Go easy!

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Yeh i'm all shiny & new, so i respectively request that everyone go easy on me!! :roll:

I'm also a 'forum virgin' to boot!

Before I rattle on, i'd like to say hello to all

I landed here after a search on 'computeach' which, thanks to your posts, gave me a user perspective of the seemingly pitfall-less road to a "guaranteed qualification". I know these kind of qualifications dont come easy, but when money is involved....

Ah well, if you havent guessed by now, i'm seriously considering a drastic change in career direction, and looking for any advice on the beginner/intermediate I.T courses out there??

Apologies if this is the millionth time a question like this has been posted, but like i said earlier....brand spanking new....

newboy

 

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Hi, Terry. We always "go easy" on "virgins" for the first 30 seconds or so. Then, watch out! Just kidding. If you've been lurking for awhile, you know we tend to be a fun group and not above teasing each other.

Seriously, glad you found the place and welcome aboard. You say you're changing careers in mid-stream. So did I. Have a background in Psychology and Social Work and gave it all up for the glory and limelight of IT. I never look back. Things seem to finally be picking up, both for my career and for the industry in general.

It might help if we knew what career path you're coming from, how much experience you have with computers, networking and such, and what sort of goals you've set for yourself. A lot of what happens here is directed at folks who are pretty new to IT so please feel at ease. As I've heard said in a thousand classrooms, there are no "dumb" questions. I should know. I've asked about a million of them. We're here as a resource and a support. Hope we can be helpful and make you feel at home.

 

Hey Terry - big welcome to CertForums from me as well.

Trip pretty much covered it all above (he's our resident Technical Writer, you see). I have to make do with the persona of big-mouthed armadillo, for some reaon... :roll: Can't work that one out

You're more than welcome here, my friend - hope so stay long and post often.

Enjoy

 

Hi Terry Hope you brought some biscuits, we're nearly out ;)

Pull up a chair, relax and wait for a locksmith to get the chatroom door open (coz the're late ;) ) Lol

 

Hi Terry, welcome to the forums.

 

Hi Trip

Thanx for the reassuring response. I come from a management backround...(please try to resist the urge to punch your monitor repeatedly!) , 7 long years managing nightclubs only to finally realise "hey, this job is crap".

Other than everyday work place use of a PC and a seriously rudimentary understanding of networks (i.e. "if i save something to the shared drive on one PC, I can access it on another...."), the only 'real' experience i can refer to are days of inputting 200 pages of BASIC/peeks/pokes into my ZX spectrum! (which incidentally usually resulted in something about as visually stimulating as the ITV nightscreen)

Im also a physics graduate, but this qual is 10 years old? Probably as much use as a ZX spectrum nowadays??

At the risk of sounding like a saddo, my only current goal is to 'enjoy my job'. I know that this is the employment holy grail, but lets face it when your going to spend most of life working - you gotta get something back!

Ze germans

 

In your case Terry, I'd suggest starting at the very basics of computing and learning the hardware and basic OS aspects. This is covered by the A+ certification course work. You can get an understanding of what this entails by visiting our A+ and Hardware forums and reading the FAQs in each one. Beyond that, start reading the threads in each post to see what the common questions and subject matter is like.

I don't know exactly how you plan to approach your education, but if self-study is any part of it, you might want to get the latest edition of Mike Meyers "All-In-One A+ Certification" text and start reading it (The A+ forum FAQ should have a link showing this book and how to get it). It also would be helpful to have a couple of older PCs lying around that you can open up and poke around inside of.

After the A+, the next cert that will help is the Network+. We have (of course) a forum for that as well. Both certs will give you a solid foundation in computer hardware and networking. From there, you can take your education and training in any number of directions. First things first, though. Start playing around with the guts of a few computers. That will tell you in short order if you are going to get "hooked" by the career path or not (that's all it took for me). Let us know how we can help.

 

Welcome to CertForums Terry, it looks like your finding your way around the site. Make yourself at home and take a good look around. Hope to see more of you soon.