Lukara

Thank you everyone for your interest and suggestions. I really appreciate it. The money set aside is for MS Cert, I don't have a say over that, so I can't choose Cisco over MS. With regards to managing, I am open to both Network Manager (preferred) or an ICT Manager with a more people oriented role. Eitherway I am sure Management courses would come in handy. ahunter many of the vacancies I see around for Net Managers require the candidates to have MS Certs or equivalents maybe in terms of overall capability of the candidate the qualifications don't mean much but from what I've seen, people are still attached to paper proof of what one has studied. Don't you think? Also, I would prefer staying in a school environment, but I won't limit myself to it.

irsprint does applying for lots of jobs -while one doesn't necessarily want to leave his current one- not give the wrong idea to the current employer? I would love to go to lots of interviews to learn, but at the same time I don't really want to lose my job because the school misunderstood my motives. Not my manager, and yes he is a bully from what all of his past Senior Techs had to say when running for the hills . My manager thankfully always has his team's back and as I said in my first message he went as far as allocating money for training, so I'm thankful.

ahunter I can't get into too much detail out in the open, but the Net Manager I know got the job pretty much when I got mine and has no qualifications, hasn't got an IT background and is a 'yes' man. His Senior Tech runs the school... so I agree, in some cases it truly is down to luck. With regards to Qualifications, I don't necessarily want to limit myself to schools, although the 30 days off a year are fantastic and not having to deal with clients is a bonus. So really I am looking to get the best MS Cert I can. With that in mind, which would be most useful for a person with my experience? Thank you for your input and good luck on the job front nephilim that's a great idea. thank you! I will ask next week at the meeting.

Hi, I've been working at my current job for 6 years now and along the way I have gone from ICT Technician to Senior Tech and my role has changed and grown lots. I like this school and enjoy the job but I want to take the next step and become an ICT Manager. I am liked and respected here and the quality of my work is always of a very high standard. My manager has successfully allocated some money for my Microsoft Certification (seeing as in today's world a degree in Computer Science means nothing) but I am not sure this will be enough. My questions are: 1- which are the best qualifications to get with a view to a managerial role? They havent been very specific about what training I can have but they gave me the link to the Microsoft Certification overview, which of course has Architec, Master and IT Professional in it. 2- What else must I do to push my career forward, be it in this school or the next? Next week I will have the final talks with regards to my new contract and will officially go from Tech to Senior Tech, though unofficially I've been the Senior Tech for the last 2 years. Is there anything specific I should ask for or check for during the meeting? I had prepared a short list of questions such as: is there scope for further development and things of that nature. I believe that having been a tech for all of my after-uni working life and in one place, has kept me in the dark. Any pointers and/or advice are greatly appreciated.