IT Qualifications

Harvey616

Harvey616

Harvey616

Associate
Joined
14 Jun 2010
Posts
737
Hey everyone :)

I was just after a bit of advice, I'm just starting Year 11 tomorrow, and will soon need to think about college course applications. I am really interested in computers, with computer hardware and game design being the parts I'm most interested in and I would really like a career orientated around computers.

However, I'm not sure what course to do, does anyone have any suggestions or could possibly tell me about the course they have done/are doing. I've seen that many people have mentioned CompTIA and Microsoft qualifications on the forum, could someone please tell me about these?

Thank you (:
 
CompTIA is OK for a grounding knowledge, and MS qualifications are great if you're going to be using them.

It's a very wide and varied industry, you might be better looking around on JobServe and the others at what kinds of job are available and what you think you'd like to do.
 
I'd say go with c#, VB.NET or so. A lot to learn and not that many people can hack it but worth it if you can.
 
Do your A Levels tbh. Maths, Physics and perhaps Computing get a good degree in Comp Science and it'll do you better than Comptia in the long run.
 
Throrik said:
Do your A Levels tbh. Maths, Physics and perhaps Computing get a good degree in Comp Science and it'll do you better than Comptia in the long run.
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+1

Get some decent A-Levels - Maths, Science, Computing. Then get a BSc Computing Degree and a Masters at a top 10 University. Learn about 5 of the most common programming languages in your own time and get a few MS certifications. You'll be a machine.
 
I have got my comptia A+ and my microsoft MCSA and MCSE qualifications for a aprentiship with zenos, they pay you £100 a week, and they also offer loads more qualifications such as ADITP (advanced diploma for it practioners) and if you didnt get any good GCSE grades they also offer NVQ stuff.


This apprentiship is national so ring them up and find out your local zenos and apply and good thing about it is that they find you IT jobs and when you leave the course potentially you could go to your brand new job the following week with 18k a year and your only 17.... i think that is a wonderful carrer start i should know because my fellow zenos mates got jobs and they earning around 15, 16, 17 k a year.
 
Make sure you do your A-levels and get a good degree, preferably in computer science.

There isn't a lot of money in computer game production especially game design (or testing) as everyone wants to do it so the market has pushed rates down, so getting a nice comp. sci. degree will set up up potentially for a number of different IT jobs INCLUDING gaming, not JUST gaming (which you probably to be honest won't get into no matter how much you want to).
 
I recommend looking into a Zenos Course. It's 5 months long and you get; MCDST, CompTIA A+, ADITP, C&G IT Based Stuff and other key skills. It's tightly packed, and after you've done it, it's quite overwhelming the amount of stuff you can put on your CV. Most of the work is outlined really well, so it's easy to follow.

I highly recommend it!

Edit: Didn't read above.. I never had £100 a week from Zenos when I did it.. they rolled it out when I finished :/.

Double Edit: and to add to what was said above, the after course job search help is excellent. The got me a job about 1 week after I finished, paying £8.50 an hour.. which was fine by me.. could be aiming for much higher though! If you can't find one straight away, they still help you find one for months after.
 
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I will definately look at Zenos as it sounds very good.

Would a college course such as Computer science not help me more towards a degree in it than A levels?
 
I went from school to a BTEC in IT then went onto uni to do Computer Science. I can highly recommend it, but the BTEC alone is a full time course so you wont have time for anything else apart from short courses such as CLAIT, RSA and ECDL etc.
 
Nanoman said:
+1

Get some decent A-Levels - Maths, Science, Computing. Then get a BSc Computing Degree and a Masters at a top 10 University. Learn about 5 of the most common programming languages in your own time and get a few MS certifications. You'll be a machine.
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I'd recommend getting decent enough A levels to get you into a average uni, get ****ed for the entire first year, get ****ed less the 2nd year and then get a decent degree in the 3rd year. Get atleast a 2.1 then be unemployed for months, sack off the job and go travelling around the world.
 
I did a BTEC national in computing at college, then a 4 year sandwich (1work year inbetween) business computing course at uni. I highly recommend uni, its great fun and you will only get one chance (when you are 18-22)

Im now in IT Support and enjoying my new job (3rd year in IT, with a year travelling)
 
Don't forget that all the qualifications on the planet mean nothing without experience. Beg, borrow, plead, volunteer - whatever, just get some relevant experience under your belt when and where you can. When faced with two candidates with the same badges, any employer will take the one with relevant practical experience over the one without.
 
Throrik said:
Do your A Levels tbh. Maths, Physics and perhaps Computing get a good degree in Comp Science and it'll do you better than Comptia in the long run.
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depends on what he wants to do, for 1st, 2nd ,3rd line support, and any sort of OS / user support as well as networking / comms anything but industry qualifications is pointless
 
edscdk said:
depends on what he wants to do, for 1st, 2nd ,3rd line support, and any sort of OS / user support as well as networking / comms anything but industry qualifications is pointless
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But those aren't really jobs you want to stay in and most of the real third line support people I know are degree educated.
 
FPS Addict said:
I have got my comptia A+ and my microsoft MCSA and MCSE qualifications for a aprentiship with zenos, they pay you £100 a week, and they also offer loads more qualifications such as ADITP (advanced diploma for it practioners) and if you didnt get any good GCSE grades they also offer NVQ stuff.


This apprentiship is national so ring them up and find out your local zenos and apply and good thing about it is that they find you IT jobs and when you leave the course potentially you could go to your brand new job the following week with 18k a year and your only 17.... i think that is a wonderful carrer start i should know because my fellow zenos mates got jobs and they earning around 15, 16, 17 k a year.
Click to expand...

I went to Zenos a while ago in Milton Keynes was great. Although they wernt paying you then and the qualifications were a little different. I couldnt get a job after i finished with them though as i was still 16 and no one wants to hire someone whos 16.
 
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