It carear Advice

Griffin87

i have been working in 1st level helpdesk support for 2 years now. i am only 21 years old. i went to college and droped out, when i was 18. bassically im looking for advice in pursuing a carear in IT as i am interested in computers. i have built my last few computers myself and i really like that. I know i need to do some microsoft exams and i should be ok without college.

i want to get off the phones and move into deskside support. could someone layout the best exams and in what order for me to take. would really appretiate some help on this.

Barrypr

CompTIA A+ Network+ then MCSA/E would suit you best imo.

A+ -> http://certification.comptia.org/a/default.aspx

N+ -> http://certification.comptia.org/network/

MCSA -> http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcsa/default.mspx

The A+ and N+ will count for your MCSA, so you will only have three exams.

A+ mainly desktop support, the others are networking, you can only go so far in Desktop support so id look into networking too

Hope that helps.

Feelgood

Griffin87 wrote: »

i have been working in 1st level helpdesk support for 2 years now. i am only 21 years old. i went to college and droped out, when i was 18. bassically im looking for advice in pursuing a carear in IT as i am interested in computers. i have built my last few computers myself and i really like that. I know i need to do some microsoft exams and i should be ok without college.
i want to get off the phones and move into deskside support. could someone layout the best exams and in what order for me to take. would really appretiate some help on this.

Right well not from a career point of view, but more from a knowledge point of view I would say go for the Comptia exams to start out. Even if you don't sit the exams read the material as it will give you a good grounding of servers and systems, networks etc. Start reading in the same order as below also.

* CompTIA A+
* CompTIA Network+
* CompTIA Security+
* CompTIA Server+

Passing these exams will also give you exemptions from some of the required exams for the likes of the Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA)
and Engineer (MCSE).

If you want to good career prospects and a niche in the IT industry I would recommend learning either Linux or Unix rather than going down the Microsoft route. There are hundreds of MCSE's out there, though there isn't an awful lot of Unix/Linux engineers and the demand in this country for Unix and Linux is actually HUGE and they demand top dollar too.

You could probably get all four of the above Comptia exams in about 12 months or less if you put your head down.

Griffin87

do you think i should do the CompTIA A+ and CompTIA N+ before the MCDST. I was told there is not that much point in doing them exams. i suppose i could do them just for some qualifications.

im going to stay with windows to be honest

goodlad

There is totally a point in doing both A+ and N+.

As mentioned above they will count towards exams for a higher title.
Fact is the more qualification u nail the better.

If you have been working in IT doing support then A+ wont be hard at all for you. There is really no good reason not to get it.

As for the N+ its always a good option, even if you dont plan to go down the networking side of IT its still very handy to have because you are always going to come across some sort of network problem.

Speaking for myself, i plan to go microsoft all the way with my IT path. But i still see the benefit of getting both A+ and N+.

Feelgood

Yes Comptia exams, while on their own won't get you a job and definitely good to have from a knowledge perspective. If you do them and then go on to sit your Microsoft exams you will find that everything makes more sense and is easier to get your head around.

I never understood the whole infatuation with MCSE's and MCSA's to be honest, but its whatever your into at the end of the day.

Griffin87

ok so im going to start with the A+ and N+, i want to keep working and do the coarse at the nite during the week. could someone recommend a place to do this, i work beside pearce station in dublin, somewhere close to there would be nice ?

Feelgood

Griffin87 wrote: »

ok so im going to start with the A+ and N+, i want to keep working and do the coarse at the nite during the week. could someone recommend a place to do this, i work beside pearce station in dublin, somewhere close to there would be nice ?

You don't really need to do a course for the Comptia Exams to be honest, would be a waste of 2-3K..

