Question on certifications!

Hey guys,

I was wondering if I could possibly get some help here

Now, I love computers and almost anything that goes along with them (excluding c++ programming, yuk!). Anyway, my main question was going to be, what, certifications do you think would be a good choice for me?

As for a short background, I don't really have that much experience in the real world as an IT dude. Right now I'm going to be a Senior in college snagging an IT major and spanish minor (not sure why spanish, but whatev). I'm interning with this one company as an IT support specialist Intern, figured it'd be a good time to get my feet wet. Sadly, I'm not doing as much as I'd hoped, probably because there's too much to do within a short summer intern period.

But, back at school, I took this server class and absolutely loved it, probably my favorite class of all. I did recieve A's in both semesters of it too, so that's gotta count for something right!? I also enjoyed this database 2 class with dealt with SQL and some maintenence. But my main "desire" is to work with networks and servers, I just find them so... awesome.

I have built my own computer, and did some other things such as clean installations of windows to some machines. And I do know some basic troubleshooting.

But, as I said above, I'm still a complete newb in these two things, I mean college courses only give you so much and since I'm really not doing that stuff at work yet, well it kind of feels as if my dreams of being a server admin assistant / network admin assistant is slowly going down the drain.

But, tryin to keep hopes high, I would like to get certified in somethign along those lines. I really love computers so chaning my major, well probably not gunna happen.

P.S. sorry for the great walls of text, hopefully no one wants to kill me

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Comments

RobertKaucher

We get the same sort of questions about this on a pretty regular basis. Some people suggest you start with the CompTIA holly Trinity of A+, Net+ and Sec+ but my own experience is that those can be skipped. You may wish to study the material but the actual certifications may not be of any real use to you with an IT related degree.

Here is my suggestion to get you started.

In tandem study for:
MCTS Windows 7 Config
CCENT

Once passed move on to the following:
MCITP: EDST7
then
MCITP: EDA7
then begin the ICND2 for the CCNA and...
the MCITP: Server Admin.

Take a look at this thread:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/66660-helping-newbie-suggestions-welcome.html
Slowhand has done some good mapping for practical training.

NateC16

Awesome! Ty for the reply.

I did read that post actually, but sadly I don't really have a friend like that!

I was actually thinking about doing some of those tests you had mentioned but, if they will be a somewhat small use to me, well IMO it's not worth spending the cash on.

But, I will definitely look into those.

But like I said, the only real expierience I have in this stuff is what I got from the classes I took, this won't be a downfall for what I want will it? Because ever since high school, you could say my dream was to be a guy who worked setting up networks, and now in college I basically fell in love with servers (As silly as that sounds).

But I really do appreciate your post, I'll get on reading that stuff and hopefully it all works out in the end

P.S. I did read something about creating a "home lab" in order to get more, hands experience. If I were to do this, how would I go about buying the right things or whatever to get it goin!?

Bokeh

The minor in Spanish can help. I know here in the Minneapolis-St Paul area there are a lot of help desk jobs that want bilingual people for help desk/tech support jobs.

Download the trial versions of Win 7 / Server 2008. Look on their pages to see the HW requirements. You could do all of these via Virtual PC/VMWare/Virtual Box if your current HW is enough. If not, you can pick up some cheap laptops and desktops off of Craigs List, wipe them out and then start from scratch. Switches are cheap on Ebay, Craigslist, NewEgg, Buy.com, etc.

Check out places like Half Price Books, or Amazon used for various certification books. If you have an Ipad, Kindle (preferably DX model), or other tablet e-readers you might be able to get the electronic versions of the books very cheaply. For that matter, you can download the Kindle and Nook e-reader software for your PC and be able to download the books there as well.

NateC16

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it!

I'll have to check on some of those books soon. But thanks again for the reply, really makin me feel better about the chance to actually do what I really wanna do instead of doing something to get by!

RobertKaucher

NateC16 wrote: »

Awesome! Ty for the reply.

I did read that post actually, but sadly I don't really have a friend like that!

I was actually thinking about doing some of those tests you had mentioned but, if they will be a somewhat small use to me, well IMO it's not worth spending the cash on.

But, I will definitely look into those.

But like I said, the only real expierience I have in this stuff is what I got from the classes I took, this won't be a downfall for what I want will it? Because ever since high school, you could say my dream was to be a guy who worked setting up networks, and now in college I basically fell in love with servers (As silly as that sounds).

But I really do appreciate your post, I'll get on reading that stuff and hopefully it all works out in the end

P.S. I did read something about creating a "home lab" in order to get more, hands experience. If I were to do this, how would I go about buying the right things or whatever to get it goin!?

You don't need someone to be there physically to help you. I think slowhand posted a very good practical outline that you could still follow on your own. You just would have to use TE and other forums to help you when you hit something you didn't understand.

If you just start training yourself and doing everything you can to help your careeer eventually it will take off. Someone, somewhere is going to take a chance on you. You just need to prepare youreslf and get out there to have as many chances of being found as you can get.

Just don't try to reinvent the wheel and stick to the basics for now. Don't try to learn too many things that are too high level - master the fundamentals and then move on to more advanced topics on an incremental level.

NateC16

RobertKaucher wrote: »

You don't need someone to be there physically to help you. I think slowhand posted a very good practical outline that you could still follow on your own. You just would have to use TE and other forums to help you when you hit something you didn't understand.

If you just start training yourself and doing everything you can to help your careeer eventually it will take off. Someone, somewhere is going to take a chance on you. You just need to prepare youreslf and get out there to have as many chances of being found as you can get.

Just don't try to reinvent the wheel and stick to the basics for now. Don't try to learn too many things that are too high level - master the fundamentals and then move on to more advanced topics on an incremental level.

Oh I know someone doesn't need to be there right next to me, sorry I was just being dumb.

But I will take your advice and try to not jump in head first. Another plus is that I have a whole year of school left, so I have some time between then and when the job comes after college!

Thanks again, dininitely giving out some reassurance that there is still hope!

MentholMoose

NateC16 wrote: »

But I will take your advice and try to not jump in head first. Another plus is that I have a whole year of school left, so I have some time between then and when the job comes after college!

Don't wait until graduation before trying to get experience. If possible, get a job or internship while still in school. As a student I worked part-time in a computer lab on campus for a year, and that experience, plus a six month internship and a couple certs, helped me score a good job before I even graduated.

NateC16

Actually, I was thinking the exact same thing after I had posted this. The guy who taught my servers class is actually the guy who runs the servers and networking stuff on campus. I mean, it definitely doesn't hurt to ask if he could help me out for a little bit.

So I'll have to ask him and see what he thinks!

Thanks again guys!!:D

MentholMoose

NateC16 wrote: »

Actually, I was thinking the exact same thing after I had posted this. The guy who taught my servers class is actually the guy who runs the servers and networking stuff on campus. I mean, it definitely doesn't hurt to ask if he could help me out for a little bit.

So I'll have to ask him and see what he thinks!

That's a good plan. If he doesn't have any jobs for you, he can probably refer you to someone who does. If you can't find a job or internship, look into volunteering. I know people who benefited from their volunteer experience. In case you haven't noticed the recurring theme, experience is very valuable in IT.