Unemployed, experienced, but need certs. How hard will my job search be?

metalone4

Back in 2002 I got my A+ and MCP certs. From 2003 - 2013 I was a Technical Analyst for a large corporation. I supported a Windows domain. I transitioned from IT in mid 2013 to another technical job of Automation Technician (engineering, robotics, etc.) within the same company. Last year, after many doctor's visits I had to take FMLA and ultimately quit my Automation Technician job due to medical reasons (arthritis of the spine). It was a very physical job, no good for my back, but I was fortunate enough to get short term disability, which I'm on now.

I am currently training to take my CCNA exam since I've always wanted to be Cisco certified. I also want more Microsoft certs. My question for you good people is, how hard should I expect my job search to be? I'm a little frightened I won't find a good job in time before I run out of money. I have some valuable experience, but my certs are lacking...so I'm just wondering how that compares to people with no experience. How long should I plan on it taking to find a decent IT job ($25-$30/hr)?

si20

If I was you, i'd write down your budget for certs e.g £500 and figure out a way of getting that cert as cheap as you can. It sounds like you have a lot of experience, so you should just make sure your CV really shows that. And you should tailor your CV to the job. By the sounds of things, you should be looking at a 3rd line support/manager role. It sounds like you're a techie and you want to go down the networking route. CCNA is definitely a good choice.

UncleB

In your situation your experience with the Windows stuff should mean getting MCP certs in them is a piece of cake. This will back up your claims to the knowledge / experience and help with technical interviews. It is a bonus that the exams are cheap too.

This is your best chance to get back into a job quickly while you carry on with the career development to networking.

If you have 10 years of server admin then you should be in a good position for a decent salary, and the fact it is not so long ago will help a lot. The MCP exams should refresh a lot of the info so with a week or two you can get certified and be interview ready.

I would also recommend getting ITIL Foundation that will be a piece of cake for someone with your experience. It is all about industry best practice and is often a pre-requisite of even getting an interview these days. It should cost about the same as an MCP but is really straightforward.

Good luck.
Iain

si20

Have to say - i'm not sure if ITIL is easy. For a non-techie, yes. For a techie, I found it hard. I couldn't grasp the logic behind it. It wasn't that I found it a hard course/cert, I just disagreed with much of it. I failed the exam by 1 mark, I had the option for a free retake, but never retook it. I wanted to run as far as possible. But that's just me! If you do get it, it should definitely open a few doors because employers (especially non-techies) seem to love it.

metalone4

Thanks guys!

I enrolled in a ITIL Foundation course on Udemy. I've heard that's good to go for these days, and I remember how important "best practice" and documentation was when I was in the field. Thanks for reminding me. Some of it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to techies, but it looks good on paper to Management.

crplhood

I don't have any certs yet, so I started asking the nearby telecomms if I could sit in their NOC and be a quiet little intern. That plus a few years of ISP tech support (and a crap ton of book time) and now I'm a Network Admin. I didnt have the money for the certs, so I made up for it in initiative. I found a job right smack in the range you mentioned in two months. Good Luck! I'm sure you can make it all work out.