ICT Noob - In at the deep end

[Guest Guest]

Hello

 

 

I’ve recently secured a job working as an IT Technician in a school, despite my obvious lack of IT knowledge and qualifications, they gave me the job.

I spend the majority of my time doing administration, sorting printers/equipment and other general dogs-body tasks. The school did say that they would give me training, and to a certain extent they have, unfortunately, it’s not enough and I still find myself struggling with routine requests from teachers and students.

 

I really want to pick up as much useful knowledge as possible. Just imagine that I have exactly zero knowledge and computers, servers, networks etc… I want to learn as much as I possibly can this academic year (2013/14).

Can you recommend any good websites or books that offer introductionary advice of server administration and help desk?

 

I am both fortunate and grateful for this opportunity and I really don’t want to waste it. Advice please?

[elsiegee40]

Hello and welcome to edugeek. First off, which part of the country are you in? We may be able to recommend something local to you.

[Miscbrah]

Comptia A+ is cracking. Grab all the free training you can, loads out there.

 

Don't need to take the exams or study for them if you don't want, but you'll be studying the curriculum for an actual qualification should you then decide you want to.

 

You'll have LOTS of penny-drop moments and go 'oh THAT'S how that works!' loads, and learn lots of job-relevant bits.

 

EDIT - and back in the day, we would all have added 'get an old PC and experiment to hell on it, can always re-install Windows if it dies' but NOW you can have virtual machines! Ever come across these before? If running Windows or Linux check out Virtualbox and experiment a bit. If you're stuck on it post here/can PM me/Google stuff and we'll get you going.

Edited October 9, 2013 by Miscbrah

[mjs_mjs]

maybe give a brief outline of the systems your working on? first lesson I would say is document everything you have and how it's configured and works... that was should anything go wrong you have something to refer to.

[Miscbrah]

^ Actually this leads me to ask a question. Do you have a network manager above you or are you sole support?

[elsiegee40]

^ Actually this leads me to ask a question. Do you have a network manager above you or are you sole support?

 

From the opening post, I am guessing Primary School here! Call it intuition.

[witch]

Comptia A+ would be good along with a book about Active Directory. There are some good basic guides on the web, too

How did you get the job with no experience? Well done though!

Please don't hesitate to post a question here, however basic you feel it is - we all had to start somewhere (and some of us are not much further down the road!)

Everyone is keen to help and knowing the sorts of issues you have will also help us point you to resources that will help to explain what is going on.

I feel your anxiety - 13 years ago I started a job with no recent, or relevant experience (I was an electronics engineer back in the day but I can't say it has been a huge help). I was lucky, I had mrwITch on the end of the phone - I used to shut myself in my tiny office with the server and cry, some days!

But if we know where you are we can possibly put you in contact with a few people who would be happy to support you on the phone as well as here

[DrPerceptron]

Microsoft Virtual Academy

 

Why go anywhere else? (get the experience, then use it to pass the exams for Microsoft Qualifications)

[X-13]

How did you get the job with no experience?

 

Probably the same way I did.

 

Supreme luck.

 

Though I think it helped that I already knew what to do in regards to safeguarding/child protection. [i literally said the first thing that came into my head.]

 

Sometimes schools will take a risk with soneone less qualified/experienced as there's a better chance they won't leave for a higher paid job.

[Danp]

You will find everyday is a learning experience, enjoy it. That is the best training you could get. If you are able to do some online courses on the side that will help.

 

What network is it? RM or vanilla?

[tmcd35]

The school did say that they would give me training, and to a certain extent they have, unfortunately, it’s not enough and I still find myself struggling with routine requests from teachers and students.

 

You should really talk to your line manager about this. Don't worry, they won't feel ill of you. A good line manager will see it as an opportunity to revisit how they support and train. After all they hired you for a reason, they must have seen something they liked at interview, right?

[Sunnyknight]

Amazon Local: Save in your city

 

Use this to get deals on any sort of IT related course. Courses that cost £1000 - £3000 in college or direct from the company, cost £100-£250 max.

 

How'd you think i got all my qualifications

[Garacesh]

The school did say that they would give me training, and to a certain extent they have, unfortunately, it’s not enough and I still find myself struggling with routine requests from teachers and students.

From my own experience: Don't worry about it. You'll always struggle with simple requests. Staff will come to you with a problem and you'll spend twenty minutes remembering what you did last time. That won't end.

 

And then one day, a few months from now, you'll realise "Oh.. Wait a minute.. I just did that without even thinking! ... I've been doing it without thinking for about three weeks now!"

You won't notice yourself 'getting better', you'll just realise one day that you're tonnes better than you used to be.

