Certification Route for Beginner
Hey all.
New to these forums, but I'm excited to be starting on my certification journey. I couldn't really find any topics on google that cover my issue, so decided to post a Q here and see if anyone can offer any advice.
So, here is my scoop.
I graduated college with a B.S. in Information Assurance in 2009. I loved the program, and security was something that really interested me at the time (mostly, because I hate software engineering, and IA was my only other option). About six months ago, I finally found a job as a contractor (permanent) at a BIG corporation working as a Project Manager/Technical Writer (lots of published works at the college level helped.) Anyhow, I love the job, but I really want to expand my knowledge and learn about some more "in depth" IT Stuff.
My situation is complicated because although I technically do have an IT degree, I could never back it up with any skills in an interview. My degree taught me a little tiny bit about a lot of different things. I took a few networking classes, a few classes that had us set up Windows DC's and such, and some Java classes (which I detest).
Since I'm a PM, everyone's initial reaction will probably be the PMP. To that I say...eventually, but not yet. I still don't have the experience to sit for it. So other than the PMP, which IT certs do you guys think someone like me would be able to acheive? I'm open to anything, and like I said, I'm just trying to expand my knowledge so that if a position opens up in another dept, I can have the exp at the company already, and a cert to back it up. I should also add that my company very very recently migrated to a Win 7 environment, and even more recently, migrated from Lotus Notes to Outlook.
I've heard some say the MCSA Win 7 Cert is a good starting point, but then others say you need to know Win Server 2008r2 inside and out to pass it, which I know almost nothing about.
The other reason for wanting some certs, I should add, is because I feel sort of..."uncomfortable" (I guess is a good word) when all of these people around me are throwing out "Tech" terms like they are everyday slang and in my head I'm thinking "WTF are these guys even talking about?"
Thanks all, and sorry for the winded question.
