IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[krexzen]

I'm speaking a job, thats my goal entry level desktop support. I have the A+ and a 2 year, I need another cert, I'm doing the ccent but I don't see employers asking for it. I was debating stopping and doing the N+ because it's more known for entry level. The ccent might gain more respect in terms of knowledge but I'm speaking just straight jobs right now.

The ccent is more practical because it means you know Cisco(an industry giant). Outside of basic networking knowledge the network+ is probably not going to do much for you. Not many job applications list it. It is usually overshadowed by the A+ and Security+. IMO the network+ is a foundation cert to help you prepare for bigger and better networking certifications.

If your goal is just desktop support, then forget Comptia altogether and go with Microsoft certs (far more impressive).

I'm not telling you not to get the network+, but just keep in mind that it is not a resume boasting certification. Employers looking for desktop support want Microsoft/Linux certified candidates. Employers looking for network guys want Cisco/Juniper certified candidates. They want people certified in the software/equipment that they use.

Also think of the CCENT as 1/2 of the CCNA (Like the 801 exam for the A+). Unless you're short on time or money you should probably proceed towards the ICND 2 for your CCNA right after you get the CCENT. Even with the CCENT you can put Cisco on your resume (ie knowledge of Cisco, experience configuring eigrp/ospf, good understanding of Cisco ios, etc.).

Whichever path you choose I wish you luck breh. The more the knowledge you gain the better you'll be.

 

[Scott Larock]

The ccent is more practical because it means you know Cisco(an industry giant). Outside of basic networking knowledge the network+ is probably not going to do much for you. Not many job applications list it. It is usually overshadowed by the A+ and Security+. IMO the network+ is a foundation cert to help you prepare for bigger and better networking certifications.

If your goal is just desktop support, then forget Comptia altogether and go with Microsoft certs (far more impressive).

I'm not telling you not to get the network+, but just keep in mind that it is not a resume boasting certification. Employers looking for desktop support want Microsoft/Linux certified candidates. Employers looking for network guys want Cisco/Juniper certified candidates. They want people certified in the software/equipment that they use.

Also think of the CCENT as 1/2 of the CCNA (Like the 801 exam for the A+). Unless you're short on time or money you should probably proceed towards the ICND 2 for your CCNA right after you get the CCENT. Even with the CCENT you can put Cisco on your resume (ie knowledge of Cisco, experience configuring eigrp/ospf, good understanding of Cisco ios, etc.).

Whichever path you choose I wish you luck breh. The more the knowledge you gain the better you'll be.

Okay, I may as well continue with the ccent, then jump into microsoft.

1. I don't have a home lab, I got some bosom virtual lab software.
2. The ios commands are hard as hell

I don't know if the ccna will be overkill on my resume, looks too much for helpdesk, desktop support but since I already started it, might as well finish it.

 

[Micky Mikey]

this IT auditing gig has really put a sour taste in my mouth. Lots of documentation and other departments dont take us seriously. I can create hundreds of tickets addressing critical vulnerabilities all day and no one will even look at them to apply the necessary patches.
I'm ready for something more technical, like network admin. The location i'm in has to be the worst for jobs, even IT. Most network support jobs want at least 3 years of exp. I've been looking in places like Atlanta and DC, where IT jobs seem to be plentiful and require less exp

 

[Ice_MF_Mike]

this IT auditing gig has really put a sour taste in my mouth. Lots of documentation and other departments dont take us seriously. I can create hundreds of tickets addressing critical vulnerabilities all day and no one will even look at them to apply the necessary patches.
I'm ready for something more technical, like network admin. The location i'm in has to be the worst for jobs, even IT. Most network support jobs want at least 3 years of exp. I've been looking in places like Atlanta and DC, where IT jobs seem to be plentiful and require less exp

Yea i hear constantly that people just dont respect auditors. I think in reality they dislike being told about problems without pointing out how to fix the issues. And unless there is a business reason driving them to make the changes, they simply wont. What type of auditing do you do?

 

[Micky Mikey]

Yea i hear constantly that people just dont respect auditors. I think in reality they dislike being told about problems without pointing out how to fix the issues. And unless there is a business reason driving them to make the changes, they simply wont. What type of auditing do you do?

