Hi Everyone - can anyone help??

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Hi

I’m new here, so apologies for the slightly dazed demeanour, lol.

Ok – lets get to the point – I’m (cough) late thirties and am thinking of part-exchanging my career for a nice shiny IT one.

The only drawback (lol – ok I’ll pull the other one), one of many drawbacks is my lack of experience.

Now, back in the good ol days of college, I thought I had an aptitude for programming, although I am aware that that program languages have come on in leaps and bounds since then. I’ve also done, in more recent times, the odd web-site design (basic admittedly, but all the code was self-inputted) and thought that might be an avenue worth exploring.

After researching many web sites I originally decided to study with Computeach, but then reality kicked in (well, jumped about for a bit, waved like a demented lunatic, punched me on the nose then ran away) and I decided instead to do self –study for the Comptia A+ believing that to be a good basis to begin with.

Basically, I’m stuck not knowing which way to turn. Which study path is right for me?

Would it be better for me to go down the MCDST route and get into the IT profession this way first, and then decide where my career lies? Or attempt to find out exactly what is best suited for me and tailor a study plan that way?

I suppose, that as none of my friends and family are in the IT industry, it is difficult to get some decent advice, which isn’t helped by the vast scope that the IT profession covers.

Basically, heeeeeellllllppppp…….lol.

 

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Hi Davidus - Welcome to the forums.


Most people on here will tell you that you have made the right decision in not going with a training provider as they are fething expensive.

As to what certs you do, in the main that depends on what you want to do. If you are wanting to do programming and/or web design I can't see th utilitiy in doing the A+ or MCDST as neither will progrees you in that arena. The A+ is almost entirely hardware based, with MCDST being supporting Microsoft operating systems and applications. Neither will get you a programming job, it will contribute to you getting you an IT support job, but to a large degree its like saying that because you are good at plumbing you should be awesome at painting

There are many people on here who will help you decide on training and certifications and so on, but you need to decide on a destination before you decide on your path.

Hope this helps.

Good Luck

 

Hi Welcome

Go for the A+ first and try and get a job ASAP then persue compTIA N+ and MCDST but go no further until you have actual on the job experience.

You can self study for all certifications there is no need to pay big money to a company who will just provide you with some books and tell you read them plus they'l charge you ****loads for the privelage.

For the A+ it is recommended that you buy two books which are: PC Technician street smarts by James Pyles and compTIA A+ all in one exam guide 6th edition by Mike Meyers.

Get an old pc that you can take apart and put back together unless you don't mind messing with your own but that isn't a good idea if you have never done it before.

The technician street smarts book has exercises in it that you can practice like replacing the PSU and installing a CPU and also tweaking Windows to run faster.

The AIO guide has everything you need to pass the two exams to become A+ certified.

Good Luck

 

Welcome!

Greenbrucelee speaks the truth. Follow his advice.

Good luck!

 

It depends on the job you want to apply for to get 'into' IT.

If you where looking to start off with 1st Line Support to sound out which parts of IT you seemed to enjoy, I would recommend the MCDST as most companies and end users use MS products.

I'm not knocking the A+ and N+, but I did ask around 10 collegues and 3 team leaders and the conscensus was 'never heard of 'em or whats that then?'.

The reason I did this was due to these forums, as people are often recommending these qualifications and I wanted to see if my work collegues knew anything about them.

I'm sure that the A+ and N+ will definately help you knowlegde wise, but in relation to breaking into IT, I would recommend the MCDST (which gives you two MCP's).

Hope that helps a little.

 

Thanks to all who replied to my thread.

At the end of the day, I think this has merely addled my poorly confusion as to what career path I wanna go. No fault of anyone here. I just don't know with 100% certainty whether I'd be able to do the programming I originally thought. I've only seen some examples on the net (I thought VB's ok, can handle that and then I saw some samples of C# and thought 'what the..." lol - some I understood and the rest mmmmm, pass)

Craigie1977's reply would be a good example of my confusion (and I'm not picking fault here so apologies in advance). By that I mean, most threads, advice etc seem to indicate that Comptia A+ (and N+) would be the best place to start, which is why I've decided to go full steam ahead and have already bought Mike Myers book and am ploughing through that (the other - PC technician street smarts has now been added to my list, so thanks greenbrucelee for that recommendation). BUT, Craigie's reply indicated that I needn't bother with the Comptia (as I'm looking at programming) and to go ahead with the MCDST, which is my planned next step after N+.

