Questions for people who are computer techs...

[dave4shmups]

So I've thought about taking the CompTia A+ exams-both the 220-1001 and the 220-1002. but I have some questions for people who are professional computer techs.  Would I be driving around a lot, or could I just be based in a store like Micro Center, and work on computers that need repair that come into that store? Also, could I specialize in one area-let's say I love working on laptops; could I just (or mostly) do that?

[Archer20]

I started my IT career as a computer tech in a small repair shop. People brought their stuff in and we, as techs fixed it. It depends on where you work. Usually you become well versed in one area or another, especially Mac vs PC. We had Mac techs and then we had Windows guys. I was a Windows guy for the shop.

I ended up going to college though after spending a year and a half there. So I got my bachelor's in Cyber Security & Network Engineering for greater pay and more opportunities. As a word of advice, if that is an option for you, I recommend it. There is very little growth in PC repair and a stagnant payscale.

[WkdPaul]

27 minutes ago, dave4shmups said:

Would I be driving around a lot, or could I just be based in a store like Micro Center, and work on computers that need repair that come into that store?

This depends on the workplace. If you're not interested in driving around, look for places that don't offer that service.

 

Quote

Also, could I specialize in one area-let's say I love working on laptops; could I just (or mostly) do that?

Yes, it's up to you to decide to specialize in something, but again, that also depends on the workplace. If you go work in a place that mainly caters to gamers, chances are, you're not going to see lots of laptops. And if you go work for a big corporation (not a store that services people's devices), you won't do much repairs.

Edited January 9, 2020 by wkdpaul

[Touch My Hamm]

A+ is a great start to get into the IT industry. As for driving around it all depends on the job you take. Some could be a call center where you sit in a chair and take calls, or a deskside role where you go to users desks in a large office building making sure the cords are hooked up properly. Or you could be a driver who goes place to place installing new hardware. It all depends on the company and position. When applying for a job ask questions and gauge what you and the employer wants. Employers are wanting a certain individual and you are looking for a certain career. Its a 2 way street of negotiation and questioning. Job descriptions usually tell you if there is alot of travel if that helps. 

 

IT is a very vast place to learn and grow into and it all depends on what you wish to go into. A+ is a start where you can go into CCNA for networking or MCSA for server.

[tech.guru]

You can start as pc repair guy but if you want a career with growth consider going into an enterprise it job.

 

Biggest growth, is cloud and hyper convergence

 

Understand information technology within organizations has matured to include not just technology but business. If you want success understanding business skills such as project management, governance, service management will make you more appealing

 

Consider not just technical skills look into business skills such as PMP PRINCE TOGAF etc.

[Roswell]

1 hour ago, dave4shmups said:

So I've thought about taking the CompTia A+ exams-both the 220-1001 and the 220-1002. but I have some questions for people who are professional computer techs.  Would I be driving around a lot, or could I just be based in a store like Micro Center, and work on computers that need repair that come into that store? Also, could I specialize in one area-let's say I love working on laptops; could I just (or mostly) do that?

Micro Center pays the repair techs $11 an hour. Same thing at Best Buy, Staples, etc.

 

Independent shops may pay a little more but it's still nothing to support living on your own. If you want to support yourself off a tech job, you generally need to get a degree.

[dave4shmups]

2 hours ago, Archer20 said:

I started my IT career as a computer tech in a small repair shop. People brought their stuff in and we, as techs fixed it. It depends on where you work. Usually you become well versed in one area or another, especially Mac vs PC. We had Mac techs and then we had Windows guys. I was a Windows guy for the shop.

I ended up going to college though after spending a year and a half there. So I got my bachelor's in Cyber Security & Network Engineering for greater pay and more opportunities. As a word of advice, if that is an option for you, I recommend it. There is very little growth in PC repair and a stagnant payscale.

The thing that worries me about getting into Cyber Security is all the data/privacy breaches that seem to happen (at least) on a weekly basis now.  So I worry that I'll end up being cut even if I was doing my job.  Somebody has to be the fall guy after these events.  Or maybe I'm just worrying too much, which I have a tendency to do.

 

The other thing that concerns me is how to get hands-on A+ experience-should I build my own PC and take video footage of the process?

 

I did watch all of the online video courses, through Udemy, for the 220-1001 exam, and took all the quizzes and they emailed me a certificate of completion.  Unfortunately, that doesn't count towards getting a discount on the exam, which is a bummer.

 

[Archer20]

7 minutes ago, dave4shmups said:

The thing that worries me about getting into Cyber Security is all the data/privacy breaches that seem to happen (at least) on a weekly basis now.  So I worry that I'll end up being cut even if I was doing my job.  Somebody has to be the fall guy after these events.  Or maybe I'm just worrying too much, which I have a tendency to do.

