New to I.T., where to begin??

CincoSeisDos

Hi. I'm new here,

I'll start off with a bit about my background and why i'm here. I have a background doing manual labor, I was a cable installer for a few years before deciding to try my hand at getting a welding certification. I successfully attained that... but the work was nowhere to be found by the time I did, and you'd think living in SoCal , a few miles from the Port of LA that'd be easy to find.

I returned to aerial work for att splicing the lines for u-verse a year ago, and was laid off with many others back in March. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in May. During my physical therapy during my time in the hospital I got to conversing with the therapist, he asked if i'm working, and my work history, I replied, to which he said "Looks like we've got to leave that in the past!" I knew this was my new reality, but not one I didn't see coming.

Anywho, here I am a month from 27 with needing to start a new careerpath. I'm excited, frustrated, and scared after opening up my Wendell Odom 100-101 book and having read through the first two chapters with nothing making sense. Am I in above my head?

I ordered the Mike Myers CompTIA A+ book which should be coming in today after receiving recommendations for it , telling me it's a great place to begin for someone who truly is new to IT and build up confidence for the bigger certs. Is this book helpful?

How realistic is my desire? I truly want this. I'm just lost as to how to approach this new venture!

Any and all help, pointers, advice are appreciated! Thank you!

shauncarter1

I agree with you on starting with the A+, it should give you some good foundation of knowledge. I like the Professor Messer website too. Great free tools for all the Comptia certifications. The A+ is a good blend of everything for folks that are just starting out. If you can invest in a cheap barebones system from TigerDirect as well. If you have a strong enough desire you will get into the field, but it will take a lot of work. I know way too many people who give up because it is a bit harder than they anticipated.

--chris--

The A+ is a good start as it nots solely hardware, it will introduce other (important, foundation level) topics that will ease learning more advanced topics.

The straight to CCENT/CCNA path can be more difficult than say the Net+ if you don't have a basic understanding network functions and operations. I would watch all of the Prof. Messer videso on A+ and Net+, read the A+ book then sit for your exam. You will have a better idea of where to go after you complete some exams.

jibbajabba

Congrats though. Despite the diagnosis you clearly have a "can do" attitude rather than "Head in sand". - kudos !!

BillHoo

Don't be discouraged by low salaries or hourly wage as you start out. Build your experience at a job and leave after a year or two to a better one.

Best way to get experience is through volume. Sign up with a IT temp agency doing corporate hardware rollouts. Learn to configure and rollout dozens of machines per day. Sit at the help desk and learn to troubleshoot and ask the right questions (btw. I used to tell entry level helpdesk to start with politely asking the user to shut down completely and then start up again - this solved 80 percent of the IT problems)

Jon_Cisco

CCENT is entry level but not necessarily a good starting place. Read the A+ and Net+ books. It's up to you if you take the tests. The certifications might help land your first job but it is generally believed they do not hold much value after you have a little experience. I think I would take the A+ exam if I were in your position. You want to show someone that you have a work history and have decided to invest in switching careers.

One thing I have noticed about IT is that it supposedly has a high barrier of entry and yet appears to be full of incompetent people. I'm a glass half full type of guy so I take this to mean there is plenty of opportunity out there. If you truly want to put the time and effort into keeping up with technology you can be successful.

Good Luck!

tkerber

Hello and welcome from a fellow newbie to these forums as well. You're still a young guy at 27 and you seem to have a well rounded and realistic attitude towards your goals. I agree with most of the posters and that is that A+ is the best place to start if you have NO prior experience or training. CCENT - CCNA in my opinion, is a better route for people who already have some low level experience under their belt and have enough experience to pass by the A+. Like others said; you should also not be discouraged by low starting wages. IT is a very dynamic field and if you are passionate about it and continue to learn you can move up and move up fast.

My other recommendations to you would be start doing some consulting. Work on family and friends computers and get your hands dirty while keeping your eyes peeled for entry level jobs. You're cabling installer experience may help you snag a lower level bench tech / hardware job while you continue to learn more and prepare yourself to move up.