 

I remember back to when I started on as an apprentice (I'm fully employed now, woo!), adding printer drivers and getting confused because I hadn't dealt with print servers before, changing toner and getting confused because we had 3 different types of HP's at the time.. Now I do them easily (on the rare occasion it crops up) but I couldn't tell you for the life of me at which point I made the transition from 'struggling' to 'competent' (or 'able to blag it convincingly', whichever you prefer) - Yesterday I was sat here discussing changes to the OS Image with the NM, I recently scripting an event log querier with PowerShell, about 6 months ago I created a network map with different vlans/a level 3 switch, DHCP pools, even did the switch config! I hadn't envisioned doing any of that within two years and I can confidently say I am fully competent at this job now.

 

My advice?

• Be honest. If you feel out of your depth, ask a colleague. If you don't have colleagues, discuss further training with your line manager where appropriate.
  
• EduGeek has a search bar in the top right that's saved me more times than I care to admit. And you can always ask questions openly and you'll get plenty of replies - just like now.
  
• Google!
  

[Griff]

You got any support behind you? like we have a company we use ex LEA engineers who know their stuff we have 5 days support a year from them which we use if we are majorly stuck or need help with quite big server side tasks. We rarely use them but they have been fantastic to get advice from sometimes just to point you in the right direction..other than that hit edugeek everyday if you have a problem for it you can almost 100% guarantee there is 10+ threads on edugeek about, any upper schools nearby that you pop your head into? get some knowledge build a relationship up maybe you can give them a ring when you get really stuck

[Miscbrah]

• EduGeek has a search bar in the top right that's saved me more times than I care to admit. And you can always ask questions openly and you'll get plenty of replies - just like now.
  
• Google!
  

 

Oh hellz yeah on these two; will bail you out of most anything.

[hardtailstar]

As others have said use Edugeek and Google!

 

Countless times ive been saved from these.

[Guest Guest]

Hi all,

 

 

Firstly, thank you for the number of responses! I'll work my way through your questions.

 

 

@ elesiegee40 - I'm based in a secondary school in Gloucestershire.

 

 

@ Miscbrah - Thanks for sharing Comptia A+, seems very good on first impressions, I have also secured a old PC and will "experiment to hell" with it!

I do have a network manager, he's a really nice guy, but continuously busy dealing external companies and internal problems (sound familiar?). Naturally, I have my reservations about bothering him with basic questions and petty problems.

 

 

@ mjs_mjs - From what I've picked up, were currently using Windows server 2008 (once affiliated with RM). Other technical words spring to mind: LightSpeed, Iris camera, Equitrac, Imperio and more.

Following your advice, I have started to document everything for future reference. I find the process of document is in itself, very helpful in committing information to memory.

 

 

@witch - I suppose I landed the job through luck and being honest about my severe lack of IT knowledge. Active Directory, I recently started using this for managing user profiles, would that be correct?

 

 

@ DrPerception - I've got myself an account, cheers.

 

 

@ Danp - Used to be RM, although I think management decided that we would have less involvement with them, so I'm not entirely sure at this moment.

 

 

@ tmcd35 - My line manger is the network manager, but due to his work load, I have to be slightly more self-sufficient getting answers (google)!

 

 

@ Garacesh - Thanks in general, I've already experienced plenty of those "oh.. wait a minute" moments.

 

 

@Griff - Not sure that we have any contacts with 3rd part companies, possibly Microsoft, I'm sure that the NM has been on the blower to them once or twice.

 

Any more advice - keeping it flowing like a river. It's been incredibly helpful.

Edited October 13, 2013 by Guest

[witch]

Yeah - AD creates and authenticates all users and computers on a network.

I'm not too happy that you are in a situation where you have no one to ask - if your NM is that busy, how are you supposed to learn? Learning on the job from someone who knows is generally the best way to go if possible; But we are here to help

[dany2010]

Sorry if it seems like I'm giving really simple advice here but from our latest technician mistakes a few really simple things would help him do more than printers etc.

 

1. Seem interested.

2. Make notes, people don't mind showing you a few times but there gets a point where it gets silly.

3. Read error messages, sounds Silly but our tech was stuck for 30 mins trying to setup server 2008 r2 at the password page. He didn't read the bit about needing a secure password that was displayed every time he typed in a too simple one.

4. Learn to google, it's every techs friend. Unfortunately I can't say how you can get this wrong but he manages it.

5. Check the simple things, things like checking both ends of a cable and if there's a red error button, press it.

 

Never done any server training or anything. Just learnt from setting up my own servers before getting my job. Defiantly recommend this, you don't get any papers but it gives you the confidence and knowledge to talk about the different roles in the server.

