Want to move to IT field

[LoverBoyJ]

I want to jump start my career in the IT field.
I already have Network+ certificate and just finished CCNA at a local college (took 6 months to finish) and will be taking a certification exam in a few weeks. What I'm missing are Microsoft Certifications (MCP or MCSA or MCSE).
Is it worth it to just pay for a boot camp in order to get my MS certs? If so, can someone recommend me the best programs in San Jose, CA.

I have been doing some IT support on my current job (but its not my primary duties) just to hone my trouble shooting skills.

Almost all postings for a job in the IT field (even just a technician) needs MCSE or MCSA, and CCNA certifications.

Current school schedules for MCSE classes will take about 1-2 years to finish due to limited class schedules, which really will take a lot of time to finish. Setting up a lab is not an option due to limited space at home, plus my 2 year old son will be tampering with all the hardware w/c I really don't like.

Any suggestions is welcomed.

 

[FoBoT]

no, don't pay for certs, they won't get you a job other than crappy phone support, which you don't need certs for and you'll go insane within 12 months anyway

you either need to find a company where you can learn and climb the ladder or else go to college

 

[BigJ]

Please do not use the boot camps. They are the reason why entry level certs by themselves (no experience) are generally worthless, and more and more certs are becoming worthless.

 

[LoverBoyJ]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
no, don't pay for certs, they won't get you a job other than crappy phone support, which you don't need certs for and you'll go insane within 12 months anyway

you either need to find a company where you can learn and climb the ladder or else go to college

I already have a BS in Computer Science, Major in MIS. Although I have a BS, I received a reply (twice) from a prospect employer that they need someone with certs. A total BS.

 

[zoiks]

Learn Perl. Its great for IT folks and for QA and build engineers. Lots of contract jobs out there to automate stuff.

I would suggest also for you to look into Unix and Linux since good IT folks for these are hard to find.

 

[LoverBoyJ]

Yes, I took Unix scripting last Spring classes (beginners and advance classes). Will be taking Unix Administration this Fall. I know these classes will help

 

[Flyback]

(Be prepared to get pissed on by people who would suggest that certifications don't matter. Lots of people are "paper certified" meaning they passed the tests but don't know squat so it is understandable. That said, certifications are an easy means into many larger businesses that simply have "requirements" the HR people (without any knowledge of the job) require of candidates. So I would still recommend certs to you, along with practical experience.)

Don't go to bootcamp. EVER. You cannot possibly digest enough information in that time. Plus, it is so short you will not retain it.

Setup a nice home network (I'm not talking about a HUGE lab--just 4-6 machines). You don't NEED brand new hardware for the lab. Quite to the contrary you could find some 500-1000 MHz boxes and use them. Maybe one faster machine for your main server you play with all the services on etc.

The MCSE classes can be a blessing and curse. If you are very smart you can do it without the classes. Often the classes lag behind with the slower students. I know because I've taught them. If you can do the certs without the classes then do so. Just make sure that you get TONS of practice on the home network lab. Setup a special room in your house or apartment for it. Keep it clear of distractions.

As for the practical side of things: you will need experience. Beyond practice on your home lab (which is VERY important on its own). At your current job, try and work your way into some more computer duties. Volunteer, even. If it is a larger company try to make friends with the IT people. Go out of your way to become buddies with them and ask to apprentice or whatever. Maybe work 6-8 hours free for them if need be (each week).

Moving into IT within a company is FAR FAR FAR easier than applying to an outside IT job without any employed experience. So try and get experience where you are and move into IT if possible (i mean to say if your current company is large enough to foster those skills... if its a company of 10 people forget it... lol).

PS you could easily build a nice home lab for like $1000 with 6 boxes, a couple monitors, a switch and network gear if you go for used hardware. You do NOT need fast stuff for this.

 

[LoverBoyJ]

can you recommend books with lots of lab exercises..

 

[altonb1]

You absolutely need to break into the field by gaining experience. I recommend looking into consulting firms--they often help open up doors to established companies.

Good luck.

 

[munruss]

IT sucks. I've been a Network Admin for years now and it is pointless. Do yourself a favor and get into something that is meaningful.

