HI Guy's, Work In Tech At The Minute... Not Sure Where To Go Next!

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Hi Guy's

I'm 22 Currently work with technology everyday and have done since leaving school in 2007, started out working in a local IT shop whilst at college and carried that on until they laid me off due to closing down now work in the mobile industry and i just don't know what to do I love what i do next but i still think my career lies within IT. But I suppose Mobiles, Tablets, Laptops & PC's all work together and are integral to how a business runs these days...

I've been looking into the MCSA Cert for Windows Server 2012 but not sure if i should be doing the MCSA in Windows 8 first or if that even matters at all?

Just looking for some advise

Thanks in advance

Shippy

 

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Hi Shippy, welcome

I'd probably persuade you not to go in on either the MCSA for Windows Server 2012, or Windows 8, but to start off on something like the Windows 7: Enterpriser Desktop Support Technician.

It completely depends on what asect of IT you want to get involved in. Working in a local IT shop, i'm guessing it's mainly experience with repairing computers, installing OS's, upgrades etc, mainly hardware based? This would probably be suitable to starting out on 1st line deskside support initially, or even something like the Dell engineers do, going out to client sites to carry out warranty repairs, But again - it depends what you want to do.

Talking about enterprise IT - Certifications really need to be married up with experience to be honest. Being able to complete the MCSA cert for Server 2012 is all well and good, but it doesn't necessarily show you can implement these in a live production environment with 10,000 clients - it's a difficult one, employers would probably rather see experience using systems rather than a certification without experience.

Example - I'm sitting in on interviews next week for my company to help out with technical questions for the service desk manager who's recruiting a few 1st and 2nd line service desk staff. I won't necessarily be looking for specific certifications, but initially looking for that experience. If they have that then the certification just backs that even more, and if they can answer my random tech questions even better

If i was in your shoes? I'd take the Windows 7 Configuring exam (Very few workplaces have upgraded to Windows 8 yet), and possibly the CompTIA A+ - start applying straight away now for service desk or helpdesk roles, initially on a 1st line support basis, get your head down, and work your way up. You're lucky in that you've got the experience of working in a local IT shop, so you're probably going to have an advantage already over other applicants who don't have any experience in IT yet (and there are alot of people wanting to make a move from something completely different!)

Best of luck
Jack

 

Hey shippy

Couldn't really agree more with what Apexes has said. The only addition I would make is that when looking for that first line position , don't sell yourself short , first line is probably more communication skills and questioning techniques as the clients are generally more tech un-aware. So make sure your employer is invested in your development and can give you exposure to and projects to work towards getting experience at a server domain level. However before you get there you might want to play around on your own through vm's software. Most companies before imposing upgrades , changes to their infrastructure will test at a virtual level. So why not if your motivated do the same ?. It's incredibly simple to run multiple vm,s in a shared network environment on one PC so that you can experiment with implements changes to group policy , certificates , and rolling out updates , this is bread and butter stuff for most daily administration and will really stand you well. Def go for your 2 certs at win 7 enterprise which has quite a demand for knowledge of server 2008 r2 and various server roles. This is especially prominent as Microsoft pull support for Xp in a few months.

Good luck and keep us updated