You should have some time in your job to improve your skills, ask to do this in that time. If you ask actually do it though and use guides on the net, our techy asked. I then spent a hour getting a server out and all the software etc and it's still sat there.

 

This is what I did to get onto the servers within a week. Try and find something that the network could benefit from, research into it so you know how to do it. Explain to them how to do it and probably the first few times they will sit you down and you'll have to tell the other tech how to do it. It seems a waste of your your time but in my case they just said go for it after a few times as they then knew I wouldn't do something very stupid.

 

If they trust you they will let you do more, I don't trust our techy becease of the points above so until his contract expires unless something changes he's not getting on the servers.

Edited October 13, 2013 by dany2010

[tmcd35]

@ tmcd35 - My line manger is the network manager, but due to his work load, I have to be slightly more self-sufficient getting answers (google)!

 

While I don't doubt that for one minute, if you are struggling then he should be the first to know. Even if it's only for a pep talk. At the end of the day, if he has a heavy work load then it's in his best interest to make sure you have all the tools you need to work as efficently and autonomously as possible.

 

One my techs here, reasonably new to the job, has just found a NVQ Level 2/3 course he can do during work time that I'm happy to support him in (about an hour of my time each month). Maybe it's something to look into?

[penfold]

While searching for how to resolve stuff yourself, remember not to spend too long doing it. Your Line Manager wants to see results, not that you are still working out how to reset something. Do a quick bit of research and if it looks like your not getting any closer to the solution speak to the NM, tell him what you have done and if he can point you in the right direction. Often you will find that there is some config you have missed which is specific to your setup, but that initial research you have done will help you understand the functionality of the system.

 

Doing a little bit of research before going to the NM helps you in a couple of ways. 1 - it helps you understand what they will tell you & 2 - it shows that you are willing to work and get things done.

 

Edit - the other thing to do is read posts on here whenever you get time (I tend to do it when I'm having a brew in the morning). The amount of information that can be taken in is huge even if you find you don't need something now, in a couple of months you may be tasked to set up a system which someone has already done on here and it can be a good starting point.

Edited October 14, 2013 by penfold

[JackCPickup]

Professor Messer, CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, Linux, Microsoft Certification Training

 

I found his free videos very helpful.

[laserblazer]

Youtube is your friend. There are tutorials on just about every subject, the problem is sorting out the good from the bad. And as others have already mentioned, there's a wealth of knowledge on this site.

[Novalee]

I was in the same situation as you a year back - had little IT knowledge, was capable of using a PC, but had never had to manage them.

Was incredibly lucky to get the job as I was up against some very IT experienced people (degrees and the works :-/ )

 

Have managed with the help of my team who are very helpful and will always show me how to do things, using edugeek and youtube/google.

 

Please feel free to message me anytime for support, as I know how it feels!

[Miscbrah]

@ Miscbrah - Thanks for sharing Comptia A+, seems very good on first impressions, I have also secured a old PC and will "experiment to hell" with it!

I do have a network manager, he's a really nice guy, but continuously busy dealing external companies and internal problems (sound familiar?). Naturally, I have my reservations about bothering him with basic questions and petty problems.

 

No worries at all. Yes, do this, and also do the VM thing with Oracle's Virtual Box - it's useful even if only to have your head around the concept of a virtual machine - very useful technology that's been on the increase for years now. Comptia A+ sounds about where you're 'at' and although I don't think it'd be useful for me anymore, I WOULD recommend the training and resources for it as they seem less 'dry' than the Microsoft training out there I've seen/learned, though of course this is just from personal experience, you might find one as gripping as Game of Thrones to learn from who knows...

 

Anyways, I'm also doing a Comptia Linux + cert at the moment, but don't worry about Linux for now if you've got a lot on your plate. DO put it on the 'to learn' list though as a Ubuntu CD sometime in the future will save your life. One day. Or maybe knock up a Linux VM for a play. Who knows, you might LOVE it!

 

Cultivate a good working relationship with your NM also - it sounds by even that reply that you have a willingness to learn things, read these suggestions here well enough AND have an awareness of his role and the things keeping him busy. If you get chance, might be an idea to ask him how he sees your professional relationship and if he can offer any advice for you at work going forward. That'll be reassuring for you both I think; he knows you're serious and you find out what's what.

 

I've had a tech before who would never research anything, disturb me in the middle of emergencies for really trivial things and blame mistakes on ANYTHING other than himself. He did not last long. I don't think you're anything like that guy, so all very the best.

 

AND DO keep lettin us know how you're getting on out there!

Edited October 14, 2013 by Miscbrah