Greetings & salutations!! Advice needed.

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Hi all,

Thought I'd register after reading through numerous threads & being impressed with the help & advice being dished out.

I'm 33, live in Cambridgeshire but originally from London (loving the country life!), about to start a new job tomorrow (not i.t. related) & have been looking into a distance learning/self-study i.t. qualification for some time now.

I signed up to a classroom based MCSE course many years ago now but after a few personal problems was unable to finish within the timeline set so that was abandoned (I didn't get very far with it tbh) & was very costly. And to be honest it kinda put me off. BUT...after much deliberation & soul searching I want to get back into this world but I don't know where to start.

The feeling I get from reading the threads on here is that to get a foot on the i.t. ladder you have to start at the bottom (especially with no experience) & that's fine with me. Having spoke to a couple of distance learning providers who thought it would be great for me to sign up to do the CCNA or equivalent certs I thought I'd check out some forums first & very very glad I did!!

So...if any of you guys/gals out there get to see this, I would particularly appreciate any advice on where to start. I understand having an idea for career direction is helpful/necessary so I would say I'm probably more a hands on kind of person, physically doing things. I love all things technical & love learning & that is why I want to make a career for myself. My ultimate goal would be to move into management much further down the line.

Absolutely ANY help or ideas will be greatfully received!!! Cheers

 

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Welcome to the forums!

I'd recommend that you start with the A+, Network+, and MCDST (or MCTS for Vista/Win7). I'd also recommend that you get an entry-level IT job as soon as possible (you don't have to wait until you're certified).

 

Welcome to CF and I agree with BM and good luck

 

Welcome

As Michael said, good start is on the CompTIA A+ & Network+ as these start with the fundamentals in IT and put you in good stead for that first role.

Have a look at roles for helpdesk, 1st line support, junior technician etc - their the best place to start, a years work there is priceless and you'll learn a hell of a lot which'll set you up further down the line should you decide to move on.

Glad you checked on here before the greedy providers tried signing you up for a CCNA, you'd of probably had even more of a nightmare finding that first job than what you would without it.

More info on the CompTIA - http://www.comptia.org/certifications/listed.aspx check out the A+ and Network+ - I personally havn't studied for these, so wouldn't know what study material to recommend but there's lots of guys on here who have, who'll be able to recommend you some good study media in the form of books/video's etc

Good luck

 

Welcome to CF!

 

Good luck to you!