Which IT Certification for someone looking a career change @48 ?

I am 48 yrs old male with a collage degree in Economics who had his own small business for the last 20 years. Due to economic hardship my business is no longer profitable and I had to fold. I am now looking to enter the IT field and I was wondering if you could recommend a certification path that would lead to a steady good paying job ? Where do I start ? Which IT Certification should I peruse first ? I don't have a lot of experience in the IT field except as end user for the last 15 years. Thanks.[h=1][/h]

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101010

Congrats on the pass, keep that momentum going.

dvdit

Even though it is been a while since I have posted here, I feel compelled to post my progress so others won't be discouraged by some negative comments posted here and elsewhere. As soon I passes my A+ in 01/2013, I landed my first IT job as a PC refresher/installer on a contract basis for 6 months. I got good feedback from people I worked with and when my contract was up, my company gave me a full time position as a Tier II IT support technician. Since then I have earned my Network+ and security+ and scored 95% on both exams. My company is so impressed with my job and test performance, they have agreed to help develop my career goal in Cyber security. They will be paying for my next cert, CEH, including boot camp and online CBT course. Not sure who offers a good boot camp for CEH, I will post on the CEH forum to inquire about this.

So don't be discouraged if you are thinking about getting into IT if you are 40+. If you have the will, there is always a way. I made a career change at 48 and in short 2 years, I have made a good progress in promotion and pay. I have been promised a huge jump in salary once I pass the CEH exam, since I will be moving from Tier II IT support into Cyber security. Let my journey and experience be a positive moral booster for all of you out there career changers.

A big thank you for all of you who have supported and gave me enough moral boost to go ahead full steam !!! Beer in on me

bryanthetechie

Huge congrats on your progression!

doobu

dvdit wrote: »

Even though it is been a while since I have posted here, I feel compelled to post my progress so others won't be discouraged by some negative comments posted here and elsewhere. As soon I passes my A+ in 01/2013, I landed my first IT job as a PC refresher/installer on a contract basis for 6 months. I got good feedback from people I worked with and when my contract was up, my company gave me a full time position as a Tier II IT support technician. Since then I have earned my Network+ and security+ and scored 95% on both exams. My company is so impressed with my job and test performance, they have agreed to help develop my career goal in Cyber security. They will be paying for my next cert, CEH, including boot camp and online CBT course. Not sure who offers a good boot camp for CEH, I will post on the CEH forum to inquire about this.

So don't be discouraged if you are thinking about getting into IT if you are 40+. If you have the will, there is always a way. I made a career change at 48 and in short 2 years, I have made a good progress in promotion and pay. I have been promised a huge jump in salary once I pass the CEH exam, since I will be moving from Tier II IT support into Cyber security. Let my journey and experience be a positive moral booster for all of you out there career changers.

A big thank you for all of you who have supported and gave me enough moral boost to go ahead full steam !!! Beer in on me

Congratulations! Don't give up and you're proof there is no need to consider age when learning. Persistence and passion are great traits.

dvdit

Thank you both!

Couldn't agree with you more doobu.

CISPhD wrote: »

First of all dvdit, welcome to the forums. You're taking a promising step into a stable field with a lot of room to grow.

Suggesting CISSP or CISA right out of the gate may not be the best path. Both of these certifications require years of experience to qualify for. Not to say that you cant study for a few months and pass the exam, but the governing body actually wont let you become certified until you have met their experience requirements.

I would say the best place to start would be some entry level certifications. Items such as the CompTIA suite are a good place to start. After achieving these, you can likely land an entry level IT/Helpdesk role where you will be exposed to a myriad of technologies. From that exposure, you can find your passion (following some in depth field research) and pursue more specialized certifications from there.

Please feel free to PM me with for additional input should you wish to lend an ear.

In case anyone is wondering, this is the advice and path I ended up taking. Big shout out to CISPhD!

Working as Tier II IT support for the past year and now as TIER III support specialist this year, in an large enterprise IT infrastructure supporting over 5000+ users, has exposed me to many different IT environments and technologies. It took a little effort to move up quickly. I surfed the net every night, watched a lot of youtube videos, I bought a used PC, installed VBOX, try to recreate issues I experience at work on my VM at home and find a way to solve it. I was not afraid to new things I have not seen before. I was not afraid of failure and didn't stay in my comfort zone, unlike many of my colleagues. Soon enough I learned a lot of stuff, and I had a blast learning it. As doobu said persistence and passion are good traits to have.

cgrimaldo

Congrats to you! An inspiring story..so glad you updated us

hecklar56

This is so freakin encouraging, thank you dvdit.

I'm making my second career change (last one was into animal rescue, my other passion in addition to technology) now and just passed the 801 yesterday. The 802 is this coming Monday and I'm going to study my arse off.

dvdit, thanks for sharing your story. As an over 40 professional looking to break in I'm quite inspired. Any chance I could PM you a question or two later after doing some more career research?

Thanks again, congratulations, and cheers!!

hecklar56

dvdit

Thank you hecklar56 for your gracious comment. Shoot me a PM if you have any questions.

Kreken

dvdit wrote: »

I was not afraid of failure and didn't stay in my comfort zone, unlike many of my colleagues.

So much this.

Falcon9

Nice work dvdit and thank you for sharing. I am just turned 40 and quit my last job to go back to school and get my A.S. degree in server administration. I know the degree is not what is required but its what I want. Looking to finishing up next year at this time and get working again. Your story helped my sharpen my focus yet again. Cheers to ya.