss said the exact same thing you did if it plugs into a wall i will be responsible for it, glad i found this video it gave me a broad spectrum of what ill be on for.

[@atticusdeclan7924]

I recently started again at this university in my city. U literally mentioned our duties.

[@Kianfox]

Thanks for this one. Was really inspiring. I would love to see more videos talking about more of the positives in working I.T.

[@Itcareerquestions]

I can definitely do that! Thank you!

[@Kianfox]

@@Itcareerquestions no, thank you!

[@redjstc9123]

Just made up my mind... I'm gonna go for it.

[@JJFlores197]

**This is a long comment** I know this is nearly a year old, but still a really good video and I appreciate your insight and now I want to add mine. I got hired as a computer tech at a local school district in January of 2020 and so far I like the job. My district has 15 main schools with nearly 13k students and a rather large staff base. We run a mixture of Windows and Chromebooks in a Windows AD environment. The office staff and teachers use Windows whereas the students use Chromebooks the majority of the time. The IT dept. has been slowly phasing out desktops and hard labs over the past few years. When I was a student in this district (from around 2001-2014) most classrooms had around 4 desktops in the back of the room. Nowadays, they have been mostly replaced by Chromebooks which is what the students use. For some specialized classes, they do have Windows laptops for student use, but they aren't too common. Most of the curriculum is web based, so Chromebooks work good enough for most classes. Every classroom has its own WAP, and most schools even have them in the quad/recess areas. As a computer tech, my job is to provide technical support to the staff at my assigned school sites. This ranges from resetting passwords to dealing with bizarre printing problems, SmartBoard/Sharp display issues and pretty much everything in between. I didn't realize this before starting the job, but there is a lot of collaboration between techs and the site admins (fancy way of saying principal and VP). We usually check in at least once a day just to see if there's something either party needs to know, special projects, questions, input, etc. We have a ticket system that the staff uses to put in their tech problems. Us techs can work on tickets based on priority at our discretion. I usually prefer to go into classrooms when the teacher has a free period, before, or after class. However, if need be, I can go during class to resolve issues. At the high school level, it is generally more important to not disrupt class but the techs can still go into classrooms if necessary. With this COVID thing going on and schools shut down we have switched over to district-wide support both remote support and in-person support. We ran a few Chromebook hand-out events which were basically meant for students who don't have computers at home so that they can do their work. We had to round-up most of our CB fleet from various schools in preparation for the hand-outs. This involved going to the various sites, finding out where the carts are, taking them to a central area so that they could be deliver to the high schools, cleaning the computers and taking out the chargers from the back of the cart. This is not very difficult, but very time consuming.Our manager pretty much decided that we're going 1:1 on student devices the coming school year since it just takes a long time to setup a cart. I don't know how different my district is from others, but we work from August-June and get July off. After school ends, they do what they call "blitz projects" where the all site techs basically get together to get everything ready for the upcoming school year like re-imaging labs, cleaning out IDFs/MDFs, installing new equipment, etc. We have the option of signing up for working in July if we have special projects we want to do, but I"m not sure how this is going to work with this current situation. Trivia: None of the schools have a direct internet connection. They all have a fiber link to the district office through AT&T. The traffic then goes through a content filter which also performs SSL decryption on the student network. It then goes to a county office and then to the outer Internet. Every classroom has a VOIP phone and analog lines are almost completely phased out File storage servers are becoming less and less common. There has been a huge push over the past couple of years to get people to move their stuff to a cloud storage like Google Drive or OneDrive. We have a few SCCM images that we deploy to teachers and office staff.

[@BackTheARay]

As someone who was offered an IT Tech position YESTERDAY I gotta say this video is exactly what I was looking for

[@ZayoProd]

I was offered yesterday, how did it go?

[@BackTheARay]

@@ZayoProd I took it... I've been knee deep is learning plus this school district is 1 to 1 on devices so every student has a device and deployment was CRAZZZZY

[@ZayoProd]

@@BackTheARay if you don’t mind me asking , what experience do you have other than school and what’s your salary ? They’re offering me 24.56 42k-65k

[@ZayoProd]

@@BackTheARay and how long did it take for the background check and to start after you accepted

[@gaminggoddessaria]

So I have an entry level interview tomorrow for computer support technician at a school. I am nervous it's my first interview at an IT place. I also have another interview in a couple weeks somewhere else so I'm not sure what I should do I know the other job pays more but I think I would learn more working at the school. Thanks for your videos they help.

