Charting a path in way of certifications and looking for jobs

tjb122982

I have a couple of questions.

1. I am going to be finishing my AAS in IT this year and I do plan on passing my A+ and Network+ before the end of the year also. However, other than that I'm not sure how I should proceed: I am going to be looking for help desk/desktop support gigs and then hopefully Windows system admin after that. Should I either go for my security+ or go for MS certs? With that being said, I don't know if I like networking/cisco enough to go down that road and I need to spend a lot more time with Linux to go down that road.

2. It seems to me that desktop support and help desk gigs are pretty. Are they pretty the same in terms of 1st entry level gig out of college or is desktop support more or less a step from a help desk gig?

JaneDoe

They're the same. Get a job working for a small company where they'll be willing to let you try new things. The smaller the company the more room you'll have to learn at a helpdesk gig.

tjb122982

JaneDoe wrote: »

They're the same. Get a job working for a small company where they'll be willing to let you try new things. The smaller the company the more room you'll have to learn at a helpdesk gig.

Should I try to work with recruiters or avoid them at all costs?

markulous

I would just try to get experience wherever you can. Working with recruiters is fine. With motivation and getting a degree/certs, you will move up quickly.

tjb122982

markulous wrote: »

I would just try to get experience wherever you can. Working with recruiters is fine. With motivation and getting a degree/certs, you will move up quickly.

I was curious because I have seen a lot of posts having nothing but bad things to say about recruiters.

markulous

I've never had any issues with recruiters. For starting out, you can't be too picky either. If it's a $10 an hour help desk job, chances are you aren't going to be there more than a few months anyway.

BGraves

If you are considering a DoD or Government IT job, a sec+ is a must. Even if you aren't, it's good to have.
A Microsoft cert or two on the desktop support level can't hurt if that is the type of environment you are looking to work in too and it gets you familiar with the Microsoft exams and how they work, when you look to pursue to the sys admin related certs.

I avoid recruiters for the following reasons: (my experiences mind you)
They generally know very little about IT or the required skills for a position which they are recruiting for.

They get paid to fill a position and they generally only pursue their top prospects to fill that position. (It makes sense but if you're not one of them....they drop you)

They contact you about any and all positions they have, whether or not they are relevant to your skills, or try to use you to recruit for them since you may know more IT people than they do.

Small-Medium business generally don't rely on recruiters to fill positions.

As a side note, comptia has a "Career Pathway" roadmap on their website that might be interesting to look at if you haven't seen it.
CompTIA Career Pathways
I'm not saying that's a 100% accurate picture of how career progression works but it might give you an idea of things.

Oh for job hunting, I like to use indeed.com or linkup.com. Also, having a active and updated linkedin.com is a good idea. A professional email address is a good thing to have too. "Your.name@email.com"