 

[Minerva]

Ultra X-Finity 800W and X-Pro food of energy 800W are pretty much on the equal ground when it comes to the execution. The only true difference between them is; X-Finity is black and comes with cables from FlexForce, the X-Pro is money and sheathed cables. Both have the abundance of wire, of two ventilators of 80mm and thick aluminium housing. One or the other one of this food of energy is well adapted for an unconditional installation of play. To observe it video to discover more and to check the lapses in public at the end.

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: LoverBoyJ
I already have a BS in Computer Science, Major in MIS.

Dude what do you want those BS IT certs for? You are a fricking computer scientist...

I moved from tech support to university to software engineering - what you're doing seems like 2 steps back.

Originally posted by: Minerva
Ultra X-Finity 800W and X-Pro food of energy 800W are pretty much on the equal ground when it comes to the execution. The only true difference between them is; X-Finity is black and comes with cables from FlexForce, the X-Pro is money and sheathed cables. Both have the abundance of wire, of two ventilators of 80mm and thick aluminium housing. One or the other one of this food of energy is well adapted for an unconditional installation of play. To observe it video to discover more and to check the lapses in public at the end.

Well done

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: munruss
IT sucks. I've been a Network Admin for years now and it is pointless. Do yourself a favor and get into something that is meaningful.

"...set the building on fire..."

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: munruss
IT sucks. I've been a Network Admin for years now and it is pointless. Do yourself a favor and get into something that is meaningful.

Wow, now there's an opinion.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: BigJ
Please do not use the boot camps. They are the reason why entry level certs by themselves (no experience) are generally worthless, and more and more certs are becoming worthless.

As an interviewer, I'm starting become extra tough on people who claim to have Microsoft, IBM, and Cisco certifications. They're practically worthless compared to actual experience in many cases... many of these folks can't answer even basic troubleshooting questions in a phone interview.

By the way... IT DOES suck. I'm not sure why anyone would want to get in this field now, considering that most companies are trying to push as much of this work overseas as possible.

 

[LoverBoyJ]

Originally posted by: Atheus
Dude what do you want those BS IT certs for? You are a fricking computer scientist...
I moved from tech support to university to software engineering - what you're doing seems like 2 steps back.

I'm a Test Engineer now, what made me think of moving to IT, most of my friends are in IT and they earn much more than me, and they even don't break a sweat doing it. AS for me, I have to work my ass off in order to get a good raise. I already have reached the cap on my current job (i.e. theres no way that I could get a better position in management and better pay)

My main goal is to be a Network Engineer, but where else do I start... in IT. I don't really care starting from scratch as long as the end results are much better that what I am doing now.

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: LoverBoyJ

Originally posted by: Atheus
Dude what do you want those BS IT certs for? You are a fricking computer scientist...
I moved from tech support to university to software engineering - what you're doing seems like 2 steps back.

I'm a Test Engineer now, what made me think of moving to IT, most of my friends are in IT and they earn much more than me, and they even don't break a sweat doing it.

I don't get that... me any my fellow graduates make way more than IT people we know.

My main goal is to be a Network Engineer, but where else do I start... in IT.

But you already know way more than the average network guy needs! If you did a compsci degree you should know the protocols inside out, you should be able to write router software from scratch - learning to plug a few cables in is trival in comparison.

 

[KaChow]

Originally posted by: munruss
IT sucks. I've been a Network Admin for years now and it is pointless. Do yourself a favor and get into something that is meaningful.

QFT. I've been in IT (in one form or another) for 9 years and I'm going to school to move over to the finance field.

 

[Marinski]

I think certs help if your just looking to get into the field as a tech or something and you don't have work experience or a degree. A lot of places require you have at least an A+. I'm one of those people who doesn't have a computer related degree, but i have a cert. It kinda ticks me off when people put down people who have certs. Some of us actually do want to learn the material and not just take a bunch of practice tests or boot camps just for a piece of paper.

