ICT Qualifications

I wasn't sure where to post this but I've been an ICT technician in Primary school's (two of) for about 10 years now and have no professional ICT qualifications...

What would you recommend I do to gain a respectable qualification?

My experience so far in the time I have been doing is is Web design, hardware support, network management and software. I also have experience in using Windows server 2003 with Active Directory.

Hope you can help so I can persuade school to let me do some studying :)

J
x

In your position I would go for MSITP/MCSA/MCSE to start with, then branch off and do Cisco CCNA (either essentials or explorer)

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Originally Posted by nephilim

In your position I would go for MSITP/MCSA/MCSE to start with, then branch off and do Cisco CCNA (either essentials or explorer)

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Thank you. Do you know where the best place would be to find these? Are they online??

J

Microsoft Certifications | Prometric Prometric is the Examiner and they held exams at their places dotted around the world, I think as well prometric is the only test center to do any microsoft exams now.

I agree you should go for the MCITP. I am studying that at the moment and is the newer version of MCSE/MCSA.

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Originally Posted by gl3nnym

I agree you should go for the MCITP. I am studying that at the moment and is the newer version of MCSE/MCSA.

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That's great. Do you know where I can find some good study materials? And what does MCITP stand for?

Here is the Microsoft page for the MCITP: MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional) | Training Courses for IT Professionals

It stands for Microsoft Certified IT Professional and shows the exams/studying needed to gain the qualification.
Many people use companies like TrainSignal, CBT Nuggets and the Microsoft Press Books (available from Amazon) to study for the exams. Personally I have just used the Press Books so far but will need video training soon. Microsoft also have plenty of free Webinars and Virtual Labs on their Learning site available to download.

EDIT: You can also try these sites for help and information; techexams.net , certforums.co.uk , mcmcse.com , proprofs.com . I have used these to get advice from other people taking the exams (Passed my first ever exam a few weeks ago and other peoples experiences really help). Just a note, brain dumps are bad. Steer clear of them!

I've been working in Primary schools for about 18 months now. I have 6 of them. I was previously a technician in a couple of secondaries. I'm in the same boat, I have no ICT qualifications but am wanting to get them so I can move on. MCITP does sound like the best bet from what you've said and the information I've found on the net.

BTW your school should pay for them, as a part of your professional development :D my school paid for my Exams

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Originally Posted by stevenlong1985

BTW your school should pay for them, as a part of your professional development :D my school paid for my Exams

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If you can get it, it's good! My company have so far paid for two courses and 1 exam. They said they will pay for my next exam too. How nice of them!

If you have a local college near by, enter into an agreement where you can offer to give some students work experience in ICT industry for a term, and in return you get free training by the college (if they offer CCNA, MCSE etc). I did and its working well for myself and its how I got Ashman91 to join me, as he was one of those students, and he stood out above the others.

I know slightly away but I would suggest a Price2 project management qualification, it will take you far

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Originally Posted by stevenlong1985

BTW your school should pay for them, as a part of your professional development :D my school paid for my Exams

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You're lucky then! Prince2 will take you far if you have the project management experience with it. Aim in-line with what you do, MCDST and MCSA is a good start point or maybe A+ if you're doing alot of break/fix hardware bits. ITIL is good to have if you plan to leave schools, FITS is good for schools but some industry employers now recognise FITS where ITIL isn't on a CV - but they're not hands on quals, they're more... following a framework.

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Originally Posted by stevenlong1985

BTW your school should pay for them, as a part of your professional development :D my school paid for my Exams

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It looks like they're prepared to do that as I've no professional development so far. Hooking up with our local college also sounds like a good idea to exchange student services for training...I like that! :)

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Originally Posted by gl3nnym

If you can get it, it's good! My company have so far paid for two courses and 1 exam. They said they will pay for my next exam too. How nice of them!

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I can only wish for that. My boss has already told me there isn't enough money in the budget for training. We're skint