[@00-msg91]

Hey Zach, thank you for this from the bottom of my heart ❤️. I just recently got a job in a school district but I am afraid of not knowing how to solve most problems. My question to you is: Is there any preparation I can do right now before I start my first day ? I have been stressing about this ever since I got the job but once I started to watch your videos it helped me alot. Thank you 😊

[@idkrn594]

hey u how are you doing now

[@mrhunterf2869]

Thank you Zach another great video I really enjoy your content and really appreciate your videos. Question: have you ever done any sysadmin work as I am hoping to be a sys admin in a few years.

[@Itcareerquestions]

You are very welcome, I'm glad to help! I have done sys admin work, one of the funnest roles I've had by far.

[@plaustrarius]

Sounds very much like my first job! My high school let upperclassmen apply for jobs helping the IT guys in the summer Best job I've had if I'm honest, great experience!

[@Itcareerquestions]

That's awesome. Every summer I had a crew of kids from the high School and some college kids who helped me. It was a great experience for all.

[@alilaomondi]

I love this

[@fieldboy674VGN]

I work as a custodian in my school district I have a lil experience like taking apart things like ps5 ps4 Xbox and small electronics even pcs and hooking devices to wifi and I’m real tech savvy one of my coworkers told me to apply

[@johnnydxer]

This entire video is 100% accurate, Triple, quadruple the workload due to COVID 19 this year. SUMMER? WHAT SUMMER???

[@CallMeMilenko]

I started doing IT for a school district about 2 years ago. I had already done IT for a prison for 8 years. For me, it's more laid back but the pay isn't a good as it was at the prison. At a school you're likely spending most of your time fixing chromebooks. At the prison it was desktops, laptops, thin clients, network switches, cabling, CCTV, etc. Since I'm not required to do as much as I actually know, they don't see a reason to pay me for it.

[@andyz1132]

Just got a job as an IT support technician for a local private college. Will start in few weeks!

[@ascheme9705]

How's the job going?

[@_NEW3RA_]

6:00 I just got hired for IT Technician which is why I believe they hired me before the summer 😂

[@aliaselysum4401]

Can you make a video on system analysis and business analysis jobs?

[@THomasJPeel]

I like your shirt. Where did you get it??

[@stephanc2359]

This is the video I was looking for 😀thx Zach

[@dabluerover]

Hello. If we are creating our own lab at home, what type of equipment should we have (i.e. building a computer, etc.) For practicing skills.

[@RobertSmith-zk4ik]

Thank you for this video, al of your videos are helpful but this one is exactly what I needed…school districts are the organizations I am targeting for my first job in IT. I have the A+ cert and no professional experience and do have experience in special education. I’ve had two interviews which went well but no luck. You said at the end of the videos you didn’t have any certs or degree…how did you get you foot in the door?

[@Itcareerquestions]

Keep pushing through and working on it, you'll get something! I'm glad this could be of help.

[@Itcareerquestions]

Hit enter too soon. I got my foot in the door partly through knowing people and partly through understanding technology...which was very different 17 years ago. Once you get your foot in the door experience can carry you pretty far.

[@laxbeach2381]

Do you know anything about the PowerSchool cloud platform? I’m trying to find out what to expect in a work from home role.

[@wrenkozlowski8362]

@itcareerquestions I've been looking for this kind of video for a while! I know it's like 4 years old at this point but I'm getting started in IT soon and I want to do the same thing you did, I was wondering how you got started working in a school? I'm not entirely sure where to even start looking

[@JJFlores197]

Look at your local school districts. They may have job opportunities for help desk techs or IT techs or both.

[@i.b3456]

Wassup Zach. I just passed my Security + two days ago. I'm feeling ontop of the world right now.

