Qualifications

mrbios · 16 Feb 2006 at 06:25

EDIT: this threads nearly 2 years old and ive had a job in IT for 1.5 years now, a don can close if he wishs - dont know why it was ressurected

Can anyone recommend me good IT qualifications for someone whos looking to do jobs in the hardware/networking sector?

i was looking at MCSA microsoft cert and the A+ certs but is there anything else more usefull than those? cisco certs etc?

also while looking for jobs ive seen a job titled "assembler" which looks like my cup of tea (taking apart and rebuilding computers all day sounds like my type of job lol) anyone know anything about this kind of job? ill probably send a CV to the place anyway just to see how far i get but the more information i can get beforehand the better

cheers for any help

iBot · 14 Jan 2008 at 00:05

Never heard of assembler before, Sounds just like a technician job or a pc world fix it type place.

I'd do cisco first, it's the better qualification

GSXRMovistar · 14 Jan 2008 at 00:10

If it's "assembler" as in hardware and not language I'd expect it to be very low paid and repetitive. There's no skill involved now in putting together servers let alone desktops these days so probably one to stay clear off.

If you want to go the hardware route I'd focus on networks/SAN storage.

GSXRMovistar · 14 Jan 2008 at 00:27

GSXRMovistar said:
There's no skill involved now in putting together servers let alone desktops these days.

I think I may have to retract that statement, my desktop just went BANG with and a nice puff of smoke (think the PSU just died). Shows what I know about hardware!

(posting from backup laptop)

Slinwagh · 14 Jan 2008 at 00:57

ITIL and Prince2 are pretty hot in the IT world at the moment.

GSXRMovistar · 14 Jan 2008 at 01:02

Slinwagh said:
ITIL and Prince2 are pretty hot in the IT world at the moment.

Agreed, if you have the experience to back these both up then do them now and grab a job. If it's all new to you then avoid as by the time you are qualified (by that I mean exams plus and actual hands on time following the process) it will be old hat, pretty much how it was with Cisco the past few years.

Conanius · 14 Jan 2008 at 08:20

Slinwagh said:
ITIL and Prince2 are pretty hot in the IT world at the moment.

GSXRMovistar said:
Agreed, if you have the experience to back these both up then do them now and grab a job. If it's all new to you then avoid as by the time you are qualified (by that I mean exams plus and actual hands on time following the process) it will be old hat, pretty much how it was with Cisco the past few years.

You say that, but ITIL V3 has just come out, and it will be a long time till those who are still getting their head round V2 take the step (its something silly like 20 something processess now isnt it?) Christ, the course I was on last week at a HP Facility had people from all over HP doing the V3 managers bridging exam, and none of them could get their heads round the changes !

I've got my ITIL Foundation (V2) and V2 Practitioners in Problem Management, Service Desk and Incident Management and I've just done my Release + Control course (Change, Config and Release Management) last week. If I've passed that exam I'll have all the Service Support disciplines, and just over 4 years experience working in an ITIL environment.... not terrible for a 23 year old !...

Even outside of London I have seen jobs for 40k that i'm confident I could go for, however you do really need to get the practical experience as ITIL is useless without it.... after all, it is just a framework.

K.C. Leblanc · 14 Jan 2008 at 08:51

I wouldn't bother with A+ unless you're litteraly just starting out, it's very basic.

Good luck.

mrbios · 14 Jan 2008 at 09:14

lol? a strange bump ive had an IT job for about a year and half now but ok....

Mr-White · 14 Jan 2008 at 09:42

Slinwagh said:
ITIL and Prince2 are pretty hot in the IT world at the moment.

i hope so i'm doing ITIL training atm

M$ or cisco are the main to certs, it really depends on what you want from them

MW

Solaris · 14 Jan 2008 at 09:48

Try and find an apprenticeship in IT somewhere. Im in one atm with one of the mobile phone companies looking after unix servers and loving it

K.C. Leblanc · 14 Jan 2008 at 10:19

Oops, should have read the date of your first post. I thought you might be looking to move on.

Roland0 · 14 Jan 2008 at 13:26

This is quite interesting actually, stop the lock!

Did you get any qualifications, if so what type, and where did you study and how much did it cost etc?

and how did the qualifications help you when you had the job?

What kind of job did you get?

this would be very interesting to know as I am in a similar situation!!

Thanks in advance!

mrbios · 14 Jan 2008 at 13:32

ok, well, didnt bother with any qualifications after posting this thread originally, just had the usual GCSE + BTEC from school/college, still looking to do some more qualifications in the future though but ill be looking at the school paying for me to do them

neither were of any use towards me getting the job i have now though really, the BTEC might have helped a bit, but it was mainly the good interview that got me the job

job i got was an IT Technician in a school, and since posting this thread ive learnt an incredible amount more than i thought i knew, still a lot to learn though

Spend_day · 14 Jan 2008 at 13:47

mrbios said:
ok, well, didnt bother with any qualifications after posting this thread originally, just had the usual GCSE + BTEC from school/college, still looking to do some more qualifications in the future though but ill be looking at the school paying for me to do them

im in IT i thought about doing UNI but then decided not to i have a BTEC national diploma in IT and not im an IT administrator in a office block/call centre its not bad work good pay and its something that I can work at and there’s always the option of getting further qualifications later in life.