I suppose that I need some reassurance that when I got for my first IT job, I want to be sure that the qualification(s) that I will have (Comptia A+) would be recognised by potential employers. Could someone be a good mother (or father) and say 'There, there, of course they would recognise it' or something similar, lol.

Meanwhile, I guess I'm gonna have to decide what path I must follow (be it the dark side or the light - oops, dunno how that slipped out, sorry).

Any replies will of course be fully appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

why not buy a C++ book and oviously C++ and see if you enjoy it, if you do then look at some programming qualifications at your local college.

If you decide that going into a job as an IT tech is your thing then difinetly get the A+ N+ and MCDST but start applying for entry level/trainee jobs ASAP.

 

Pray hold.............a Duh! moment is occuring.....lol.

Why didn't I think of that GBL!! (Smacks forehead).

Have taken the time to look around and have picked up some useful tips, sites and of course advice. Yes, now that you've said it - it seems an obvious thing to do (getting a C++ or C# book). Am kicking myself for not thinking of that.

Will also ring around some of the local job recruitment agencies to see what is about. My only fear is the potential salary drop, but hey, suppose that'll be an incentive to get these certs passed asap.

Maybe I'm pessimistic, but I'm surprised that I'd be able to get a job (albeit, a low level one even with my low level of experience and no qualifications), but if that's what you advise, then sure. I can't see how that can hurt - nothing to lose so to speak.

If I can throw in a quick piece of advice for any newbies reading this. Seriously, if you have any problems/questions - start a thread and ask. I've only been here a day, and I can honestly say, I've learned more here, than a couple of months scouring the internet, training providers and the like. Everyone is friendly and the advice is worth it's weight. Thanks everyone (PS - I accept credit cards as well, pml).

Davidus

 

Yes the salary drop could be big, IT isn't well paid for noobs anymore.

 

Well, will phone a couple of agencies tomorrow and will hopefully get some information (salary levels as well). Thanks for the advice to date.

If the shock of the salary levels isn't too great (and provided I've recovered enough) I will post something tomorrow.

 

You'll be looking in the region of 12 - 14k for your first IT support job. Not sure about programming though but I doubt it's much higher.

 

Not sure about across the pond, but in the States, entry-level programmers tend to make quite a bit more than entry-level techs. That said, there seems to be a bit more stability on the techie side than the programming side... and the gap between techie and programmer salaries is smaller the farther you go in your career.

 

Thanks for the into - Have now decided to take the obvious advice previously given by GBL and ordered a book on C# (the Heads First one).

That'll give me a taster which will tell me what I need to know. Having looked around the site I see the advice is to decide (and plan) where my programming career is aimed at (so more comtemplating is required).

I've also come across the discussion that although a programmer doesn't NEED to do Comptia A+ (and N+) I think I may perservere with this as I've found it already informative and extremely interesting.

I think I'll let this thread conclude naturally before I bore anyone else with questions that others may have already asked. I know you're all out there to help, but thats no excuse for my laziness and I oughta delve further to see what this forum has to offer. Don't worry though, you can be sure I'll be back for more assistance and advice, lol, although where I'll eventually place my next post is yet to be decided as my 'newness' must surely run out sometime soon, lol.

Once again, to all other noobs, this truly is a fantastic site. Make good use of it. I know I will.

Davidus

 

Please, continue to post. If you're asking something that is so completely searchable that it's laughable...

...well, we'll just laugh at you and point you to the search feature ...but for everything else, you won't find a more helpful group.

In any case, I don't think you've come anywhere close to passing anyone's level of newb-tolerance, so please, continue.

Besides... the laughing is all in good fun.

 

Welcome to the forum.

No need to order a book straight away. If you have a look on the MS site you will find that there are express (and free) versions of the visual studio program in the supported languages that you want to learn. If you continue to look there you will also find a couple of smallish guides to getting started with the programming language too.

Get these and try them out and then you'll have a better idea.

 

Great,will do. Thanks nugget, thats gonna be a big help. Am in your debt.

Davidus

 

All donations gratefully accepted and will be put into the mod's beer kitty.

Glad to help.

 

Hi and welcome to CF and best wishes on your choice of studies.

 

Hi & welcome to CF

NB