Which Career?

[Bobcat]

Hi, after working for a College for 2 years, it has now been decided by the powers that be, that my Job is to made redundant..

Now these are the qualifications I presently have, I would like to resit the N+ course ( after failing it by a mere 5 points!!) but I don't know who's running the course in Northants.

Anyhow these are my qualifications, which career path should I go down? or do I need to study more?? Please Help!

A+

MCDST

MCP

CLAIT

ECDL

NVQ customer service

plus odd learndirect courses in the past, including:

Network Essentials

Hardware Essentials

IT troubleshooting

Network troubleshooting

Customer service

Hardware Fundamentals

Software Fundamentals

Network Fundamentals

 

Cheers! Bob

[jcollings]

Plumbing - it pays way more than IT

[IanT]

You got a good set of qualifications there.

 

My self I dont have many but I have bundles of experience and thats paid off with me being a Network Manager

[stu]

What fields of IT did you enjoy whilst working at the college, if you couldn't stand an aspect but ground away till qualified it may look good but you'll probably dislike your job and inevitably work to a poorer standard.

[tmcd35]

Plumbing - it pays way more than IT

 

I tried plumbing once - nearly electrocuted myself! I deserve a life time ban from B&Q - not one for the whole DIY thing...

[tech_guy]

With qualifications like that you'll have no problem getting a placement elsewhere.

[plexer]

How do you electrocute yourself plumbing?

 

Ben

[somabc]

Plumbing - it pays way more than IT

 

Nah Dentistry, thats where the money is!

[kylewilliamson]

I assumed the conversation with the IT dentist goes something like this:

 

Teacher: "Oh this student has toothache can you fix it with this dentist drill?"

Tech: "Im not a dentist"

Teacher: "But.. the drills got a plug on it!!!"

 

[tech_guy]

How do you electrocute yourself plumbing?

 

Ben

 

Like this?http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e129/aspykman/bad%20judgement/electrician_in_water.jpg

[Kitkatninja]

I don't know who does the Network+ course in Northants, however I do know that Tresham does the CCNA.

 

Have you not thought about self-studying the Network+? It is possible.

 

I self-studied the Network plus with this book, plus experience. There's an update version around but I can't comment on it as I haven't used it.

 

As for the career path you should go down, you don't state what in IT you currently do, but judging by the courses/exams you've taken, why don't you stick with suport?

 

Which college did/do you work for? In the past I use to work for Tresham

 

-Ken

[tmcd35]

I've just read back over this thread. Poor guy's first post, I hope he wasn't expecting any serious answers? I think we may have scared him off - Perhaps he decided to join a plumbing forum and ask them what his career prospects are like

[Bobcat]

I don't know who does the Network+ course in Northants, however I do know that Tresham does the CCNA.

 

Have you not thought about self-studying the Network+? It is possible.

 

I self-studied the Network plus with this book, plus experience. There's an update version around but I can't comment on it as I haven't used it.

 

As for the career path you should go down, you don't state what in IT you currently do, but judging by the courses/exams you've taken, why don't you stick with suport?

 

Which college did/do you work for? In the past I use to work for Tresham

 

-Ken

 

I've got a few course books, including the "All in one" Network + guide,third edition,but that was some time ago, and I suppose the boks been updated since. At the moment Tresham's not doing the N+ and that's what course i would like to continue. As for what career path i would go down, it would have to be in a support role, or something like that!

[Kitkatninja]

I've got a few course books, including the "All in one" Network + guide,third edition,but that was some time ago, and I suppose the boks been updated since. At the moment Tresham's not doing the N+ and that's what course i would like to continue. As for what career path i would go down, it would have to be in a support role, or something like that!

 

I know that at one point Dean, Andrew & I talked about offering the Network+ & Security+ but there wasn't enough interest in order to run those courses (before I worked there as a part-time lecturer, I use to work there in IT Services).

 

The "All in one" Network + guide, third edition was published in 2004 so before the major 2005 revision then added to that there was a minor 2007 revision (only small updates to the exam). The next major revision will be in 2009, and even though there will be a cross-over period (well normally there is), if you study for the 2005 objectives you'll have to make sure that you take the exam by a fixed date.

 

But apart from that, have you thought about the MCSA? You've got the MCDST, so that's the elective sorted. And even though I'd recommend doing the network+ before the 70-291, there are 2 other exams (the client & server exams) that you could do before that.

 

-Ken

[Bobcat]

I know that at one point Dean, Andrew & I talked about offering the Network+ & Security+ but there wasn't enough interest in order to run those courses (before I worked there as a part-time lecturer, I use to work there in IT Services).

 

The "All in one" Network + guide, third edition was published in 2004 so before the major 2005 revision then added to that there was a minor 2007 revision (only small updates to the exam). The next major revision will be in 2009, and even though there will be a cross-over period (well normally there is), if you study for the 2005 objectives you'll have to make sure that you take the exam by a fixed date.

 

But apart from that, have you thought about the MCSA? You've got the MCDST, so that's the elective sorted. And even though I'd recommend doing the network+ before the 70-291, there are 2 other exams (the client & server exams) that you could do before that.

 

-Ken

 

Hi Ken, Did you send that form off? Idb e interested tohave a look!!

