Career advice please (UK)

SamA92

Hi everybody, im currently studying for my 70-680 MCTS cert and will probably go for 685/686 aswell and then study for the new MCSE cert. Also may get Comptia A+, N+, S+ if it will help. But how easy would it get a job in IT with these certs vs none or having another IT qualification of some sort? As i dont obviously want to waste any time and want a job in It of some sort as quickly as possible. I honestly dont know and dont mind exactly what i do/want to do in IT but as long as i get my foot in the door in the it industry. I suppose one day my dream job would be to work at microsoft as a software/network engineer/developer (vague i know). I just need some advice in getting there.

Im trying to get another part time job but in any local pc shop which handles repairs/installations etc to give me some experience, but in todays climate thats becoming increasingly difficult as i have zero previous IT experience before this cert im studying for, except for a A level and GCSE which imo count for bull. If there arent any positions i will even do some volunteer work to gain experience if it will help.

Would doing what im doing as in, studying for certs, trying to start off with a local pc company etc be recommended? I understand nobody has a magical answer to instantly land me a decent job but Im guessing a lot of people here have been in the industry for quite a while so would be grateful if you could offer any advice for a newcomer like me in securing a good future in the IT world.

Thanks for any replies

Vik210

Comptia are generally considered as good start. Study the basics and see if you are motivated for/ wish to write the exam.
Volunteer work is good to get some experience but is normally at small places (shops or home office kind of environment). I would suggest you look for help desk jobs. It may not be easy to get but you will surly get one if you have the required knowledge/ skill-set. I personally think UK has many IT jobs; you just need to do some certifications to get noticed.
Btw, are you only looking for a job or considering a full time degree as well?

Cerebro

CCNA and 70-640: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory. Seems like a good combo to get your foot in the door?
[h=2][/h]

SamA92

Vik210 wrote: »

Comptia are generally considered as good start. Study the basics and see if you are motivated for/ wish to write the exam.
Volunteer work is good to get some experience but is normally at small places (shops or home office kind of environment). I would suggest you look for help desk jobs. It may not be easy to get but you will surly get one if you have the required knowledge/ skill-set. I personally think UK has many IT jobs; you just need to do some certifications to get noticed.
Btw, are you only looking for a job or considering a full time degree as well?

Well i may consider doing a degree in the future if it will help to progress me further but right now im really looking for a job. Im hoping as you say once ive got some certs under my belt, it will help get me noticed and move on further. I have currently got a part time job at a local supermarket so im getting some money in, also tried to get in the RAF as a ICT tech but due to a minor medical issue i couldnt go any further (my hearing in my left ear is a few frequencies down from what it needed to be) which was guttering to say the least as if i knew i wasnt going to get in i could of gotten better a levels and would be half way through a degree by now.

Thanks cerebro i'll take a look at them.

Vik210

I think getting a degree can really make it easy for you to get a job in big companies as graduate employees. I was Essex uni student and some of my classmates are working for companies like BT, Ericsson, Google and Siemens - which I think would be difficult with only certifications.
You can always do certifications with degree but once you start working, it gets difficult to go back to uni.
This is just my opinion. I think nothing can challenge degrees.

Cleverclogs

It is possible to do it without a degree, but I think it'd be more difficult. My foot in the door was 8 years ago. I found a part time job as a PC salesman in a small store, and one week I had to cover for the person taking the phone calls. I turned out to be better than the regular guy, so I started working at the workshop to answer their calls. It was in this environment I started doing repairs and troubleshooting, and two years later it was this background that landed me my helpdesk role that I am still in now. The main thing I would do differently is that I would have started my studying years ago. Definitely worth having the 680 and the 685 afterwards. Good luck!

SamA92

Cleverclogs wrote: »

It is possible to do it without a degree, but I think it'd be more difficult. My foot in the door was 8 years ago. I found a part time job as a PC salesman in a small store, and one week I had to cover for the person taking the phone calls. I turned out to be better than the regular guy, so I started working at the workshop to answer their calls. It was in this environment I started doing repairs and troubleshooting, and two years later it was this background that landed me my helpdesk role that I am still in now. The main thing I would do differently is that I would have started my studying years ago. Definitely worth having the 680 and the 685 afterwards. Good luck!

Thanks, so working your way up looks like the answer. Im not saying i wont do a degree but only maybe in the future when ive got some certs and a IT related job i think as i really just want to get my foot on the ladder.