I am lost, please help and advise me

Hi all,

Its been quite a long time since I posted on here but I drop in from time to time.

I am currently working as a Field desktop engineer in the UK basically doing desktop support, helping with project roll outs and so on. Before this I was working as a senior 2nd line desktop analyst for the same company on a different contract.

I have been seriously ill in the last few years but am slowly recovering now which I am pleased about although its been a slog at times. I am looking to get on with my career and trying to work out which direction I want to go in, but this is causing me major problems as I cannot seem to work out what I would like to do and where I would like to go. I have been in desktop support for about 7 years now and I have learnt a lot, not just from a technical point of view but from a dealing with customers point of view also, so it has provided me with good experience.

From working in a field based role for 2 years now I firmly want to get out of this role and back into an office based role.

I have a HP ML server here at home that I have used to play with Vmware and look around things like Server 2k8 R2 but I have no real experience of server admin/support. This is one area I thought I would be interested in......

From working in desktop support I have experience of the following server related technologies

1. Active Directory
2. Exchange
3. File shares
4. User account creation and management
5. Win XP/7

and a few more........

Can anyone give me any advice or help me on this journey as I am desperately trying to find some direction to my IT career and get on with my life. I feel once I have worked this out I can make progress in terms of certs and getting experience and so on.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

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Comments

stryder144

First of all, I am glad to hear that your are on the mend. Secondly, you have a lot of experience that relates to servers. I know in the job market I am in, those attributes you've mentioned are highly sought after. Pair them up with some MS server certs (and a Linux cert or two), and you will have plenty of new opportunities opened to you. Don't discount your experience. You can leverage it with some certs. Cheers.

Master Of Puppets

I agree. Considering your experience and level, it shouldn't be a problem to get a better job after some MS certs. You should be able to land a sys admin job.

antc

Thanks stryder144 and Master Of Puppets. I guess what with everything thats been going on and the way the job market is (or seems to be) here in the UK as I stand at the moment I feel a little trapped in the position I am in. The company I work for doesn't seem that interested in progressing their employees (they make a lot of noise to say they like to do this but it doesn't happen in reality, I think its just to get new people in)

Although I did manage to get them to buy me some books for the MCSA 2008 and Exchange 2010 and I believe they will pay for my exams, so not all bad I guess.

2008 server and exchange 2010 will be around for a while yet wont they? As in its still worth doing these if thats the way I go?

Also as I don't use MS Server every day in my job, do you think this will effect my study. A lot of the books say you need a year or two years experience and I imagine for those working day in day out with server products the exams are re enforcing their existing knowledge and their day to day skills?

antc

Anyone any thoughts on my last post?

BGraves

antc,

I believe the exams for theMCITP:EA are no longer available after Jan 31, 2014. If that's the case, pursuing a MCSA 2008 would be fine if you think you can knock out the 3 required exams before they eventually expire...no idea when. If not, you're probably better off with the MCSA:2012 route. (I vote 2012 personally, no annoying upgrade exam that way). I'm sure server 2012 trials can be downloaded from microsoft and used in your home lab you mention above.

I would definitely use your home lab to practice everything you read about in the books to gain an understanding if you don't already do it frequently at work, thats one of the best ways to learn! Additionally, I'm sure there are practice questions around this site that might be helpful in your studies.

Best of luck!

antc

Thanks so much BGraves, I have read conflicting reports regarding 2k8 mcsa, some say it is retiring, some say not. I am trying to find the link I saw last week on the MS site……Does anyone know for sure or can find any firm evidence of this?

antc

I knew I had seen it somewhere!!

It was on this very forum. The thread discussing the matter is here - http://www.techexams.net/forums/mcts-mcitp-windows-2008-general/90375-mcsa-2008-expiration-2.html and the link to the MS site showing exams expiring in Jan 2014 is here - Retired exams

So would you say that confirms that mcsa 2008 is going to be around for a little while?

DoubleNNs

The MCSA 2008 isn't going anywhere.

As far as experience needed to take the exams - not having the experience will make the exam much harder and require a lot more labbing on your own. However, I don't think that should discourage you from taking them.
It's hard to get experience w/o experience. Labbing and studying on your own is the easiest way to get experience to start getting that experience.

BGraves

Even if they are going to be around a while....they are 5-6 years behind microsoft's latest offering...
I say save yourself the hassle of doing that upgrade exam and just do 2012 to begin with. Same amount of exams....unless you really want that MCSA 2008 title. (The upgrade exam isn't fun)

antc

BGraves wrote: »

Even if they are going to be around a while....they are 5-6 years behind microsoft's latest offering...
I say save yourself the hassle of doing that upgrade exam and just do 2012 to begin with. Same amount of exams....unless you really want that MCSA 2008 title. (The upgrade exam isn't fun)

Hey everyone, just came back to this thread, I know I am very late in responding so please accept my apologies. Unfortunately had a couple more health issues to deal with but things are looking up now, I am working hard on getting my fitness back by getting to the gym after a period of inactivity and I am feeling much better.

BGraves.....Thinking about your last post here I feel your point is very much valid, after talking to a couple of other people who have said similar, in terms of studying for the latest offering available.

Also been thinking/trying to decide if its worth going for the ITIL 2011 foundation as well, before I start on Server 2012. It seems to be on a lot of job adverts here in the UK and I believe it could be studied for and passed in a relatively short period of time (around a month as I will be self studying) Do you guys think its worth having?

antc

Anyone have any thoughts on my last post? Or other advice of any kind always welcome.

egrizzly

I think that as a rule of thumb when picking IT careers, you have to think up the role/title you want to be then work your way backwards from there. Say for instance you want to become an Sr. IT Security Specialist. This role pays average $90K. You have to know that first, you need skills such as a, b, c, or d. Then you need credentials/certifications such as x, y, z, e.t.c. A degree (helps a lot but not required) in Compute Science or Information Systems, e.t.c. Then comes the experience requirement for "n" amount of years. You have to arrange the certifications from simplest to most complex to allow yourself the ease to complete the requirements.

Be sure to sample all the job roles/titles by discussing with folks that hold that role already. gives you "inside info". It would also help you know that the IT field you are stepping into is one where you have passion for. No need dabbling around with "Network Engineer" when you are more cut out for "Web Developer"

antc

egrizzly wrote: »

I think that as a rule of thumb when picking IT careers, you have to think up the role/title you want to be then work your way backwards from there. Say for instance you want to become an Sr. IT Security Specialist. This role pays average $90K. You have to know that first, you need skills such as a, b, c, or d. Then you need credentials/certifications such as x, y, z, e.t.c. A degree (helps a lot but not required) in Compute Science or Information Systems, e.t.c. Then comes the experience requirement for "n" amount of years. You have to arrange the certifications from simplest to most complex to allow yourself the ease to complete the requirements.

Be sure to sample all the job roles/titles by discussing with folks that hold that role already. gives you "inside info". It would also help you know that the IT field you are stepping into is one where you have passion for. No need dabbling around with "Network Engineer" when you are more cut out for "Web Developer"

Thankyou egrizzly, thats makes a lot of sense indeed.