 

The other thing that concerns me is how to get hands-on A+ experience-should I build my own PC and take video footage of the process?

 

I did watch all of the online video courses, through Udemy, for the 220-1001 exam, and took all the quizzes and they emailed me a certificate of completion.  Unfortunately, that doesn't count towards getting a discount on the exam, which is a bummer.

 

Getting into Cyber Security requires you to practice things on your own, get a Bachelor Degree, and to constantly read tech news articles. There are plenty of resources out there to keep up to date. Now as far as being the fall guy, that usually falls on the CISO(the Chief Information Security Officer) to handle in a major company. If you are under that level and weren't negligent, you typically have nothing to worry about. The only way you could be blamed is if you failed to uphold the company security policy or made a huge mistake. If you have any questions regarding getting into it and what certs may be required, feel free to ask.

 

In any case to answer your question regarding A+, it is primarily a memory based exam. Meaning it's written, not practical. While building a PC will help you understand, as well as dealing with the OS, it won't help you as much as a dedicated study guide for the exam. I recommend getting the official study material which should come with a voucher.

[solarflare]

Driving may be a good thing for you though. 

 

You can get stuck in doors at a microcenter etc at less than 15$ a hr 

or take contract work for 80-125$ per hr and have to drive .. 

[Xiee]

IT helpdesk here. We dispatch onsite techs to repair, switches, PCs, printers, etc. You name it. A single job that these techs do can range from $50 USD (printer/switch replacement or troubleshooting) to $400 USD (Server/PC troubleshooting installation or network troubleshooting) for two hours of work.

Certifications with A+ and CCNA are requirements here. It's something you might want to look at.

[lloose]

It all depends on where you work. If you work for a managed IT company, you will probably have to drive around. If you are an in-house IT tech or help desk, you might not need to go anywhere. I started as a tech/sales for a store and didn't go anywhere. I went to working for a VOIP provider doing tier 1 support over the phone and didn't have to commute but it sucked. Once I graduated from college I took a job as help desk and worked my way up. I'm currently the DBA for the same company that hired me as help desk.

[Kisai]

9 hours ago, dave4shmups said:

So I've thought about taking the CompTia A+ exams-both the 220-1001 and the 220-1002. but I have some questions for people who are professional computer techs.  Would I be driving around a lot, or could I just be based in a store like Micro Center, and work on computers that need repair that come into that store? Also, could I specialize in one area-let's say I love working on laptops; could I just (or mostly) do that?

It can be anything.

 

CompTia A+ stuff is not special, it's the equivalent of an elementary school exam on computer basics by today's standards. When I took it, it still had questions on printers, and those were probably the edge of the self-taught knowledge I had at the time. I personally hate printers, and you never run into any printers, at all, anymore in offices, as they do all the printing on leased copiers, and YOU do not get to service with those devices unless you work for Xerox.

 

There's multiple kinds of jobs you might accept, but they kinda come in three kinds:

a) Deskside support, where you're assigned tickets by an (outsourced) IT department (this is what happens when a big company outsources to another big company) that the remote staff can't do/won't-do to physically go and fix-it. Most of what happens with deskside support is swapping hardware and some software-related stuff that can't be remoted (since the same outsourced IT department is in competition with Dell or Intel's VPro.)

b) Straight up hardware servicing (eg outsourced by Dell, HP, Apple, Microsoft, etc) where you go to home users or small businesses physical locations and generally swap parts in things under warranty.  This requires having an additional level of skill with tools since it's very easy to break the customer/client's machine further if you're careless. This is also done in-stores like Best Buy (Geek Squad) and Staples.

c) Remote Support, hope you like talking to people on the phone. It's frustrating to talk to people on the phone who really do not know what they're doing. Hence, if you can have them click a link (which assumes they have a working web browser and the computer isn't having a hardware problem) and you remote into their system and fix everything without them doing anything.

 

If you ever wondered why people fall for remote support scams, it's because people don't think remote access is possible, that they're behind a firewall, or that their ISP sells a "security" package that covers this.

 

And that is what you will run into a lot. People who have done absolutely stupid things and are unwilling to tell you what they did, or don't have any idea, which means there will be landmines where you will be blamed for what they screwed up, because you weren't able to get them to admit to fault first.

 

At worst, the solution to everything is "well did you back up your data? Because reinstalling the machine is the only safe option if you don't know how it got this way."

[tech.guru]

there is many college courses and university courses that is where i would start.