[@2LitProduction]

Lasgidi Boy how did you break down studying? I’m starting out studying for the A+ but I just don’t know where to start. Did you make note cards , read a chapter a day? Etc

[@i.b3456]

@@2LitProduction to be honest with you, I bought and read the Darril Gibson Get certified Get Ahead book and I also watched some of his KZbin video. I most say, it kind of help a little bit. However; the material that really helped me alot was a documents I downloaded from a website I registered to called actualtests.com long story short, the price worth it. You will have access to all different types of IT certification exams. You can check them out and Thank me later!

[@Itcareerquestions]

That's awesome !! Congratulations!!

[@mtndewdev]

Thank you for sharing this video! I notice a lot of similarties between support youve listed in your experience. Also what a nice memorable moment youve had, dont think I have one that crazy but have only been in the field a couple years. I am sure I will tho soon enough lol

[@Itcareerquestions]

Yeah you will always notice some similarities I feel like going from job to job sometimes. And you will definitely have memorable experiences. Good luck to you!

[@LonelyUpularity]

Im 17 just graduated high school and Im pursuing a IT degree at my local community college in the fall and i’m not sure if i should take IT support or IT networking and security. any tips? What’s the difference? what’s the payout? what types of jobs am i able to get with these degrees? are people looking for these degrees? Should i just pursue comptia A+?

[@franco_dc91]

I'm really interesting in working for a school district, and I am currently applying for a few. Would this be a good place to start as an entry level job?

[@notbrixz]

I start work today at 8am with my school that I just graduated from and I'm so excited to learn about and work with computers and the I.T. staff at my school, I can't sleep because I can't wait I love technology and trial and error type of work.

[@JJFlores197]

That's awesome! Congratulations! Is this a permanent job or temporary? I also work in IT at a school district. Its definitely a good way to get started in the IT field. I just started working in early 2020, just before the pandemic hit.

[@notbrixz]

@@JJFlores197 it's an paid internship and so far I'm loving it I've already taken apart and put together so many computers and I've built and setup many smart boards.

[@reece7713]

How did you carry hardware audits for schools?

[@JaycRam]

Getting into I.T. support at a school district is something that's been on my mind lately. I have no idea how to go about it, though, hence why I'm here. I appreciate the video.

[@JJFlores197]

Good luck. it will be a roller coaster. It will be fun, exciting, boring, annoying, frustrating, slow, extremely slow, fast, extremely fast and everything else in between.

[@KoolKatBeatz]

I have a question, do you know a way to empower the educators to monitor the students activity, being able to control or even freeze their audio/network? Even record their screen? Hope I'm explaining it right.. but I wanted to pick you or anyone who may know what I'm trying to accomplish..

[@JJFlores197]

There are plenty of solutions for that. It depends on what type of devices the teachers/students use. Where I work, we use Faronics Insight for the few remaining Windows labs. For Chromebooks, we use Securly.

[@joshuacooper2636]

Hello! I am looking at a career shift into I.T. do you have any recommended resources on the physical work for a school system IT coordinator? Such as cable runs etc..?

[@stacythor7639]

I'm currently working in a large school district in California as a head custodian. I wanted to become an I.T. Support in my school district but I have no idea where to start or what to start. Do you have any ideas to guide me? Also, thank you for the videos. It was very helpful.

[@JJFlores197]

Probably the best way to get more specific information is to talk to your school's site tech. They should be able to give you an overview of their job as well as the requirements and responsibilities. I don't know what your current tech skills are. If you're not very tech savvy, but still interested in a job like this, look into the CompTIA A+ certification. Its a good entry-level IT certification for getting started in the IT field. You may also want to pickup an old PC you may have laying around (or buy one if you don't have one) that you don't mind experimenting with. This way, you can get invaluable hands-on experience by learning how to take apart a computer and seeing the internal components.

[@KevRunsOnDunkin]

Keys coming off keyboards, why do kids feel the need to do that. I hate seeing that. Totally agree with you with the fulfillment that comes from helping the students and the staff. It makes the job that much better

[@mtndewdev]

Hahah I always feel its the arrow keys are getting ripped off

[@Itcareerquestions]

Kids are jerks!

[@skymonkey30]

LoL! Well if you see the the missing keys of J O H N It probably means it was John that did it…. Maybe John forgets how to spell his name….

