Stepping stones upon the Path

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The Beggining of a journey

This is actuallty a second attempt, my previous attempt wouldn't publish and I can't find where I had saved it...

So, I have just started my journey into the I.T. world. Pretty confused already - but I guess this is how life is.

I pretty much have come to find that most people here agree that a CompTIA A+ is worth going for. So after looking into it I also found that the All-In-One Guide by M.Meyers is the book to have (apart from a couple of reviews on amazon indicating that the book [currently in 7th ed.] is a little outdated).

Also finding Prof.Messer's site has helped a whole lot - have watched his introduction to the CompTIA A+ and it seems real interesting.I have realised that Training Providers are not all that they are cranked up to be and self-study is a possible and realistic option - my choice at the moment.

I have discovered that just as important as certifications, if not more so - is the need for actual experience. With regards to this I am wondering if I could turn my current work-place into a simulation '1st line' job? It's a small organisation, at which I could set up a system wherein I could deal with specific computer issues before a real 'professional' is called for help if I cannot solve it, moreover I could dabble in changing passwords, sorting connections, fixing things etc?

Could that pass as experience?


I have also been told by a couple of people now that I should get to grips with WebDesigning as that is 'where the field is heading'. So I will be looking for some begginer's books into that too, any tips on that would be great.

So then my current focus would be to:

1. Study for the CompTIA A+
2. Set workplace up in a manner to help me gain experience
3. Get involved in understanding WebDesigning and helping friends out in their companies

Any tips/reviews to the above would be much appriciated.



B.HopeZion

 

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Hi web design is whole different kettle of fish. You need to answer this question - what are you actually interested in? then pursue that. Do you want to work in networking? do you want to be a dba? do you want to be developer? do you want to be a service analyst/server engineer/3rd line support (could all come under the same sortta area)?

Everything is becoming very 'web' based but infrastructure is still needed and needs to be supported for the web people to do their thing.

A+ is a good start as is N+ but they do expire after 3 years I believe. I lost motivation after a month through boredom. I am trying to aim for long life certs where possible. The MTA certificates from Microsoft and MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician on Windows 7 could be worth looking into. Gain an understanding of active directory. This is all of course if your interested in working on microsoft products. ITIL foundation and prince could be something to look into to bump up your CV. With the right motivation and study timetable you could probably accomplish alot within 6 months. But remember the big thing is you should only certify in the areas you have working knowledge in. If you start going for high level server certs with no experiance - big nono.


If you can support IT in your current place of work thats experiance. Get yourself a test lab up and running.
Some 1st line support jobs could possibly take you in with little to no experiance (but expect a low salary under the 18k mark) but with so much competition out there it will be hard.