Road to take

swisschris104

First of all let me start off by saying I am 18 years old and just looking for advice to start working in IT.

So this year I got my A+, and Network+. I was hoping that will get me into entry level work with these 2 but nothing has come yet. So here is my plan so tell me if it is good/realistic

Get CCENT or CCNA this summer.
Get Secruity+ next fall to renew my other 2 comptias
Nothing in spring of 2014
Fall 2014 work on CCNA voice (or should I start studying for CCNP?)
Spring 2014 Linux+
Summer 2014 MCSA windows 7 (and maybe some mac certification)
Spring 2015 (CCNA voice or some CCNP exams)(not sure yet)

I am trying to balance my certifications to take them while I am taking a class in the subject and to keep them renewed.

What age was your first entry level job in IT?

linuxlover

Overkill. At the age of 18 when you're still in school, taking a part time job or community/volunteer work outweighs all of your certificates. No one in their right mind would hire a person without a degree, 10 certificates and 0 work experience. You're looking at this the wrong way.

Your A+ and Net+ and more than enough to land you a job as a high school kid. Volunteer, get experience, get certified. I would however strongly suggest you go to college first and then look for a job. Don't jump your learning curve because you're going to get burned later.

broli720

linuxlover wrote: »

Overkill. At the age of 18 when you're still in school, taking a part time job or community/volunteer work outweighs all of your certificates. No one in their right mind would hire a person without a degree, 10 certificates and 0 work experience. You're looking at this the wrong way.

Your A+ and Net+ and more than enough to land you a job as a high school kid. Volunteer, get experience, get certified. I would however strongly suggest you go to college first and then look for a job. Don't jump your learning curve because you're going to get burned later.

+1 this. Why everyone wants to side step college is beyond me. It is almost a requirement these days and it is good for your professional and personal development. College, certs, and I even suggest a masters degree if you ever want to get into upper management. It's hard work but nothing worth having comes easy.

swisschris104

Well do you still need a degree for an entry level job like helpdesk/desktop support? I mean I want to get a degree and everything but school is a challenge for me, so i would pefer to go part time while I am working a job already to get the experience. But i might just take the

70-642 Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring

To add more to my resume and i see alot of jobs requiring active directory skills. But would it be fine to get entry level position and go to school part time ?





Going to school full time is hard, I have to pay 4 it all on my own, I dont have a mom or dad to pay for me, or financial aid so im kinda in need of this

broli720

I'd say do it the old fashion way; take student loans. Although my parents are still around and supported me, I took loans all through college to pay for it. You're just too young to venture into the work force without a degree and yes it is required if you want a decent paying job. It's an investment and one you'll be glad you made.

Just to give you an idea, I graduated last spring with 2 years worth of internship experience and I started at 60k. A year later and I've gotten a significant raise because of my certs and I'll probably get more in my next position because I'm almost done my masters. Yes I have a ton of loans to pay back when I finish but I can do it gradually. Not saying all of this can't be done without a degree but it's not as likely. It's really competitive out there so you have to do all you can to stand out and certs just aren't enough.

It just comes down to were you want your career to go and fast you want to get there.

JasonX

My suggestion that I wish people had given me.

Try and obtain some type of help desk job WHILE attending community college to obtain an associates. The community college will cost a fraction of what it'd cost to complete the first 2 years of the same curriculum at a 4 year school, and you should be able to pay the tuition with the Help Desk Job.

After obtaining your Associates, transfer into a 4 year school, still working to try and pay off as much of your tuition that you can, and only IF you aren't able to pay your tuition outright, obtain a Federal Subsidized loan. You won't get hit with interest on the loans while in school up to 6 months after graduation.

With this plan, you will have several years of experience under your belt, reduce the overall cost to obtain your degree, and hopefully have little to no debt from student loans. Believe me, having student loans suck.

Further, if you think you're able to, racking up the certs while in school will also pad your resume nicely.

neo9006

I agree with previous posters, College is going to be key, I agree with Jason if you can't go the 4 year route go with the community college route, I did many years ago and got an associate in a different field, but key is that it got my job that I have been at for almost 18 years, go after your bachelors afterwards, I am kicking myself now, I wish I would have gotten my bachelors years ago. I know what you mean by that, but do what I did, I paid for a lot of mine and I did it through working on weekends. I know that kills the social time, but hey once you have that degree and you paid for it it is all yours. I tell my wife that constantly and she is working on her Associate right now while I have till the end of the year to get my bachelors with 5 classes to go after this semester. I would rack up the certifications and get your degree, I tell people I use to work with not only as their manager at the time but as someone that has been there, get your education and do not end up like me working 2 jobs 10 years straight, it took its toll on me but right now I am in the process of paying for my bachelors and being debt free thank god in the process, if I decide to get a masters I might be in debt then, depends. But that is my 2 cents, like broli said keep at it, I know we all are trying to do that to a degree. Good luck my friend and keep your head up.

hellolin

neo9006 wrote: »

I agree with previous posters, College is going to be key, I agree with Jason if you can't go the 4 year route go with the community college route, I did many years ago and got an associate in a different field, but key is that it got my job that I have been at for almost 18 years, go after your bachelors afterwards, I am kicking myself now, I wish I would have gotten my bachelors years ago. I know what you mean by that, but do what I did, I paid for a lot of mine and I did it through working on weekends. I know that kills the social time, but hey once you have that degree and you paid for it it is all yours. I tell my wife that constantly and she is working on her Associate right now while I have till the end of the year to get my bachelors with 5 classes to go after this semester. I would rack up the certifications and get your degree, I tell people I use to work with not only as their manager at the time but as someone that has been there, get your education and do not end up like me working 2 jobs 10 years straight, it took its toll on me but right now I am in the process of paying for my bachelors and being debt free thank god in the process, if I decide to get a masters I might be in debt then, depends. But that is my 2 cents, like broli said keep at it, I know we all are trying to do that to a degree. Good luck my friend and keep your head up.

He is right, if you can't afford go to a 4 year straight, go to the community college route first, then a state B&M college. CCs are really cheap, and state colleges are really not that expensive at all(The college I go to is only $170/unit per quarter AFTER
tution and fees!) I will be working on some entry level certs, such as N+, S+, and maybe CCENT during my next 2 years in the state college, hopefully at those 3 before I finish my degree. I do believe those certs is going to get my feet wet, but what's going to help me move up the ladder, espeically later in the business world, is going to be my degree.

twodogs62

Work on degree should be your priority.