Back to college/certification advise please

[lonestar31]

After being given my walking papers this week at my current employment I am seriously considering a new career path. I am 36 years old with a wife and toddler with no debt other than our home and living expenses. I currently have no degree or certification to my name other than my private pilots license which is useless without a commercial rating. I took some courses in aviation wishing to become a pilot but balked when flying alone was costing more than 1500 a month. Over the years I began working with private aviation first fueling and servicing aircraft before moving on to dispatching and selling private charters. Aviation is a rather volatile industry, especially private aviation as it is tied to the economy. With things being slow now and no job offerings I am looking at taking a major pay cut by going back to servicing aircraft again. Thus I am considering moving my interest in computers from just passive to a possible career path. I have a local community college right down the street from me that offers a good variety of courses in computer sciences. I will supply a link at the bottom of this post to the college website with the courses in question. What I would greatly appreciate is any wisdom my fellow LTT members can bestow upon me to aid in deciding a good course to start off on. I have taken the time to searched the forums and read that many of you tend to say a certification is the best course for getting started and to skip college altogether. Since I am not sure which certifications are for what sector of IT I would greatly appreciate your input on where to start. Any reliable websites or areas that explain what is needed or how to get started would be very welcome as well. As for what sector i am looking to get into I am undecided at the moment. I would like something fairly simply to get started and then see where my strengths are and work from there. 

 

Again thank you for your time and imput

 

ACC:

 

Alvin Community College

[Networking Wolf]

If you want to go into IT get your A+ cert then get security+ network+ and Cisco CCNA and CNET bam your will get hired on the spot plus with your A+ cert you can get a tier 1 position and if  you get your Microsoft windows 10 cert(basically stating you know windows 10) you will be future proof also the Microsoft windows 7 cert in what many places are using now

 

[TriFlix Films]

TBH is suggest a quick welding or electrical certification.... both pay really well right now... like 100k+ well.

 

Look at your ROI (Return on Investment) and see if its worth it. If you are set on computer related, I suggest coding... another 100k+ position after working your way through a company.

 

UPDATE: The post above is probably a better answer for what you want.

[lonestar31]

1 minute ago, Jstone said:

If you want to go into IT get your A+ cert then get security+ network+ and Cisco CCNA and CNET bam your will get hired on the spot plus with your A+ cert you can get a tier 1 position and if  you get your Microsoft windows 10 cert(basically stating you know windows 10) you will be future proof also the Microsoft windows 7 cert in what many places are using now

 

For the Cert training are there programs you can buy, and study yourself or must you go through an entity certified itself to grant the certificate? 

[Networking Wolf]

yes plenty of places and if there is a goodwill center near you they have training for A+

[lonestar31]

4 minutes ago, TriFlix Films said:

TBH is suggest a quick welding or electrical certification.... both pay really well right now... like 100k+ well.

 

Look at your ROI (Return on Investment) and see if its worth it. If you are set on IT, I suggest coding... another 100k+ position after working your way through a company.

By electrical do you mean as a certified electrician? 

 

I had thought of moving into a more hands on profession as I was raised on a ranch and learn well in such environments. This may be another path to look into.

 

Thank you 

[d3sl91]

It does depend on what you want to do in IT. You have general certs from folks like Microsoft, and then more specific from a variety of people for a variety of applications from networking to forensics. 

 

I would start with https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/certification-overview.aspx - desktop certification.

 

As far as skipping college - if you think you have the knowledge already to pass or at least know enough to study yourself for some of these certs, then you could possibly skip college. But look at jobs in the industry, and see how many "require" you to have a degree. 

If you don't think you know enough, specifically ask college if XYZ class will help towards industry certifications and which ones - and focus on those classes. It wouldn't hurt (other than the wallet) to get a degree at the same time as lots of certs. 

 

And, you could just end up like me, where I started college, almost finished and almost got a bunch of certs - but stopped because of a good tech-related job came around that did not require degree/certs.

 

 

[TriFlix Films]

3 minutes ago, lonestar31 said:

By electrical do you mean as a certified electrician?

 

I had thought of moving into a more hands on profession as I was raised on a ranch and learn well in such environments. This may be another path to look into.

 

Thank you

Yeah, just found this vieo... dont have access to watch it at work (I am on a lunch break) but it will probably help you out, its a wikihow:

http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Licensed-Electrician

[d3sl91]

5 minutes ago, lonestar31 said:

By electrical do you mean as a certified electrician? 

