Question for the IT guys...

[FourSixPony]

I'm interested in getting in to the IT field, but I'm not 100% sure on how to go about it. Do I just start by getting the CompTIA A+ cert and then go from there and get other ones? Or do I have it all wrong?

 

[xenodragon]

Depends, what are you looking to do in the IT area. Networking? Coding? Audits?

 

[FourSixPony]

Probably networking.

 

[SirShaun]

A+ -> Net+ -> Cisco Training -> Load Balancer Training.

A+ and Net+ will get your foot in the door somewhere most likely. Let your employer eat the cost on Cisco Training and their Load Balancer of choice training.

Networking, Virtualization, and Shared Storage are all the rage these days. Master all 3 and make bank.

 

[HumanWiki]

Probably networking.

If you're going in to a networking discipline, then an A+ by itself isn't really going to be of much value. It will give you an overall understanding of infrastructure, but it's not going to get in to the networking concepts and ideas that you'll actually need to know to be of any value beyond a help desk worker.

If you're going to do a CompTIA course/test, then you'll also want to do Network+ since it will focus more on those areas. You can also pick up Cloud Essentials from CompTIA, but I suggest looking in to some stuff from Cisco (entry level exams/courses) as well. Cisco will have brand specific command sets and technologies, but a lot of it can be applied to other vendors since a lot of the underlying ideas will be same/similar.

Also, from someone that's been in professional IT for 15 years now and worked at some very large firms/corps, do yourself a favor and don't limit yourself to a singular discipline. You don't have to be a jack of all trades, but more times than not, you'll find that being able to talk shop with other departments at a more detailed level will give you an edge. It's one thing to understand how networking technologies work, but if you don't understand what's riding the network and why, then you'll end up in a rut with nowhere to go if it stales our or is integrated with other areas. I've dealt with people from all walks of IT before that only wanted to know their one little area and they're much more difficult to interact with than those that are more versed. You end up with people that always point fingers elsewhere because they have no ability to really understand how everything ties together. Again, you don't have to be an expert in all fields, but being able to talk to a developer and then a SAN guy, then a server/virtualization guy will endear you to them more so than less open peers.

Plus, the concepts of networks, servers, storage, etc. all being separate pieces that are just interconnected is dying. There's a lot surrounding converged systems/designs and if you only know networks, then you'll lose out to someone that knows more about more.

 

[lucheski]

Skip A+ go straight to this cert.
CCENT (Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician) THEN do the CCNA!

DO a VMWare cert or get VMWARE experience before bothering with A+ (which is a useless cert imo unless you want a $10/hr job)

Vmware Certs
http://mylearn.vmware.com/portals/certification/

 

[lucheski]

youtube is FULL of GREAT Tutorials at ALL LEVELS of expertise


[video=youtube;Zh73A0JMC5g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh73A0JMC5g&list=PLQXnYkkTuOB_z8VgpvI9w0X0JqHx6AnjL&index=2[/video]

[video=youtube;Dd4stOfFnxo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd4stOfFnxo&index=3&list=PLQXnYkkTuOB_z8VgpvI9w0X0JqHx6AnjL[/video]

[video=youtube;hfV0D8714tA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfV0D8714tA&list=PLQXnYkkTuOB_z8VgpvI9w0X0JqHx6AnjL&index=4[/video]

[video=youtube;nmFOMVDun1g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmFOMVDun1g&list=PLQXnYkkTuOB_z8VgpvI9w0X0JqHx6AnjL&index=5[/video]

 

[HumanWiki]

A+ -> Net+ -> Cisco Training -> Load Balancer Training.

A+ and Net+ will get your foot in the door somewhere most likely. Let your employer eat the cost on Cisco Training and their Load Balancer of choice training.

Networking, Virtualization, and Shared Storage are all the rage these days. Master all 3 and make bank.

Skip A+ go straight to this cert.
CCENT (Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician) THEN do the CCNA!

DO a VMWare cert or get VMWARE experience before bothering with A+ (which is a useless cert imo unless you want a $10/hr job)

Vmware Certs
http://mylearn.vmware.com/portals/certification/

This is good advice as well. I've made sure that I've touched, learned and been responsible for pretty much all technical areas of Infrastructure and I've never had to worry about getting hired or promoted. Phones, Networks, Security, Servers, Data Center Ops, Virtualization, SAN/NAS/DAS, Monitoring, Desktops, Google Ent Apps, etc. They're all under the belt... So, when you branch out like that you find you're rarely ever searching for employment, you're sought after at your current place and you're rarely if ever on the chopping block for reductions.

 

[prs97]

All good advice here.

If you want to go into networking, maybe keep an eye out for a NOC type position. Might be a good entry level type role to get your foot in the door with while you're learning & going for any certifications.

Good luck.

