Advice needed please

CPAndy

Hi All

I am very confused about what should be my next move. I have a 1st degree in Business IT that i received this year with a view to a career change into IT but it is proving difficult at my age (4 to getting a foothold in the industry. The usual problem of jobs needing 6 months experience to get a start and I haven't got this although I have 15 years of IT in my day to day life and as a hobby. Since finishing my degree I have taken and passed my A+ and now want to take Microsoft certs. I am more interested in the deployment side than development and so am considering studying for the MCST in Win7 and maybe Vista but I think that may not be useful in the real world. I think a lot of companies still use XP so is that worth taking to give me more opportunities in the workplace. I want to carry on learning to gain as much knowledge as I can. The thing I want to know is if I am not in the industry how many of the courses can I take without experience in the workplace. Please can anyone advise me on what I should be taking.

Thanks Andy

SteveLord

Vista would be pointless. XP is less pointless to a degree.

earweed

1`) Vista- the OS cert test is easy but since it's not widely used the MCITP on Vista would carry little weight. I'd say no weight but since deployment wise Vista and Windows 7 are pretty equal if your using Server 2008 instead of Server 2008 R2..The OS cert test itself for Vista is easy but carries little weight except that it can be used as the OS requirement for the Server MCITPs.
2) XP- will still be around a while. XP still hoilds a fairly wide margin of usage in the corporate world so that cert could be useful.

I'd advise getting the Windows 7 certs though as they point more towards the future. As more companies migrate to Server 2008/ Server 2008 R2 they will be upgrading to Windows 7. 7 would be the wiser choice in the long run.

Since your interest lies in deployment then the 70-680 and 70-686 may be what you want Pro: Windows 7, Enterprise Desktop Administrator
but I actually think being early in your carerr you should get the MCITP Enterprise Desktop Support Technician which consists of the 70-680 and 70-685
Pro: Windows 7, Enterprise Desktop Support Technician

Your biggest hurdle is your experience though. You'll be competing, as I am now, against a lot of people who have experience and some who are even having to take a step back career wise just to get a job. For your first experience you can try for helpdesk or desktop support but the pickings are slim (at least where I'm located)
Try for internship and/or volunteer opportunities to gain the experience. Right now I've been doing short-term projects through temp agencies and have also signed up with onforce.com OnForce - The Marketplace for Computer Repair Services, IT Rollouts & Technology Installations as an independent contractor where I will be competing against other local independent contractors for local jobs/projects. There is a company called Syntech which I used to work for which promised PC tech work but I only did HDTV repair and the company is very iffy about wanting to pay you so avoid them. Another place like onforce which I've heard good reviews about is Barrister Nationwide Printer Repair Service | Computer Repair - Printer Repair Maintenance | Managed Print Services | Certified Printer Repair Technicians

Getting that first IT job is gonna be hard and hopefully will be worth the effort.

ajs1976

XP or 7, skip Vista. More computers are running XP, but a lot of places are starting to replace them with new computers running 7. Most places skipped Vista.

darkerz

Get XP and 7, Vista is pretty much easy to self-read for a few days to be able to claim proficiency in it once you are MCITP:EDST7 and Windows XP certified.

johnlinkson

There are conflict in both operating systems. Many people say that vista is best and some say XP is best and some say Window 7 is best.

It depend upon the user mind. But over all both are good

Dakinggamer87

I would go with either Windows XP or 7 and skip Vista in my opinion.

earweed

Some people say W7 is just a sort of Vista 2.0 and I agree. There aren't as many significant changes as there were between XP and Vista. The exams, however, are significantly different and most people in IT know this. The W7 exam has more oomph to it and is way more difficult. It is for this reason that you should skip the 620 and go with the 680.

Swift6

Windows 7 is wiping out the relevance of Vista certs. I would recommend you go for Windows 7. XP is still widely used so you can still go for it. (note: MCDST certification is being retired at the end of June 2011).

earweed

Swift6 wrote: »

Windows 7 is wiping out the relevance of Vista certs. I would recommend you go for Windows 7. XP is still widely used so you can still go for it. (note: MCDST certification is being retired at the end of June 2011).

IMO the lack of widespread use of Vista is what makes the Vista cert irrelevant. Most corporations never went to Vista but there is a more widespread exodus from XP to Windows 7.