 

I had thought of moving into a more hands on profession as I was raised on a ranch and learn well in such environments. This may be another path to look into.

 

Thank you 

+1 for electrician. 

 

If not for my interest in tech, that would be my next option (and was the direction I was going for quite awhile). 

[RangerLunis]

Would highly suggest the CompTIA certification programs: https://www.comptia.org/

 

With the A+ certification you can qualify for jobs paying up to $20 an hour, though understand they are extremely competitive. Of course taking more education will help you with that competition. Depending on your field there is security and networking, with the A+ cert being a standard all around certification. If you check around your local community colleges, you'll usually find a class or two with great instruction helping you with these classes. I seriously recommend checking out a 2 year degree with a community college as they will give you miles of experience, and are very affordable. I however don't recommend taking out any loans for schooling, as its just going to hurt you in the end. If you apply for financial aid, you may find a pell grant to help you pay, mine personally paying for my whole two years. You really don't need to go somewhere fancy to get far in IT, a community college you might find will help you more than any regular four year program. My instructors have been amazing and have really helped me out. Would highly recommend if you do find a job in IT, ask your employers about paying for certifications for you, some will be very eager to help you gain more education. I'm personally aiming to be both a web developer and software developer programmer taking a computer information systems course at my local community college

[TriFlix Films]

Keep in mind, this route will likely only provide 50-55k starting and a high of 65k without additional training other than the cert... but yeah, electrical is really easy. I am a MET major (junior year) and have had a class in nearly every for of the word Engineer... tbh program is easy, electrical is easy, coding is intermediate, manufacturing and maintainace are pretty easy. I wouldn't sweat it too much, you have most of your bills paid, just find somehting you enjoy that will support your family

[RangerLunis]

Also understand with the more education, the higher wage you are guaranteed to make, so I highly recommend really finding what your into, welding is awesome and I might suggest you check out things like soldering and repair as they are both high in demand for electronics and you might be able to find a degree involving them. Anyways, good luck to you

[TriFlix Films]

5 minutes ago, RangerLunis said:

Would highly suggest the CompTIA certification programs: https://www.comptia.org/

 

With the A+ certification you can qualify for jobs paying up to $20 an hour, though understand they are extremely competitive. Of course taking more education will help you with that competition. Depending on your field there is security and networking, with the A+ cert being a standard all around certification. If you check around your local community colleges, you'll usually find a class or two with great instruction helping you with these classes. I seriously recommend checking out a 2 year degree with a community college as they will give you miles of experience, and are very affordable. I however don't recommend taking out any loans for schooling, as its just going to hurt you in the end. If you apply for financial aid, you may find a pell grant to help you pay, mine personally paying for my whole two years. You really don't need to go somewhere fancy to get far in IT, a community college you might find will help you more than any regular four year program. My instructors have been amazing and have really helped me out. Would highly recommend if you do find a job in IT, ask your employers about paying for certifications for you, some will be very eager to help you gain more education. I'm personally aiming to be both a web developer and software developer programmer taking a computer information systems course at my local community college

With all due respect 20/hour is peanuts in the midwest. Most highschoolers make 14.50 here. If you have any technical background you should be pushing $25 to $30 per hour. And if you earn a degree $65-75k starting in nearly any technical field.

Lowes and home depot starting pay is 12.75 and the cost of living is pretty low here as well. You litteraly don't need a GED here to live comfortably if you're single

[RangerLunis]

Just now, TriFlix Films said:

With all due respect 20/hour is peanuts in the midwest. Most highschoolers make 14.50 here. If you have any technical background you should be pushing $25 to $30 per hour. And if you earn a degree $65-75k starting in nearly any technical field.

Very true, but i'm living in area with very low paying wages unfortunately. I've talked to various professionals and they say the same thing, it's totally peanuts, so maybe I shouldn't have said up to $20 as its probably very different depending on your area. I did receive my certification completely paid for by an outside source, so it was worth it in my opinion. Of course I am very young and really these are some of my very first jobs, so I might expect lower wages. I'm looking into getting a business license so I can make some extra cash on the side doing repairs for whoever needs it. 

[TriFlix Films]

 

9 minutes ago, RangerLunis said:

I did receive my certification completely paid for by an outside source

That's awesome!