 

It will teach you more than one area, you will see technology is larger than the service desk job you may start at when you begin your career.

 

You can specialize in a field but remember that can make you obsolete as technology evolve.

 

There is many "disruptors" in technology and many things done today will disappear or change in the future. You have to be willing to evolve and change or face losing your job.

 

So if you decide to focus on the technical side, its important that you understand you will have the constant challenge of learning new technology.

 

you will expected have broad skill set and knowledge of many areas of it.

In my opnion college or university will give you better broad knowledge and i would trade that for any vendor or industry certification any day.

 

 experience in technology experience is highly sought after and references and community in highly specialized fields are important 

 

Start networking, and see if there is opportunities for mentoring and experience.

 

 

 

[tech.guru]

This is why i would start a college course with co-op you can start looking at employers in your area.

 

Also look at monster and see what the job qualifications are for the job your looking for  you will find many will want education or experience many will not hire someone with just certification and no experience.

 

Thats why co op program can help get you the mixuture of education and experience that will get you the job you want

[tech.guru]

14 hours ago, Archer20 said:

Getting into Cyber Security requires you to practice things on your own, get a Bachelor Degree, and to constantly read tech news articles. There are plenty of resources out there to keep up to date. Now as far as being the fall guy, that usually falls on the CISO(the Chief Information Security Officer) to handle in a major company. If you are under that level and weren't negligent, you typically have nothing to worry about. The only way you could be blamed is if you failed to uphold the company security policy or made a huge mistake. If you have any questions regarding getting into it and what certs may be required, feel free to ask.

 

In any case to answer your question regarding A+, it is primarily a memory based exam. Meaning it's written, not practical. While building a PC will help you understand, as well as dealing with the OS, it won't help you as much as a dedicated study guide for the exam. I recommend getting the official study material which should come with a voucher.

Its also important to note cyber security itself has many jobs.

 

From highly technical jobs to policy analysis.

[Anomnomnomaly]

As a now EX IT guru... I was completely self taught and never took any exams or gained any major official qualifications and was able to find work without any major problems through the 2000's... each time getting a bit of a pay bump. Between 2005 and 2010 I more than doubled my salary.

 

I then gave up work in 2010 to help out my mum, caring for my father who had parkinsons and had just been diagnosed with lewy body dementia until he passed in late summer 2016.  I spent about 15 months or so trying to find work in my old field but everything had moved on so much that I no longer felt qualified... So I ended up doing more management/consulting type work on a semi part time basis.  It doesn't pay quite as well as my last job did in 2010... But back then I was working 40hr weeks and now I'm doing 25hrs on average. I bring home twice what I need to pay the bills as I've become kinda frugal over all those years when I was struggling. 7yrs of budgeting every penny has made me far more careful about what I spend money on, and I will never get a loan or a credit card, instead I save up until I can afford something instead.

 

I'm not sure that you could blag your way into jobs in the same way now... I'm very good at talking myself up and come across as having more knowledge that perhaps I did, I was also fully honest about questions I don't know. My standard answer to those was, I can't put my hands on the exact info you want this second, but I could find it out in a few minutes. I also had some great stories about fault finding bugs in software and some unusual fixes I had to figure out that were so unusual you couldn't just google and hope to find an answer (this was when working on proprietary software). There are guides written on some bugs that I discovered and figured out workarounds for in that company now.

[tech.guru]

if you end do contracting work, its your name and reputation that will carry you.

 

I have worked with talented contractors and referred them and they are always in demand.

once you have built a solid reputation work should be no problem for you.

 

always put in an effort and do a good job and act professionally.

never take a job your not qualified for, by lying on skills and qualifications you dont have.

 

you will do a poor job and be found out fairly quickly. it will ruin your reputation and referrals and references are so important when you are in the contracting business,

[Archer20]

4 hours ago, tech.guru said:

Its also important to note cyber security itself has many jobs.

 

From highly technical jobs to policy analysis.

Cyber Security has many jobs indeed. There are many "subspecializations" such as penetration testing, cryptography, port/firewall security, intrusion detection/prevention etc. It truly gives an individual a ton of choice.  

[dave4shmups]

5 hours ago, tech.guru said:

This is why i would start a college course with co-op you can start looking at employers in your area.

 

Also look at monster and see what the job qualifications are for the job your looking for  you will find many will want education or experience many will not hire someone with just certification and no experience.

 

Thats why co op program can help get you the mixuture of education and experience that will get you the job you want

What do you mean by co-op?  A community college that's not to far from me has a certificate in computer repair.  I already have a BA, and right now I'm at a point in my life where it's just not a good time for me to study for another Bachelor's degree

[dave4shmups]

12 hours ago, Kisai said:

It can be anything.

