Looking to start a new career in IT. Advice needed!

eyeless47

Hi guys, new poster, recently got told about this website and so far it looks brilliant!

I'm currently living in the UK and am 27 years old. I did go to College and got a BTEC National Diploma in Computing. Unfortunately my time at College was quite clouded and I didn't pay as much attention/effort as I should have, therefore my knowledge of what I learnt from the course is quite poor.

I have always loved working with computers and use them on a daily basis, I can find my way around one fairly simply for the things I need to do, but nothing very in-depth!

I've been doing some research on how to go about starting a career in IT, and ideally I'd like to do it without having to giveup my job and go into full-time education.

I've decided I want to go down the route of Networking/System Admin (as a start) as I feel it's the most suited for me and the one I'd enjoy the most. I have been recommended to take the MCST - Windows 7 and CompTIA A+ certs, followed my the Network+.

I was just wondering if anyone could shed any light on whether it would be better for me to try and get the aforementioned certificates and try and get my foot in the door somewhere, or whether I'd be better off doing a course with someone like the OU or evening classes at a local college.

From what I've seen from the evening classes they seem pretty basic and I'm not sure whether they would actually be worth my time doing?

Any help/advice would be appreciated!!

itconsult99

I'm in the same shoes as you and wondering with all these certifications, do I have to go to school and take courses or can it be self learning then register to take the exam?

Bokeh

Welcome to TE! The Comptia exams (A+, N+, S+) can all be done self study. Although these can be done self study, it depends on how well you learn best. Some need the classroom environment. Others can absorb the material and understand it all on their own.

Grab Mike Meyers A+ Book, Darril Gibson's Security+ Book. Save some money and get them in Kindle format and read them on your computer, tablet, phone, etc. Visit Professor Messer's website and watch his free videos as well as join his live podcasts.

danstar

If you're able to do some reading on your own, you'll be fine... and I am not sure if youtube is censored where you are. There are so many videos on networking on youtube, tutorial based alone. You'll love it in the IT world.. and actually my younger one is doing the same thing. He has a diploma in computing and he is not much of a Computer guy himself except for he is thinking about going into Web Designing.

Cerebro

I don't think the UK values the comptia certs as high as the USA does. Therefore I'd say watch the professor messer videos on the A+ but concentrate on the 70-680. Also you could think of doing the CCENT instead of the the N+, recruiters don't understand all the different certs, but they understand the words microsoft and cisco qualified.

eyeless47

Cool thanks for the replies.

Since making the thread I've looked into starting to study for the 70-680. I did end up getting the Mike Meyer A+ book, so once I've finished with the 680 I'll think about having a look into the CompTIA certs, depending on whether I've managed to find a job or not!