Trying to get that dream job...

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My name is Kyle, 21, and married. I've always wanted to work in IT security with the goal of one day teaching computer science. I'm currently studying for my A+ cert and will soon follow it with server+, network+, and security+ certs. I'm also currently preparing to return to college later this year. Is this a good set up to get a help desk job soon?

 

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Don't over certify at this stage of your career, remember that most IT certifications are there to prove experience, not gain it.

I agree with the A+ and perhaps ITIL foundation to give you an understanding of why things are done the way they are but then pretty much leave it at that, get some experience under your belt and then prove that experience.

You never know what you want to do 2 or 3 years down the line, I certainly am not doing the same kind of work now as I did when I first got in to IT.

 

Interesting. Thanks for your comment. So I'm assuming that it is not an audacious assumption to presume that I will be hired with only an A+ cert?

 

Im in the same boat as you, from what I've seen whilst browsing various job roles in IT, the A+ or any other Comptia cert is never mentioned in the requirements section of the job advert.. I think it might be more recognised with employers in America. You may possibly want to look at Microsoft certs as they seem more popular. Dont take my word as gosple though as Im new to all this myself.

Take a look at the Nationsl careers service website that may give you more of an insight.

 

The cert by itself isn't whats going to get you the job, it's the knowledge that having read through the book \ course brings you that will get you that first role.

CompTIA isn't well recognised over here in the UK but the knowledge that the certifications acknowledge is. The A+ gives the deep down gritty information to make you a better engineer (from the perspective that you're coming in to the industry rather than an already established engineer). It gives you the right information to ask about user accounts, the right information to help you troubleshoot various hardware issues and gives you the edge over others who haven't done that kind of training, I class the A+ as one of the few certifications that is worth getting before getting in to IT as it's an entry level certification.

Things like the Server+, Network+ or Security+ are not what I would class as entry level (well they are somewhat basic but cover a general area rather than specialised focused exams from vendors which obviously would be more vendor specific), they are great to expand your knowledge on when you have some experience and want to take a step beyond.

I would hazard a guess that for someone with no real world enterprise experience, sitting all those exams and then getting work say after 6 months or so, your knowledge retention with regards to that technology would probably stand at 10 - 20% retained, oh you would have 'some' idea on it but it wouldn't be on the tip of your tongue.

The more you live with a technology, the more it remains stuck in your head, in my case I lived with being an SMS2003\SCCM 2007 engineer for a few years, I am still being asked questions about it 3 years after going hands off with it and I can still guide you through the console blind folded (one of the reasons I stopped doing that work is I didn't want to get pidgeon-holed as an SCCM engineer).

It's like life really, learn to walk before learning to run, you wouldn't expect to sit your GCSE or A Levels at age 11 would you? No, you gain the experience and build up on the knowledge over time, it's the same with most IT certifications, experience counts for a lot.

 

I agree with Simon.

Also, what you can do, is if you're interested in any technology like VMware, Cisco, Microsoft, etc, read a lot of material online. Each of these vendors have tons of info on their sites and have large communities that discuss various topics.

One of the ways I learned, was to do exactly what I mentioned above. Certifications themselves are nice to have, but like many said without the experience, they don't give much weight.

 

Agree, thats why Im going to read the Myers book but most likely not sit the exam.

 

Wow. This thread is very informative and valuable to me. Thank you all for the wonderful insight. I see that many of you emphasize a greater focus on experience which brings me to my next question then: after the A+ cert, how do I find that entry level job when all the adverts are requesting experience? Do I knowingly disregard their request for experience and instead just assert my self confidently as a entry level tech? Should I offer to work voluntarily for a few months? Or is it important to find a mentor like in the trades? My ultimate goal is to land a network admin job (eventually) while I continue to go to school for computer science.

Again, thank you for all the responses and I look forward to more. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

Voluntary work can be great but it will also depend on the role you're going in to, if it's a 1st line help desk role where you're first logging calls and then moving up to visiting users then lack of experience shouldn't hurt.

My advice, apply for 1st line support roles, show them your current level of experience and see how it goes.

 

Great advice on the voluntary work, this is something many people never think of doing. I actually got into the industry starting in a voluntary position for a training provider teaching basic computer skills and just progressed from there. Once you have you have a foot in a door its a great opportunity to showcase yourself and make contacts plus gain some valuable experience.