Spec me some (IT) qualifications.

slipd

slipd

slipd

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Hi guys,

Over the course of the next 6-10 months I want to gain some relevant it qualifications for a planned transition into the it sector.

I want to be a technician/network engineer.

So far I've got a degree in networks and web design and a pgce in ict. I've worked in schools but I'm currently teaching in a prison. Over the next few months, through the prison, I should become a certified trainer of cisco it1/it2, bcs ecdl, cisco pnie and cisco ccna. In addition to these qualifications I’d also like to look at the comptia exams and the Microsoft ones.

Are they still relevant to the industry? Which specific exams should I be looking at doing? There are so many…

It'd be interesting to hear from people currently in the industry that have experience of determining which qualifications hold the most weight when they are looking to recruit employees.

Cheers,

SW.
 
First you need to find a job....

I currently work in IT, supporting our company's data centre. Support is perhaps the wrong word, as we arent a customer facing team and isntead respond to our monitoring and workload but support is the best word to use as i'm not a manager.

I have no qualifications at all. Just plenty of years of experience.

In my experience of talking to the people that do the recruiting - qualifications mean jack all. the number of CVs that get posted for a job that have qualifications on them is immense. All obtained through schemes on the telly and such like. Yes they've studied hard and spent vast ammounts on obtaining them, but they cant do the job.

Just google IT training to get an idea of just how many of these companies are out there, offering to get people a career in IT for 40k a year or whatever. Theres tons.

As such, people will skip over the qualifications and go straight for people with experience.

Its great that if you want to get into networking you've got CCNA. Its relevant and may help. But a networking technician isnt going to have anything to do with microsoft windows server and implementing group policy or SQL etc..

So obtaining lots of microsoft qualifications at great expense to yourself for stuff you arent going to touch or need is pointless.

One titbit of information passed on from my managers. For every 3/4 people the company employs with these so called "qualifications" at least 1 of them has bluffed it. They may be really unlucky, and get the sack (as one of our colleagues did a few months ago) because they totally winged it and really couldn't do a thing. Others hide it that they've winged it, and learn and cope. But managers can still tell. Its just that its not bad enough to get personell in on them and pay money to go recruiting agian.

Focus on finding a job, rather than stacking up loads of qualifications you don't need.
 
Not meaning to derail the thread but are you teaching offenders in CCNA or prison staff?

Miffed if its the former as its not a cheap course to pay for when funding it yourself.
 
one more thing, browse the IT websites for jobs that you actually want to do.

www.reed.co.uk
www.cwjobs.co.uk
Job Centre

Apply and see what happens

If you dont get called to interview, e-mail and ask for feedback about how you can improve. If the feedback is "you need to be MCSE trained" all the time, then you know that maybe the employers in your area and sector are looking for them, as there are some employers who see them as the holy grail (but few mind)

However when i went applying, the feedback was always the same - not enough experience.
 
But going on what you're saying, Mr.LOL

How do you get a job if you lack both qualifications and experience?
 
you need that lucky first chance

Which for me, came purely down to the fact that i got called to interview because my C.V. looked interesting, and the manager in question liked giving people a first chance, and decided at the interview that he liked my personality.

Once you get that first break, that first rung on the ladder, the rest is easy. But having qualifications wont make it easier for you, as most IT managers know that most of the people applying are in the same boat - lots of letters after their name, but no experience and would struggle just as much as any other person.
 
But having experience and a MCSE does help.
Also you still get loads of jobs that specifically ask for MCSE, MCITP, CCNA etc, so if thats what they are specifically looking for then its a good thing to have on your cv. For instance, two people apply doing the same job and same experiance but they want the MCSE, if you have the qualification it can give you the edge.
 
MrLOL said:
you need that lucky first chance

Which for me, came purely down to the fact that i got called to interview because my C.V. looked interesting, and the manager in question liked giving people a first chance, and decided at the interview that he liked my personality.

Once you get that first break, that first rung on the ladder, the rest is easy. But having qualifications wont make it easier for you, as most IT managers know that most of the people applying are in the same boat - lots of letters after their name, but no experience and would struggle just as much as any other person.
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I see.

I agree there. I did, too get that first chance. Started out a workshop techy in a retail store and later became a manager at said store before moving cities.

But as the OP - I have been wondering if me getting some qualifications are worth my while. I am 'on the ladder' and only have 4 years working experiance thus far. However I am still young and have a lot of room to grow.

Oh wait...I am kinda high-jacking the thread. Opps. Carry on! :p
 
I wouldnt say loads

I see very few in leeds

At the end of the day, the OP can decide this for himself by browsing the jobs sites and seeing the jobs he wants to apply for. If they say it needs it then.

