Change of career

Discussion in 'New Members Introduction' started by mckinna, Sep 4, 2008.

  1. mckinna

    mckinna New Member

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    Hi all. I am jon and have been investigating a new career in IT as a network administrator on the advice of a good friend. I've been in the recording industry for 30 years and am looking to the future as it's not getting any easier in the music biz. I have been working with Mac computers for years and have just bought a pc laptop so i can start a MCSE course.

    What I'm not sure about it is what the job prospects are at my age (53). I don't want to be leaving one extremely competitive market into the same.

    Any advice would be really appreciated!
     
    Certifications: NONE
    WIP: interested in MCSA
  2. BosonMichael
    Honorary Member Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Welcome to the forum, and congrats on making strides towards starting in the IT industry. Unfortunately, what your friend neglected to tell you is that one cannot just jump into a network administrator job by getting a certification. The standard IT career progression typically goes entry-level/help desk > desktop support > server admin > network admin. Without experience, it's nearly impossible to get a more advanced gig (unless you happen to have an uncle who is an IT manager who can sneak you in).

    The MCSE is designed for people who have at least 12 months experience in a 250+ user, multi-site, multi-server domain environment. Not 12 months in IT... but 12 months doing that job. Getting the MCSE before you've gotten the appropriate level of experience can make it MORE difficult, not less difficult, to get your first IT job. Employers with MCSE-level jobs won't hire you due to a lack of experience, and employers with entry-level jobs won't hire you because they don't need an MCSE (potentially with MCSE-level salary expectations) to do an entry-level jobs.

    The IT industry IS an incredibly competitive one. Although I don't have much knowledge of the recording industry (despite working in a city with a large recording industry presence), I would venture to say that it is just as competitive, if not more so. Getting your first IT job will likely be the most difficult part, as the competition is even more intense for entry-level jobs.

    All that said, I don't mean to paint an overly bleak picture. At 53, it's not too late to get into IT... but you'll simply have to start at the bottom like everyone else (including me, who had been active with computers for 18 years and was the go-to computer guy in the office for 6 years before getting my first IT job as an entry-level field service tech). For those who love computers, IT is great. You're constantly learning new things (you HAVE to in order to stay afloat!), using new technologies, and the job satisfaction is quite rewarding. And, over time, the salary is pretty good as well.

    I hope I haven't given you too big of a scare. However, I did want you to have a realistic view of what you can expect when starting out in your IT career. :) Best of luck to you!
     
    Certifications: CISSP, MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+
    WIP: Just about everything!
  3. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    what he said ^

    Welcome to CF
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  4. Notes_Bloke

    Notes_Bloke Terabyte Poster

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    Hi & welcome to CF:D

    NB
     
    Certifications: 70-210, 70-215, A+,N+, Security+
    WIP: MCSA
  5. wizard

    wizard Petabyte Poster

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    Hi there and welcome :D
     
    Certifications: SIA DS Licence
    WIP: A+ 2009
  6. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    Hello and welcome to the forums! :)
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCSE: Private Cloud, MCSA (2008), MCITP: EA, MCITP: SA, MCSE: 2003, MCSA: 2003, MCITP: EDA7, MCITP: EDST7, MCITP: EST Vista, MCTS: Exh 2010, MCTS:ServerVirt, MCTS: SCCM07 & SCCM2012, MCTS: SCOM07, MCTS: Win7Conf, MCTS: VistaConf, MCDST, MCP, MBCS, HND: Applied IT, ITIL v3: Foundation, CCA
  7. Naive

    Naive Byte Poster

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    Hi & Welcome to CF :thumbleft

    MB covered everything there.
     
    WIP: MCDST
  8. jimmy_2k

    jimmy_2k Bit Poster

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    Hi Jon

    You worked with Apples did you say? There are a lot of pubishing and design companies out there that use MACs and are looking for MAC technicians (im probably swearing on this forum!).

    I went for an interview for Future Publishing in Bath and they were mainly on the lookout for MAC people. You could put your CV on Monster and say that you have setup and supported people using a MAC in your work environment and you want to go into the technicial side of things. At the University where I work we use MACs and two of my coworkers are Apple Certified Helpdesk Technicians (ACHD)

    Might be worth considering
     
    Certifications: MCDST, 70-290
    WIP: 70-270, 70-291
  9. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    As said having experience of Macs might give you the edge. Perhaps go for the A+, Network+ and also MCDST which will give you some basic knowledge for PC and Windows troubleshooting.

    That with your experience of using Macs should give you a good CV for an entry level support job.
     
    Certifications: MSc MCSE MCSA:M MCSA:S MCITP:EA MCTS(x5) MS-900 AZ-900 Security+ Network+ A+
    WIP: Microsoft Certs

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