 

[LoverBoyJ]

Originally posted by: Atheus

Originally posted by: LoverBoyJ

Originally posted by: Atheus
Dude what do you want those BS IT certs for? You are a fricking computer scientist...
I moved from tech support to university to software engineering - what you're doing seems like 2 steps back.

I'm a Test Engineer now, what made me think of moving to IT, most of my friends are in IT and they earn much more than me, and they even don't break a sweat doing it.

I don't get that... me any my fellow graduates make way more than IT people we know.

My main goal is to be a Network Engineer, but where else do I start... in IT.

But you already know way more than the average network guy needs! If you did a compsci degree you should know the protocols inside out, you should be able to write router software from scratch - learning to plug a few cables in is trival in comparison.

Not necessarily, I graduated 1994, that was when 80% of people knew the internet and its technologies. Thats why I have a lot of catching up to do. When I worked at my company, I started as a low paid operator then moved my way up to engineering.

 

[Sunner]

My first move would be to figure out what you WANT to do.
Aside from the general pleasant feeling you get from actually enjoying your work, I'd say it's more or less impossible to actually become truly good(as opposed to "good enough") unless you have a true interest in it.
So, what do you wanna do?
Networking?
UNIX admin?
Windows admin?
Hardware?
Programming?
Any particular specialization? Network Security? SAP R/3? Oracle?
Etc^infinity

Figure that one out for yourself, otherwise you'll just end up being one in the endless stream of people who are in the IT business to make a quick buck in my opinion.

 

[LoverBoyJ]

That pretty much lists what most employer wants in an IT guy. Most employers now a days wants someone who can do everything, that way they can save hiring specialized people.

 

[TreyRandom]

Certifications won't magically get you an IT job. Those postings you're looking at aren't for entry-level jobs... they're for techs with those certifications AND experience. If you don't have an IT job, get one. You'll have to start out at the bottom (just like everyone else did), because no company will allow you to administer their network without having assisted in administering a network before. Then, as you build real-world experience, start looking at getting more certifications. And avoid the boot camps.

Don't get me wrong - I am a huge supporter of certifications (as you can probably tell from my sig). I've written certification practice exams for 5 years, I'm starting my own certification training company, and my first certification book (by Sybex) is being published in April. However, certification wasn't meant to be an indicator of what jobs you WANT to do... certification was supposed to indicate the jobs you can ALREADY do. Therefore, certification isn't what you need at this point in your career. What you need is an entry-level IT job so you can build experience.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: LoverBoyJ
That pretty much lists what most employer wants in an IT guy. Most employers now a days wants someone who can do everything, that way they can save hiring specialized people.

Depends on where you work.
Smaller shops tend to want all-in-one type guys, and it works there since they tend to have entirely different requirements than big companies.
Big companies on the other hand tend to have entire departments for smaller stuff.

Me, I'm a consultant, my current customer hired me to do a subset of Solaris administration(almost exclusively Zones/SRM for those interested), so that's not even "UNIX admin", it's even less

 

[rmrfhomeoops]

Originally posted by: Atheus

Originally posted by: LoverBoyJ

Originally posted by: Atheus
Dude what do you want those BS IT certs for? You are a fricking computer scientist...
I moved from tech support to university to software engineering - what you're doing seems like 2 steps back.

I'm a Test Engineer now, what made me think of moving to IT, most of my friends are in IT and they earn much more than me, and they even don't break a sweat doing it.

I don't get that... me any my fellow graduates make way more than IT people we know.

My main goal is to be a Network Engineer, but where else do I start... in IT.

But you already know way more than the average network guy needs! If you did a compsci degree you should know the protocols inside out, you should be able to write router software from scratch - learning to plug a few cables in is trival in comparison.

Engineers in general make more than administrators or technicians. Because IT is support for company staffs, the management sees the department more as an expense since it doesn't generate any revenue. In engineering, you're creating a product/solution that sells and therefore management see it as more of investment and are willing to put more money into it than IT. Stick with engineering. One reason you could be pay less is because you're viewed as a technician as oppose to a true engineer. Another thing is technicians and administrators deal with more people whereas engineering usually just answers to the managers. Also technicians will have to do more field services whereas engineer usually work within the lab or the floor that they work at.