Has any one got a job?

Hello,
I'm new to techexams, and all I can read is people saying how difficult it is to secure a decent job after passing few exams. It is kind of putting me down to be honest...

Myself, I am CCNA certified and hopefully will be CompTIA A+ next Saturday, my next step is Linux+ even that I know other certifications would be better match for job descriptions that I'm reading almost every day, but that is a story for a different thread.

My question is: is there anyone with no real experience, holding 2-3 certifications who actually got a Job?
How did you do it?

Thanks!

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networker050184

If you're hoping to just pass a few exams and be gaurunteed a job you should be scared! There are so many variables that go into finding work. Certification is just one piece of that.

There are plenty people with no experience that have gotten jobs. None of us were born with experience after all. Just make sure you are doing more than just taking exams to stand out from the crowd.

stryder144

Getting A+, Network+, and Security+ certified helped me to get interviews. After that, it was my technical know-how, soft-skills, and my ability to communicate effectively (both the technical and the soft-skill items) that landed me the jobs. Certs get you noticed, you are what gets the job.

Arod95

Well I had little basically no experience, and just got a job which I started this month. My first IT job was as a intern tech support for a proprietary software company. Work only there for 2 months, and did almost nothing that would help me with any job other than softskills when it comes to talking to people. Had what I have now minus security+, and currently I love my job. Title is network support tech, but theres only two of us so its basically a jack of all trades admin job. Just gotta keep searching I'm glad I never stopped I feel very lucky to find this job especially at the age of 19. I would never forgive myself if I do something stupid to lose it.

BerkshireHerd

I got a job with no certs or experience, depends on your selling skills, you got to sell yourself to someone for them to take a chance on you.

GForce75

Been military the entire time. It does pay off if you go military IT, work for the DoD, and etc. They pay for tons of bootcamps and more certs.

Node Man

First IT jobs are often graveyard shift and over the weekend. If you are looking for jobs that are from 8pm to 8am, you may find more opportunities.

UnixGuy

The IT job in Ireland is supposed to be good, having CCNA should at least help you get an entry level helpdesk job.

Maybe it be your CV and/or interview skills?

Jon_Cisco

It not specific to myself but I am in several classes with people that first landed IT job and are now starting school since their companies pay for it.
I have seen enough opportunities in my area to know the jobs are available. Usually the problem is getting your foot in the first door.

Good Luck!

Kinet1c

kornus wrote: »

Hello,
I'm new to techexams, and all I can read is people saying how difficult it is to secure a decent job after passing few exams. It is kind of putting me down to be honest...

Myself, I am CCNA certified and hopefully will be CompTIA A+ next Saturday, my next step is Linux+ even that I know other certifications would be better match for job descriptions that I'm reading almost every day, but that is a story for a different thread.

My question is: is there anyone with no real experience, holding 2-3 certifications who actually got a Job?
How did you do it?

Thanks!

Getting the entry level job will the hardest part of your IT career. You should try some of the contracting companies in Ireland like CPL/Ergo/PFH/Hibernia as they'll often have day work available and provided you're good they will offer you work more frequently.

TechGuru80

Sometimes it's a numbers game on applications for the first one. Soft skills are huge too...coming from the business with sales I see many people struggle to effectively communicate.

devils_haircut

stryder144 wrote: »

Getting A+, Network+, and Security+ certified helped me to get interviews.

This is basically what I did as well. I managed to get on at a school district, which I would highly recommend. The pay is low, but I get exposure to tons of different technologies that any other entry-level person would never see.

I basically skipped over the helldesk into this role. I still manage the ticket queue, but 90% of our computers and infrastructure is less than 2 years old across the board, so issues are rare. I setup a Nagios server to monitor everything, automated as many tasks as I could, and now I spend most of my days studying for CCNA: Security and experimenting with open source software (I'm a bit of a Linux nerd).

