Hello from a new member

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Hi there,

Just a bit of background on myself. I was made redundant from the financial services industry (after 12 years) four months ago which finally pushed me into doing something about my long-held wish to move into IT. Decided to start at the beginning with the CompTIA A+ and work up from there. Fully understand that I'll have to take a big drop in salary from my previous position and start at the bottom again but now seems as good a time as any

Passed my CompTIA A+ Essentials (score 786) and IT Technician (score 839) exams the other weekend (took them both together as it was easier due to travel constraints) and am currently studying for the Network+ exam which I should be ready for in a few weeks time. I used CompTIA A+ 2006 in Depth by Jean Andrews (ISBN-13: 978-1-59863-351-1) and can't recommend this book enough. I know the book by Mike Meyers is popular on this site but as an alternative, I found this book great and it certainly got me through the exams. Her writing style is extremely easy to read as opposed to the Sybex books (which I also read) which have a much more "text-book" kind of feel to them (if you know what I mean).

I notice from reading other posts that MCDST seems to be the next logical progression as I too have been in contact with TP's and they have offered me "guaranteed" success, MCSA/MCSE, jobs, etc... They suggested going straight into MCSA/MCSE/MCITP after Network+ as this would guarantee a job at £35k+ with essentially no experience .

Will follow the advice on here and continue with self-study as it seems to work for me and probably move on to MCDST after Network+. Any advice on which course/certification to take after MCDST would be most welcome.

Additionally I am also doing my CCNA at night school. Although I know it's a bit ahead of the game, as I'm doing it part-time I'll only pass (hopefully) towards the end of next year due to college timetables and will hopefully have the CCENT by the end of this year as part of the same course. I chose to do the course at college so that I could get some practical, "hands-on" experience with the equipment rather than try and do something like this from home. I was supposed to be doing a Foundation Degree in IT Systems & Support but the funding was not available so I took this course instead to make the most of my "spare" time due to being currently unemployed

I have started applying for dozens of junior helpdesk and support positions and would ideally like to get into networking in some way, shape or form as it seems to be a bit more "hands-on" and hardware oriented rather than some of the other IT disciplines. Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated as I really am keen to get started in IT

After 38 years, I finally know what I want to do
(Sorry it's a bit long-winded for a first post but I had a lot to say)

 

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Hi Welcome

Entry level certs like A+, N+ and MCDST are a good idea but the actual idea of certs like CCNA, MCSA and MCSE are to show that you actually have the experience in those certs related area in a job. So having something like the CCNA or MCSE and no experience can go against you when applying for jobs.

Once you have done your CCNA if you have no luck in finding a job it may be wise to take it of your CV.

Do not believe the 35k a year BS with no experience because its crap, your first job you will be looking at an entry level position where the pay might be 13k - 16k unless you get very lucky.

 

Hi & welcome to CF

Congrats on the certs

NB

 

Hello and welcome to the forums!

Qs

 

Hello and welcome to this great site!

I believe that an MCSE obtained through study and labs can still be beneficial without the experience.

It does say that it is intended for someone with a year's experience, 200 users and 5 physical sites.

This is another chicken and egg scenario.

Good luck.

 

Welcome!

That's because they want to sign you up for the most expensive course they can hook you for. Not because they're malicious - but because they're in business to make money... and they don't know that having advanced certifications too early can actually make it MORE difficult to get your first IT job.

To top it off, a guarantee of £35k+ is absolutely ludicrous. I am pleased to hear that you didn't buy their story!

There are certainly good training providers out there... but if a TP is offering you advanced certifications and salary "guarantees", it would be wise to look elsewhere.

To be honest, nothing further until you get some real-world business IT experience. Once you start building experience, there are quite a few certifications with are worth pursuing.

Studying for the CCNA is certainly a great idea. Getting the certification and adding it to your CV this early in your career isn't such a good idea. Entry-level jobs don't involve working with Cisco gear, so entry-level employers don't typically want someone with Cisco certifications. If they don't automatically assume you're too expensive due to your advanced credential, they'll often believe you're a "flight risk" - that you'll leave when something better (like a job working with Cisco gear) comes along, leaving them to have to find, hire, and train someone all over again. And companies with more advanced jobs won't hire you because you don't have real-world experience. In summary, the CCENT/CCNA can make it HARDER to get your first job, not easier. You don't want to shoot yourself in the foot by making yourself less desirable to employers.

Don't misunderstand me - the KNOWLEDGE you're building is great! But Cisco certifications have to be renewed every three years, and you're not likely to use Cisco gear in your first two or three years. And, like most everything, if you don't use it, you lose it.

One final thing - don't mistake lab experience as "practical, hands-on experience"... while working with Cisco gear at school certainly gets your hands on it, working in a pristine lab environment is altogether different from working on a production router with real user traffic and real problems and real downtime... and employers don't really consider lab work as "experience".

Again, welcome to the forums! Great first post!

 

Many thanks for the comments and kind words. I will try and take on board what you all have suggested and just get my head down and get Network+ boxed off before attempting the MCDST exams. I'm applying for as many 1st Line and Junior positions as I can at the moment so hopefully something will turn up sooner rather than later and give me the experience that I need to allow me to further my career and proceed onto more advanced certifications/positions.

 

Welcome to the forum Johny and thanks for taking the time to introduce yourself properly.

Good luck with finding your first job in IT and with your future progression up the ladder