Hi im David & looking for a new career in IT.

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Hi im David 24 years of age currently working as a Receptionist in a hospital A&E which pays me 14k a year. I left college at the age of 20 beacuse i wasnt doing good. I am dyslexia & i feel embarrased to tell people this therefore in school etc i never really did good. I always wanted to work in IT, its like a dream for me but im very confused in regards to what i have to do. I wouldnt mind working on a helpdesk & doing practical things or even networking. Im not a confident person & lack motivation alot. I feel like a failure as i have failed all my life & havent made any achievements in life, i now also suffer from depression because i have dead end career & i hate my job. The only qualifications i have is a BTEC level 3 in computer system support & GNVQ intermidiate ICT.

I would really appreciate any help please.

Thanks

 

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Hi & welcome to CF

Firstly, there is no reason for you to feel embarassed about dyslexia, and you shouldn't let it hold you back in life. Leonardo Da Vinci & Thomas Edison were both dyslexics - but it didn't hold them back.

Why feel like a failure? You are holding down a steady job. Okay, it's one you dislike, but it pays the bills - right?
Also, you have achieved BTEC level 3 in computer system support & GNVQ intermidiate ICT. This doesn't sound like someone who has failed all their life and achieved nothing.


Right, what can you do about it? Well the best place to start is the CompTIA A+, then the N+, followed by Microsoft's MCDST certification. These can be achieved through self study at home.

Firstly I'd recommend getting the CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition book. If you have a spare PC on which to dismantle/rebuild etc, then that would be good too.
Basically, you need to read the book and learn the concepts, and then when you feel ready to sit the exam, you register at an exam centre and take the exam.

If you have any questions then ask away - there are plenty of knowledgeable and friendly people always willing to help on here


HTH

NB

 

Also, forgot to mention that this book is also recommended for the A+ exam, as it contains real-world scenarios for you to practice on.

NB

 

Sorry to hear you feel like that but you have to think positive or you will fail. Get out of the mindset that you can't be a success or you have already lost. I failed all my GCSE's first time around but went back and did them again when teachers said I wouldn't make anything of myself and ended up with a degree just for good measure. If you enjoy IT then hopefully the motivation will come to you naturally.

My advice is to start by buying a CompTIA A+ book (Mike Myers and Sybex A+ book are generally regarded as the best) and a cheap PC to study on to start with. The A+ is a good cert for knowledge and hopefully you will learn a lot from that cert. After that do the CompTIA Network+ and then you need to decide what areas you want to study down the line. Just a quick note if you pass the A+ and Network+ before 2011 the certs are for life otherwise you have to recertify every 3 years.

I think it's vital to have a 1yr/3yr/5yr action plan in place on what you want to do and achieve by the end of year 1 and then what you want to achieve further down the line to keep you on track and have a goal. IT is expensive to learn if self funding so put a little a side each payday for exams, books, hardware etc.

 

Hi,

Well its just one of those thing which i have been very uncomfortable with & think i will be judged by it. My wages pay the bills etc but life is a big struggle. Sometimes i dont even have money for lunch.

I feel like a failure because of loads of things i have been through education wise, sitting there in exams looking at everyone write away while i just sit there & wonder why cant i be like that, whats wrong with me. I've tried so hard & upto my best & i have never succeded. I have called a few traing providers but i feel as they might take advantage of me due to my knowledge being low. I always try to wake up with a positive approach but i cant maintain. All i want from life is success in my career that all.

How doos self study work? Im not really good working on my own. I do have a spare PC at home & one which i use. Do i just buy books then read them & make up questions for myself etc? sorry for loads of question.

Thanks for everybodys help.

 

Pretty much you read the book and it will have excerises to go through in each chapter.

 

Yes you read the book, and there will be review questions after each chapter.
There are also practice exams available from reputable vendors like:-Boson, Transcender, Measure up etc.

NB

 

Self study works by you picking up a book and reading it, working through hands-on labs as you encounter them. Many books have questions at the end of each chapter that you can work through to test your knowledge. If you want additional questions, there are companies (my employer, for example) that sell practice exams that you can use to study. Good ones aren't exactly cheap, but they can be a good investment in your career.

If you're not really good working on your own, you might want to take a step back and have a long, hard look at whether IT is right for you. IT isn't something you study, get in the field, and then rest on the knowledge you've gained... IT is constantly changing, and as such, you have to study regularly just to tread water in the career field, much less advance.

If you've got drive, determination, and a desire to get out of your current situation, you CAN succeed. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't. There's no reason to feel like a failure if you're doing the best you can do.

