Advice please for getting into IT at 35

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Hi everyone,after working in manufacturing since leaving school here in the uk,i have for the last few months been thinking about a career change into IT,due to the different shifts and crazy hours i have been working for the past few years i have found it impossible to do any training etc. I now find myself redundant at 35 and feel its now or never to make the change,i have tried to do some research on what the best way to get into IT is and have had a lot of different advice,my local college seemed to think the best way of getting into IT was to enroll on the Cisco Academy programme which consists of:

OCR IT Essentials for Technicians
OCR Advanced IT Essentials for Technicians using Microsoft Windows and Linux
OCR Level 3 Networking for Network Technicians (CISCO CCNA)

I was hoping to get a job in IT while i am completing the programme to gain some experiance,even if really low paid.what are your thoughts on the route im taking?and better advice on where to start?i have used a computer for many years now and no my way round one for personal use,but have never worked in IT. Any help would be great

cheers keef [email protected]

 

whats the best way of doing the A+ dont think my local college does it

 

What do you need a college for?

Buy Mike Meyers A+ All In One, Sixth Edition, grab an old PC and self study for it

 

Experience, experience, experience !

Get an old pc to play around with at home, search the forum here - there's a thread about voluntary work (maybe you can do some helping out even if supervised at first), get as much practical "hands-on" as you can.

I had always been interested in computers since the Commodore Vic20 days but I moved out of Financial Services and into IT full-time at 36. Prior to that I'd just been a very interested amatuer and had worked for 3 years as a voluntary IT trainer and know-all for a group of financial advisers. This was an unpaid job and mainly involved representing them on a commitee dealing with their IT and providing local training at a meeting for a couple of hours a month.

My first move into IT ? I hooked up with a computer shop locally and started going out deleivering machines to home users and small businesses, setting up the equipment and giving them an hour or two's training. From there I leanrt how to network computers and then got into setting up servers, users etc etc.

It can be done if you're prepared to put the hard graft in and are really enthusiastic about what you do, with an emphasis on always wanting to learn more, more, more !

Good luck !

 

Thanks for the advice gents i'v ordered the book thanks sparky

Im very pleased i have found this forum,its answered more questions from the search bar than 6 months of phone calls and talking to people

 

Hey Keith, like yourself, I'm also looking for a career change. With the help from the more experianced folk over here, I have decided to do the CompTIA A+ and Network +, with a fair bit of IT experiance, I'll then look at becoming either/both Microsoft or Cisco certified.

I too think you should start with the entry level CompTIA A+. Jumping in and spending £4K with a training provider for a MCSE or CCNA is highly risky. You may find the stuff you are learning is too hard, not enjoy it and be left with the bill. The training provider could, lets say, not live up to they way they build themselves up. So doing some of the more basic certifications and gaining some IT experiance should help you eventually decide if it's the right career for you and what area you want to specialise in, that's my plan anyway!

Also, a good start would be to go to your local library/bookstore and read Mike Meyers A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Sixth Edition. I have done some PC building but this starts from the basic and goes quite indepth, you will get an idea of what is expected to pass the A+ before committing with any money. I also found there are no governement educational institutions in my area that do the A+ and Netwrok+. There are training providers but they charge £1-2.5K, no thanks, self study is the chosen route.

 

Hi Naj yes iv decided the A+ is the way ahead for me at the moment..i think when you phone up a college and ask for advice your not really going to get a honest opinion, there probably going to push you onto courses that they do, and they are not going to recommend courses that they dont do. Looks like this has happend in my case..thank god i found this forum

 

Also, don't forget to look at *simple* stuff like MS Office too. If you can become very proficient, particularly with features people struggle with, it's a good "way in" to then looking at other problems for them.

There's a ton of free training resources for Office here : http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/FX100485361033.aspx?pid=CL100605171033 and the main training bit is here : http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/training/FX100565001033.aspx

 

Thankyou mate

 

You've caught on rather quickly. The privately-run training centers seem to be even worse in that regard: many of them will sign you up for the most expensive course they can get you to take out a loan for... regardless of whether or not it'll benefit your career to do so.

Great advice already given in the posts above. Glad to hear you're making a wise choice with your studies! Welcome to the forums.

 

Thankyou Michael i feel like its now or never for me,and i would hate to think im wasting time doing something thats not going to benefit me in the future,im also looking foward to getting stuck in and no doubt getting stuck at times