Bob

[mac_shinobi]

I tried plumbing once - nearly electrocuted myself! I deserve a life time ban from B&Q - not one for the whole DIY thing...

 

Not sure who said it originally but I re call someone stating that you are not a qualified electrician until you get electrocuted a few times - so maybe plumbing wasn't your niche lol

[torledo]

Hi, after working for a College for 2 years, it has now been decided by the powers that be, that my Job is to made redundant..

Now these are the qualifications I presently have, I would like to resit the N+ course ( after failing it by a mere 5 points!!) but I don't know who's running the course in Northants.

Anyhow these are my qualifications, which career path should I go down? or do I need to study more?? Please Help!

A+

MCDST

MCP

CLAIT

ECDL

NVQ customer service

plus odd learndirect courses in the past, including:

Network Essentials

Hardware Essentials

IT troubleshooting

Network troubleshooting

Customer service

Hardware Fundamentals

Software Fundamentals

Network Fundamentals

 

Cheers! Bob

 

As someone else has said, what do you get the most reward from doing ?

 

I think at this stage experience is of more value to you than more studying.

The ideal is to get an employer willing to invest in your training in their time.

 

You've had two years of experience in IT service delivery, you should have been exposed to various aspects of the field.....so if you've kept your eyes and ears open, what do you see as growth/demand areas and which of these areas can you devote enough time and energy into pursuing to forge a successful career ?

 

Your next move should be one where you'll get some exposure to enterprise IT practice. But i see some clear trends. And these are areas where you can dip your toe into as they feature in the IT plans of 99% of organisations;

 

Integrating IT into the building fabric. The idea of Smart building systems.

 

Virtualization. Doing more with less in a smaller footprint.

 

VDI computing. Seems impossible to mention this without a nod to blades and

server virtualization products.

 

Increasing role of Macs in the enterprise. IT's not all bad as you can legitimately call yourself a unix guru.

 

SANs and Disaster Recovery/Backup operations.....these are major investment areas in large biz and have found their way into the lower end with iSCSI and NAS. Build yourself a cheap NAS filer and understand the protocols.

 

Ongoing moves towards VoIP and converged communications (think OCS.)

Integration of legacy PBXes with newer VoiP infrastructure. Legacy PBXes seem to be an all pervasive throwback that medium and large business are loathe to ditch.

 

All-Pervasive impact of MOSS 2007. Being a moss only guy would bore me to distraction (as would any role where your dealing exclusively in M$ currency)

but you can keep it interesting with work that integrates it with other parts of the MS Back office.

 

Data Center design and Computer room design.

 

There's loads more such as more traditional roles such as DBA's and AD admins, and ofcourse you can have exposure of the lot throughout your career as a general IT bod but i've picked out ones that i think provide good career prospects and could keep you interested. It is incredibly hard to maintain the various areas of interest when your doing general IT support. Especially as vendors seem determined to offer an ever broader portfolio of products and want to stick aggressively to shorter times between major releases.

[Kitkatninja]

Hi Ken, Did you send that form off? Idb e interested tohave a look!!

Bob

 

Bit slow this morning (must be the frost), what form?

 

-Ken

[Bobcat]

Bit slow this morning (must be the frost), what form?

 

-Ken

 

I seem to remember some appreniship you wrote tome about 5 days ago, i'm still interested in it - I think you sent it to my gmail ady!

catch you later!

Bob

[Kitkatninja]

I seem to remember some appreniship you wrote tome about 5 days ago, i'm still interested in it - I think you sent it to my gmail ady!

catch you later!

Bob

 

Hey mate,

 

Did I ask for your address? If I did then I've given it to Personnel, they'll be sending out the application pack. If I didn't you mind sending it over please?

 

Sorry mate

 

-Ken

[Bobcat]

Hey mate,

 

Did I ask for your address? If I did then I've given it to Personnel, they'll be sending out the application pack. If I didn't you mind sending it over please?

 

Sorry mate

 

-Ken

Hi ken, did you get my address? I sent it through your wagnerfamily.co.uk address - hope this is ok!

[Kitkatninja]

Hi ken, did you get my address? I sent it through your wagnerfamily.co.uk address - hope this is ok!

 

PM sent

 

-ken

[Bobcat]

With qualifications like that you'll have no problem getting a placement elsewhere.

 

I just went for an interview at a local school, here in Rushden. After a while they rang back and said " sorry, but you were insuccessful in the post, we felt that you were over qualified, any we think this job would bore you to tears in a few months" In other words, the job had already been filled by someone inside... Sigh, one minute, i'm under -qualified, the next, over - qualified!!!

Bob

[Kitkatninja]

What post did you go for?

 

-ken

[Bobcat]

What post did you go for?

 

-ken

 

I went for an IT tech job in the school, working as a tech who just fixed normal day to day problems - for example, as a test they said to me "here is a laptop bought back by one of our students, he was complaning that the laptop no longer works - can you find out what the problem might be? I noitced that when I booted up the machine,an error message came up - no operating system found. I turned the laptop over, and discovered that the HDD was removed - piece of p**s.... I should have realised then... that I was too expericenced!!! LOL!!!

Bob