IT Technician Career advice

celticsfan

Hi Guys

Ive was working in architecure as a technician for 4-5 years..To cut a long story short I was made redundant last year due to cutbacks and have struggled to find work...

I dont want to stay at home sitting on my rear end for much longer and am looking to move into the IT area... Could anyone recommend what kind of courses i should be looking at with the aim of becoming a technician??doing remote assistance and that kinda stuff?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated from people who have experience of the IT industry..:)

Tom Dunne

What qualifications do you have already?

Nate--IRL--

I've done just that. I was an arch tech for 6 years - and then the country went to ****....

I studied for a CCNA and started job hunting. The CCNA is great basepoint IMO - even though I don't use the skills learned that often, the concepts are very beneficial to understand. However you may find Microsoft a better route. I hadn't a clue of MS stuff at the start but I learned fast.

Even with certs you need experience to get a job, need a job to get experience This was my major hurdle. Eventually I ended up doing a Jobbridge intern-ship to get experience and was kept on Full Time in a place I am very happy with. A long road, but worth it to be doing something I enjoy.

If you do think of doing a Jobbridge, be very picky about who you go for. The whole point of it is for you to learn, not for them to get a dogsbody.

Nate

celticsfan

Tom Dunne wrote: »

What qualifications do you have already?

With regard to IT,im starting from scratch..its a complete career change unfortunatly.:(

celticsfan

Nate--IRL-- wrote: »

I've done just that. I was an arch tech for 6 years - and then the country went to ****....

I studied for a CCNA and started job hunting. The CCNA is great basepoint IMO - even though I don't use the skills learned that often, the concepts are very beneficial to understand. However you may find Microsoft a better route. I hadn't a clue of MS stuff at the start but I learned fast.

Even with certs you need experience to get a job, need a job to get experience This was my major hurdle. Eventually I ended up doing a Jobbridge intern-ship to get experience and was kept on Full Time in a place I am very happy with. A long road, but worth it to be doing something I enjoy.

If you do think of doing a Jobbridge, be very picky about who you go for. The whole point of it is for you to learn, not for them to get a dogsbody.

Nate

Hi Nate

Sorry to hear about your own situation mate,its unfortunate but a career change seems the only option..Job applications for architecture work,well we are just banging our heads off a wall unless you want to go to Australia...

Did you do a particular course in college or was it a part time one offered by some of those private companies?

Nate--IRL--

Don't bother with a course, waste of money IMO, buy a book, go on youtube etc. You'll learn better on your own.

For the CCNA you should Google :- GNS3 (Router Emulator), freeccnaworkbook, CBT Nuggets. Also buy the CCNA book from Sybex. I think the CCNA is being revamped soon so find out about that.

Also, a good forum for like minded people studying for certs is http://www.techexams.net/forums/cisco/

Nate

celticsfan

Nate--IRL-- wrote: »

Don't bother with a course, waste of money IMO, buy a book, go on youtube etc. You'll learn better on your own.

For the CCNA you should Google :- GNS3 (Router Emulator), freeccnaworkbook, CBT Nuggets. Also buy the CCNA book from Sybex. I think the CCNA is being revamped soon so find out about that.

Also, a good forum for like minded people studying for certs is http://www.techexams.net/forums/cisco/

Nate

Thanks for that bud...am also going through Professor Messers videos which seem an excellent source for info!

Tom Dunne

celticsfan wrote: »

With regard to IT,im starting from scratch..its a complete career change unfortunatly.:(

That's not what I asked you. I asked what qualifications (irrespective of area, though I assume they are in architecture) you have.

The reason I ask is that if you already have a Bachelors degree, you can do a post-graduate conversion. If not, you would have to look at alternatives.

To be honest, you are probably best to get a bachelors degree (or do the conversion), followed by certs in your area of interest (Cisco - CCNA, Operating Systems/infrastructure - Microsoft/Red Hat, Databases - Oracle/Microsoft, IT Management - ITIL, and so on).

Nate--IRL-- wrote: »

Don't bother with a course, waste of money IMO, buy a book, go on youtube etc. You'll learn better on your own.

While I agree with you in terms of my own personal learning, I don't think that is true for everybody. Some people prefer class-based tuition, some prefer to learn on their own.

celticsfan

Tom Dunne wrote: »

That's not what I asked you. I asked what qualifications (irrespective of area, though I assume they are in architecture) you have.

The reason I ask is that if you already have a Bachelors degree, you can do a post-graduate conversion. If not, you would have to look at alternatives.

To be honest, you are probably best to get a bachelors degree (or do the conversion), followed by certs in your area of interest (Cisco - CCNA, Operating Systems/infrastructure - Microsoft/Red Hat, Databases - Oracle/Microsoft, IT Management - ITIL, and so on).



While I agree with you in terms of my own personal learning, I don't think that is true for everybody. Some people prefer class-based tuition, some prefer to learn on their own.

The qualification I have is just a level 7 bachelors degree in architectural technology for whats its worth.. cant say I have heard of conversion courses before...

Tom Dunne

celticsfan wrote: »

The qualification I have is just a level 7 bachelors degree in architectural technology for whats its worth.. cant say I have heard of conversion courses before...

Well then, here's the course for you: http://www.itb.ie/StudyatITB/bn509pt.html

This is just one example, but I am sure there are many more in both the Universities and other IoTs.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I used to lecture on that course, hence why I am familiar with it)