MTA's ?? Whats it really worth in the real world?

skynet1126

Hello all,

Im 45 years old and have been a police officer for 23 years, and I hate it big time...totally burned out for years and ready to leave. Anyways, Ive been a techie for most of my life and manage the PD's network and software. I started stockpiling certifications 3.5 years ago in hopes of a career change. So far I have Comptia It Strata, A+, Net+, Sec+, Cloud+, and today took all the Microsoft MTA's for Networking, Security, and Server Admin Fundamentals. I scored 92, 94, and 98 on the three exams today. My question is....What do these really mean in the real world??...would I be able to get a decent job with a good starting salary with these creds?

Im also currently studying for Comptias Mobility+ and may consider going after the 70-410 series for MCSA, but Im afraid I dont have the experience to pass

Thanks for any info or advice...

techfiend

Windows desktop mcsa would be a good marketable cert to get in help desk or desktop support. CCNA if you are aiming for networking and NOC tech positions. MTA aren't marketable and you probably found out they're more of an intro then a sign of competency. CompTIA certs are nice to fill in knowledge gaps but beyond the highly marketable A+ and the government's Sec+ and CASP requirements they aren't marketable. 70-410 is very difficult without experience and likely won't help until you have some server experience.

I wouldn't expect great pay to start, if possible pay should be a low priority. Getting marketable experience should be top priority if you want to get big money in a few years. I'd suggest finding a smaller company that has a small IT group over an enterprise help desk position that pays double. A year of the former will likely lead to challenging admin jobs paying higher than the latter. Enterprise help desk will likely lead to non-challenging tier 2 with a small bump in pay.

thaiguy314

Wow, that's quite a bit for doing it off on your own time. Yeah, like techfiend said, a majority of your certs are entry-level but a good place to start. Now you just need the experience to validate them. That and narrow your focus into whether you want to do networking, InfoSec, etc. There's too many certs that cost too much to just get whatever. I like tech fiend's advice on finding a smaller company as opposed to finding a bigger company where you get lost in the shuffle. I don't know if money's an issue but if you were here in Texas I'd expect an entry level help desk position starting around 35k give or take a few thousand.

On the other side of the coin, I wanted to pick your brain on being a cop. My little brother wants to go that route but his personality, demeanor, and overall lack of thought put into it worry me. He gets stressed easy and keeps thinking being a cop is going to be kicking in doors and busting drug rings and crap. He's about to start college and I want to make sure he has a plan before he starts taking on debt just to change his mind later.

scaredoftests

I needed MTA as a requirement for a job.

stryder144

Your post brought a few questions to mind, which might be helpful:

1. When you say manage the PDs network and software, what do you mean exactly? What technologies are you managing? What software/operating systems are you touching?
2. How many years have you been managing the network and software?
3. What was the outcome of your managing that network?
4. What are your IT interests?

Your criminal justice experience could be gold, if you were to look into digital forensics, for instance. That would mean possibly not having to start out at the bottom. Leverage your experience, training, and passions.

Cheers

skynet1126

If he thinks he will be kicking in doors and locking up drug dealers he has already watched wayyyyyyy to many movies and tv shows. Most of the calls we get crushed with are ridiculous upon belief and waste 99% of out time. Most of these include Craigslist scams, FB harassment, middle school kids getting picked on, accidents, medical calls, fire alarm calls, false alarms, at least 20 911 hang ups a day from toddlers playing with the phone, loose dogs, etc...etc...etc....if you have access to read your local police log online you wont believe the things we are forced to entertain and write reports on these days...its ONE GIANT JERRY SPRINGER SHOW....plain and simple....

PJ_Sneakers

To get to the position of being a major league door kicker in the first place, he's going to have to do his time in patrol. Fun fun. 95% boring crap with 5% cool stuff. Unless he goes to a real crappy city, at which time it will go to more like 80% boring crap, 10% cool stuff, and 10% job dissatisfaction.

PJ_Sneakers

Skynet: the Server Admin MTA is the closest to what an MCP-level exam is like, except they are a little bit more stressful and confusing. Any chance of getting into forensics or even a compliance role?