Anyone working in IT who can help me?

Anyone working in IT who can help me?

Author
Discussion

AnneTeak

166 posts

108 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
quotequote all
From experience and as others have said, if you've the aptitude and patience to learn, I'd recommend getting into the programming or web development industry rather than IT support. Although programming too does have it's pitfalls!

The CompTIA A+ exam is a basic intro into computer maintenance and served no real benefit over what you would get with tinkering/building your own computer and understanding the basics of PC operation. As said, IT support is relatively lower paid than other IT professions (unless in management).

If programming sounds of interest, I'd recommend checking out https://www.codecademy.com/ as a start. With web development you've options to focus on front-end development (HTML, JS, Angular, CSS), ideal for those who like to design and be creative, or back-end technologies such as NodeJS, PHP, ASP.Net etc. Both areas with salaries outside of London from £20k - £60k (back-end is usually higher)


eliot

11,362 posts

253 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
quotequote all
Dannyboy85 said:
I'm looking to re-train for a career in IT. I'm coming into it with no IT experience whatsoever and I have been recommended to complete a CompTIA A+ course and then an MCSA either in Server 2012 or SQL. The courses will cost over £1k though so i need to be 100% sure that it will be worth spending the money and taking the 6 months or so to complete.
You don't need to spend any money at-all. The first exam (of three) in the MCSA2012 track is 70-410. The Microsoft virtual academy is really good and is free, watch the videos, setup a virtual environment and practice the subjects.
My approach has always been to build a virtual company to practice the scenarios. So I build a domain controller, file and print server, web server, mail, firewall etc.

Here's my links for 70-410
70-410 Resource WIKI
http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/certification/serve...

Full training book:
http://it-ebooks.info/book/2348/


Teched Exam Prep
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmeric...


Virtual Accademy Course:
http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-co...


MVA Objective Domain Video for this exam (410):
http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/Content/Vie...

BigMon

4,155 posts

128 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
quotequote all
MCSA is definitely the icing on the cake rather than the cake itself.

I wouldn't employ someone just because they had that (and certainly not if they had no actual experience, but had got an MCSA).

At the stage you're at perhaps a college course or Open University course may be a better option.

xjay1337

15,966 posts

117 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
quotequote all
Dannyboy85 said:
I'm looking to re-train for a career in IT. I'm coming into it with no IT experience whatsoever and I have been recommended to complete a CompTIA A+ course and then an MCSA either in Server 2012 or SQL. The courses will cost over £1k though so i need to be 100% sure that it will be worth spending the money and taking the 6 months or so to complete.

Are these courses worth doing and more importantly what sort of jobs and salary can i expect on the other side.

Thanks,
I did the CompTIA A+ course.
Also did MCDST / MCP and ended up with a few Diplomas for various IT related things.

It was VERY hard to get a job before this. I kept getting no reply, no qualifications = nothing.

I walked out of my 5 month full time apprenticeship (covering a 2 year college course basically) and have been going from strength to strength.

The qualifications are a good "foot in the door" but experience matters a lot too. I spent more time talking about projects I have done than my qualifications.

So it would be a good starting point.

ATG

20,480 posts

271 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
quotequote all
Is there any scope for moving within your current organisation? Your airport's IT teams would benefit from your experience as a user.

Vaud

50,287 posts

154 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
quotequote all
Also look at some of the big IT services providers who are increasingly offering apprentice schemes.

IT covers a huge range of salaries. For example, with 10 years experience in some specific technologies you can be contracting for £700+ a day. Niche, complex and steep learning curve.

Plenty of senior salaried consultants earning 100-150k with 10 years solid experience.

rog007

5,748 posts

223 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
quotequote all
With no experience whatsoever, what assurances do you have that you will be able to deliver outcomes and enjoy that sector? I ask as it would be unusual to do this without some insights from either training or secondments/placements.

bitchstewie

50,767 posts

209 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
quotequote all
I tend to think attitude and aptitude and experience are more important than certifications.

I say that because, and anyone in IT will know where I'm coming from here, certifications don't give you the "nose" for where an issue lies - you get that from experience.

It's a bit of a paradox in that someone who is an MCSA wouldn't be on an IT Support desk, but respectfully if you got dumped in front of a bunch of SAN kit, servers, VMware and Windows DataCenter ISO's with no practical experience but your CompTIA and/or MCSA you'd just be so far out of your depth it would be untrue.

98elise

26,366 posts

160 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
quotequote all
There are a multitude of jobs in IT so what are you looking to get into. Users just see people that work on PC's. The reality is very different.

I work in a small part of a large IT department. There are about 7 of us in our office and we might as well speak different languages when it comes to our skills. We are all employed to do different things.

randlemarcus

13,507 posts

230 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
quotequote all
Those courses are brilliant for the training provider. I'd say that they are possibly useful to prove competence in your chosen field, but less useful to gain knowledge and competence.

