Hello everyone,
I am new on here so go easy
.
If this is in the wrong place i am sorry.
I am wanting to transition into an IT career and more specifically something to do with networks and security. So i have been researching for months now and i think that i have a plan but i would like to run it by some people who know what they are doing i.e you guys/gals so any help, advice, comments, criticisms would be much appreciated. My budget is not vast either so please keep in mind.
Some background.
I left school at 16 with ok grades (A-D's) in maths, English, 3 sciences, and ICT(CIDA).
Joined the army as a mechanic and gained Lv.2 key skills in core subjects (eqiuv to C at GCSE) and Lv.2 ITQ (eqiuv to ECDL). Aswel as some Lv.2 engineering quals and a ILM Lv.2 in Leadership and management aswel as driving licences.
While in the army my Job commitments with regards to IT were on a user level although i was carrying out some work with electrics albeit auto electrics.
After being in the army for 6-7 years and achieving my personal goals (and being pissed at my boss haha) i left (kind of naively).
So i started looking for engineering jobs and failed as my experience was good enough but my qualifications weren't.
So all i had was my PCV, HGV licences to fall back on which was great as they have landed me several jobs since.
But there was a catch. I was miserable. I quickly found that although driving was reasonably paid and somewhat available i did not have any passion for the job whatsoever and this was picked upon and i was made redundant.
So i had a couple of weeks off and a good think and determined that chasing the quick money but being miserable was not good for me and decided that i was going to follow a passion. (Have you guessed what that passion is yet? haha)
So that's right at the ripe old age of 25 i am changing my career path to an IT one which i am hoping will end with (in the far far future) some form of network or information security or the opposing team (like pen testing etc..)
But there was problem I only have effectively user level qualifications so i am basically unqualified for any support or help desk positions etc.
The Plan.
So after many hours of research i came up with this plan.
Year 1
1- Start Open University Computing and IT degree - Check (starts October) (6 years part time)
http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/qualifications/q62
2- Find some sort of work within the IT/ Technology sector - Still looking (Would be quite happy with entry level support or even in tech sales. Just something that IT/ Tech related so i can have some IT/Tech experience on my CV and so i can pay bills and fund certs)
3- Get CompTIA IT Fundamentals and A+ certs - Not yet (Do i need formal Training? What's the best books? looking at sybex series)
4- Get ITIL Foundation cert - Not yet (Do i need this? Do i need formal training? What's the best resources for this? read that its good for helpdesk jobs? Is it being Disbanded or replaced as it says on Pearson vue that they are stopping it at the end of the year?) http://www.pearsonvue.com/bcs/
5- If time permits look into MTA Server, Network, Security Essentials - (Do i need formal training or Is the Microsoft virtual academy videos enough? Any other good resources or book? Do i need all three or is just one enough? Do i need hands on experience for these as in the blurb for the exam on there site it says that it is 'recommended'?)
Year 2
1- Continue OU degree - (in the second semester CCNA is an optional module, is it better to do it with the degree or separate?)
2- Hopefully have some work in the IT/Tech sector
3- Get MTA Certs
4- Start looking at Network+ and Security+ - (Is this to early? Do i need hands on experience? Formal training? Good resource recommendations?)
5- Start looking at Further Cisco and Microsoft Certs (Is this to early? Do i need hands on experience? Formal training? Good resource recommendations?)
6- Start looking at becoming a member of a professional body I.E BCS - (Is it worth it? Which one or ones should i join?)
7- Start looking at Microsoft office quals - (Are they worth it? Formal training? Good recourse recommendations?)
Sorry for such a long post and sorry if it seems a bit 'short hand' as this is the second time in writing it as my internet went down just as i finished the last one 
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Thanks for reading and i would greatly appreciate any feedback/ hints/ tips etc.
