Advice, get certification or just focus on learning and forget about certs?

Discussion in 'The Lounge - Off Topic' started by Juelz, Mar 30, 2016.

  1. Juelz

    Juelz Gigabyte Poster

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    Ok so I've worked in IT for a grand total of 4(ish) months, I work on a support desk dealing with mainly Windows issues, network troubleshooting, the usual first-line stuff really. I admit I'm not fully competent as I didn't know much about computers until I joined certforums and got talking to you guys who pointed me in the right direction. I have learned so much from this job already I actually get experienced techs asking me for help...which is strange as I often find they may know really advanced stuff but some basic things that even I know they don't have a clue... but saying that I still require ALOT more learning.

    I feel like I want to progress into something else in a year or so, I'm not looking to so much to move up the ranks but more to get a better support job that pays more and deals with a wider variety of issues. I don't know which way to turn really, do I prepare for this by taking a back-seat on certification and actually just focus on learning more, aswel as improving in my current role? or should I be aiming to get more certs which will help my CV get more noticed by future employers? I feel there is a difference between learning for the purpose of learning, and learning to pass an exam. I am currently just watching videos on various things, I plan to get to grips with Mac OS pretty soon and have already planned out my learning videos, I am also reading the new A+ book, not for the actual exam but for the knowledge..Not sure what to do for the best, am I wasting my time learning all these things if I am not aiming to get a certified? I am the only person in my family who works so I bring in all the money, so its important I'm constantly improving but just not sure what I should be doing and would love to get some advice on this one.

    Thanks guys!
     
  2. BB88

    BB88 Kilobyte Poster Gold Member

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    As you are still new in to your IT career, I think you should focus on gaining as much exposure to as many things as possible. This will allow two things:

    1. Gain experience in many aspects of IT
    2. Allow you to find a niche that you find interesting and want to develop further in

    Once you've found your niche, run with it and see what certifications are available.

    Experience and Qualifications go hand-in-hand. In my view, qualifications aren't worth a lot without real-world experience. Conversely, some companies won't even entertain the idea unless you have X and X.

    A+ and Network+ will certainly give you a good foundation to work from.
     
    Certifications: CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, MCSA: Office 365,, 70-410, 70-680
    WIP: CompTIA: Security+

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