exams/assessment (n00b)

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Hi,

I am looking into the career path(s) found in IT ( at based in city of London),
and as person with no real job experience in the industry, but a person that has built and used pc's along with audio/studio equipment (not at all relevant, but i am fairly techy/just not scientific), I have a few questions.

I am specifically touching upon networking for now,but still don't know if thats the facet will go for (database,etc.)

If anyone would like to help, please read on...

what format does say the exam question of say, a cisco certification take?
and for that matter MCSE aswell?
I have never seen one...and wonder if there any way of seeing an example of what you guys deal(or dealt) with.

what i am also trying to ask is-How hard is it from a scientific/mathematical standpoint?
I tried a computer science postgrad diploma at birkbeck as i have a degree in music prod/business and got in, but found pure maths science and coding in c++ overwhelming for a projected years time frame.Did'nt really hang around long enough to find out if databases would stump me though...

And I suppose, what sort of combination of certs and time frame would it take to aquire entry level work in a city firm, be it bank,isp etc... if such a position exists?
How would one gain experience of soft/hardware outside of paying for a course at say BCOC in Baker street, london?would you recommend BCOC as school?

ok, i ll stop there and with my quarter life crisis questions! perhaps you can smell the combination of blind fear and desparation....

if anyone happens to be working right now in the city of london in IT and is happy to divulge useful general info i would love to hear from ya...

much respect and kind regards

Dan

 

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Hi Dan,

Welcome to the forum.

The only thing i know about Baker Street is that it came up in some Sherlock Holmes novels!

Seriously, geography aside, i would sit back and think what area of IT interests you and go from there. Whilst you decide where your interests and strengths lie, you won't go far wrong by looking at a good A+ book as a foundation for all things IT.

Good luck.

Si

 

The MCSE and Cisco exams are at a higher level than you should be considering this early in your IT career. Entry-level IT candidates should be looking at the A+ and MCDST certifications, and potentially moving toward Network+. The MCDST focuses on desktop support, and can be used as an elective for the MCSA certification (one step down from MCSE).

 

If he been working and building pcs for a while, he is passed the A+, but this cert is entry level and what people do look for. Check out comptia.org website. If your thinking about networking, then start with comptia network+. It will lay a good foundation for you.

As for giving you questions on cert exam. We can't. That is breaking some major laws there. If you check out the vendors site though, they will tell you what format they are in and type of questions that are asked. Good luck, and welcome to CF. And look up their objectives for each exam. It will tell you what to expect on each exam, and what you need to study.

 

The A+ Net+ and MCSE do not delve too deeply into scientific or mathematical topics but having said that the MCSE is no walk in the park either. I and many others have found some of the exams to be straight forward and easy and others to be extremely tough to pass.

Most of the exams for certs are done using specific exam software and are generally multiple choice ie chose 2 answers from the following or the dreaded chose all that apply from half a dozen possibilities. Though there is a trend now to move away from multiple choice to Sims - Sims being simulated hands on question, asking you to set up a DHCP reservation for example using a simulated DHCP server GUI.

Pete