 

[03Sssnake]

This is good advice as well. I've made sure that I've touched, learned and been responsible for pretty much all technical areas of Infrastructure and I've never had to worry about getting hired or promoted. Phones, Networks, Security, Servers, Data Center Ops, Virtualization, SAN/NAS/DAS, Monitoring, Desktops, Google Ent Apps, etc. They're all under the belt... So, when you branch out like that you find you're rarely ever searching for employment, you're sought after at your current place and you're rarely if ever on the chopping block for reductions.

This...I have been in the field for 15 years as well, whenever there has been an opportunity to train/move into another segment|team etc, I have done it.

If I had to pick though, I love SAN & virtualization|VMware vSphere.

 

[Drive XR7]

Focus on Cloud. AWS, Azure, Verizon, etc. It's the next big thing. VMware is old hat now.

Whatever you do, learn how to automate. shell, powershell, ruby, vbscript. Building automation is the cornerstone to a successful IT career.

 

[GT Premi]

Security, security, security; especially network security. That's where it's at if you want the big bucks and job security. Like someone else said, virtualization is also the trend nowadays.

 

[Drive XR7]

Security, security, security; especially network security. That's where it's at if you want the big bucks and job security. Like someone else said, virtualization is also the trend nowadays.

People like you make my life difficult.

 

[FourSixPony]

Thanks for all the info guys, I needed it..

 

[DriftwoodSVT]

Whatever you do, learn how to automate. shell, powershell, ruby, vbscript. Building automation is the cornerstone to a successful IT career.

None of my IT jobs have ever required automation. I've been in the field 15 years. But I'm also an AD/DR/MDM guy so not much need for it with what I do.

Security is big that's for sure. Also MDM is an area of big growth.

 

[alicecooper]

This is what I did and am doing because I am going in the same direction as you. I went and got my Bachelors in Network Administration, good piece of paper that shows your willing to learn and stick with things, plus it will give you a good base knowledge set to build upon. It wasn't just networking, I learned Active Directory, Systems, Security, applications, wireless, etc. If you have the means I would grab a Bachelors. Next I would study for a Net+, it is a vendor neutral certificate. In your case it is a little smarter to do that because you don't know what your future employer will be using. Once you get hired somewhere, they will send you off for training on their specific equipment. If you can't get a four year degree, I would at least try for a two year tech degree then stack your resume with certificates. Also like everyone else said, virtualization is the hot thing these days. Go get yourself a copy of ESXI 5.5 off vmwares website and put it on a spare PC (make sure the NIC is compatible), and play around with it. I currently have my router (pfsense) and a storage/print server (server 2008 r2) virtualized using ESXI on one box in my basement. It is a great way to learn things, and if you screw something up, just reload a snapshot and start over.

 

[DriftwoodSVT]

I've noticed a good amount of IT management jobs in my area (AMD, IBM, Intel) are now requiring ITIL certs.

 

[black92]

Security, security, security; especially network security. That's where it's at if you want the big bucks and job security. Like someone else said, virtualization is also the trend nowadays.

This is very good too!

OP - An "easier" way to get your foot in the door and start learning is to be a Software QA Analyst. This is what I do and I love it. From my experience, it doesn't require in depth knowledge of code or a certification. However, learning code is very good because you can create robust automated test scripts to do a regression test against a site while you focus on manual testing. A very simple automation tool that you can learn is to download a free FireFox add-on called Selenium IDE.

 

[lucheski]

The 15 years thing is ironic lol...I started my career managing a computer lab in 2000..working now as Senior Cloud Engineer (AWS)

Certs and Degrees are certainly not necessary to be successful in this field however they are great learning tools and will build your confidence.

Focus on Cloud. AWS, Azure, Verizon, etc. It's the next big thing. VMware is old hat now.

Whatever you do, learn how to automate. shell, powershell, ruby, vbscript. Building automation is the cornerstone to a successful IT career.

This is great advice! In a few years if you can't automate or implement automation tools, you will be obsolete if not already. But for now OP, focus on the basics and getting a good foundation.


Regarding VMWARE being old hat....

Public Cloud is the hot thing right now and will become the main thing in the near future. However I think it's better for someone just learning to start out learning the basics...I.E. what's in a traditional datacenter. Particularly someone learning Networking which is at first a very hand-on career at the beginner "technician" levels. We have to realize even though Cloud is the future so many IT managers and professionals are IGNORANT about Cloud Technology and resistant to evolving their infrastructure.... VMWARE has a huge install base so there will be alot of vmware work for years to come.

 

[oldmodman]

Things sure have advanced since my first job in the "IT" industry.

I had a summer job winding ferrite cores for memory banks at Ampex. The big one was 4K.

And sold for eighteen thousand dollars.:cryying: To IBM!

At least we had advanced beyond tubes. :-D