CCNA useless for a Helpdesk Job, right then....

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i meant century, don't want to put to much pressure on myself

I actually hope to be done before summer though, but i originally had it scheduled for January and had to cancel so shall see!

 

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I'm thinking about doing the CCNA: Security later on this year, thats after my MCSE Upgrade to and VMware VCP.

Just thought I would share that.

 

Whilst I'm a techie at heart recent events have me working in an interim service desk managers role for a FTSE 100 company - so I think I can shed some light on this from a recruiting managers point of view...

My main focus at the moment is to ensure that all my staff have a solid technical grounding - the last thing I want is to manage a gang of ticket monkeys and as part of this I've found myself having to look at our recruitment process and weight up a number of factors.

One thing I have to consider is how technical, too technical and I'll lose them in six months, not technical enough and I may be stuck with a turkey.

If someone comes to me with an MCSE or CCNA and no experience to back it up I'd be willing to give them a chance, but I'd be highly skeptical and you can bet they'd get grilled at the technical interview to make sure they hadn't just braindumped the exams.

For me if you're looking at helpdesk or desktop work (standard entry points to the industry) then you need to show a good level of knowledge with hardware (A+), Desktop Operating Systems (MCDT and MCP) and a working knowledge of networks and how everything communicates (Network+).

To me the CCNA is being used as an entry level cert these days but it shouldn't be. Breaking into a network or server role with no experience is going to be tough so you may need to look at working your way up. I think starting at the bottom and working your way up will help you later in your career, you'll have experience of working in a variety of corporate IT roles and will be able to draw on that experience.

I wish you every success...

 

Sound advice John, repped!

 

Everything this guy said is very very true...

I experienced all of this myself... and IT degree i have to be honest is a load of non sence for the real world it really is... but hey you can either follow people advise or learn it the hard way.. its defo your choice!

 

If you want to get a higher paid role or more responsibility then finish your degree. Try to do a course with a year out in industry or work part time in IT somewhere. Foundation degree doesn't really meant alot by itself.

Then apply for graduate training schemes in large companies. Most pay 20-45k a year. Learn how to pass competency based interviews and maths / verbal reasoning tests. This will get you on a fast track career.

Your other option is to do what these people are telling you to do. Get an entry level IT job and work your way up. Nothing wrong with helpdesk and you will be learning a hell of alot. You are essentially hands on anyway. Most IT work is done from a screen and keyboard anyway? Unless you simply want to be a hardware engineer or cabler.

Most entrylevel jobs will require some sort of helpdesk / ticketing role.

 

To be fair this is generally an idea planted by the universities and the parents, which in the seventies and before was generally true. The universited 'groomed' the middle classes if you will. This still happens but to a much lesser extent and only to people who go to top universities.

Well actually IT is one of the few 'industries' left for people, since many others have been eradicated, agreed its full of ****tards. When industries like manufacturing get destroyed new ones get created, two biggest new industries this generation were the internet and mobile telecoms. So IT was a good place to be. I know people with Music, History, Art, Business, Maths, Physics, Engineering degrees, all ended up in IT as its only way they could have a job, make a little money and use a small part of their brain.

Maths like Chemistry can be an issue if you don't have a first or a Masters of PhD, you're likely to end up as an accountant or actuary. Not amazing jobs either.

Notice I didn't mention all the other pointless degrees like learning clingon etc, sure 'IT' as a general subject is questionable for degree study, but not as questionable as some others. I think there is generally more value in engineering degrees than IT or business IT degrees.

Degrees don't have to be something that are only valuable later, everyone starts below their seniors, but certain training can mean that you can apply for jobs otherwise not accessible to you. If you want to be a doctor or rocket scientist for instance.

To be fair Cisco themselves push their programs very hard to a lot of people, look at their Discovery curriculum it focuses on people with little exposure to networking or IT, they even funnel people into their academy with their essentials I and II, people worldwide are in Cisco academies that don't meet your high standards. During the internet boom lots of new people were needed, but agreed now supply is likely to outstrip demand.

Due to demand it wasn't uncommon for IT people with only a years experience to get into networking, I know a guy who was YTS with IBM 15 years ago and he was fast tracked into network admin. This is however unlikely in the current market as everyone and their dog has gone IT, from physics professors to postmen.

I wouldn't have touched a callcentre job with a bargepole after uni, its an 'unskilled labour' job, I went to university to become 'skilled' and get into a skilled profession. I'd already worked in unskilled jobs in factories and shops and seen the misery there.

At least 50% of the 'IT' jobs (I'm a programmer) I see require a degree, generally a numerate one. These include jobs at all levels.

Do the jobs strictly require a degree in reality ? I think not, but that is not the point, its used as a filter, as are A levels sometimes also. The reality is with more people going to university many jobs can now up their paper based requirements to filter out more candidates.

I believe that good apprenticeship schemes could cover 90% of jobs in most professions, however that is not the model we've got, there are hardly any decent apprenticeship schemes, so people have to take a punt on whether to get a degree or not.

 

This thread should be posted within every college, university IT notice board as it would provide so much help to those who dont realise the toughness of the IT industry...If only so called career websites could echo what has been said in this thread instead of spouting unrealistic so called advice!