Really lost and need some advice

sepholdem

Hi all, really not sure what exams/qualifications to go for , i was just about to pay £1500 for MCIPT Enterprise desktop support exams 70-680 and 70-865 but after looking through this site think i have no chance at all of passing and need somthing easier // my background,, 39 years old , for the last 10 years i have been repairing laptops/pc s , removing malware , installing new operating systems, hard drives,power jacks , reparing motherboards ect dealing mostly with vista and windows 7 [very basic networking skills] , i have got the chance to take any exam / course i wish and just want somthing to back up what im already doing as currently have no IT qualification and im sure the 70-680 and 70-865 is not good for me. Thanks for any advice or suggestions in advance

RobertKaucher

Why are you trying to get certified?

the_hutch

That's kind of a tough question to answer. As it sounds like you do a little of everything...but don't specialize in anything particular. Most IT certifications are fairly specific. So what are you most interested in? Hardware, operating system installation and maintenance, security, networking? The answer to that question should help you decide.
Hardware...go with A+
Networking...Network+, CCENT, CCNA, etc...
Security...Security+, SSCP, CEH, GSEC, etc...
Operating System support...find the certification that corresponds to the OS you feel most comfortable with

sepholdem

thanks for the replys , just spent 3 hour watching dr.messers comptia+a videos and very comfortable that i can pass all the exams there with very little work , so is there an equivelent ms exam to the comptia+a ? or maybe i should do a bundle of comp+a also windows 7 is the main os i would like to work with @ for Robby the main reason i would like to get certified is that i can take any course free [my parents offered to pay as i help them out alot] and i enjoy working with hardware/software/troubleshooting but futher down the line if i do any work some companies require you to have certification in the uk ,, so maybe i need to try to find some compTIA-A+ in windows 7 deployment/os instalaion/configuration ect ? thanks again gury i really value your input

bson

If your comfortable with the A+ go do it (waisting time otherwise).

there are plenty of study guides on the internet (e.g ebay) or amazon even sells books cheap (get ones 2nd hand), i joined a library when i wanted some books on blackberries when i started looking after them so saved me money and got what i needed.

If you working from home or in a repair shop then its hard to advise what suits you without knowing your career goal, what do you want to be working at in ten years?

I looked at my own career a few years ago and i knew how to do stuff but didnt have any certs that "proved" i knew what i was talking about (wasn't even getting interviews). So i spent a few months, now years and got down to some serious study and got the job i wanted (i'm the only one in my office and support 4 offices across europe).

Hardwares easy to fix, as is an o/s, but its better to know how to tweak it e.g if it wont boot (say an xp or 7 wont boot) rather than spend hours reloading an os and copying docs/photos etc back over for a user, people in my work tell me how they fixed there own systems over the weekend, then i say you wasted a whole weekend and i could have fixed it in 10 minutes, but i cant be arsed with the home repairs anymore, i used to do them but now im managing a corporate network i dont need the hastle.


I used to work as a Field Engineer (break/fix) so pretty similar to yourself and done this going around corporate networks, decided (mainly due to fuel costs going through the roof) i didnt want to do this anymore so needed to get some certs for both desktop and server (and gain extra knowledge along the way). I started out doing the microsoft MCDST, then MCSA on Server 2003, then upgraded this to MCITP. I knew i wanted to look after a Server infrastructure, these certs helped me achieve my goal, some thou are expired but you might be able to pickup the books for the windows 7 of ebay for about £30 each, not sure what the prices are for exams, they where about £80 each when i was doing them in the UK.

Besk of luck with whatever you choose.

also theres plenty of notes created on various topics operating systems etc on this sites you can use, as well as microsoft technet guides which is free too.

you should only be spending at most £300 to do those too exams.

cyberguypr

Is the period key OK on your keyboard? Just curious.

Raisin

Fortunately the forward slash key is fully functional.