Mature newbie!

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Hi guys, just thought I'd drop by and introduce myself. I'm a 42 year old female career changer. I graduated in 2003 in Business Information Systems, and like many I found it impossible to get a job in IT without experience. I currently work as a Sales Associate for a small wholesale company, and needless to say after 5 years, I realise I can't do this anymore. I'm new to the world of Microsoft Certifications, and have yet to decide on a course. However I'm confident that the advice I'll receive from everyone here at Certforums will be invaluable. I just hope I haven't left it too late.

 

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Welcome to CF

If you do a search on here for A+
You will find that most go for the A+ as a stepping stone into I.T certs and entry level certs.

Goodluck

Never to late for a carear change

 

Welcome to CF!

I agree never to late. CompTia A+ is proberly the place to start.

 

welcome to CF!

 

I agree with ITC. The A+ and Network+ certifications are both solid entry-level certifications that can help you get your foot in the door.

 

Hi ITCrowd, thanks for the warm welcome and advice. I'm so glad I came accross this site, as I was going to sign up with JustIT training company next week. I now realise self study is the way forward, as I don't need to be saddled with anymore debt. I'm going to purchase a copy of Mike Meyers CompTIA A+ and see how I get on. Thanks again! ;-)

 

Also another brilliant source http://www.professormessor.com. Has some great videos that you can watch, broken down into bite-sized chunks...

Regards.

 

Thanks for the welcome Kopite21, Veloce, & Bosonmichael your advice is much appreciated! ;-)

 

Welcome to the forum

 

Welcome to CF

 

Thanks Bluerinse, Wagnerk & Reddevil, you have a great resource and community here, glad to be a part of it!

 

Welcome. 42 is not too old, you can still get into the industry. Self-study starting with A+ and N+ is the way to go as they really take you from the basics of computing, to a very comfortable more advanced level as you reach the end of the books (without leaving the reader/student confused). This could take you 6 months to achieve, give or take 3 months (everyone is different).

From there, you can try OS specific exams of which the MCDST was a firm favorite for some time, but I heard some rumors it will be retired in the next 6 months time (can someone confirm this?). You could do an alternative such as Windows 7 if you wanna go down the Microsoft route, or a Mac OSX/Linux one if you prefer that.

Good luck and have fun!

 

Yes this exam retires on the 31st March 2011.

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/mcdst.aspx#tab2.

I wanted to study for this also but I don't think I will be ready in time.

Regards

 

Thanks for the info Shinigami, I've already ordered the CompTIA A+ book, I can't wait to get started.

Thanks for all the encouragement guys!

 

You were here a day before I got here, but welcome aboard!
I'll be 45 in a couple of months and I can tell you that anytime is the right time to enter the I.T. field if you have the right determination (and the right advice will only help strenthen your determination).

The advice you've gotten so far is solid. I've never met a success story yet who looked back and lamented having the A+ when starting their I.T. career!

Hang around and we'll all help each other, how's that?

 

Hey thanks so much for the support ITNerd, I need all the help I can get lol! Hopefully one day I'll be in a position to help others too! Thanks again!

 

Howdy and welcome to CF! Gee, I wish I was 42 again Its never too late! Just think, how old would you be if you didn't make a change? See, it the same. Good luck. I'm working on a second change myself.

 

Hey thanks Chuckles, you've right better late than never, no point looking back with regrets.

Good luck with your future endeavours too!