certifications and job applications

[sandeep2504]

hello

I am looking for some advice.

I currently have three and half years experience supporting IT in schools and with that experience i also have a degree in Business Information Technology.

I have been job hunting recently, mainly desktop support roles and i am finding a lot of the higher paid jobs 22k + are asking for certifications.

The requests vary from CCNA, MCSE to MCP.

I am trying to get some training from my current employer through self learning and the school paying for the exam.

From reading other posts on the forum and from previous experience, it looks like it will take some time for my request to be accepted and it might be denied due to funding etc.

I feel for a lot of these adverts, i can do the job and meet the job specification quite easily and i firmly believe the experience of supporting IT in school has many advantages over someone supporting IT in a small to medium company and thus should hold my application in good stead.

Should i still apply for these jobs or would i be wasting my time?

[DAckroyd]

I would always apply as they can only turn you down (if they don't take you on) and it's always worth getting the experiance of application forms and interview processes

most job application forms are avalible to fill out on computer now so you can genrally copy and paste applicable stuff from one form to another

[wagnerk]

Same here, what's the worst that can happen? They turn you down. Best case, they accept you.

As for working in a school, depending on your set up some schools rival large enterprise businesses (over 500 machines), much large than the average SME.

And as for qualifications, why not self study a few? Quite a few of us have passed exams by both self-studying as well as attending classes.

-Ken

[mossj]

I currently have three and half years experience supporting IT in schools and with that experience i also have a degree in Business Information Technology.

I have been job hunting recently, mainly desktop support roles and i am finding a lot of the higher paid jobs 22k + are asking for certifications.

Have you considered moving away from desktop support roles, unless you truely love that aspect you may have better luck looking at IT Management (Business Analysts, Project Managers etc) due to your degree.

You still retain the IT side of things but look at things from a different POV, pay is alot better as well but the trade off is you won't find these positions at your average school.

Should i still apply for these jobs or would i be wasting my time?

No harm in trying!

[IanT]

I tend to find alot of jobs dont ask or need you to have certifications, experience

[sandeep2504]

I should say i am look at jobs outside of education.

[IanT]

it will really depend, for example if you want to work within the Banking Sector doing IT then they will most likely want some form of certifications, also if you go for a Media Company doing there IT you will find that they wont ask you for any certifications.

This is just purely from my own experience, I've worked in some sectors doing IT:

Media
Education
Outsourcing IT

But for school if you wanted to be a Network Manager I find that some schools require you too have a MCSE\CCNA etc and then other schools just want experience, really does depend.