IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[Data-Hawk]

for the brehs who have help desk experience, can any of you give some examples of times when you had to troubleshoot a problem for a user? like a step by step process on what the problem was and how you came about solving and fixing it? I heard that interviewers ask those type of scenario questions and since I don't have any experience I want to make sure I know what the hell I am talking about.

I mean usually troubleshooting computer problems is no different than any problem.

General questions I use to ask:

- When's the last time it was working

- Any changes to the environment( expect 99% of them to not know, but it looks good in an interview)

- Did you reboot ( yes I know it looks bad on us, but you want to get that out of the way )

- Anybody else around you having the same problem?

I'm sure theres more I use to ask, but its been a long time since I had to deal with users ( Thank You God!!!! ).

But as I always say, the biggest advice is to learn scripting. For example

Our Adjusters had verizon air cards and for some odd reason the cards would always lose their proxy settings. So while they could get through VPN, they couldn't do shyt on our internal network. We use to receive so many calls on that crap, where we would have to manually restore them. So I just wrote a quick little script( I think it was no more than 20 - 30 lines of code ) to restore the settings on startup, had it pushed out to about 3,000 laptops. Little script cutdown our calls by about 20%.

Received a promoton within 2 weeks. All for less than 30 lines of code. Now that Windows 7 comes with Powershell, you can do alot of stuff without needing to remote to their computer or at least pull up info on the computer alot quicker.

 

[acri1]

for the brehs who have help desk experience, can any of you give some examples of times when you had to troubleshoot a problem for a user? like a step by step process on what the problem was and how you came about solving and fixing it? I heard that interviewers ask those type of scenario questions and since I don't have any experience I want to make sure I know what the hell I am talking about.

Well, I mean, you basically just narrow it down.

One question I was asked by my current employer is how I'd troubleshoot this issue - someone calls in from their home and says they can't connect to the VPN. What questions do you ask? What do you have them check?

So...you tell me. If I called you complaining about not being able to connect to the VPN, what would you have me check first? What might you check on your end?

 

[LeVraiPapi]

Ok, I have a BS in Nursing. How much could I start making with some certs ?

 

[ATearInMyEye]

Alight brehhs..

So i work at as a computer lab tech at my university and at the resource center as well at a recieving department at a retail store. Comcast called me a few times for a "Customer Care/IP support position"starting at 14.25/hr.I nailed the 20 minute preliminary phone interview.I never have had a help desk job before so though its technically not a help desk position, i feel the experience can only help thought IT is Comcast . What do you guys think?

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Ok, I have a BS in Nursing. How much could I start making with some certs ?

You'd be entry level. Your BS means nothing. You'll be making the same as someone with 0 experience and 0 education.

 

[LeVraiPapi]

You'd be entry level. Your BS means nothing. You'll be making the same as someone with 0 experience and 0 education.

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Imagine someone with a law degree walking into a hospital saying "I passed the bar and graduated law school, how much money can I make as a surgeon."

 

[Silkk]

Imagine someone with a law degree walking into a hospital saying "I passed the bar and graduated law school, how much money can I make as a surgeon."

Say breh, how many hours per day do you allot to studying(morning,noon,night?) and what are the best studying tips in your opinion?

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Say breh, how many hours per day do you allot to studying(morning,noon,night?) and what are the best studying tips in your opinion?

Typically 7+ hours a day. If I make time to study at work, throw another 3 or so hours in there. I usually start studying at 5, and don't get done some nights until 1-2AM. I also study on the weekends, sometimes, 10+ hours. I can easily put 50-60 hours in a week studying.

I didn't study today or Friday though. After work I went out and partied, and now I have a fukkin hangover. Met a couple broads but at this point women are more a distraction than anything. I told myself I'm probably not gonna go out for a while. I need to stay focused.

As for tips, have a plan and stick with it. I break my shyt up into sections, and I try to make sure by the end of the week/month, I'm still on track.

But like I always say, don't listen to me. I'm just another lost nikka.

 

[FreshFromATL]

Finishing up this book on Database Systems Design, Implementation, and Management...this book was just

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Finishing up this book on Database Systems Design, Implementation, and Management...this book was just

What book is that breh? I really need to step my database game up.

 

[FreshFromATL]

What book is that breh? I really need to step my database game up.

Spoiler

This book gets mixed reviews but I love it. Study this book along with a good book on SQL and you should have a set foundation to work from.

Download DAlnxn---0538469684.rar - BitShare.com - Free File Hosting and Cloud Storage

 

[Blackking]

Ok, I have a BS in Nursing. How much could I start making with some certs ?

why don't you just be a nurse. Surrounded by women, making good money, always having a job.

 

[Data-Hawk]

Brehs , about to go dedicate my life to getting this game up and running. Thinking about building something similar to MineCraft or some type of sandbox game. Right now just playing around with ideas.


Look for a screenshot in about 2 weeks.

 

[tofuspeedstar]

Setting up a virtual lab at home is one of the best strategies for learning. Don't waste your time or worry about no triple boot anything. Nobody does that in businesses today. You want to do whatever they do in the real world which is VMware (and now HyperV somewhat). Learn VMware first and foremost. How to install it on a box, how to manage it, how to create VMs on a ESXi host and then create a Windows box, osx box, linux box, etc. in a bunch of VMs.

There are multiple ways to do the home lab setup too. depends mostly on money you have to spend and space you have at home. What it boils down to is two ways, you could get one of those big beefy servers that you see in data centers, but those are typically: A) more expensive B) sound like jet engines in your room when constantly running C) up your electricity bill D) take up a lot of space in your room. I upgraded my cheap ass $300 hp desktop last year and put 32GB ram (ram is mad cheap these days) in it and an SSD drive. I just use a Windows application called VMware workstation and I can load up any VMs with any OS or software on it. With this I can learn any cisco software I need or Microsoft or Citrix as well as VMware by default in setting it up. My setup is probably a total of $500. It may not be as powerful performance wise as a true server, but for a lab environment to learn the ins and outs of a software, it more than gets the job done just fine.

The other way to do it is to buy maybe two dell/hp/cisco servers and install VMware ESXi on them as the bare-metal hypervisor and then manage those two with your laptop and install any software you want to learn on VMs on those two boxes.

get started with these and
Welcome to vSphere-land! » The why and how of building a vSphere lab for work or home
Building the Ultimate vSphere Lab – Part 1: The Story | Boerlowie's Blog

Just going through the process of actually figuring out the purpose of the home lab, the different ways to build one, and how to build it will help you learn a ton. you probably already have questions like what is a VM? what is ESXi? what is vSphere? etc. This is how u will learn those things. Youll read shyt you dont understand and be forced to research.

Once you've done this you can put it on your resume as "I'm competent in AD, or I'm competent in X technology". In an interview, you dont have to say i did it in a home lab unless they ask, just be truthful at all times but dont be so pressed to let them know you have little experience in a production environment, you just want to show them you understand the technology and can pick things up quickly.

Not to mention that they make your room HOT AS HELL.