Am I deluding myself?

Discussion in 'A+' started by misanthrope, Oct 12, 2008.

  1. misanthrope

    misanthrope Bit Poster

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    I’ve been a design engineer for twenty years & I’ve been looking for a career change. In the summer I completed three years of evening classes to get a technical certificate as an electrician, but the practical truth is it’s an expensive insurance policy. What I wanted to do was IT related, but my local college didn't have anything suitable.

    Then I discovered this website & from a relative starting point of superficial knowledge I’ve learnt a great deal from reading the AIO, so it’s been edifying. However before I delude myself & I invest a couple of hundred quid on exams, I was hoping to read from ppl who can prove it really is possible for a autodidactic-30-something to become an IT technician.
     
  2. greenbrucelee
    Highly Decorated Member Award

    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    IT is difficult to get into as there is lots of competition, you just need to keep trying. Just be aware that no qualification guarantee you a job, start applying for jobs before you go fo the exams, go for trainee and entry level positions.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  3. dmarsh
    Honorary Member 500 Likes Award

    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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  4. grim

    grim Gigabyte Poster

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    also if you make a career change to IT you'll be starting off on a fairly low salary until you have the experience :(

    Grim
     
    Certifications: Bsc, 70-270, 70-290, 70-291, 70-293, 70-294, 70-298, 70-299, 70-620, 70-649, 70-680
    WIP: 70-646, 70-640
  5. misanthrope

    misanthrope Bit Poster

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    I would expect to half my salary.:eek: but i have no dependants.

    I think I'll need to be progressive, study a bit more, take the exams, keep learning & looking for those entry level opportunities.

    I'd still be interested to hear ppl's stories, successful or not.
     
  6. greenbrucelee
    Highly Decorated Member Award

    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    I don't really have an IT job, although I do a lot of configuring and things like that. I would like it to be more technical. There are a few things that are holding me back my location and no money, I intend to resolve that soon. Also I need money to move away & prepare for the pay drop as I am currently on 19k so I could be look at a 5 or 6k pay drop for my first proper job.

    Experience is what coun'ts in IT qualifications etc can only make the candidate more atractive to an employer, so I am trying to get as much experience as possible at the minute.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  7. Jay_7

    Jay_7 Nibble Poster

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    Firstly, I think it's important to understand that your age will in no way restrict you entering the IT industry. Anyone can become an IT technician if their hearts in the job.

    I'm 22 and got my A+ 13 months ago. I got a job with a local PC sales/repair shop mainly as a shop assistant but helping out with repairs and builds where I could. The way I looked at it, if a customer brought in their PC and it was a simple fix, there's no point in putting the PC into a queue a mile long to be looked at so I'd fix it there and then and take their money from them. The techs are happy that the queue didn't grow again, the boss is happy he got the money and the customer is happy about the speedy service.

    After about 6 months in this position, I felt that I was not getting enough experience of repairing PC's as my role was mostly Sales based. I applied for and got a Tier 2 role supporting around 10,000 PC's. This gave me valuable experience of supporting PC's in a domain environment but the job itself was poorly paid.

    4 months down the line and a position in a financial company became available for a permanent on-site technician and so here I am! 40 PC's and 5 servers all supported by me. Having plumbed in a Cisco ASA 5505 and replaced several PCs my next project is a new Domain Controller. All this and all I have to my name is an A+ and a Network+!

    Hope this is useful to you and good luck for the future, whatever you decide to do.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCP
    WIP: CCNA 200-120

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