Need info about career change...

Suburban Rat

Thats right. I need advice. Im a truck driver and I love the job. I broke my ankle about a year and half ago. Im having trouble finding work because the injury was so bad that the work comp doc gave me medical restrictions. These restrictions are haunting me. I can do the job, its just that no employer wants the liability.
Out of this whole ordeal I came into some money. Id like to pursue a career in the IT biz. I know of a school that claims that it will get me certified in what seems to be all certifications that are available. I am still researching the school and the field. Can anyone tell me if this is good to invest in? Should I go to a regular college? They claim to go at the students pace. Here is the schools web page: Welcome to Computer Training Academy.

EuclidJones

Depending on how well you can self study - I'd just buy a couple books and get cracking. The only money you HAVE to spend to get your certs, is the money for the exams.

Some of the terminology (and unfinished feel) of the site made me a little leery about the idea of spending money. I looked it up on certguard but it wasnt in their database.

I'd err on the side of caution and avoid cta5.

MrRyte

EuclidJones wrote: »

I'd err on the side of caution and avoid cta5.

Same here. It seems a little too good to be true; especially this part-

BE CAREER READY IN 5 MONTHS WITH ONLY 4 HOURS A WEEK IN THE FACILITY

Just 5 months to being career-ready in IT?
Sounds like one of those super-pricey trade schools.....

See if you find a local community college that has the specific field of IT you're interested in.

Suburban Rat

Yeah that school sounds like pie in the sky. They do get a lot of good reviews as well as a few bad though.
What about certification boot camps? Anyone know anything about those? I dont have any problem going to the local Barnes and Noble and teaching myself. I just dont like getting stumped some where down the line with no one to un-stump me. Where do I start? What cert is first? I hear A+ is a good start.

alan2308

Certification boot camps are a great review right before you go take the exam, but if you're coming in starting at zero, then you're not going to get much out of it. Consider this, I took the Cisco Networking Academy courses as part of my Associates Degree, and it added up to 16 credit hours of college courses, not counting the couple of prerequisites. I don't care how many hours a day you're in lecture, you can't possibly get the same level of knowledge out of a week long bootcamp.

You'll do a lot better buying some books and upgrading your computer. Load some VM's to study Microsoft, or load GNS3 to study Cisco.

astrogeek

Welcome fellow trucker! Fully endorsed Class A former doubles driver right here who is also making a new start into IT. Are you in the IE by any chance? I couldn't find an address on that school but there was an advertisement for a local radio station which is why I ask.

Anyway....I made the change after being laid off from an LTL trucking company. I've always been around computers but never made a career out of it. After being laid off I took some college courses in networking. I did a year long Cisco Networking Academy at a community college that was really great. It is designed to take people with little or no knowledge of networking and by the end of it have you configuring routers and switches. If that is something you'd be interested in I would highly recommend looking into some local networking academy's. If you're in the area pretty much most of the local community colleges offer this. I can recommend a few if you're interested.

I'm not really a fan of the idea of spending a ton of money on a tech school making extravagant promises. A lot of people get burned real bad and end up with a huge loan and no job to show for it. The reality is that in IT employers are looking for experience more than a degree or certifications. The way I landed my job was by doing an unpaid internship I found through my local community college. I don't think I would have gotten a job without that internship.

But one question I have is if you really like driving trucks why not just buy your own rig, wouldn't that avoid the liability issue? Not to try to turn you away from IT, I just know that as a former driver myself I often miss those long nights out on the road!

*Edit*
Just found the school address - took a while before I figured out it was under the link titled "School address and phone number" lol

With that said I must say it looks very close to a tech school I looked into years ago. I imagine it's probably the same school with a different name, but I wasn't impressed at all by this "school" which is located in a small commercial unit. Back then they were advertising "When you graduate you keep the laptop" - except they were horrendously expensive with a heavy emphasis on certification rather than education which is a BIG red flag. My advice: run away fast! As I stated above most employers are more interested in experience, or at least a willingness to learn.

Instead of going to that school, you might want to instead head across the freeway to RCC and look into the Cisco Networking Academy. UCR Extension also offers some classes, though I took the Net+ class and wasn't really impressed - but Net+ is pretty basic so hopefully other classes are better. Here are some links for both:
http://www.rcc.edu/riverside/index.cfm
http://www.extension.ucr.edu/

Suburban Rat

Hey Astro, im in the IE just like you. Yeah LTS was the name of the school sometime ago. "You keep the laptop." I checked them out ten years ago but I had no funds and did other things instead. I actually called the up and left them a message and no one ever called me back. Im guessing that's an indicator.
As for trucking. Rigs can be like children sometimes. If there yours you have to love them and take cars of them, etc. If the rig is not yours you get to give it back like your just the uncle babysitting for 8-12 hours a day. I have thought of getting one. I already have a daughter though.
As for education I've been told from mostly everyone to stay away from that school so I guess I will. They don't even pick up the phone. Than for the reply. Hey astro hit me up via email. Id like to know some more if you don't mind. Jonaswinter568@yahoo.com.

xxxooxxx

My suggestion is building a home lab and read some books. This can be done with fraction of cost compare to the training classes.

You will be able to figure things out and can spend unlimited time playing with your machines. If you are able to setup the home lab yourself and follow the exercise in the books, you will be much better prepared for IT jobs compare to those that took classes.

At this point of your IT careers, certs are pretty much useless. What you need is the technical knowledge and problem solving skills, not the papers.