Hi

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Hi everyone !!
Just thought I would introduce myself .

A few months ago I decided to quit my job , a career that I had built up over 15 years , it was something I enjoyed doing but realised that I didnt want to get to 60 and have any regrets about my life choices.
I have always had a deep passion for IT , i have always had a pc and was known as the " computer whizz " in my old job as I tended to support when IT issues arose.
So I decided to quit and train full time ... am I mad I thought to myself. I signed up with Advent who so far have been great and delivered everything that they promised. I attend my first classroom sessions on Monday and Tuesday and then hopefully will sit my first EVER exam ( since school ) A+ Essentials

I have financially budgeted for around 7 months off work , training full time. After this point I hope to be qualified to MCSE level. I know that this is only half of the battle , as employers want experience and qualifications ,I am in the unfortunate position of having neither so the first point of call for me was getting some paper qualifications and getting my knowledge upto scratch.
Once I have these I will attempt to get various short term contracts or an entry level position to give me some more foundation experience.
There are lots of things that I dont know about this field the one thing I do know is that once I have my foot in the door I can make it work, so the next 6 months are all about waking up my brain again

Well enough of my life story , the summary of this message is HI !!

 

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Hi Welcome

If you have the experience you say why not self study it wont cost you much.


Also dont do the MCSE untill you have at least one year of experience implementing and administering network operating systems and desktop operating systems. This what Microsoft say, and it may be harder for you to get a job with this cert and no proper experience.

Good luck with the first A+ exam

 

Hi and welcome to CF

It's too late to give you the usual speach about saving yourself money by going the self study route but as you've saved money to take time off, I'd like to mention that you could have used the £5000 you paid to Advent for an extra few months.

My advice would be to start looking for entry-level IT jobs NOW sooner than later, trying to get into IT with an MCSE and no real experience won't be all that easy and an MCSE ISN'T an entry level cert, it's supposed to represent your experience and skill gained from years of work place environments. Getting an enry level job while studying will help build that experience as you go.

As for taking time off work to study, I don't know if gaps in employment are going to look that good on your CV, had you kept working and done the course in your free time, you would look very self motivated.

Anyhow, I wish you the best of luck in your journey!

Dave

 

Note: He's already with advent, it's a little late to start self study now when he has already paid for 11 or so exams up to MCSE.

 

Never noticed who he had paid

meh

 

Thanks for the welcome guys


As you have stated I have signed up for my MCSE training , and yep I have taken time off work . A gap in anyones CV is not an issue when its a gap for self development when your previous employer will give you a glowing reference. Surly leaving a job to give 100% commitment to learning a new skill is just as respected as working after hours ?
I understand that MCSE is not an entry level position but the whole point of me taking time off to study is to do just that , not to get a job which leaves me little time to balance my work/life. I would rather at this stage go all guns blazing for the planned 6 months , see how far i have gotten and then at that point see what options there are for me. I am in the fortunate position that I could walk back into my old career at little notice and still earn what I was on before ( or more )
So taking out the financial element I am happy with my decisions so far , but I guess the proof will be in the pudding in respects of what I achieve and what I then can do with it

But anyways , thanks again for the welcome and advice Its MUCH appreciated , now to get back to my study

 

The point we are trying to make is that MCSE is a cert which is gained from years of experience and earnings for experience and knowledge of that level should be £30k+. Problem you face is having to apply for lower level jobs because it's very unikely you will get an MCSE level job with no experience, thus you're over qualified for entry level and under experienced for MCSE level.

An MCSE without experience is known as a "paper mcse" and doesn't hold much value in the IT world.

I hope things work out for you though,

Keep us posted

Dave

 

Hi there and welcome

 

DaveMid is spot on about having MCSE, but no experience. You wont be able to walk into a company and start playing with the kit, with or without MCSE, experience is always critical. You will find yourself having to apply for entry level jobs and starting from the bottom like everyone else.

Best of luck with the exams anyhow, and welcome to CF!

 

The advice above is spot-on accurate. Plus, listing the MCSE on your resume without experience can, in some cases, actually hurt your chances for getting a job. Being overcertified isn't a good thing.

The A+, Network+, and MCDST are good entry-level certifications. Anything past that, without experience, is more than you need. But the training center wasn't going to tell you that... they simply wanted your money.

Welcome!