career in I.T Advice Please.

AustinByrnes

hello all.

i would appreiciate some advice.

i spent 10 years working in dell computers in various roles and in my last 6months there i became a trainie E.M.R tech.(thats basically any desktop computers that fell out of the process ended up on a table for a tech to fix. standard failures like ram, or dvd drives all they way up to the motherboard failing) this is a role i really enjoyed and would like to do as a full time job.

my backround is within 10 years in dell i had a great interest in computers, i have taken many apart and back together again just to see if i could do it.

so now been unemployed i would like to start a full time career in I.T.


i understand everyone has to start somewhere, and what i can say i can do means nothing to an employer unless i have qualifications.


so i am basically looking for an I.T map or career path..

here is how i have started..

1. i have completed the P.C Maintenance course.

2. i have completed the CompTia A+ course and pass both 701 and 702 exams.

so i was wondering for people that did the A+ what did ye do next.. was it
Network + or M.C.S.A..etc

i understand everyone is different and chooses different career paths just some friendly advice is all im after. as the country is going through a recession at the moment i feel i should use this time to when we come out of it that i be well placed to get a job with some good qualifications.



im just unsure of what to do next.

thanks in advance

halkar

AustinByrnes wrote: »

i understand everyone is different and chooses different career paths just some friendly advice is all im after. as the country is going through a recession at the moment i feel i should use this time to when we come out of it that i be well placed to get a job with some good qualifications.

This is a very good attitude and you will do well if you stick to it.

I would recommend continue with Network + and do some basic Cisco stuff while you are at it. If you enjoy fixing computers also consider doing HP exams for their servers along with server operating systems. It may be difficult but try getting a role as junior admin to gain some experience. Once you are in the field you will have other opportunities which you may like to move into.

As for the future, look into virtualization. It has increasingly started to appear in job descriptions.

AustinByrnes

thanks for the advice. much appreicated.

NullZer0

While Microsoft Exams etc are great I've found the Cisco and Juniper certifications to be the ones that you will not only use but also build on.

I would look at CCNA or CCENT even if I was you.
Once you have these try to get as much exposure as possible. Don't limit yourself to CCNA level exposure just because you only hold CCNA - theres alot to learn and it pretty fun!

ntlbell

You need to figure out what you would like to do.

There's no point just taken a certification path for the sake of it.

there's no point going for ccna/ccnp if networking isn't something you really like.

The same goes for trying to pick where there will be jobs.

there is a big surge in security work, but again, going down the security route if you don't enjoy it will be pretty painful.

Try and get some volunteer work somewhere where you can get an idea on what job you think you would like to do for the next number of years then figure out the career path to get it.