 

CompTia A+ stuff is not special, it's the equivalent of an elementary school exam on computer basics by today's standards. When I took it, it still had questions on printers, and those were probably the edge of the self-taught knowledge I had at the time. I personally hate printers, and you never run into any printers, at all, anymore in offices, as they do all the printing on leased copiers, and YOU do not get to service with those devices unless you work for Xerox.

 

There's multiple kinds of jobs you might accept, but they kinda come in three kinds:

a) Deskside support, where you're assigned tickets by an (outsourced) IT department (this is what happens when a big company outsources to another big company) that the remote staff can't do/won't-do to physically go and fix-it. Most of what happens with deskside support is swapping hardware and some software-related stuff that can't be remoted (since the same outsourced IT department is in competition with Dell or Intel's VPro.)

b) Straight up hardware servicing (eg outsourced by Dell, HP, Apple, Microsoft, etc) where you go to home users or small businesses physical locations and generally swap parts in things under warranty.  This requires having an additional level of skill with tools since it's very easy to break the customer/client's machine further if you're careless. This is also done in-stores like Best Buy (Geek Squad) and Staples.

c) Remote Support, hope you like talking to people on the phone. It's frustrating to talk to people on the phone who really do not know what they're doing. Hence, if you can have them click a link (which assumes they have a working web browser and the computer isn't having a hardware problem) and you remote into their system and fix everything without them doing anything.

 

If you ever wondered why people fall for remote support scams, it's because people don't think remote access is possible, that they're behind a firewall, or that their ISP sells a "security" package that covers this.

 

And that is what you will run into a lot. People who have done absolutely stupid things and are unwilling to tell you what they did, or don't have any idea, which means there will be landmines where you will be blamed for what they screwed up, because you weren't able to get them to admit to fault first.

 

At worst, the solution to everything is "well did you back up your data? Because reinstalling the machine is the only safe option if you don't know how it got this way."

The stuff on Networking for the 220-1001 exam is pretty complicated; at least to me.  I mean, I'm in my 40s, so it's not like I thought that the internet was simple to run, but all these port numbers, IP address numbers, MAC address numbers-in hexadecimal.  I was never that great at math, and then the guy starts getting into binary-OK, I know the basics: a 1 is on and a 0 is off.  But if I have to do binary math on the exam, that would be a real headache for me.  Apart from the networking content, it wasn't so bad.

[critalon]

Comptia A+ isn't bad for entry level IT tech positions, especially if you know ppl in the industry.

I worked for 2 separate IT companies. One for a small private company, and currently for one of the big six movie studios as a Windows tech. 

 

For the smaller/private company, it did involve driving to different job sites. At the current place, a lot of walking is involved for hardware repairs/swaps if not working remotely.

[tech.guru]

2 hours ago, dave4shmups said:

What do you mean by co-op?  A community college that's not to far from me has a certificate in computer repair.  I already have a BA, and right now I'm at a point in my life where it's just not a good time for me to study for another Bachelor's degree

co-op is where part of the diploma is hands on experience in a company. it will get you a foot in the door and get you some experience. this is usually paid also.

 

it wouldnt be more money than taking a course to get industry certification.

i have been on those courses 4-5k each for only few weeks of training.

 

[Kisai]

5 hours ago, dave4shmups said:

The stuff on Networking for the 220-1001 exam is pretty complicated; at least to me.  I mean, I'm in my 40s, so it's not like I thought that the internet was simple to run, but all these port numbers, IP address numbers, MAC address numbers-in hexadecimal.  I was never that great at math, and then the guy starts getting into binary-OK, I know the basics: a 1 is on and a 0 is off.  But if I have to do binary math on the exam, that would be a real headache for me.  Apart from the networking content, it wasn't so bad.

You almost never need to know this in practice unless you're servicing network equipment (eg Cisco phones, managed switches, etc)

 

Even then, it's most obnoxious in Linux and FreeBSD, and if you're being asked to work on Linux or FreeBSD systems, they should have hired someone who works with servers, not desktops.

[dave4shmups]

13 minutes ago, Kisai said:

You almost never need to know this in practice unless you're servicing network equipment (eg Cisco phones, managed switches, etc)

 

Even then, it's most obnoxious in Linux and FreeBSD, and if you're being asked to work on Linux or FreeBSD systems, they should have hired someone who works with servers, not desktops.

Well that's good to know.  But I'd still need to know all of it to pass the exam.

[solarflare]

server related IT will land you more stable income typically. 

like people said before cybersecurity and programing in this field.