I want to be an IT professional

[Justin]

I'm ready to do it. I want to become an IT pro. I have determined that these are some of the things I should learn to be marketable:

UNix, Java, apache, red hat, linux, .net, c++, MCSE, mcsa,

cisco, MCSE+I, MCT, MCSS, MCSST, CCA, CCI, CNE, CNI, CNS, CIP,

CCNA, A+, Network+ and i-Net+.

So..... Where do I start? I want to do this through correspndence and online, and I would like to do this within some sort of budget. Please advise.

[mmonnin]

Isnt that field getting tough to get into?

[Justin]

I have an opening at my company but I need some certifications and Im just not sure where it would make sense to start. We do Novel and Citrix. Any Ideas?

[primesuspect]

Wow - if you have all those skillsets, you will know more than anybody I've ever met ;D

I would pick something to focus on, and then let the rest come as you need it. Start off going towards your MCSE. That's gonna be marketable. Start off with 70-270 (Windows XP Professional) and get your MCP in that, and then go from there.

You've got lots of arenas in that "I want to learn" list... You should pick a focus - Networking, programming, database technologies, systems, etc... Forget what you THINK you should do - what do you WANT to do.. If it's something you enjoy, you'll excel at it. Some people are not cut out to be programmers but make great networking people, and some people are fantastic programmers but suck at systems. You get the idea.

[Justin]

Awesome! OK, that is step one, now, will I get the same certification through correspondence that I would in the classroom? Also, we use Citrix and Novel at work, I plan to be in IT there so should I focus on those specifically or is there a program that would be more all-encompassing that might be better? I was looking at this for starters...
http://www.careeracademy.com/careeracademy.com/iacademy.htm

Good Idea? Bad Idea? Am I even close?

[primesuspect]

I wouldn't worry too much about Novell.. It's a dying beast. Citrix runs over windows NT, so your MCSE is still gonna serve you well. Look, 98% of the world's computers use MS operating systems - getting certified in MS products is a safe bet.

[primesuspect]

Oh, and those classes are generally good for people who start from ZERO (literally zero) knowledge of computers.. You can try going out and getting the MCSE study guides from Microsoft Press (they're like $50 per book) and learning it yourself and then spending the $120 or so to take the test. That's MUCH cheaper than taking one of those classes.

[Leonardo]

You might also want to check a university book store for used, but current, MSCE books.

You could also try one of the online college book sellers. Don't know the name, but there are e-vendors that specialize in college books.

[Justin]

Thanks Guys! I think I know what direction I should be heading in. What about C++? Is that something I should look into? What about Oracle? Cisco? I have seen in the Atlanta paper that companies are looking for a lot of people with these skills and I guess I am wondering if I could just get the books on them too or if a course would be the way to go.

[Justin]

Ah... I did not know that.... Then I think I will stick to MS(fill in the blank). Thanks again!

[primesuspect]

Again - you're talking about three completely divergent fields there - C++ is programming... Are you into that? Oracle is a high end corporate database server. Cisco is WAN tech (Wide Area Networking)... They are three totally different skillsets. You should focus on one. They will each have totally different career paths.

[Straight_Man]

Thanks Guys! I think I know what direction I should be heading in. What about C++? Is that something I should look into? What about Oracle? Cisco? I have seen in the Atlanta paper that companies are looking for a lot of people with these skills and I guess I am wondering if I could just get the books on them too or if a course would be the way to go.

For all three of those, courses and certs. I would say this:

First, Prime is right in a way, the skill sets are sets. If you are into Access, then you could learn Oracle-- but, having admin certs and Access DB certs will open some career doors for you in the meantime. If you are really more into home networking now, then you could pick up Cisco networking or learn Linux networking internals, or both.

Second-- Think about what you do best now and like most, build on that. Over the long haul, you might find yourself learning C++ to a degree, but that is a special mindset language to really use it to the full.

