Looking to progress my carrier

Wrighty11xbl

Hey Guys,

First time poster.

Just looking to get some advise to progress my carrier.

A bit about me:

I currently have a degree in IT management and nearly 5 years experience in 1st line support working in Tech support, complaints and webchat/tickets.

Im trying to progress my carrier as I feel I need to start moving on, Im in the process of getting my ITIL Foundation cert and following on from this I will be looking to get a MCSA in either Server 2012R2 or Windows 10.

I was thinking of going for the Windows 10 first to get certified quicker as you only need two exams to pass. What do you guys think ? Also it might be an easier way into getting MCSA's

I work at an ISP and have been shadowing their IT department to get experience with them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as Ive had a little bit of guidance but still finding it hard to get a foot hold anywhere.

Thanks in advance.

Danielm7

There are a lot of different directions to take your career when you want to specialize. Is the systems admin / server admin path the one you want to follow? If so I'd go for the server versions, the Win10 one might be faster but it might not help you progress to anything further than more helpdesk roles and 5 years is more than enough of that already.

kiki162

LOL, I've been where you are...so I have plenty of advice to share.

First, you should focus on MCSA 2012 track and make a point to go directly to 2016. MS is in the process of rolling out exams for 2016, and a lot of the initial material (books) will be available in early 2017. Going for Windows 10 exams (70-697 and 69 is also a good move, and should be first on your list.

I'd get yourself started at home, download VirtualBox and some Windows 10 and Server 2012 R2 ISO's. Install both OS's and get yourself familiar with them. Order some books from Amazon, like these below, and work through them.

http://amzn.to/2dX3ouK
http://amzn.to/2dLBe7Q
http://amzn.to/2efsvu1


With regard to studying and passing these exams, one you pass the first one, you'll develop a good method and know what to prepare for the next one. If you have trouble with that, then you may have to look at doing a bootcamp to get yourself started in the right direction. One of the pluses with a bootcamp is that you have little distractions, and puts you in an environment where you can study and pass some of the exams while you are there. Most of those places give you vouchers to take your exams at a later date, so it's also something to consider if you need more time on a particular exam. Now yes, they are expensive, and many people can't afford them, or can't take the time off from work. You can look at online courses and local colleges that run these types of courses.

Remember this more than anything, in order for you to get ahead, you are gonna have to put yourself outside of your comfort zone, spend money and/or time to get there. The sacrifice and effort will pay off in time.

Wrighty11xbl

Thanks for getting back to me guys, really appreciate it.

The role im trying to get into is desktop support in like a office environment or something close. I work at a sizable ISP with over 1000 members of staff and I have been shadowing their IT department, its given me a taste of the job and lit a fire under my a**.

Im currently doing the ITIL foundation under recommendation of the IT manager here who has been a big help and is helping me look into jobs.

I was thinking of getting the windows 10 cert to have a certification quicker which would make my CV more desirable and also fewer exams to take. im on a fixed budget atm but been doing ungodly amounts of overtime to help pay for exams. Once I complete the windows 10 track I was looking to get the Server 2012R2 done.

Ive been learning server in the meantime using virutal box running 2 servers, one with ADDS/DNS and DHCP and the other running File share and WDS. Ive been adding client computers running windows 7, 8 and 10 to the network and testing our group policys on them.

what you guys think? any pointers on where to take things next or do you think the going for a quick cert is a bad idea?

THanks