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Hello,

I am new to the site and am after some information. I have read quite a bit in the forum already however have a few questions I've not found the answer to yet. Could anyone help?
I have no experience in IT or qualifications in IT but am looking to change that. I have looked into HNC/HND however it seems to be quite expensive and a long time out of working, is this a beneficial way into IT? Or is self study just as useful?
For self studying it seems A+ is where to start? Is that correct for all types of IT jobs or just certain ones? Also where do you take/find the exams if you self study?

Thanks alot,

Hana

 

I did a full-time HND then a full-time degree to get into IT, worked for me but that was 17 years ago now.

In general I would reccomend :-

Bright school leavers go into full-time education.

Career switchers take a part time course while continuing work, this could be HNC, Foundation degree, etc.

Theres many options, best of luck !

 

Hi & welcome to CF

NB

 

Hello and welcome to the forums!

Qs

 

Welcome to CF

 

Hi Welcome

I would agree with whats been said.

Just to add to find your nearest pearsonvue or prometric test centres you visit their respective websites and you'll find out.

 

Greetings Hana and welcome.

Just for future reference, you don't have to ask the same question in two different forums. As you've found out, just post a question in a single thread. It'll get answered.

-Trip

 

Thanks for your answers. Where did you do your HNC/HND? As where I have looked it is around £5000 per year and I thought it would be a lot cheaper.
I will look into the test centres.
Thanks.

 

Thanks I will have another look.

 

Hey Hana welcome to the forums,

Do you know what you want to do in IT ?

@ wagnerk - I did my degree at northampton

Grim

 

I did my HND at Lichfield through the Staffordshire University connection, but it was no where near £5000 IIRC, I think you need to look more accurately. My advice would be to pop into the Uni and have a proper chat about the courses and costs.

 

Thanks. I think being in London might be why its so expensive. Will keep search hunting for a cheaper option here.

 

What do you want to do in IT?

 

Hello,

I am not entirely sure which direction I would like to end up. Initially I would like to start as a technician/support whilst I get some qualifications and figure out which I would like best to do as a career. I am looking into Web develolpment/programming any advice? recommendations?

Thanks,

Hana

 

Well support & web development are two entirely different things.

Starter certifications for support are compTIA A+ ,N+ and MCDST as for web design you could look at CIW webmaster courses.

You can do the A+,N+ and MCDST by self study by that I mean get the appropriate books yourself and study and practice untill you are ready to take the exams.

With web design it may be wise to build up a port folio whilst studying the CIW

So do you want to: run around like an idiot all day fixing stuff and deal with rtards or sit at a desk do some designs

 

Ok thanks I will look into CIW. First step is to buy the books for the self study.

Thanks,

Hana

 

I'd check what your local colleges have to offer. This will allow hands on learning with your peers. They tend to be good value and a good college/university seems to treat their students better than your average TP.

The OU are offering this :-
http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?Q01C39

Looks quite good, its distance learning so interaction/support will be limited.

As mentioned IT is a big field, even if you did a 3 year degree you'd have to specialise at some point.

Even Web Development on its own is a huge field, theres web design, front end development, back end development and administration. The skills for the various roles vary. There are many different competing technologies that can be used in each tier also. You will therefore need to decide which technologies you want to focus on if you choose this route.