I'm an IT Auditor working as an intern. My jobs consists of assuring backups have been completed on our servers, assuring that users have correct access rights to prod and test environments, reviewing OSSEC reports, analyzing Nessus reports and reporting critical vulnerabilities. We also do change management, risk assessments, and disaster recovery plans.
I am blessed to have a job but Im seeing a lot of things I don't like. We get almost no support from upper management and the work is quite redundant. My boss isnt open to me learning new things even when ive shown that I can handle the given work Perhaps auditing isn't my thing. Which I'm almost certain this may be the case. I have tried numerous times to shadow someone but everyone seems to busy.

 

[JT-Money]

this IT auditing gig has really put a sour taste in my mouth. Lots of documentation and other departments dont take us seriously. I can create hundreds of tickets addressing critical vulnerabilities all day and no one will even look at them to apply the necessary patches.
I'm ready for something more technical, like network admin. The location i'm in has to be the worst for jobs, even IT. Most network support jobs want at least 3 years of exp. I've been looking in places like Atlanta and DC, where IT jobs seem to be plentiful and require less exp

The Atlanta market is still doing well I heard but it can change on a dime. You'll find plenty of opportunities in the DC area also but not without a security clearance. I switched to IT Security about 3 years ago but probably won't stay in it past 5 years. You can make just as much money doing IT infrastructure type work such as Networking or Storage without the hassle. Most companies practice cybersecurity theatre they just want to look good on paper but could care less about doing actual security work. Most just pray they don't get hacked.



http://ww2.cfo.com/it-value/2014/09/security-spending-falls-attacks-increase/

"Cyber-security attacks against companies increased 48% last year but spending on information security actually fell 4% during the same period, with small companies in particular cutting their budgets, according to PwC in its latest Global State of Information Security Survey".

"The drop in security spending followed three straight years of increases. Security budgets at companies with less than $100 million in revenue fell by an average of 20%, while at medium and large businesses they edged up by 5%".

“There is a misconception out there that the security spend is this colossal block,” David Burg, leader of cyber security at PwC, told the Financial Times. “But it really is not. A lot of executives don’t have that level of awareness.”

The survey, which polled almost 10,000 executives and IT directors, also found that regardless of company size, security spending as a percentage of total IT budget has stalled at 3.8% and shows no signs of increasing. “The entire issue of cyber security is so daunting, particularly for small companies that don’t have the appropriately skilled people,” cyber security attorney Lisa Sotto told PwC

 

[((ReFleXioN)) EteRNaL]

brehs, i'm so CLOSE to enrolling in college for either physical therapy assistant or nursing. my sis graduated in 3 years, and right out the gate was making 35 an hour. now making 45. I been doing warehouse my whole adult life and i'm officially burnt out on this shyt. I think I could be happy in healthcare, but I feel like i'd be happier in IT. but at the moment, I have no experience, no certs.....only jobs i've ever worked as an adult have been warehouse. to me i look at it like this.....once I get my degree in healthcare i'm guaranteed to be banking. in IT, from what I heard and read, it seems like it's much harder to get your foot in the door...like no matter what certs you have, employers will always look for experience first.


can somebody please convince me to go the IT route before I turn my whole life upside down and rack up this college loan debt. i'm talking starting right now brehs....not even having an A+.....If i say fukk any semblance of a social life and completely dedicate myself to this IT shyt.....in 2 years time, could I realistically be making 25 an hour or more in IT?

 

[patscorpio]

brehs, i'm so CLOSE to enrolling in college for either physical therapy assistant or nursing. my sis graduated in 3 years, and right out the gate was making 35 an hour. now making 45. I been doing warehouse my whole adult life and i'm officially burnt out on this shyt. I think I could be happy in healthcare, but I feel like i'd be happier in IT. but at the moment, I have no experience, no certs.....only jobs i've ever worked as an adult have been warehouse. to me i look at it like this.....once I get my degree in healthcare i'm guaranteed to be banking. in IT, from what I heard and read, it seems like it's much harder to get your foot in the door...like no matter what certs you have, employers will always look for experience first.


can somebody please convince me to go the IT route before I turn my whole life upside down and rack up this college loan debt. i'm talking starting right now brehs....not even having an A+.....If i say fukk any semblance of a social life and completely dedicate myself to this IT shyt.....in 2 years time, could I realistically be making 25 an hour or more in IT?

