Question about careers in I.T.

[StarsMars]

Wasn't sure if this belonged in General or off topic.

 

I've been looking to start working towards a career in I.T. and am wondering what certifications I should be looking at.

 

I have a decent base of knowledge, I know most everything the Comptia A+ teaches except for networking.

Someone was suggesting a CCENT because it lays a path for the CCNA.

 

I'm in a situation where I'm looking to get a job in I.T. relatively quick. What sort of certification would you recommend for someone looking to jump into the field?

Comptia A+ seems to be a waste of time and money.

CCENT seems like it would give me a good launching point, but I'm not sure if I want to switch to the security side later on.

Would the Security+ get me a job?

Also if anyone knows any good resources for organized study material with testing, please let me know.

[Nick Burns, Company IT Guy]

that CCENT is a great jump off if you're into networking. but you've got more than the qualifications to get a help desk, or desk side tech, job.

[StarsMars]

Just now, Nick Burns, Company IT Guy said:

that CCENT is a great jump off if you're into networking. but you've got more than the qualifications to get a help desk, or desk side tech, job.

I don't have the comptia a+. I mean I'm sure I do have the skills for helpdesk, just not to put on a resume.

[Lurick]

All Cisco and other tracks/certs around networking will require basic routing and switching knowledge which the CCENT and CCNA can most certainly provide.

[Nick Burns, Company IT Guy]

I've got no certs*, and I'm doing desk side support right now. honestly it's not a bad stopping point to see what piques your interest before you move into a specialization OR into the murky waters of IT Management.

 

*no certs, but I've been elbows deep in computers since I was all of 5 or 6, so I can talk the talk and walk the walk.

[Crunchy Dragon]

Comptia A+ and CCNA are both good ones.

 

I've been told learning VMWare and getting one or two of their certs will help you get a job as well.

[RAM555789]

Security+ should be able to get you a job. I know 2 people from my USAR signal unit who went and got their Sec+ certs and managed to land very well paying jobs as admins at a tech company. The Sec+ cert is very expensive and VERY difficult. You need a pretty high score to pass, I forget what but you can do a quick google search to see. The cert itself costs $339 but look up SY0-501 voucher for possible discounts. This article gives a pretty good rundown of some of the certs and can give an idea on what you want to look into. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10708-information-security-certifications.html

[Lurick]

2 minutes ago, RAM555789 said:

Security+ should be able to get you a job. I know 2 people from my USAR signal unit who went and got their Sec+ certs and managed to land very well paying jobs as admins at a tech company. The Sec+ cert is very expensive and VERY difficult. You need a pretty high score to pass, I forget what but you can do a quick google search to see. The cert itself costs $339 but look up SY0-501 voucher for possible discounts. This article gives a pretty good rundown of some of the certs and can give an idea on what you want to look into. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10708-information-security-certifications.html

I think you're confusing CISSP with Sec+ because the CompTia Sec+ is very easy

 

Edit:

Maybe for someone with zero IT knowledge it might be on the challenging side but it's nowhere near CISSP level hard.

[RAM555789]

3 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Comptia A+ and CCNA are both good ones.

 

I've been told learning VMWare and getting one or two of their certs will help you get a job as well.

To add onto this theres also the CompTIA Network+ Certification if your looking to go more towards managing computer networks and should be taken before Sec+. (if you can't pass Net+ you probably can't pass Sec+)

[GeoSquigg]

Are you in the states?'

 

Holy jeez the radio has burned "get your start at mycomptercareer .edu" into my damn head.. that and also "this is courtny cole and monica peck at hare Chevrolet" indy area folks know my pain ..

[RAM555789]

2 minutes ago, Lurick said:

I think you're confusing CISSP with Sec+ because the CompTia Sec+ is very easy

 

Edit:

Maybe for someone with zero IT knowledge it might be on the challenging side but it's nowhere near CISSP level hard.

That doesn't sound quiet right. The Sec+ cert they offered at my AIT school (and many of the people I were with had graduated college, in fact some had even studied CCNA) was EXTREMLY restricted due to a high fail rate and was only being allowed to Specialist (to be at this rank you would have needed a college degree) or higher ranks..

[StarsMars]

7 minutes ago, Nick Burns, Company IT Guy said:

I've got no certs*, and I'm doing desk side support right now. honestly it's not a bad stopping point to see what piques your interest before you move into a specialization OR into the murky waters of IT Management. 

 

*no certs, but I've been elbows deep in computers since I was all of 5 or 6, so I can talk the talk and walk the walk.

I haven't been elbow deep. I'm strong in the hardware side but weak on the networking end. I will try to see what I can find before finishing a cert.

