Possibly The Newbiest n00b that ever was...

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Hello Cert-Foums UK

How are we all doing today?
I was drawn to the site to assist in getting my career on path, I am very interested in self-learning since I am very quick at learning and I often find I learn things best by myself!
Here is my story in a nutshell:

I live in the South of England and have passed the age where I am able to get educated for free- so now I must find a way of educating myself in my spare time and want to make it quick, easy and painless! mainly with the intentions of attaining a qualification that will allow me to climb the career lader

Where I'm at now:
19 y/o, GCSEs (High grades), AS Levels C-E (adequate to do A2), B-Tec National Diploma in Music Tech. (Highest attainable grade achieved), CLAiT Plus Level 2 I.T. Cert.

Where I WANT to be (for now):
MCSE (or /A if affordable and feasible)
for a job working as an engineer/administrator/network staff member in an office or possibly free roaming- doing contracts and such

I don't know an awful lot about how I'm going to get there - due to the shear volume or different options and routes you can take- what I've had a look at so far is the home learning VLE Home college option- I THINK (don't quote me) when a rep. came round my house he said it would cost me ~£1600 to do the MCSE. The reasons I haven't taken it up include- I'm skint, I'm currently between jobs (unemployed), moving house shortly (I know ...) and not able to make huge cash commitments.

Now I'm aware there is different ways of going about this out there-
-I just want to know ideally what the best options are,
-how employable within the industry do I become on attaining an MCSE qualification,
-if there's any earn as you learn schemes that are relevant to myself,
-should I be getting on and learning anything in particular in the mean time? (e.g. a programming language, a software suite, any theory in particular)
-do I HAVE to go to university to pursue this career type? (I'm not incredibly aroused by the idea of 5-figure debt sums)

I have been interested in computers for as long as I can think and have worked in office environments in the past where I have been relied on for my "computer expertise" by colleagues but obviously not officially and that's all that matters nowadays... right? :?

Oh yea- and by the way- I'm currently seeking employment in the office administration field, so I will hopefully have free time including evenings and weekends plus disposable income to actually achieve anything with soon- but for now I have time... and lots of it till I get info of an interview!

Any help would be smashing - as I have a lot of spare time to get on with at the moment as you'd imagine and rent doesn't pay itself! :|

I am looking at a job in Helpdesk/1st line support- kick-start qualifications?

Give me a Hello and any help if you're in the mood for it ;)!

- Matt -

 

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hello fellow Pistonheader!

 

You've come to the right place. Before you start looking at training, consider self-study. It's cheaper and (if you have the discipline) can be quicker/better. If you look at it and its not for you, using TP's are then an option.

Not very... MCSE isnt really an entry level certification - it expects you to have previous experience. Consider the A+, N+ or MCDST in the first instance as these are entry-level certifications

There are apprenticeships around that you could look into.

That really depends. Do you want to be a programmer? Depending on what you want to do, will determine what you should start learning.

Nope. It can help, but isnt essential. Start at the bottom and work your way up. It's what I did, and I'm a reasonable way up the tree.

Regardless, you are almost always going to need to start at the bottom anyway, there are no shortcuts.

Good start. 1st Line jobs are available now. Start looking today.

 

You should start off with entry level certs such as A+, N+ and MCDST, these will help you get an entry level position within the industry. Apply for the roles now as you never know someone may be willing to give you a shot and the experience is what counts, other than that stick your head in the books, operating systems and computers and learn everything you possibly can. For an A+ study guide I'd recommend Mike Meyers all in one A+ guide and Professor Messers videos, this should cost you about £40.

Hope this helps, and good luck on your path.



- JaiKane -

 

Entry level certs are: compTIA A+,Network+ and Microsofts MCDST these help with entry level certs, other certs such as the MCSA,MCSE and CCNA are certs for people who have vast amounts of experience in the IT industry working with the technologies that those certs relate to so having them without the experience can be worse than having nothing.

If you want to be a programmer though the A+ may help you understand how the hardware works and the network+ mayhelp you understand how data is transmitted across a network but for programming you should learn programming (sounds obvious) such languages used by programmers are c# and ASP.

 

If your learning programming I would go for C/C++, C# or Java...Most unis teach Visual Basic, which is the language I learnt but wouldnt recommend it over C/C++, Java or C#......

Once you learn the principles of one lanaguage you tend to find it easier to learn others...

I'd recommend picking up some books off Amazon and searching for tutorials on google and self study yourself programming...

Good luck

 

Hi bud- you should have given me your username so I could have referenced you as my referee!

I'm going to be looking seriously for a job in helpdesk/desktop support/1st line support along side my current job search. I was under the illusion that qualifications were more important than experience when it came to getting onto the I.T. ladder.

With regards to what I actually want to do- I'm honestly not 100% certain as you might have guessed- I'm hoping to find that out in due course- I'm experienced with hardware- and believe I do have quite a lot of raw "talent" if you can call it that
I am quite methodically minded- and a perfectionist- so programming isn't too far away from my current reaches, when I was younger I used to enjoy messing around and building things with the lego that was then VB (I use lego- since you really don't write anything- you play with pre-ordained blocks)

I will be looking on the compTIA A+,Network+ and Microsofts MCDST sections to get some decent material- thanks greenbrucelee!

I embarked on learning some programming language a while back from online tutorials and eBooks I'd amounted- not sure which one I should start with really- I'm aware C++ is the older version- where do I start there?

Thanks for the help so far guys!

 

A+ material = compTIA A+ all in one exam guide 7th edition by Mike Meyers and http://www.professormesser.com
Network+ = compTIA Network+ all in one exam guide 4th edition by Mike Meyers and Sybex Network+ by Todd lammie plus prof messer.
MCDST = MS Press books and Sybex MCDST study guide.

you book compTIA exams through pearsonvue.co.uk or prometric.com you will find your nearest test centers on those sites you can get discount vouchers from www.gracetechsolutions.com
You book Microsoft exams through prometric.

 

Good advice given above. Welcome to the forums!

 

Brilliant- thank you very much. I think the misconception I had was I over-estimated what employers wanted in the way of education. The compTIA A+ qualification's modules look VERY easy to myself- mainly because I did the AS Level and I spend a lot of time building/messing around with PCs in my spare time.

But since it is looking quite simple- I've got myself a copy of
MIKE MEYERS' A+(R) CERTIFICATION PASSPORT, SECOND EDITION (Mike Meyer's Certification Passport)
I've just changed that and ordered a Mike Meyers' CompTIA A+ Certification Passport, Fourth Edition (Exams 220-701 & 220-702)
in my amazon basket ready to go. Correct me if i'm wrong- but all I need to do to attain an A+ qualification is make sure I understand all of the material in that book along with it's terminology and book a test via the Prometric site?

 

Yes but beaware that the passport books are condensed versions of the all in one guides and are designed for revision only it will not be as indepth as the main book. But if you think you are comfortable with the subjects then you may be ok.

Also make sure the passport book you have covers the 220-701 and 220-702 exams as those are the ones you will be doing, I have the last passport book and there has been some significant changes since the last exams such as Vista and newer hardware technologies.

 

Yep- I made the adjustment!
and I think I'm tech-savvy enough- I jsut don't know anything about actually getting the qualifications or job roels within the industry! but It's looking perfect that way- I can learn anything I don't understand in the passport from the internet!
Thanks ever so much for your help regarding that mate!