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Hello to you all.

Found this Forum whilst looking at Microsoft Certification, and have used it a lot since then for Hardware/Employment/CV's etc.

About Me

Well i am just about to leave the Royal Navy (After 9 Years) to pursue a career in IT, My current job is about 90% IT based so i am just trying to get the same job, but not in the military.

Courses

I have booked myself on MCITP: SA and MCITP: DST, the reason for choosing these two, is that they will become MCSA: Server 2008 and MCSA: Windows 7

I was originally going to do MCITP: EA, but due to the change of courses from microsoft, i decided to do the latter.

What i hope to achieve

Well to be honest, i would like to become a Field Engineer or 3rd Line Support. I currently live in the Portsmouth area and there are quite a few jobs in the area.

What am i doing now?

Well, i am prepping my CV and studying for my exams. I have already watched CBT nuggets (Twice) for all the courses i am doing, and read the self paced books that are associated with the course.

Thank you

 

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Sounds good mate, Good luck with your study's.

You say your current job is 90% IT based, what is your job role in the Navy if you dont mind me asking.

 

CIS (Communications Information Systems Specialist)

 

Welcome to CF

NB

 

Welcome to CF!

 

Thank you for the warm welcome.

 

Welcome to CertForums. Good to see you here.

 

Hi & welcome to CF!

I see you'be been self-studying with the books & vids, but also that you "have booked yourself on" the courses. Does that mean that the self-study left you feeling you needed a trainer-lead course too, or are these online courses with extra resourses that you think you need?

We're always interested in how people ready themselves for the exams... How long have you given yourself to take/pass the 5 exams in question?

 

Hello RichyV

Thank you for your questions

"I see you'be been self-studying with the books & vids, but also that you "have booked yourself on" the courses. Does that mean that the self-study left you feeling you needed a trainer-lead course too, or are these online courses with extra resourses that you think you need?"

Upon leaving the Military i get a resettlement package, which includes leave, covering (most) of the course cost, Accommodation and food for the period of "Resettlement Training"

Since this is a Free service provided to service leavers i decided to use it to book myself on the courses.

"We're always interested in how people ready themselves for the exams... How long have you given yourself to take/pass the 5 exams in question?"

Each of the courses is 5 days, with the 'Opportunity' to take the exam at the end of the week (Which i will be doing) I also get a 2nd Shot to use within 12 months.

I have been booked on the Course since May/June and have been studying the course ware since as i understand this is going to be quite an intense course, now my background in the military, i believe will help me, as our courses are usually short and intense, with exams being conducted at the end of the week.

I've got mental drive and gutsy determination to finish things... And my mind is a sponge when it comes to IT... Will it help? We'll See

Thank you

Adam

 

Well, you seem to have done your homework and are thoroughly clued-up!

I wish you the best of luck with the exams and you'll certainly have a tale to tell which may well help CF members both old and new once you've completed it all.
We do see a steady trickle of ex-military personnel requesting cert help as they transfer back into civi-life, and your experience will be a prime example of how it can be done.

How do you rate your prospects of getting a job once this is done (completely subjective, I know, but it would be interesting to find out how +ve/-ve you feel about this aspect of your future).

 

I'm feeling 100% Positive about getting a job, and doing well in the position that i will be working in.

I've been looking over the last few months, and there are many jobs in the area that interest my greatly but sadly i cannot apply until January.

I have been reading about people struggling to find employment, but i am not going to let it worry me, and push on and get a new job.

 

Hello,

It’s been a while since I posted, so I thought I would update.

Course

So I took my course (MCITP: Server Administrator and MCITP: Desktop Support Technician), glad to say I passed all exams first time around!

Would I recommend to anyone to do this course for 5 weeks, well in short no, it was quite hard and I was getting up late/early to revise and go through CBT Nuggets/Train Signal videos and the books they had provided. It was an intense course, and I either did the exam on the Friday or at the beginning of the week (A new lesson). If you happy to work your butt off to achieve what you want (Like me) then you will achieve what you want; it did help me get the job.

CV

Take your time with this, I started firing them off as soon as I’d finished the course, I didn’t tailor it (I applied for 100+ Jobs). Heard nothing back, so I started to care a little bit more on what I was doing, I found the role I was genuinely interested in, I found out what the company was (asked the recruitment agency) and researched the company (Website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Forums etc.)

After I had done this, I would tailor my CV and create a covering letter around the company, I would spend a whole day doing this (research and creating), so every day I would create one CV and one covering letter for one company and send it off at the end of the working day (of the recruitment agency)

Interview Prep

The CV's worked, to a great success, I applied for 5 jobs this way, and I’ve had 5 offers for interview (Ranging from 20k-40k), I picked the roles that I liked the most (not that paid the most I might add) went to two interviews (one start of the week, one midweek), I received offers for both.

For the interview, I researched into the company more; what they did, how they did it, how they look after their clients, any questions people had raised, what technologies they used, who is the boss, who would be interviewing me, when the company was formed, any up and coming events they were attending, charity work.. Really everything I could find to give me help when I got in there.

I wore a nice suit and white shirt, I’d had my hair cut and my beard trimmed, I had a shower and brushed my teeth just before I went, had some gum before I went in (removed before entering building!!)

Day of the interview

I got there around 30 mins before my interview, I sat in my car and read all the notes I had taken for a quick refresh, 15 mins to go went in and let them know I was here... I used this time to look at brochures, the people, listen to how people were, what they were wearing, if they looked happy, if they looked busy, what computers they were using, if I could see printers, scanners, all computer stuff; to give me a idea of how they worked in the flesh, not from information I had gathered from the internet.

I was friendly, smiled, tried to speak to the interviewers (3 in both) as people (because they are humans, they will (and it showed in some) be nervous), I answered all questions honestly, and if I didn’t know, I said that I didn’t know. Reading through the Job description and finding out what they used really helped here, but I didn’t lie, I didn’t cram in a technology I wasn’t familiar with, I learnt what it did, and left it at that.

I left, and thanked them for the opportunity for the interview and rang the recruitment agency straight away to give them feedback - again I was honest.

Job Offer

I received one offer on Thursday and one on Friday, after the interview I looked (on tinternet) into the company that I felt I liked the most (complaints, negative feedback, honesty, good feedback, who their clients were)

In the end I went with the company what I was most excited about, the one I would really enjoy working for, although the money is good (still took a pay cut) its about the company and how they work for me, so that’s why I settled for them.

Each part of this was a goal that I had written down, I met all goals on the dates that I wanted, it was a struggle and lots of learning as this is new to me (having worked in the navy since 17) but it paid off.

Adam

 

Hi again Bovie,

thanks for returning and giving us a comprehensive update. Well done on the certs...

Congrats on the job and I hope you continue to enjoy it!

 

Nice on Adam, congrats on the transition/certs.

That write up on the CV / Interview should be posted in the jobs/employment section too as the right way to do things.

 

Congratulations. Interesting post.