IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[Tunez]

I need more A+ practice exams, help me out brehs

 

[kevm3]

I want to get my ccent by the end of june, then on the s+. I'm older than you guys, I don't even know if these cacs will hire my old ass once I get these certs.

If not, then at least you will have the knowledge to venture out and do something on your own like local computer repairs.

 

[NinoBrown]

Just bought the voucher to take the test for 801 July 1st.. I'm ready now, but I'll be damned I give these guys $200 and even have a 1% chance of failing that shyt lol

Probably going to try to get the 802 by the end of August though.

Then network +
Ccna after that

A help desk job for me wouldnt be worth my time.

I get ya, but you can work your way up, though it is very tough. Any cert without any relevant experience will be a tough push to get in the door. Every colleague, IT Director, CIO, etc. that I've worked with started at the first level and worked furiously to move up and also had a side hustle to make that jump..

To build up that XP without going the traditional route, then get some business cards (for PC repairs I assume) printed up and start handing them out on college campuses, hair salons, barbershops, check cashing places, churches, etc. to build a client-base and you can easily charge 50-125 an hour and it all goes to you man...Good word of mouth can help you here...

Get 10-12 direct support calls a week, you can do all right and gain practical experience....

Think about it this way, in the fields of Business, Medicine, Law, etc, still wouldn't let a fresh CPA/Lawyer/Resident/Nurse anywhere near critical clients. IT is no different...

You can be the Neo of the Cert World or BA, BS, MS, MBA-land, but you still will have to start from the bottom....unless you went to Harvard or MIT....maybe...

 

[Ice_MF_Mike]

I get ya, but you can work your way up, though it is very tough. Any cert without any relevant experience will be a tough push to get in the door. Every colleague, IT Director, CIO, etc. that I've worked with started at the first level and worked furiously to move up and also had a side hustle to make that jump..

To build up that XP without going the traditional route, then get some business cards (for PC repairs I assume) printed up and start handing them out on college campuses, hair salons, barbershops, check cashing places, churches, etc. to build a client-base and you can easily charge 50-125 an hour and it all goes to you man...Good word of mouth can help you here...

Get 10-12 direct support calls a week, you can do all right and gain practical experience....

Think about it this way, in the fields of Business, Medicine, Law, etc, still wouldn't let a fresh CPA/Lawyer/Resident/Nurse anywhere near critical clients. IT is no different...

You can be the Neo of the Cert World or BA, BS, MS, MBA-land, but you still will have to start from the bottom....unless you went to Harvard or MIT....maybe...

what he said. Granted, sometimes you can skip helpdesk with the proper experience and degree. But otherwise its quite difficult. You want to get experience, any kind of experience and as much as you can, as early as you can. So if that means working at a helpdesk for a year, do that. Its better than being unemployed and even if you are doing basic network troubleshooting it will still be worth it.

 

[Bernie Madoff]

I get ya, but you can work your way up, though it is very tough. Any cert without any relevant experience will be a tough push to get in the door. Every colleague, IT Director, CIO, etc. that I've worked with started at the first level and worked furiously to move up and also had a side hustle to make that jump..

To build up that XP without going the traditional route, then get some business cards (for PC repairs I assume) printed up and start handing them out on college campuses, hair salons, barbershops, check cashing places, churches, etc. to build a client-base and you can easily charge 50-125 an hour and it all goes to you man...Good word of mouth can help you here...

Get 10-12 direct support calls a week, you can do all right and gain practical experience....

Think about it this way, in the fields of Business, Medicine, Law, etc, still wouldn't let a fresh CPA/Lawyer/Resident/Nurse anywhere near critical clients. IT is no different...

You can be the Neo of the Cert World or BA, BS, MS, MBA-land, but you still will have to start from the bottom....unless you went to Harvard or MIT....maybe...

That's the traditional route. I'm on something different.

 

[Bernie Madoff]

If not, then at least you will have the knowledge to venture out and do something on your own like local computer repairs.

I don't understand why more people don't see this as a good route to take.

Pay $1200 or whatever for an LLC. Make money on side gigs doing basic shyt (that you don't evrn need a cert for, but its nice marketing to say A+ certified)

Hiring Manager: I see you worked at money inc computer repair. Tell me more

ME: I'm a not a businessman, I'm a business MAN

He's already going to look at me in a different light than those call center workers

 

[Bernie Madoff]

You can be the Neo of the Cert World or BA, BS, MS, MBA-land, but you still will have to start from the bottom....unless you went to Harvard or MIT....maybe...

That is 1000% incorrect. This isnt the 80's, 90's breh.. You not seeing all these start ups?

We out here for the millions not the 60k office space jobs

 

[Beegio]

You should want to start out in helpdesk when breaking into IT. You have to have an understanding of how Group policy, AD, Exchange, SQL, application servers, and a plethora of other systems and networks affect the end user.

Edit: Also understanding a local pc to the registry level, how the registry can be manipulated to troubleshoot, how to command os' at the command line level.

Just my .02, I don't know of any Sysadmin, network admin, network managers that skipped starting helpdesk.

 

[Beegio]

If anybody out there has at least 10 years IT experience (At least CCIE), an active TS, and knowledge of government security requirements on classified and above networks, live in or would relocate to San Diego, you might want to shoot me a PM.

 

[TRFG]

If anyone here is looking for cheap iMacs hit my line

 

[havoc]

how easy is it to get a "help desk" job without experience?

Depending on the location, it isn't easy. I tried to get in the field without a cert; as of result, I didn't get anybody to call me for an interview. Get an IT cert or a degree if you want to increase your chances to get a job.

Passed that A+ 802 today

Gonna make Net+ my bytch by July

Congratulation, breh !! Welcome to the IT club

 

[EnzoG]

started my prgramming logic and design class today for my PC technical support certification and it already looks like its going to be hard is there an easy way to understand this?

 

[Bernie Madoff]

started my prgramming logic and design class today for my PC technical support certification and it already looks like its going to be hard is there an easy way to understand this?

Study?

 

[NinoBrown]

That is 1000% incorrect. This isnt the 80's, 90's breh.. You not seeing all these start ups?

We out here for the millions not the 60k office space jobs

You are right we are no longer in the 80s and 90s, we are in the fallout of the greatest economic disaster since the Great Depression, people would murder for a 60K job in most parts of the country. Start-ups come and go and those that survive get that funding source on lock, once that's done, then perhaps the sky's the limit..Majority of those entities fail just like any other Mom+Pop shop...

For the average citizen, that isn't feasible due to the lack of capital access.

 

[Silverback]

I'm studying for the CCNP Switching Exam... Has anybody taken the new test since it changed in January?