IT Training

[monkeyjaimz]

Now then guys, i've been considering a bit of a career change for a while. I looked into IT last year, but with a marathon house purchase at the time (now finally put to bed), it had to wait. Anyway, the missus and I are talking about it again and are wondering which training provider to go with and also best way to finance it? Any advice appreciated. Jim.

[Billett]

Depends what qualifications your after and what kind of IT role you want to do.

 

Dont pay £4000+ for MCSE's and MCSA's when you can self teach at home buying the offical books for £30 each and then pay to take the exam

[monkeyjaimz]

Im looking ideally at being field-based, as being stuck in an office would kill me.

I had a chat with a training provider (who, coincidently enough - are asking for £4k), and they suggested starting off by looking at a networking qualification, to enable me to be a network support technician and perhaps progress to administrator.

I do really want to pursue something like this, the binds are that I need a starting salary thats at least the same as I am now and we can't afford to shell out thousands in course fees.

[salisburykeeper]

specifically what role in IT do you want to do? there are a lot of aspects to the industry

[monkeyjaimz]

I'm not entirely sure, I enjoy most aspects of computers (I even built my own p.c and am working on another one).

Im very hands on and enjoy problem solving.

I need to ask more questions and do a bit more research into actual job roles etc to find something that I can fit into.

[Cosd]

Hello mate,

I'm in IT (Mainframe Support) and work for Dixons head office.

 

My advice would be to look at what jobs are out there and in what quantities. Where there is big demand there will be many job vacancies, little demand means not much and you don't want to pay a lot of money and do the training just to find out there aren't any jobs.

 

The other consideration is this industry is being outsourced (mainly to India) in bucket loads; So again, do your homework before making any decisions.

 

Good luck!

[Wookie]

well, if you like problems solving and administration, then network admin will certainly be a good choice for you. But... it is still very office-based. I did that for a while and only got two/three call-outs in a year. If you work for a specialist SMB company that does the network admin for smaller companies, then it might be more.

 

Other areas you might want to consider are:

 

Cisco admin - Pays very well and is industry standard (CCNA, CCEA are the qualifications I think), ut is a bit pricey for a residential course

Citrix Admin - Up and coming given that Citrix is a TCO-lowering product and allows remote working/server virtualisation. It's also got industry standard qualifications (CCA being one)

Computer security - CISSP, CEH are a couple of the qualifications that you could go for. Again, expensive if you want to do a boot camp style course (CISSP is about 2.5k for a five day course) but the books are out there and the exams are reasonable. Breaking into the security market is tough though and people want _good_ security developers. I'm currently going for CISSP via the home learning route and it's tough going at home.

[kimb3r]

If you are good enough with computers you could consider opening up your own computer clinic. Place a few adds in local papers offering your services and eventually build your customer base, employ staff, buy a shop. I have considered doing this but being 18 with 2 jobs already it would be quite difficult.

[Evilv]

My advice would be to take the greatest of care about the direction you take. I used to manage the IT in an organisation I worked for and whenever we advertised a technical role we got sheaves of no hope applications from people who fixed their own PC and had done a wordprocessing course at the local adult education centre. We had about 800 desktops and a few servers and telephone systems. It is especially hard to break into a decent paying job when you have no track record in the business. I remember one application from a guy who was desperately keen to be a network admin assistant, but aside from his self taught skills, his entire work history was as a pavior and roofer. I can almost guarantee that ten years later he has still not broken through.

 

Wookie is right about the outsourcing of certain kinds of work, though itis usually developing and programming type work. One of my sons has recently started working as technical consultant fro Cap Gemini and when he was doing his degree, I drummed it into him that the only futureproof way in this business was in providing business consultancy and support. They can't really outsource the face to face problem solving type of work. Even network admin can largely be sent abroad. A mate of mine is an IT contractor and he had a big contract for Lever Brothers in which he was updating the operating systems of thousands of desktop PCs remotely from his home. The machines were distributed world wide and he was upgrading their software, so you can see the nature of the problem. Running your own computer clinic business may be harder than the advisor above thinks. You need a decent regular income and you could (likely would) face hard times at the beginning and maybe often. Also, you have to be good at winning business for much work if you are an independent and not everyone can do that.

