Changing Career To IT

kierc

Hi everyone,I'm looking to change my career to IT,I wonder how do I go about night/online courses to get me started ?

Neames

What area of IT are you looking to get into?

kierc

Repair/maintenance would be something I'm into

TrustedApple

By repair and maintenance are you looking at fixing laptops / mobile phones ?.

kierc

Ideally I'd like to to be involved in sme upgrads and repairs essientally

TrustedApple

Have you ever repaired laptops tablets or phones before?.

As it's something you can self tech with YouTube or a Google.

Are you looking at working in a multinash company or just a laptop repair shop ?.

kierc

Yes ideally work in a company

limnam

kierc wrote: »

Yes ideally work in a company

To get the ball rolling you could look at Compita's A+ certification.

TrustedApple

limnam wrote: »

To get the ball rolling you could look at Compita's A+ certification.

Plus one on this. Compitas A+ is extramly good and gos into great detail if you are looking into a help desk role.

As you will not get a job In a help desk role just repairing computers.

You will need to know Windows systems, phones, basic servers, basic networking, an even some Unix.

As myself I used to work in help desk it's how you say it the jack of all trades in IT you need to know a bit of everything in all areas of IT.

TrustedApple

sugarman wrote: »

Id also recommend the A+ and maybe follow it on with the Network+ if all goes well.

Thats where I started before moving onto MCSAs and CCNA.

I have never done the network + myself are they worthwhile ?. As my network knowledge is mostly self-taught and my knowledge is next to useless in that area.

Eire Go Brach

What career ar you coming from? Be prepared for a drop in wages. I have done it. But I was made redundant and made the most of the unemployment system to educate myself.

As previously stated.

Comptia A+
Network plus or ccna
These will give you the foundation.
Then maybe a Mcsa

Most of these courses can be studied yourself. But it can be worth paying for the first one to get you into the swing of things. It can be hard studying in the evening when you have other things going on. Kids etc.
Paying for an evening course can get you out the door and motivated.

GaGa21

What's the best course to go for when changing career? As in I'm coming from a low salary and want to earn higher salary so which area in IT should I study?

Cuddlesworth

GaGa21 wrote: »

What's the best course to go for when changing career? As in I'm coming from a low salary and want to earn higher salary so which area in IT should I study?

That is a pretty open ended question.

There are many many technical paths to go down, networking, telecoms/voice, video, database administration/operation, Virtualisation, VDI, End User computing, SysOps of varying OS or application specific roles, DevOps, business analysts, software/hardware specific support roles.

That's a fraction of the roles out there and its just IT support. Not even touching programming.

How you get into those positions depends on what your good at, what the demand is at the time, what companies are willing to pay, what experience you have, what opportunities you get, what you learn along the way, etc etc.

What they pay and what you consider a higher salary are also open to interpretation.

GaGa21

Cuddlesworth wrote:

What they pay and what you consider a higher salary are also open to interpretation.

Well anything over 30k is a start! But this is where I'm at....have never worked in IT before so don't know what I will or will not like. A mature student so will be going back to basics. Will I go for a general computer course or focus on a certain area where there is a demand and earnings may be higher? And maybe something I could do from home if needed. So many options...

Cuddlesworth

GaGa21 wrote: »

Well anything over 30k is a start! But this is where I'm at....have never worked in IT before so don't know what I will or will not like. A mature student so will be going back to basics. Will I go for a general computer course or focus on a certain area where there is a demand and earnings may be higher? And maybe something I could do from home if needed. So many options...

IT support roles start at helpdesk level, pay is minimum wage up to 30k depending on experience. Lots of qualifications/certs listed on this thread already to help you get into those roles, although I would also look into the Microsoft MOS exams and training too. From there you can move upwards with more training and aptitude or just stick around until you get promoted by experience alone. Most IT support jobs top out around 45-50k without some serious specialisation.

This is a example of a company and role that would accept people with no experience. Don't expect much on pay though.

https://jobs2.deloitte.com/global/en/job/DELOA003X221443?src=JB-16801