Try doing it self study, get the self study books from Amazon.co.uk or Easons or something.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/CompTIA-Complete-Certification-Quentin-Docter/dp/0470145609/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221729822&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/CompTIA-Network-Certification-Kit-N10-003/dp/0470145617/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221729874&sr=1-1

lisaloo

Im like OP only i am currently working in sales and im looking for a change and also interested in a career in IT. can you study for all these exams at home A+ and N+

Feelgood

lisaloo wrote: »

Im like OP only i am currently working in sales and im looking for a change and also interested in a career in IT. can you study for all these exams at home A+ and N+

Yes you can indeed, you basically just have to book a date to sit the exam in one of the numerous exams centres around the country. Study for it an sit it!.

In fairness you could probably get the A+ in 3-4 weeks with 2 hours study a day..

goodlad

Yeah u can, the A+ and N+ are doable with self study.

If you have never worked in IT it might be helpfull to get a study guide that also has a simulator with it. It can help you not get all confused by just reading.

It can also help if you have a pc that you can try things on that your reading. Doing it practically will always help you remember and understand it better than just reading.

The reason i recommend trying to do it practically or at least see a simulator doing it is because you dont want to get into a situation where you know the book inside and out but if your asked to fix something you get lost trying to do it on the pc.

Ofc, thats all only based on someone who has never worked in IT before and doesnt know their way around the operating system.

lisaloo

This is really helpful, thanks so much.

Griffin87

thanks for all the info going to buy the book and study myself should be easy enough

Feelgood

Griffin87 wrote: »

thanks for all the info going to buy the book and study myself should be easy enough

Sent you a private message there with more information...

IamMetaldave

Some of the Network+ can be tricky though if you've never heard of any of the topics. CBT Nuggets are awesome videos to help with self study.

Barrypr

I did both A+ and N+ courses myself part time in college, and I had a decent knoledge before hand of both areas. There is a LOT of material that come up and these vendor-neutral courses, for the A+ I had two massive books few times the size of the ones you would see in the book stores, same for network+ lot of info that I studied in class did not come up.

Use several resourses, not just the one book, training videos can be useful like cbt and testout.

Use techexams.net, very good and great study notes as well, I would'nt take the exams too lightly however you put in the work you will be fine.

cance

Griffin87 wrote: »

i have been working in 1st level helpdesk support for 2 years now. i am only 21 years old. i went to college and droped out, when i was 18. bassically im looking for advice in pursuing a carear in IT as i am interested in computers. i have built my last few computers myself and i really like that. I know i need to do some microsoft exams and i should be ok without college.

i want to get off the phones and move into deskside support. could someone layout the best exams and in what order for me to take. would really appretiate some help on this.

Hi there,

i was in a pretty much identical situation about 4 years ago, so hopefully my story might help you decide what you want to do.

I alike you, four years ago at 21 was working in a call center doing level 1-2 support for desktops laptops workstations and printers, earning buttons. Not particularly content with what i was doing i went down the route of the microsoft mcsa (2000) a+ n+ too and soon found myself a job in a small irish company doing network and systems administration.

After 3 years, moving around a little and more exams (CCNA, mcsa 2003, mcitp server administrator 2008 and citrix CCA) I'm now a Windows / Citrix specialist for a global company, the team i am in manage roughly 1200 windows/linux/esx servers and I am implementing a new 60+ citrix server farm in the next few months.

what do i want to do? Technology has had a habit of splitting the system administrators job roles over the last 10 years. With dedicated network support, Security officers, DBA's, Unix admins etc the job roles are getting more and more defined so knowing what you enjoy really makes the difference here. Theres shag all point sitting a CCNA if you want to get into windows server support, doing the exam at a later date after getting a job is still advisable as covering the CCNA is essential IMO.

Where do i start? Study study study, its never been easier to get exposure to enterprise architecture, for example for windows support (active directory, dns, dhcp etc) with microsofts virtual pc you can setup your own domain on your home pc and practice while studying. Also with add on products like citrix can be downloaded with a 30 day trial and you can have a bash at figuring it out too.

Try to enjoy studying, with the pace technology and certifications move getting a job in IT means you will be studying constantly for the foreseable future.

Cisco gear is easy to come accross as you can get yourself a copy of packet tracer and with that you will have more than enough resources to get you through the ccna exam.