Welcome to the forums!

 

Sadly this may be true as people can be like that and judge others. But you shouldn't let that influence what you want to achieve in life.

Nothing's wrong with you. Just because you have taken exams where people appear to be sailing through them, doesn't mean that is actually the case. As an example; when I sat my mock GCSE French written exam (back in the day ), I was sat behind my mate, and all through the exam he was busy writing stuff down. I found the exam hard, but thought he must have sailed through it with all the writing he had done.

Anyway, when the mock exams results were in, he only got something like 15% and it transpired that he had wrote most of the answers in english instead of french, because he hadn't done enough revision.

Surely you have succeeded if you have achieved the BTEC level 3 in computer system support & GNVQ intermidiate ICT - stop being so hard on yourself.

They may well take advantage of you, and no doubt will take a fair chunk of money off you as well
That's why it would be better for you to try the self-study route first. If you find it isn't for you - you will have only shelled out about £35 on the A+ books, and not a few thousand on a course.

Good luck with whatever you decide

NB

 

Ok thanks i understand how it works now. Can someone recommend where i can buy these books & how can i find out my local exam centre please?

Many thanks to all the kind advice & making me feel like i can do it.

 

For books I'd recommend Amazon:-

CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition book

PC Technician Street Smarts: A Real World Guide to CompTIA A+ Skills

More information on the A+ cert (and others) can be found here.

Exams can be taken at Prometric centres or Pearson Vue centres. There are pages on their websites that list locations of centres.

NB

 

Welcome

My qualifications are similar to yours, GNVQ and BTEC level 3 in IT. Afterwards, I went to university to gain a degree in Multimedia Design and decided to go back in IT field realising that my passion is in IT industry. Currently I am studying A+ Network+ and MCDSF certifications, which I think you should too.

You have got achievements which are the college courses, you should be proud of that!

You're dyslexia, well I am Deaf and I wont let my disability stopping me what I want to achieve in life. You should be the same.

I am doing the certifications because I lack experience. I am looking for volunteering work as well to gain experience, maybe you could do that too?

Dean

 

Many thanks to all. I feel as ive done the right thing by joining the forum. I feel inspired speaking to down to earth people like you. Im going to buy a book to do the A+, as mentioned its only £35 & its more affordable also i can work in my own pace and comfort plus i have the advantage of all the friendly & helpful people on here.

I just dont know how to thank you all on here.

 

Thanks for the links, im going to buy the book when i get payed hopefully. which books are good for MCDST & N+ please?

 

for MCDST, i (as everyone else out here) would recommend the MS press books first.

Regarding N+, Sybex Guide should do the trick.

 

Thanks, How many hours a day would i need to complete the course within 6 months?

 

Welcome to the forums mate!

You will find guides to the A+, N+ and MCDST under the relevant sections in this forum.

As you have seen we are a friendly bunch, dont be afraid to ask questions, we are hear to help.

 

It really depends on how quickly you can pick up the technology, I know people who no matter how many times they try to pass the exam they simply fail because they don't understand the basics (even tho they work in the IT Industry and have for the last 7 years, so far they have failed the A+ 3 times).

As far as school qualifications go, I really wouldn't worry too much about them, I left school with pretty much nothing (I did the old CSE's, before the GCSE's came out), I failed my English exam (I got an Unclassified) and about the only two decent exam results I got were Technical Drawing (TD) and Physics, I can tell you now, they really haven't helped me out in my career too much to date.

Confidence is all about YOU, if you feel confident in you, your abilities and your way in life then others will believe in you. Start feeling positive about what you have accomplished because there are more people out there who haven't bothered going beyond school, who haven't gotten a BTEC or looked into further certifications so start feeling good about that.

As far as your age is concerned, you're still only a youngster, you have plenty of time to change careers and start climbing the ladder of success (I should add that my brother is dyslexic, that didn't stop him doing an Msc at Uni and he's now a very successful IBM Tivoli consultant). I will also tell you that it's expected that in the average life time of someone that they will have three distinct careers, I am actually on my second one now (I only started in IT at the tender age of nearly 28 (just shy by 2 months)).

Study hard, not because you have to but because you want to and you will do ok.

 

Thank you people, thank you very much. Since the last time i posted on this thread i have been really down & just trying to think positive. I can only help my self but i dont know why i feel like this. Im going to buy the A+ book & work with that until i feel confident i will then take my exams.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/CompTIA-Cer...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280839470&sr=1-1

Will the book in the above link cover everything for the A+. Does the book also come with exam questions etc?

What else would be recommended to study along with this book & ways of studying please?

Thanks