If you are still looking for a job, never stop labbing and learning on your own, even if it doesn't lead to a certification. Take the job that gives you the broadest range of experience over the job that pays the most, if you can afford it.

kornus

Thank You all for advice, really appreciate! I've got my motivation back!

I'm aware that selling myself will be most challenging for me, so point taken.
I need to admit that I haven't sent out my resume yet, as I thought CCNA is not good enough.
Reason I started this thread is that since I signed up for techexams I've read so many post on how hard it is that it made me thinking all those certs are useless if you have no IT experience or education.

Again thank you for your thoughts, and let me ask one more thing.
As you know I'm CCNA, in a week hopefully also A+, my interest is networking, and I always wanted to learn Linux. But..
To learn basic Linux skills and pass Linux+ will take me at least 4 months, right.
What do you think job-wise, is it a good idea to go for Linux or should I do something easier first? Security+ or Server+ / cloud technology any good for me?
What would you, more experienced, working IT professional do on my position?
Thanks for help.

UnixGuy

Update your resume and start applying to jobs. Get a job ASAP and take it from there.

iBrokeIT

kornus wrote: »

My question is: is there anyone with no real experience, holding 2-3 certifications who actually got a Job?
How did you do it?

Thanks!

I'm going to guess that everyone got their first IT job without having previous work experience

I applied and got the job at a computer repair store because I had A+

Deathmage

Coming from experience I would say that most people starting out in IT think that getting a few certifications is all you need to get a job. While it's a helpful factor in the equation one thing that most newbie IT people lack is interview and communication skills.

Not to sound bleek, but you going to get pass by on interview(s) until you get a few of them and develop interviewing skills and figure out how to sell yourself correctly.

Certfications are needed but so is expereince followed closely by communication and people skills. As my quote says below, for all the technical mumbo-jumbo that we need to know that only accounts for 2% of our job, communication literally is 98%.

I recommend this book, its short but it helps with interviews, communication really needs to be a soft-skill: http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Communication-Work-Manage-Influence/dp/007162502X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426209561&sr=8-1&keywords=mastering+communication+at+work

it's about 215 pages but worth it's price in gold.

Kai123

CPL are good for starting out. Chase Recruitment will have a good few short-term contract work, which if you do well they will have you do more complicated contracts.

By short-term I'm talking about a few days, and could be DC Rack work (manual labor but insanely interesting if you get into one of the big DC's around Dublin) to OS rollouts in banks.

kurosaki00

Hey man, what is your experience? I mean, not job but tech experience? Did you do a related degree? Do you have experience with computers n printers n stuff?
If so, I'd say skip the A+, if not, yes go for it.
A+ and CCNA are more than enough for an entry job, just fix a good resume and land some interviews. Get a recruiter agency, get your resume out there.
Tips, if you see you're not getting calls, it's probably the resume.
One thing is to land a job, one thing is to land an interview. A good resume will land you an interview.

jibbajabba

UnixGuy wrote: »

The IT job in Ireland is supposed to be good

That was my way of getting into IT. I am actually an Electronics Engineer and worked for the public transport company. They outsourced my work so I ended up driving lorry and coach / bus.

I passed by some recruiting fair once and they hired technical support people for Ireland. 9-5 job at Xerox telling people how to clean printer ink tanks. On the side I did my NT4 MCSE and was able to move on to HP server support, Symantec Firewall Support and from there I moved country again and worked for 888.com in Gibraltar .. next thing you know I end up in the UK and now am Senior Consultant for a pretty good known VMware consultancy here in the UK.

You can do it without experience, but you won't get it served on a platter .. you have to work for it and like other people say, sometimes do some crappy work to get your name out there .. and the names you worked for on your CV / Resume.

I don't know if times have changed, but back in the day people did certs whilst on the job, not to get the jobs to begin with. After all, a cert only proves you are good in ticking the right boxes

UnixGuy

@jibbajabba: Ireland is still an excellent place to be for IT. All the big names vendors have office there and are constantly recruiting. Good work working for a VMware consultancy