have you looked into healthcare IT breh? you can certainly eat good in that area

 

[FastEddie215]

brehs, i'm so CLOSE to enrolling in college for either physical therapy assistant or nursing. my sis graduated in 3 years, and right out the gate was making 35 an hour. now making 45. I been doing warehouse my whole adult life and i'm officially burnt out on this shyt. I think I could be happy in healthcare, but I feel like i'd be happier in IT. but at the moment, I have no experience, no certs.....only jobs i've ever worked as an adult have been warehouse. to me i look at it like this.....once I get my degree in healthcare i'm guaranteed to be banking. in IT, from what I heard and read, it seems like it's much harder to get your foot in the door...like no matter what certs you have, employers will always look for experience first.


can somebody please convince me to go the IT route before I turn my whole life upside down and rack up this college loan debt. i'm talking starting right now brehs....not even having an A+.....If i say fukk any semblance of a social life and completely dedicate myself to this IT shyt.....in 2 years time, could I realistically be making 25 an hour or more in IT?

breh no disrespect but I swear I remember you saying this same exact thing back in 2012 near the beginning of this thread. sounds like you may not be motivated or ambitious to get it because I was in the same exact position as you and within those 2 years I got my A+, Windows 7 (70-680), and just recently over the end of summer have passed 2 out of the 3 exams to become MCSA Server 2012 certified (passed 70-410 and 70-412 so far). I make 40k a year doing Helpdesk support right now with only a year and a half of experience. and I did all of this just by reading through this thread following the advice of @bdizzle @Chris.B and a few others who dropped gems in here. read through the thread again, ask questions and you will start making money in this field. I don't know about you but I want to good like a lot of these guys who showed me the way, take advantage of this info because they didn't have to tell us any of this for free but they did. good luck

 

[semtex]

brehs, i'm so CLOSE to enrolling in college for either physical therapy assistant or nursing. my sis graduated in 3 years, and right out the gate was making 35 an hour. now making 45. I been doing warehouse my whole adult life and i'm officially burnt out on this shyt. I think I could be happy in healthcare, but I feel like i'd be happier in IT. but at the moment, I have no experience, no certs.....only jobs i've ever worked as an adult have been warehouse. to me i look at it like this.....once I get my degree in healthcare i'm guaranteed to be banking. in IT, from what I heard and read, it seems like it's much harder to get your foot in the door...like no matter what certs you have, employers will always look for experience first.


can somebody please convince me to go the IT route before I turn my whole life upside down and rack up this college loan debt. i'm talking starting right now brehs....not even having an A+.....If i say fukk any semblance of a social life and completely dedicate myself to this IT shyt.....in 2 years time, could I realistically be making 25 an hour or more in IT?

Be more specific dude. IT is a super general term

 

[((ReFleXioN)) EteRNaL]

breh no disrespect but I swear I remember you saying this same exact thing back in 2012 near the beginning of this thread. sounds like you may not be motivated or ambitious to get it because I was in the same exact position as you and within those 2 years I got my A+, Windows 7 (70-680), and just recently over the end of summer have passed 2 out of the 3 exams to become MCSA Server 2012 certified (passed 70-410 and 70-412 so far). I make 40k a year doing Helpdesk support right now with only a year and a half of experience. and I did all of this just by reading through this thread following the advice of @bdizzle @Chris.B and a few others who dropped gems in here. read through the thread again, ask questions and you will start making money in this field. I don't know about you but I want to good like a lot of these guys who showed me the way, take advantage of this info because they didn't have to tell us any of this for free but they did. good luck

Yea dog I did. Then at that point I got a good job in warehousing at a good company. Felt like it could really turn into a career. But after 2 years here working my ass off and being the number one guy in 2 different departments and still seeing people come in moving past me for no reason at all....I'm DONE. Im officially at the breaking point now. I went all in at this company from the start. Had bosses in awe at my work ethic and performance numbers. But once I seen a temp come in and move past me in 6 months time while not even performing anywhere near my level I knew it was time to move on. Not hating on the guy cause he knew how to talk...and manipulate. So I give him props. I always been the type with the attitude that hard work should be enough. But this guy really came in and fooled a lot of people. got the promotion. And after 2 weeks of having a heavier work load straight up quit. No warning or nothing. Left the company in scrambles. And all I could do was laugh my ass off.