[@technobeacon1702]

Guys I am starting my first ever job as a Helpdesk Technician on Monday, the company deals with web hosting, offsite backups, setting mails accounts etc. I am very nervous about this position any idea on what the job will entail or any day to day tasks? I have a degree in BCOM Information Management. Thanks

[@melvinholmes8862]

What jobs can I get with a associate degree in information technology and ccna, CompTIA security+, and Microsoft certifications

[@Itcareerquestions]

What kind of jobs do you want? You always have to start somewhere and often times that somewhere is in entry level roles, no matter what credentials you have.

[@melvinholmes8862]

@@Itcareerquestions something like a network architect or network administrator

[@TheLostLT]

I like these, I work in hospital I.T, I want to see how I.T is everywhere else

[@Itcareerquestions]

Awesome! We're working on it!

[@MFlint-un2tq]

I hated doing I.T. Work for a hospitals. I went back working within the school district making more pay.

[@eeletric1000]

I am working as a macbook repair tech for a small company, I'm studying to get my Comptia A+. I have a bachelor's degree (non computer science related) What other experience should I learn to get a job in public school IT?

[@JJFlores197]

I would learn: some Active Directory (how it works, password resets, etc), Chromebooks (relatively easy to setup and swap parts), computer networking, printer basics (how to install a printer on a network, basic parts, etc), and maybe a ticketing system. Schools/districts run things differently, so if you do get a job in IT support, they will most likely give you more specialized training on how they do things.

[@travisnavarro9280]

I’m looking to get into IT for a schools , what training should I do?

[@JJFlores197]

Its pretty much tech support. It greatly helps is you know the basics of computer troubleshooting and repair for hardware and software. Good customer service skills also go a long way. It also helps if you're familiar with a ticketing system. I also suggest getting a few old PCs you may have laying around (or buy some) to practice. Hands-on experience is invaluable. The A+ certification can be of benefit for getting an IT tech job.

[@sydniusalminia5364]

Somehow I got a job in a elementary school as the it support guy and I start in a couple weeks. This video terrifies me. I don't feel prepared at all to be the sole IT guy there even though I have net+, sec+, Linux+, server+, and cwna. Lots of theoretical knowledge, not so much practical. Scary

[@southerncritic9090]

Hey man, mind giving me an update? How did it turn out for you?

[@stephanc2359]

KZbin need to find a way where someone “alone” could give a video 1k like 👍

[@geov.1052]

Its better to become a programmer . You work in one office, no need to run from office to office for support end users , servers and more..

[@Itcareerquestions]

Not everyone can become a programmer though, I could never sit behind a desk all day and write code

[@geov.1052]

@@Itcareerquestions of course, programming is very hard, but i have worked as an IT technician and after some years at this work its exhausting to run all day from one office to another. If you are young its ok but as you get older you don't have the same stamina to run all day.

[@fox2102]

Education was probably the worst part of my career. Mostly low income schools and long story short it's why we homeschool now.

[@yajairadiaz495]

You can recommend me a platform that has practice tests and prepare me for A + Cert. It does not matter the price

[@emmanuelb.2151]

Yajaira Diaz uCertify A+ content is pretty good LinkedIn learning videos are very helpful also

[@youngmingo103]

Professor messar

[@smacktonian]

Why did you quit the school?

[@JJFlores197]

I don't know for sure, but I would assume: pay isn't great and/or career advancement may not be good.

[@Illusionistical822]

And the kids still don't learn anything, even with all of these devices.

[@Itcareerquestions]

Haha.

[@Illusionistical822]

@@Itcareerquestions Is it true though? Or am I just being too cynical? I havent been around teenagers lately so I have no idea.

[@JJFlores197]

@@Illusionistical822 I know your comment is nearly a year old, but I have the same question. I work as a computer tech at a local school district and have been meaning to ask my site teachers this question. I got hired in January of 2020, and just as I was getting to know how things work at this district and knowing all the staff, the COVID thing happened.

[@drumyogi9281]

@@JJFlores197 Did you find the answer? Could you share?

[@AZrakoon]

Sounds like the school district you worked for put money into having nice things. The school district I work for our cheapos.

[@pdlclll]

:: SLOW CLAP ::