What IT qualifications? (done to death...)

LeperousDust · 18 Apr 2006 at 18:45

So a friend is trying to change careers, and i saw him looking at a computeach course today, it's going to cost him £7000 :eek:

!

I said to him it's much cheaper to get second hand books and basically teach it himself, because hes not stupid by any stretch. He asked what he should look at getting, but even after millions of threads on this subject i don't really know what he should take course-wise and what books he should buy.

Is the MCSE network based? He doesn't really want to go network side i dont think, well he hasnt said he wants to. I think he imagines himself as something more like IT support. Although i dont exactly know myself, i'm avoiding the IT industry

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Any advice on what he should and shouldnt take just to get him started, i've already said to him, he'll need experience over anything before he actually earns anything far from decent, but he's fine with this he just needs somewhere to start. I dont want computeach ripping him off!

I think the computeach qualification was something called Microsoft Desktop Support something or other? Something around that maybe?

Cheers guys any info/help appreciated.

Gilly · 18 Apr 2006 at 18:48

MCSE is support/windows based, not networks. It covers it a little but there's no depth to it.

If he has zero qualifications and zero experience I'd tell him to get A+ books. Great for entry-level knowledge. Worth passing the exams if the fees are low too.

He can then decide from there which direction to go

VeNT · 18 Apr 2006 at 18:56

If he just wants to get a job without realy having to work in the industry then go for the CCNA/MCSE combo and your laughing from what I've seen, not that those qualifications are not worth anything, just thats what lots of places are after.

if he realy has no knolage then I'd say A+ followed by those two at somewhere that teaches you the stuff rather than just what you need to pass the exams

LeperousDust · 18 Apr 2006 at 19:16

Excellent, I mentioned th A+ to him, i'll get him on that first then, that should be super cheap. Thats basically hardware stuff isn't it? He doesn't know much, he can do a lot in a windows environment, but i doubt he could build a PC.
Is it worth having, should i get the books after him and just go for it myself, i mean i don't really have any intentions of aiming for the IT industry, but having the qualification can't hurt surely, if it's easy enough

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Personally i'm doing an NVQ or something in call handling i think its called, its a right farse, but i'm being paid £50 a week to do so and i get time off work :confused:

. Reckon i could get some kind of grant or something off work to do this, anyone been offered anything like this?

Gilly · 18 Apr 2006 at 19:17

I wouldn't tell him to take the A+ course, but I would tell him to get the books and learn it.

The course is probably not worth it unless he has a lot of spare cash around because what it gives you isn't really proportional to the cost of the courses.

LeperousDust · 18 Apr 2006 at 19:24

Sorry yeah, thats actually what i meant, by course i meant take the exam and self teach.

Cheer Gilly, i'll get in touch with him now give him an action plan.

Gilly · 18 Apr 2006 at 19:24

I may have the books lying around actually.

LeperousDust · 18 Apr 2006 at 19:29

Oooh, well get in touch if so, i'll (he'll

) glady pay you for them i'm sure. Puts them to good use

.

Skiddley · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:02

Bloody hell, my degree cost me barely 7grand!

Gilly · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:04

Skiddley said:
Bloody hell, my degree cost me barely 7grand!

In the support world a degree wouldn't be worth as much as those qualifications

skiba · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:05

Personally I would just get him to do an MCP, maybe XP. Get a job on a decent helpdesk and let them pay for training. By doing the MCP on his own he is proving he has the ability and the determination (they are easy and pretty cheap), let others pay for the rest.

Luke · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:06

What kind of level is he looking to enter the IT profession in? If he is willing to start at helpdesk level, then he doesn't really need qualifications so much as a decent level of computer knowledge and a good telephone manner. Anything to put on a CV will help him stand out from the crowd though, even A+.

Skiddley · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:08

Gilly said:
In the support world a degree wouldn't be worth as much as those qualifications

The world has gone mad I tell you. Maaaaaaad!

Gilly · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:08

Skiddley said:
The world has gone mad I tell you. Maaaaaaad!

Been that way for years

bigredshark · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:55

tough one, i don't think we'd hire someone without experience or decent qualifications. MCSE is good but it's not all that easy, it's also 7 exams and costs a bit because of that.

He should maybe think about a CCNA, it's easy as hell and relatively cheap to do (if you learn from books etc). though it's cisco specific in some ways it'll teach him a lot about networking in general too (though you'd need to know some tcp/ip first)

Ev0 · 18 Apr 2006 at 21:50

Gilly said:
Been that way for years

Depends on the place, I had no IT quals yet a degree, and it seems fashionable now for my place to hire grads rather than experianced hires. Odd I know.

Just taken a new lad on who is just fresh out from his phd, thought it'd be a come down having him sit on the help desk for 6 weeks lol.