To see if you are high enough on the Aspergers spectrum smile, have some free fun here instead.

https://mva.microsoft.com/

wiggy001

6,542 posts

270 months

Friday 27th November 2015
quotequote all
ATG said:
Is there any scope for moving within your current organisation? Your airport's IT teams would benefit from your experience as a user.
This is a good suggestion actually, so don't overlook it. A know a lot of people that now "work in IT" that were end users previously. End User -> Super User -> Analyst -> Tech/Senior Business Analyst/Project Manager is one route you could consider.

Dromedary66

1,924 posts

137 months

Friday 27th November 2015
quotequote all
All of the certs you mentioned in your original post can be self studied for free. Lots of resources out there and it's easy for someone interested in the tech to spin up some virtual machines and to tinker away, break and learn stuff from it.

Spending over a bag speculatively in the hope of getting a job off the back of it with no experience could be disheartening.

There's lots of training providers that pray on this hope.

Hilts

4,380 posts

281 months

Friday 27th November 2015
quotequote all
swerni said:

Apart from the fact it's fking dull and you can't tell people what you do for a living.
You're right of course.

However the mortgage has to be paid, as has the car, the washing machine, the CD player and the electrical tin opener.

Or you could choose something else.

HRL

3,329 posts

218 months

Friday 27th November 2015
quotequote all
Doubt those courses will get you anything other than a Helpdesk or Desktop Support role, primarily due to a lack of experience.

Based in Hampshire, if you're willing to commute into London then anywhere between £20-35K dependent on market sector I'd say at a guess.

Derek Chevalier

3,942 posts

172 months

Friday 27th November 2015
quotequote all
eliot said:
Dannyboy85 said:
I'm looking to re-train for a career in IT. I'm coming into it with no IT experience whatsoever and I have been recommended to complete a CompTIA A+ course and then an MCSA either in Server 2012 or SQL. The courses will cost over £1k though so i need to be 100% sure that it will be worth spending the money and taking the 6 months or so to complete.
You don't need to spend any money at-all. The first exam (of three) in the MCSA2012 track is 70-410. The Microsoft virtual academy is really good and is free, watch the videos, setup a virtual environment and practice the subjects.
My approach has always been to build a virtual company to practice the scenarios. So I build a domain controller, file and print server, web server, mail, firewall etc.

Here's my links for 70-410
70-410 Resource WIKI
http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/certification/serve...

Full training book:
http://it-ebooks.info/book/2348/


Teched Exam Prep
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmeric...


Virtual Accademy Course:
http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-co...


MVA Objective Domain Video for this exam (410):
http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/Content/Vie...
Seconded. I did ~20 MS exams (starting with VB5) by buying books and then taking exam.

Carl_Manchester

12,102 posts

261 months

Friday 27th November 2015
quotequote all
I would not do any exams on MS 2012 products.

I would study elsewhere (Windows 10, Red Hat Linux, Office 365, VMWare), wait for the MS 2016 exams to be launched next year, then do those ones.

Carl_Manchester

12,102 posts

261 months

Friday 27th November 2015
quotequote all
geeks said:
lostkiwi said:
For example consultancy gets around £60-£100k pa typically.
1st level support is £25-30k
Errr these are unrealistic!

Milton Keynes - 1st Line upto £20k £22k tops!
Consultancy is a wide field, salaries from £30 - 6Ok
Hopefully OP lives near to Reading as there are plenty of opportunities in that area of the UK.

Here are the permanent salary consultant bands that I know of (contractor rates excluded), good luck to you!

1. 18 k- 2x k
2. 2x k- 65 k
3. 65 k - 100 k
4. 100k - 120 k
5. 120k - 180 k
6. 350k - 500 k
7. 1m - 3.5m
8. Steve Ballmer.

android

894 posts

168 months

Saturday 28th November 2015
quotequote all
swerni said:
Hilts said:
swerni said:

Apart from the fact it's fking dull and you can't tell people what you do for a living.
You're right of course.

However the mortgage has to be paid, as has the car, the washing machine, the CD player and the electrical tin opener.

Or you could choose something else.
yes

Always a conversation killer at a party.
It will also take up vast amounts of your weekends,evenings and you'll have to constantly up skill and reinvent yourself.
And it is soul crushing after the short term.
Do something,in fact,anything else !!

android

894 posts

168 months

Saturday 28th November 2015
quotequote all
swerni said:
Hilts said:
swerni said:

Apart from the fact it's fking dull and you can't tell people what you do for a living.
You're right of course.

However the mortgage has to be paid, as has the car, the washing machine, the CD player and the electrical tin opener.

Or you could choose something else.
yes

Always a conversation killer at a party.
It will also take up vast amounts of your weekends,evenings and you'll have to constantly up skill and reinvent yourself.
And it is soul crushing after the short term.
Do something,in fact,anything else !!

bigbarryfatbaps

14 posts

162 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
quotequote all
I've worked in IT for a few years now, realised I'm not very technical so looked into project management (quite easy to get into if you have good people skills)

I get £500 a day on a contract rate. Love it.