 

Take care, and hold onto your day job as long as you can. You are wise to avoid shelling out a lot on training, unless a) you are certain you will pass the qualification, b.) you know there is loads of demand for the skill and your history will allow you to get a job doing it, and c) that you know the work won't and can't be outsourced to India or China. Sorry if that seems pesinistic, but you will be up against thousands of well qualified young Computing science graduates for even the most basic kinds of jobs.

Edited August 22, 2008 by Evilv

[Dunkield]

Having worked in various parts of the IT industry for 20 years, my advice would be to look at doing something else

Anything that can done remotely, i.e not hands on, can, and will eventually be, offshored.

A lot of hands on jobs like break/fix don't pay very well, but that is subjective of course.

I would do some research on what can actually be earnt these days before shelling out for training, and don't forget most employers would look for experience as well as qualifications, so you may have to grind away for a while at the bootom of the ladder.

If you really want to do it and want to do the courses don't write off the idea of going to India to get trained, sounds nuts I know, but a friend of mine looked into it and priced up going over there with accommodation and it worked out massively cheaper then doing it over here.

 

Having read all that back it sounds very negative, it wasn't intended to be, just from the hip.

[Lucid]

Computer security - CISSP, CEH are a couple of the qualifications that you could go for. Again, expensive if you want to do a boot camp style course (CISSP is about 2.5k for a five day course) but the books are out there and the exams are reasonable. Breaking into the security market is tough though and people want _good_ security developers. I'm currently going for CISSP via the home learning route and it's tough going at home.

 

I'm in the IT Security Business, and have the CEH and CISSP. They are both good qualifications if this is the area you want to go into, however most security roles require quite a bit of experience. This is the same for most IT roles advertised these days. But we all have to start in the business, and I started as a network administrator (Infrastructure), 10 years ago.

 

I would recommend, as others have said, looking at what sort of area interests you, then find out what roles, salary, benefits etc are and more importantly if they are local to you. Also see what qualifications and experience they are asking for. Look on Jobserve as a good guide.

 

What ever you do, don't think of spending the £k's that these daytime advertisements recommend. I did my MCSE, CCNA and CCSE's from home study and actual hands-on work and I passed with no bother.

 

 

Lucid ±;o)

 

P.S - Wookie - Good luck with the CISSP, it is worth it. If you want any revision tips on the CISSP exam, give me a shout.

[Spaniel]

Cisco skills seem to pay well, but it takes time to learn and again employers are looking for experience, I know our company is and willing to pay for the skills also.

 

I would look at Software rather then Hardware, maybe get in with a company working on Helpdesk/1st line support and see if they will provide you further training to move on within the company.

 

Enterprise Server, Data Storage all these are very popular but dont expect to do some home training and walk straight into a well paid job (you maybe lucky)

 

Microsoft Office Communicator is also becoming very popular, so you could also look at Voice and Video conferencing etc.

Microsoft have some very big plans to explore this market place..

 

But it is a fast changing market so be prepared to keep learning to stay on top..

 

Good Luck

[Dunkield]

I did my MCSE, CCNA and CCSE's from home study and actual hands-on work and I passed with no bother.

I take my hat off to you, to study for those and pass using home study takes a lot of self discipline and motivation

 

James, I would take the advice and look at software and in particular networking/security/remote access etc.

[monkeyjaimz]

Thanks very much for the advice and information guys, quite a lot to chew over and think about there.

Once again the PW clan have come up trumps

I'm going to give it all a serious mull over as there are a few other routes that I may be able to go down also, I'm lucky in a way in that I've always been able to turn my hand to pretty much anything, thanks again

[MM]

Hello mate,

I'm in IT (Mainframe Support) and work for Dixons head office.

 

My advice would be to look at what jobs are out there and in what quantities. Where there is big demand there will be many job vacancies, little demand means not much and you don't want to pay a lot of money and do the training just to find out there aren't any jobs.

 

The other consideration is this industry is being outsourced (mainly to India) in bucket loads; So again, do your homework before making any decisions.

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

 

(LIGHTNING STRIKE)!!! learn to speak Punjabi

 

my folks own a large software training company based in yorkshire, and my elder brother has all the bits of paper he needs to work in the industry, yet is happy in a normal sales job.

i cant stand comps, think they have ruined the Royal Mail name, thats why i work in transport.

 

why not look at what niche markets are going to happen. i know its like asking to see into the future, but get on the bandwagon early, and you can make a quid. Double glazing, property development, mobile phones,...ect. we all see them at their infancy, we just need to recognise the signs.

 

 

now back to being a daft ******...... about the Punjabi stuff