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Hi all,

Discovered this site whilst looking for study options in IT qualifications.

Background
Left school at 16 back in 1979 and went straight into a 5 year engineering ‘apprenticeship’. Came out of that with a HNC in Mechanical and Production Engineering. Left the shop floor environment and entered the world of draughting (drawing board and pencil).

In 1988 joined a company that was pioneering the use of computer aided design (AutoCAD version 9!). Site closure in 1995 forced a ‘temporary’ 4 year spell doing freelance CAD work.

Took a permanent post in 1999 working for a small agency offering ‘in house’ and ‘on site’ design services (current position). Freelancing on site invariably meant having to sort out any PC related problems and working for the agency involves the supply and installation of CAD workstations, plotters etc.

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Due to age of the agency owner, employment until retirement is not envisaged. An aspiration to widen job opportunities has prompted this IT qualification search. There is no desire to continue in engineering or design necessarily (mid-life crisis?)

Whilst having hands-on experience in PC ‘maintenance’, no recognised qualifications are held to compliment this.

Pursuit of certification will be self-funded; self-study outside working hours will be the only option.

Any advice on what qualifications to aim for and the most cost effective path to take would be appreciated.

Emm.
(Apologies for the long-winded & stuffy resume)

 

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Hi there, welcome to CF!

Where to start depends on your interests. you have said that you have been doing some 'support' for your current employer, so here's what I would suggest:

Take a loot at the CompTIA website. CompTIA are vendor neutral IT certifications.

Many new people entering the world of IT choose to persue the A+, followed by the Network+. These would be what I suggest you do first, as they provide you with a valuable understanding of the fundamentals you will need to understand to succeed in the world of IT regardless of where you choose to go afterwards.

If you take a look at the A+ and the Network+ boards on this site I'm sure you will find valuable answers to your questions.

 

Hi and welcome to the forum. Simongrahamuk has put it rather nicely.

 

Greetings

 

Hello!

 

what they said. but if you're arty being a cad designer,(even in a linear way!)
maybe web design?

 

Hey - welcome from me too

 

Greetings, Emm. Welcome to our humble abode. Glad you made it here, m8.

 

Hi and Welcome!!

 

Welcome Emm

 

hi m8.your senario is similar to mine.im gona go for A+ followed by Network+ seems like the best way to start out

 

Wow, what can I say?


Many thanks to all above for such a warm welcome!

This site is proving to be quite a find.




(Seems A+ & Network+ is the way to go)

 

Hi Emm, hope you have long stay with up, welcome..
Missy

 

Welcome Emm!
A+ and N+ are considered entry level certifications, they are indeed a good place to start. Once you have those under your belt you can decide what direction to take. Most people seem to want to go for vendor specific qualifications like Cisco or Microsoft. I chose Microsoft because at the time I kept seeing MCSE required in job adverts. I did get it in the end but it was a very long haul, seven tough exams and three years of full on study. So that may not be for everyone but you can become an MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) by passing just one of their exams. Each Microsoft exam is an MCP in it's own right.

Self study is the best and the cheapest option. Think very hard and read the past posts on this site before committing monies up front to any training provider. They are a good option for some people but others have felt let down by them. Including me!

Good luck

Pete