New to I.T

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Hi All

I am kinda new to this thig so go easy...lol

I was just after a bit of help n info please.

I am currently employed as a prison officer and want to get into I.T (ccna etc) Any help, advice tips would be great.
I just spoke to a gent fro commsupport, nice chap although I dont have any experience in networking cisco etc it just all sounds so daunting and to walked out of a prison into I.T with very little to no experience is very hard to do.
All these training companies promise you this and promise you that, what a load of rubbish. Any advice would be great....Thanks

 

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Hi macattack007,

The best advice I can give is to go for the Comptia A+ or Microsoft MCDST, both require 2 exams each, and are considerd entry level quals.

Forget those training providers, just get a study book from amazon (Mike Myers is good for Comptia A+ , around £20. The Microsoft Self Paced Study Packs for the Microsoft exams- around £30) work through the book and when you are ready book the exam through prometric. (Microsoft are about £80 each and Comptia are about £120 each).

You will also be looking at entry level IT work, such as helpdesk or IT technition -

I'm employed in the eudcation sector (they are not too fussy about experance or quals and your previous employment would be seen as an advantage in most schools). Most GCSE level schools have one or 2 IT support people, but pay isn't too great - just treat it as a stepping stone. Keep studying and once you have about 1-2 years experance, your officaly in the IT industry (more or less)

 

Hi

I replied to your second post without seeing this one first. Sorry about that.

CCNA (as all other Cisco qualifications) are designed for people who work with Cisco equipment already or planning to work with Cisco equipment in the near future. The reason being that Cisco requires certification to be renewed every 3 years and if you're just starting out it is higly unlikely that you will get to touch any Cisco gear within next 2 years.

I would focus on something that will make you more qualified for entry level positions (like client OS, MS Office, Desktop and Hardware support).

I'm sure others will share some advice soon too.

 

Yikes. Did Commsupport actually recommend that you take Cisco courses despite having no IT experience? I hope not!

I would recommend that you pursue some solid entry-level certifications, such as the A+, Network+, and MCDST (the latter of which will be unavailable after March 2011).

 

Yes they actually recommended I did that however they did recommend me to take one of their 3 day Network + course first though.

 

Doesn't matter how many courses you go through; having an advanced certification like the CCNA will make you look way overcertified for your experience level. This isn't likely to help you get your first IT job, because the CCNA has nothing to do with entry-level tech work. In fact, it could have the exact opposite effect - making you less attractive to entry-level employers (and thereby making it MORE difficult for you to break into IT), as it will look as if you're not interested in entry-level tech work.

 

Question for the OP, why do you want to get into IT right now?

I don't want to put you off but it's an extremely tough market to break into at the moment, especially at entry level where competition is extremely fierce, I know many well qualified people who haven't worked for at least 6 months because the job market is so stagnant. 200-300 applicants per job is quite common in some areas.

I don't want to put you off if IT is your passion but I also want you to know exactly what you're getting yourself into, don't believe the training firms that promise a £30k job because that is way of the mark, you'd be looking at more like £14-16k if you manage to break into the market at all and even at that level you're competing with computer grads who will take anything to kick start their career.

 

On discussing with Anthony (the gentleman you spoke to) it appears that he did emphasise the need for you to understand the basics of networking coming from the Public sector before pursuing a career in networking. He provided you with a 3 hour pre recorded webinar link on the basics of networking and suggested you first go through this to get an understanding of the basics before considering the Network+.

He explained that our current promotion for both the Network+ & CCNA costs £495.00+ vat(the same cost for just the Network+) and said that you might as well benefit from this price rather than pay £495.00+vat for just the 1 course.

He explained that you will be required to work very hard if you have had no previous experience in this sector and that after achieving the Network+ certification you have a maximum of 6 months to prepare for the CCNA course. He mentioned that you will have access to a number of resources that you will be expected to utilise prior to attending the CCNA course if that is the route you choose to pursue.

More importantly in response to your concern about a lack of experience in Networking he stressed that we offer opportunities to a select group of certified engineers that allows them to obtain hands on experience in a mentoring capacity in the classroom.

