Where to start?

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Thought id put my two pennys worth in.......

Good luck with the career moves, but i would warn that it is all about transistion..... and that takes time!!!

I was/am an impatient person where i wanted to go out and earn big money with no certs.... worked for a while doing various contracting positions (mainly helpdesk) but it soon dried up as i got bored!

I then thought, CERTIFICATIONS..... these will enable me to earn BIIIIG Money ...... i then realised that the certs are just an indicator of knowledge and after meeting lots of "paper" MSCE's & CCNA's who have done the exam but havent and couldnt put the pieces of the puzzle together put me off certs a little!

I then calmed down a bit and learned patience by playing poker!! Very expensive lesson! . I then was able to understand that i needed to work up within the IT depts so i used my contracting experience to get me a nice little helpdesk role and then went on to do my MCDST (through the open university) which then enabled me to do desktop support roles which then gave me exposure to servers......

Once i had helped the server team out of a few sticky situations they started to use me more and more and teach me things along the way. I then started building servers for them at which point enabled me to get into a server and desktop role which then gave me exposure to networking.....

At this point there was not enough exposure for my liking so i moved roles to a smaller company which i know from experience will let you touch anything as long as you can get it working and they can sell it!

They then started selling Cisco equipment, so at this point i decided to do my CCNA (which i loved!!) and then become the CISCO guy at our company which meant i had a NICHE that no one else had which meant all of the cisco stuff comes my way. This means more exposure and i am currently still here doing the cisco stuff along with my daily server/desktop/network/mobile device/anything else role!!

I have had my CCNA for a year yet and havent wanted to leave my current role for another job as i want to get 2-3 years experience before i even bother! I am also studying for my CCNP now as the equipment we have and are selling are moving on rapidly!

My tips would be:
Ask as many questions as possible along the way to learn from others as books are good but experience is key!
Dont rush like i tried to!
Dont over-certify as it will harm rather than help!
If you noticed i didnt mention money above as in some positions i was on pittance but the role enable me to learn and to get experience and those two were the pay in my head! Sad i know!

I would suggest the Microsoft certification route to make the transition to a helpdesk or desktop support role and then work your way up!

All my studies were home studies using the official books and mainly CBT Nuggett Videos. Choose a Cert, book the exam and then study for it! This way will help as you feel pushed on by the fact you have already paid for the exam and therfore study more! (you can always move the exam dates once booked if you are not quite ready)

ITS ALL POSSIBLE!! Hope this helps a little and good luck!

P.s. Sorry for going on for soo long!!

 

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I couldn't agree more Jonny! repped

 

It is amazing that this standard formula of how to work your way up the IT career ladder one rung at a time seems to work every single time. Yet so many people decide that they want to do it "their way"... and while a few make it, so many do not.

This post absolutely deserves rep. Enjoy 369 more rep points, Jonny.

 

@johnny
thanks for the time to write your very informative post

I guess my whole point in joining the forum was for advice and so far it has been excellent and some of you have made things more clear in what I should do.

Thanks guys
Lets see how this all turns out.

swift

 

Cheers for the Rep Gents. probably the longest post i have ever made!!

To be fair this was the first forum I joined and it made me join others as the information and opinions helped me out alot! Good luck swifty.

Jon