But Yea....that's why I never went for IT before. Had to ask the question again cause I know in IT things change fast so wasn't sure if the outlook is still the same or not. But i just realized it would be best to have legit skills In a career where they will always be valued. This warehousing shyt is never gonna be totally secure. So I'm done....already checked out....supervisors trying to feed me more bullshyt and ask me why my attitude ain't the same....but I just keep it moving. If I come In this thread and ask this question again next year then I'm officially a bytch.....but I know for sure that won't happen. It's either all out in school or IT from this point forward. But props on the drop....you motivated me to get the ball rolling...Ima study for this A+ and try to pass by December and see of I can land something by years end before I make the decision to start college.


Respect

 

[((ReFleXioN)) EteRNaL]

have you looked into healthcare IT breh? you can certainly eat good in that area

Yea I've heard about that too....I'm sure that would be a great place to be. Ima just get this A+ out the way and see where I can get in from there.

 

[Scott Larock]

The ccent is more practical because it means you know Cisco(an industry giant). Outside of basic networking knowledge the network+ is probably not going to do much for you. Not many job applications list it. It is usually overshadowed by the A+ and Security+. IMO the network+ is a foundation cert to help you prepare for bigger and better networking certifications.

If your goal is just desktop support, then forget Comptia altogether and go with Microsoft certs (far more impressive).

I'm not telling you not to get the network+, but just keep in mind that it is not a resume boasting certification. Employers looking for desktop support want Microsoft/Linux certified candidates. Employers looking for network guys want Cisco/Juniper certified candidates. They want people certified in the software/equipment that they use.

Also think of the CCENT as 1/2 of the CCNA (Like the 801 exam for the A+). Unless you're short on time or money you should probably proceed towards the ICND 2 for your CCNA right after you get the CCENT. Even with the CCENT you can put Cisco on your resume (ie knowledge of Cisco, experience configuring eigrp/ospf, good understanding of Cisco ios, etc.).

Whichever path you choose I wish you luck breh. The more the knowledge you gain the better you'll be.

I'm trying to get hired breh, I'm older and I have about 20 years left probably working. I'm trying to get into IT, I have the A+ and a 2 year but no call backs to my resume. The N+ would probably be better to get into IT, then transition into CCNA, I'm older though and I need a career, been working regular jobs my whole life.

have you looked into healthcare IT breh? you can certainly eat good in that area

Elaborate?

breh no disrespect but I swear I remember you saying this same exact thing back in 2012 near the beginning of this thread. sounds like you may not be motivated or ambitious to get it because I was in the same exact position as you and within those 2 years I got my A+, Windows 7 (70-680), and just recently over the end of summer have passed 2 out of the 3 exams to become MCSA Server 2012 certified (passed 70-410 and 70-412 so far). I make 40k a year doing Helpdesk support right now with only a year and a half of experience. and I did all of this just by reading through this thread following the advice of @bdizzle @Chris.B and a few others who dropped gems in here. read through the thread again, ask questions and you will start making money in this field. I don't know about you but I want to good like a lot of these guys who showed me the way, take advantage of this info because they didn't have to tell us any of this for free but they did. good luck

You skipped N+? Probably make better sense to get a Microsoft cert to get into IT.

I'm much older and I even asked what's a good field to get into for older people and no responses. I'm trying to make at least 50k a year.

 

[analog]

I know this probably been mentioned to death, but for the brehs starting out, the easiest way for you to get your foot through the door is to have someone vouch for you from the inside. Can't count the amount of people who didn't have a lick of experience/certs(including me) get in through a hookup, learn on the job, and grow from there.

If you dont have any connects already, sign up for one of those bootcamp classes where they prep you for an industry exam eg ccna in about a months time. These joints will have some folks sent there by their employers to get their certs up, others whom are employed already but looking to move up, and others just like you just trying to get their foot in the door. This'll provide you with an opportunity to network your ass off, and establish some leads in addition to getting you ready for a cert.

edit: on second thought, i was in one of these classes with a breh that was driving up from buffalo talking about similar classes down in the US were too damn expensive ... so this may not be for the majority of you

 

[Scott Larock]

Aren't there classes like 1200 for a certification? I did that for my A+ but I didn't get a job.