We are always honest with enquirers regarding their expectations and do not hoodwink them into believing that you can stroll into a job in networking just like that. Naturally, we focus solely on Cisco technologies but there are a variety of other vendor certifications that can be obtained to enhance your career objectives.

If you are available why not attend a FREE 1 day Introduction to Networking course to see if networking is the right career move for you

 

Since last month there has been a significant spike in the demand trend for IT jobs.

 

Thanks for the response, Joe - I hoped you would be along to clarify. Repped!

 

Never would have guessed another 2 people I know made redundent today on top of the 8 last month.

 

Do you have any evidence to back that up? I trawl the job boards every day and I'm not seeing it.

 

On discussing with Anthony (the gentleman you spoke to) it appears that he did emphasise the need for you to understand the basics of networking coming from the Public sector before pursuing a career in networking. He provided you with a 3 hour pre recorded webinar link on the basics of networking and suggested you first go through this to get an understanding of the basics before considering the Network+.

He explained that our current promotion for both the Network+ & CCNA costs £495.00+ vat(the same cost for just the Network+) and said that you might as well benefit from this price rather than pay £495.00+vat for just the 1 course.

He explained that you will be required to work very hard if you have had no previous experience in this sector and that after achieving the Network+ certification you have a maximum of 6 months to prepare for the CCNA course. He mentioned that you will have access to a number of resources that you will be expected to utilise prior to attending the CCNA course if that is the route you choose to pursue.

More importantly in response to your concern about a lack of experience in Networking he stressed that we offer opportunities to a select group of certified engineers that allows them to obtain hands on experience in a mentoring capacity in the classroom.

We are always honest with enquirers regarding their expectations and do not hoodwink them into believing that you can stroll into a job in networking just like that. Naturally, we focus solely on Cisco technologies but there are a variety of other vendor certifications that can be obtained to enhance your career objectives.

If you are available why not attend a FREE 1 day Introduction to Networking course to see if networking is the right career move for you



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the worse thing you can do is to do nothing, so do something, anything, everything!!

You are totally correct he did mention all of the above to me and he was very very helpful throughout and I was impressed with his professionalism. He did explain to me that I could do the 3day course as you mentioned, However he did fail to mention that these certificates have to be renewed every 3 yrs, is that correct.

Out of all the training providers I spoke to commsuuport were the most helpful in everyway and they are the only provider who do hands on which I think is great.. Please dont get me wrong I was not having a go about them, its just I am new to all this and I need to find things out as i am not going to rush into anything blind.

It's all well in saying that you could become a lab rat and gain experience that way, however for people with full time jobs and who probably live hundreds of miles away its very unrealistic and very expensive also with wouldnt you say?

Thank you for your time

 

Most I.T Certifications do have a lifetime after which they do require renewal.

I agree with you 100%, a career change is not to be taken lightly. As you investigate your options you will discover whether this field is for you.

As much as I would like to help as many people as possible, I understand that the labrat option is of course only viable for those that can commute, we do what we can, although are you aware that beginning Jan 2nd I am running a free on-line Network+ webinar series. It's free to attend. So provided you have a p.c and speakers you can join in.

http://www.commsupport.co.uk/01-Free_day.htm

Click on the link and register if it is of interest.

Cheers

Joe

 

Thank you for that I may well have a look.

Pete

 

http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/

 

I was looking at Birmingham though ;)

http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/birmingham/it support.do

Sparky is however right, we are not the only market with problems so to say "are you sure you want a job in IT?" based on the problems with the job market is a little ignorant in my opinion.

 

I'd say it was more 'ignorant' base your response on only part of what I said, I also questioned the validity of some of the IT training firms claims.

On balance I would say the IT job market has suffered more than most, saying that on the upturn it should be more buoyant than most, just wish it would happen soon.

 

My response did not require me to take onboard the second part of your reply as it was a different "kettle of fish". However I understand what you were trying to say.. times are hard! and indeed they are.

Worst hit markets were retail, sales and construction but IT does take a hit as it is often the core service.

IT Help Desk roles were statistically one of the safest, although applying for a new role is a different scenario altogether.