One thing I will say-- what is hyper-hot now will change later. Lots of folks starting out tend to hop on latest tihng, then when they get certified find lots of others had same idea. Make the first jump something you also enjoy, and build from that stepping stone. That's what I did, and I turned out to be somewhat of a jack of many IT trades, but that took 30 years plus.

John D.

[Straight_Man]

You might also want to check a university book store for used, but current, MSCE books.

You could also try one of the online college book sellers. Don't know the name, but there are e-vendors that specialize in college books.

http://www.safari.com/ is the cheapest place I know for online reading. They have lots of texts legally online-- they charge by month, give you a virtual bookshelf, and the publishers OK what they put online and get some money back from Safari in royalties. Then buy what grabs you most and what you understand most. I pay them about $15.00 a month, can have 10 books checked out at once virtually, go online and read anytime 24/7. They are an IT virtual library. They've been around more quietly for over a decade, and are becoming more popular among techs who need some out-of career core info or who want to explore IT.

http://www.bamm.com/ has a plethora of books, once books get slightly dated, they discount them about 37% on the web. If you are a Millionaire's Club member, which runs $10.00 per year, you get a further 10% off. And frequently, if you buy $50.00 of books in one order, they will also throw in free shipping. I have seen them also offer free shipping for orders over $25.00 from time to time.

This site is also known as BooksAMillion, and the web discounts, other than the 10%, do not tend to show up often in their stores in real time. Wildly, after shipping, I tend to save about 10-20% off the
BooksAMillion store prices at the local BooksAMillion near me. Web sales is a different division of BooksAMillion than the physical stores.

AFAIK, BooksAmillion is US only, sorry for those outside US.

John D.

[KingFish]

I'd definitely go with getting the MCSE. It's a sure bet and a great thing to put on a resume. As a bump towards the MCSE you may consider the A+ too. It's a lower level and will fill in the gap as the MCSE can be quite hard. The A+ will provide somewhat of a stepping stone and get your mind geared to the test taking involved. Most IT's are biased to being either hardware minded or software/programmer minded. I fall on the hardware side of things. Find out which side you are biased towards and begin to build on it. Like prime said, do what you enjoy most as you'll have a tendency to stick with it more and you'll find the learning easier too. There is absolutely no way that you can learn all of the skills you mentioned in the first post in any reasonable amount of time and keep current/proficient in all of them in the timeframe to put your resumes out to companies. You'll be 747639356 years old before you're ready to start applying AND you'll be the proverbial over-qualified person for that entry level IT job. Remember, you're not going to start out at a top position in any company in any field unless you're a CEO. Do your research on companies you may want to work for. You'll be astounded on the differences between companies and the different climates. If you do your homework well on companies you can to begin to tailor your education towards it so you'll be the most attractive guy to them when they begin to court new job seekers. If done correctly, there is a lot more to it than just racking up a bunch of tidy certificates to hang on the wall.

KingFish

[Thrax]

A+ and NET+ certs are a GREAT place to start!

[mmonnin]

Find the ISDN # of the book and search at http://www.campusi.com. It will search Amazon, B&N, and other sites. I saved $160 on 4 books last tri instead of getting them from school.

[Justin]

I think I want to focus on hardware, that is my main interest. Other than A+, Net+, and MCSE, what else should I think about in following this road?

[Gobbles]

I agree with Thrax..

Then you should pick a specialty. Yeah you can be an all around it person but specialists make the money. Yeah lots of mcse's but not near as many exchange persons or other mail server ppl, Network security specialists make a butt load of cash. Specializing in something will make you more cash then being an all around.

Good Luck

Gobbles

[Justin]

So after the basics, what should I focus on for network security? Is it reasonable to do both hardware and network security?

[a2jfreak]

Maybe he should learn to program a network database just to make sure most of his bases are covered! :)


You've got lots of arenas in that "I want to learn" list... You should pick a focus - Networking, programming, database technologies, systems, etc...