As a quick example

http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/C...462472&s=1637&ns=True&sr=1&FromSector=1&lit=2

no MCSE required.

But guess what

The successful Network Engineer will have at least 5 years experience of provision of proactive network support and project work.
Click to expand...

:/

http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/D...19390179&&pg=2&s=1637&sr=1&FromSector=1&lit=2

Person Specification

3+ years relevant commercial experience
Cisco certified
Previous experience working in a 24/7 real time environment
Strong working knowledge of Cisco firewalls, VPN's, switches and routers
Any experience gained within the payments or financial Services sector would be highly desirable
Click to expand...

Again 3+ years experience :/

the CCNA part is great, its relevant to what he wants to do, and an exception to the rule i'm quoting here. But he cant apply for that job either, despite having CCNA as it wants experience. This is your biggest hurlde

Not lots of letters after your name.
 
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True.

I was also lucky in my current job I am now - they said they needed someone with qualifications - so I just applied anyway and see what happens.

Been employed there for two years. :D

I do see a lot of job adverts saying they want qualifications. However in all honesty, if I was hiring, I would far rather take on a dude with lots of experience than a dude with zero experience and qualifications.
 
If getting microsoft qualifications was free - i'd say they can do you no harm.

But they are quite expensive. If he's planning to use these qualifications to find a job in IT, he needs to be carefull, as even if he is able to get them through work, most employers have a clause that says you have to pay the course fees if you leave within 12 months of passing th exam.
 
MrLOL said:
I wouldnt say loads

I see very few in leeds

At the end of the day, the OP can decide this for himself by browsing the jobs sites and seeing the jobs he wants to apply for. If they say it needs it then.

As a quick example

http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/C...462472&s=1637&ns=True&sr=1&FromSector=1&lit=2

no MCSE required.

But guess what



:/

http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/D...19390179&&pg=2&s=1637&sr=1&FromSector=1&lit=2



Again 3+ years experience :/

the CCNA part is great, its relevant to what he wants to do, and an exception to the rule i'm quoting here. But he cant apply for that job either, despite having CCNA as it wants experience. This is your biggest hurlde

Not lots of letters after your name.
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I can easily do the same but for jobs that do say it such as

You will be providing support to my client's internal customer base including the daily monitoring of customers systems. For this Sheffield, South Yorkshire based position if you have suitable SQL experience as well as MCSE apply Now. Salary £24k - £28k Benefits.

http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/S...istrator/?JobID=19466358&k=mcse&ns=True&lit=2


Im not saying experience isnt important, its very important, however certification as well as experience puts you in a even better position.
 
Thats systems engineer, not network engineer. Different role

This for example:

Would you like to join an international award winning 24x7x365 team? Do you have in-depth troubleshooting skills of Desktop Toshiba DELL Lenovo, Servers Compaq, HP Windows XP Vista Windows 7 Windows Based systems
Click to expand...

Is a very long worded way of saying you're going to be doing basic desktop support *shudders*

Notice they dont ask for CCNA ?

You wont find many qualified Cisco CCNAs doing desktop support ;)
 
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daman2k said:
Im not saying experience isnt important, its very important, however certification as well as experience puts you in a even better position.
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Sure.

What we're saying that is if you're just starting out - don't waste time on getting new qualifications. Experience first and get the qualifications while you're in a job. That way you're building up both.

Not so?
 
Why not though? your first job your going to be going up against people with loads of experience so you need someone to take a punt on you. Im not saying get a MCSE with no experience, but get a mcp in windows 7 or something, it can only help. (im using microsoft as examples as im not as familiar with cisco)
 
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daman2k said:
Why not though?
Click to expand...

plain and simple.

Money

If it was something you could do for free in your spare time, then fine. What bad can come from furthering yourself ? None. But we're on about wasting money here. And MCSE / MCSA course books and fees dont come cheap.

Given that i work alongside people with MCTS qualifications, and i have none, does that not proove the point that they have effectively wasted that money ?
 
MrLOL said:
Given that i work alongside people with MCTS qualifications, and i have none, does that not proove the point that they have effectively wasted that money ?
Click to expand...

One thought, though.
Do they get paid more than you due to their qualifications, I wonder?
 
a windows 7 mcp is one exam at £88 and a self paced training book at around £25. He can run labs on his pc using evaluation software.

I dont see it as a waste of money no, I have a MCITP : Enterprise Administrator but I dont look down at people in my team because they dont have it. I also dont see it in anyway as a waste of money, I wanted to better my skills on Server 2008 and it has allowed me to do that.
 
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