Career change

esperanza

I am very interested in IT. While I don't want to start studying a college course, I understand that to get a job in IT certification is the most important. In what areas can one earn the most...Lotus notes administrator, Windows Administrator... What kind of exams can I take? Is certification expensive?

damnyanks

Depends on what sort of area in IT you wish to get into

No point getting a Windows Administrator cert if you want to do development. Cert's arent too expensive. But if you choose to do training that usually is. Always cheaper to pick up a few books on the topic.

esperanza

Not interested in development, more the administration side of things...

Eoin

What IT background and skills do you currently have?

Network administration is not something that you can just jump into without any prior experience - I have found that most people have to work their way up from helpdesk or PC support.

With regards to the money, if you are good enough in nearly any field of IT administration or support there is a company out there who will pay the cash.

You will hear a lot of people saying that anyone can administer a Windows network because everything is done through wizards etc. In actual fact, this is not the case. Because Windows has a habit of hiding information from the adminstrator, you have to know your stuff to find the root cause of problems.

To answer your question, there is certification for Windows administration - look up "MCSE". Cisco (and possibly Novell) also have certification for their respective products.

esperanza

Have very good to excellent PC skills. Can install, disintall software, create Internet connection, wireless connection... know how to defragment disks, create partitions...

These are probably the basics for people in IT.

But with enough enthusiasm and hard work (plus talent) I know I am capable of learning much more.

Would it be appropriate to start with the MCSE. I already have the book.

What about Lotus notes, or SAP. SAP administrators get paid better than Windows administrators. Would SAP be too difficult?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Eoin

Hi there,

It sounds like you have a good grounding then. I would advise getting a book on trouble-shooting Windows XP, as you have to know the client before you know the server.

The problem with administering specific applications is that you have to start using them first. Have you worked with SAP or Lotus before? If not, then you will have to become acquainted with the software from a end user's point of view.

Check out the Irish job sites (www.irishjobs.ie & monster.ie) and run a few searches to see what 1) the demand is, and 2) how the salaries compare.

I know people who have obtained MCSE certification without ever having actually looked at a server, the problem with this is that you are just regurgitating bits of knowledge you have learnt with no practical background at all. It can be an expensive process as well.

One thing to consider is to look for jobs for End User support staff, and see if the company will pay to get you certified. This will obviously be cheaper, and give you a solid grounding in the area. As I said in my previous post, I would imagine that most system administrators start off doing this, and relatively few jump straight in to server administration.

If you start off in End User support, you may also then eventually be able to make a sidewise move into specific application administration.

Please bear in mind that although there are many people in IT do not have any formal qualifications (myself being one of them), it does not mean that someone with little experience can jump into what is quite a senior role. In most cases, you will have to do your time doing the junior work.

<edit>
I would recommend making a few appointments with some IT recruitment companies, and see what they think your best option is.
</edit>

Eoin

WhiteWashMan

sounds like you are looking for a desktop support job.

if you are looking for a cert or two, try the comptia ones. A+ and network + and server + would be the place to start.

MCSEs are useful, but require a lot of time, and exerience is more useful in my opinion. most of the stuff you will need can be learned on the job, and from there you should be able to look into what will heolp you the most, or help you progress.

from there on in, its a case of putting together a plan of how you want to get where you want to be.

however, i would advise you to have a very definate idea of what you want to do with yourself.
that should be your starting point, and try and work backwards if you know what i mean.

esperanza

Thanks to everyone for their help!