Passed A+, How do I get the experience that employers look for?

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passed my A+ last Tuesday and enjoyed doing it. Is this enough to get a foot into the IT world as a starting block and to get some experience?
I am very interested in becoming involved in networks but I am worried that I could keep paying out to do certs and not get anywhere because most employers are looking for experience. It is very difficult to fund doing the certs as I am in a part time retail job and on a poor wage. How do I get in?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

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Have you thought about voluntary work, if your working part time you could do a few hours a week to pick up some great experience. I actually did this way back in 2000 for a training company when I was trying to get become a software trainer, I volunteered to work a few hours a week shadowing the other trainers and after 2 months they offered my part time work then eventually full time. The rest as they say is history.

 

Failing the above, which is a very good idea, look for helpdesk roles, they are generally a good entry point, along with junior desktop technician roles, although I see very few of the latter advertised.

Get your self into a helpdesk call centre for a good few months and get some exposure and experience to the IT world from a business point of view, you will pick up a few good skills and it might also help you decide if networking is really the way you want to go or not. I was in a similar situation to yourself several years back, used to run a pub but wanted to get into IT so I went and got myself a helpdesk role.

5-6 years down the line I am about to move into a network support role for my current company and will hopefully be sitting the CCNA middle of this year sometime, once I feel I have built up a good enough understanding and had some good hands on practice.