Exam materials and exam questions are freely available on the internet if you look in the right places. I'm not one to advocate pirate software, but if were to pay for books, cbt nuggets and class room courses for each exam you intend to sit you would be taking 4k+.

On the exam questions side of things you have to be very cautious, I use exam questions only after i have studied a course at length to ensure i have the course covered completely, not to learn the questions off. It will take an examiner or potential colleague a whole of a few hours to discover you know nothing about your subject and that you are paper certified, so please... please dont fall into the brain dump trap. Some people will argue they shouldn't be used at all, but to that i argue how valid and useful are the questions on the exams? Looking at the citrix exam questions, Brian madden himself only scraped a pass in the most recent cca exam and he's a frickin expert!

Make up your mind about your route, Set the date for your exams, Gain confidence from passing.


So when do I make the jump and get an interview/float the CV? The answer to this is theres never a good time. Making the jump from helpdesk to systems administration is a tough one, its hard to get experience in companies when you are doing helpdesk support and its hard to get exposure to the technologies you will be using in the next level up. Get a few paper certifications behind you, they wont teach you 10% of what you will need to know, but they act like a foot in the door for the interview process.

Alot of companies will insist on at least an MCSA, CCA or CCNA depending on the route you take so be aware of this, and dont chance your arm or lie about it, My most recent company insisted on my MCPID, Cisco certifications and CCA certifications originals before offering me the job. If you get caught lieing its game over, you will look like an idiot and your recruiter (if you use one) will find out, you are warned.

Prep work: Pimp up your CV, when you are sitting at a table with a potential new company they have no idea what you did in the previous company so feel free to imbelish, Throw in server support (know your hardware you supported), throw in active directory support (know active directory, group policy, terminal services and replication) throw in virtualisation (know esx, xen) etc... just make sure to have your bases covered incase they ask about it!

Interviews can be tough as your lack of exposure can become very obvious depending how technical the examiner is. (i was grilled for 40 minutes of pure techy questions ranging from vmware esx, to citrix edgesite to active directory support for my most recent job, I'd have lasted 3 minutes in that room 4 years ago!)

what kind of company do i want to work for? This too is a tough one, Whether you go large company or small company can dictate how wide your spectrum of knowledge is. Take small companies for example, you will probably be providing every IT support job to a small number of users, this will include servers, exchanges, routers, switches, isdn modems, phones etc but it will also have desktop support aswell. This kind of company is EXCELLENT for getting a wide skill base but you will burn out after 2-3 years if you are not careful. You will be completely exposed and have no-one to dig you out when the shít hits the fan.

A large company on the other hand will have a very segmented job role, windows support will simply be windows support with a team to support it. This can be very advantageous as you have your colleagues to fall back on when you get stuck, but you can also get pidgeon holed into a particular application support miles away from what you wish to do.

If theres anything else i can think of I'll post it again, most importantly good luck and if you have any queries about exams, materials, or anything above please feel free to pm me.

Cheers

A

Col_Loki

Fantastic post and some great advice.

Ari Gold

Barrypr wrote: »

CompTIA A+ Network+ then MCSA/E would suit you best imo.

A+ -> http://certification.comptia.org/a/default.aspx

N+ -> http://certification.comptia.org/network/

MCSA -> http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcsa/default.mspx

The A+ and N+ will count for your MCSA, so you will only have three exams.

A+ mainly desktop support, the others are networking, you can only go so far in Desktop support so id look into networking too

Hope that helps.

sorry for hi-jacking your thread.

just a quick question about exam expenses.

how much does it actually cost to sit A+/N+ exams through self study as opposed to doing a course?

€182 for one off the A+ exams.

You'll find prices here.. http://www.prometric.com/default.htm

far2gud

Skip the a+ and start the 2008 track, unless you have interest in learning about ancient motherboards and i/o ports that are now automatically mapped.

The a+ needs to be updated, it's ancient history! on the other hand the net+ is good for networking fundamentals.