I've got an embarrassing amount of customer service..

7 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Comptia A+ and CCNA are both good ones.

 

I've been told learning VMWare and getting one or two of their certs will help you get a job as well.

VMWare, hmm

5 minutes ago, RAM555789 said:

Security+ should be able to get you a job. I know 2 people from my USAR signal unit who went and got their Sec+ certs and managed to land very well paying jobs as admins at a tech company. The Sec+ cert is very expensive and VERY difficult. You need a pretty high score to pass, I forget what but you can do a quick google search to see. The cert itself costs $339 but look up SY0-501 voucher for possible discounts. This article gives a pretty good rundown of some of the certs and can give an idea on what you want to look into. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10708-information-security-certifications.html

Security is a fairly base level cert. I'm guessing the people that you knew from signal corp got it based of extensive experience.

[Lurick]

2 minutes ago, RAM555789 said:

That doesn't sound quiet right. The Sec+ cert they offered at my AIT school (and many of the people I were with had graduated college, in fact some had even studied CCNA) was EXTREMLY restricted due to a high fail rate and was only being allowed to Specialist (to be at this rank you would have needed a college degree) or higher ranks..

Seems odd since I was able to pass my Sec+ with minimal effort on my part but I've got a good bit of background so that probably helps but it's been a while *shrug*

[StarsMars]

4 minutes ago, GeoSquigg said:

Are you in the states?'

 

Holy jeez the radio has burned "get your start at mycomptercareer .edu" into my damn head.. that and also "this is courtny cole and monica peck at hare Chevrolet" indy area folks know my pain ..

Yes, in the south.

[RAM555789]

Just now, Lurick said:

Seems odd since I was able to pass my Sec+ with minimal effort on my part but I've got a good bit of background so that probably helps.

Wish I would have had the opportunity, but sadly I was not a Specialist. I could be wrong of course on the exact cert they were taking + the experience with hands on equipment probably helped to land the guys at my signal unit a job.

[Lurick]

Just now, RAM555789 said:

Wish I would have had the opportunity, but sadly I was not a Specialist. I could be wrong of course on the exact cert they were taking + the experience with hands on equipment probably helped to land the guys at my signal unit a job.

Yah, security is a hot field and there are definitely a good number of hard certs out there  

[GeoSquigg]

3 minutes ago, StarsMars said:

Yes, in the south.

off topic but drawing a blank .. whats this movie from .. been trying to figure it out for a few months now lol

[Ithanul]

17 minutes ago, StarsMars said:

I don't have the comptia a+. I mean I'm sure I do have the skills for helpdesk, just not to put on a resume.

You don't necessarily need that unless the job makes it a hard in stone requirement.

I have an I.T. job with a Linux system.  Not one lick of a Linux cert or an A+ cert, about the only cert they cared about was Sec+ since it was a hard in stone requirement.

 

5 minutes ago, GeoSquigg said:

off topic but drawing a blank .. whats this movie from .. been trying to figure it out for a few months now lol

lmao, ok, yeah, old movie by now.  It pretty darn corny but funny.  The name of it is Little Nicky.

[LinusOnLine]

23 minutes ago, Lurick said:

I think you're confusing CISSP with Sec+ because the CompTia Sec+ is very easy

 

Edit:

Maybe for someone with zero IT knowledge it might be on the challenging side but it's nowhere near CISSP level hard.

From what I understand they are harder to take today. Back when they came out and I took Security+ it was at the level of what is SSL and why do you need a firewall  Network+ was like MS Network Essentials light and A+ was also very easy. Passed all of them with no studying what so ever in the 90%+ score. CTT+ was harder since you had to do a video demonstrating teaching techniques and send it in.

If I were not retired today I would so go for the CCIE! I love the idea of doing a lab exam.

[StarsMars]

I'm wondering if I can land a job in networking with the CCENT, no experience and no degree.

Seems like everyone wants all three.

[geo3]

Been in IT for 12 years and never held a cert of any kind. I guess it depends on what you want to do.

[LinusOnLine]

Thing is if you have both the experience and the certs you earn a lot of money and at least in the IT consultant industry having certifications gives your company many advantages and access to partner programs that they want. Also if they have a partner program that is dependent on your certification they are likely to keep you in front of pretty much everyone else. I was often paid a lot higher than the bosses at the company was and much was thanks to my certifications.

Edit: You will most likely need one of the higher certifications for this though. Like an MCSE, MCT from MS or at least as CCNP from CISCO. With an CCIE you can more or less set your own salary though. It is one of the highest sought after educations within Networking.

An A+, Network+, MCP, CCNA and so on will not do this for your career though. It has to be one of the higher Certification tracks out there.