 

To the OP despite your age, there are still many companies that are willing to invest in new employees and pay for their training and certification. Most of them are referred to as "School to Work" or "Apprenticeships" hope that helps

[lonestar31]

2 minutes ago, TriFlix Films said:

 

That's awesome!

 

To the OP despite your age, there are still many companies that are willing to invest in new employees and pay for their training and certification. Most of them are referred to as "School to Work" or "Apprenticeships" hope that helps

This has all been VERY helpful thank you very much. It seems the ACC actually has a CompTIA A+ online cert program. I think this will be where I start, and as my current job market has me making MAYBE 30'000 a year after I leave here, anything is going to be a boon! 

 

online CompTIA A+

[straight_stewie]

51 minutes ago, lonestar31 said:

I am 36 years old with a wife and toddler

I'm not going to tell you that I know what you should do, but I know what you shouldn't do: You should not seek a 4 year degree unless both you and your wife are absolutely certain that:

• Your child can go her first few years without you around.
• You can both work full time, so as to be able to afford college and life.
• You both realize that you are 36. By the time you graduate with an associates, you will be 38. By the time you get a four year degree, you will be 41 years old. You must realize that you will not have enough time to "climb the ladder" as they say.
• You both realize that going back to school will damage or significantly hinder your retirement plans, potentially even leading to an inability to retire.
• You both realize that you going to school will hinder the amount of help you will be able to give your child if/when he or she decides to go to college.

Ultimately, the decision is yours, but if you want to go to school solely to better your position in life, I think you are a little behind the curve. So much so, infact, that it probably will actually hurt your position in life rather than helping it. I will say this though: If there is a major airline or cargoline hub near you, you may wish to go to a two year program to get an A&P license. Commercial aviation is more loosely tied to the economy than private aviation, and those aircraft will always need to be repaired. 

[TriFlix Films]

48 minutes ago, straight_stewie said:

I'm not going to tell you that I know what you should do, but I know what you shouldn't do: You should not seek a 4 year degree unless both you and your wife are absolutely certain that:

• Your child can go her first few years without you around.
• You can both work full time, so as to be able to afford college and life.
• You both realize that you are 36. By the time you graduate with an associates, you will be 38. By the time you get a four year degree, you will be 41 years old. You must realize that you will not have enough time to "climb the ladder" as they say.
• You both realize that going back to school will damage or significantly hinder your retirement plans, potentially even leading to an inability to retire.
• You both realize that you going to school will hinder the amount of help you will be able to give your child if/when he or she decides to go to college.

Ultimately, the decision is yours, but if you want to go to school solely to better your position in life, I think you are a little behind the curve. So much so, infact, that it probably will actually hurt your position in life rather than helping it. I will say this though: If there is a major airline or cargoline hub near you, you may wish to go to a two year program to get an A&P license. Commercial aviation is more loosely tied to the economy than private aviation, and those aircraft will always need to be repaired. 

A lot of good points here. Spark notes:

 

Youre an adult.

You have a family.

You need to provide and be responsible.

Be selfless and take the decision with the best long term impact for your family because they should be your first prioriety.

 

Best of luck to you mate. I'll be praying.

[lonestar31]

Spoiler

44 minutes ago, straight_stewie said:

I'm not going to tell you that I know what you should do, but I know what you shouldn't do: You should not seek a 4 year degree unless both you and your wife are absolutely certain that:

• Your child can go her first few years without you around.
• You can both work full time, so as to be able to afford college and life.
• You both realize that you are 36. By the time you graduate with an associates, you will be 38. By the time you get a four year degree, you will be 41 years old. You must realize that you will not have enough time to "climb the ladder" as they say.
• You both realize that going back to school will damage or significantly hinder your retirement plans, potentially even leading to an inability to retire.
• You both realize that you going to school will hinder the amount of help you will be able to give your child if/when he or she decides to go to college.

Ultimately, the decision is yours, but if you want to go to school solely to better your position in life, I think you are a little behind the curve. So much so, infact, that it probably will actually hurt your position in life rather than helping it. I will say this though: If there is a major airline or cargoline hub near you, you may wish to go to a two year program to get an A&P license. Commercial aviation is more loosely tied to the economy than private aviation, and those aircraft will always need to be repaired. 

 

30 minutes ago, TriFlix Films said:

A lot of good points here. Spark notes:

 

Youre an adult.

You have a family.

You need to provide and be responsible.

Be selfless and take the decision with the best long term impact for your family because they should be your first prioriety.

 

I completely agree with both of your comments, and this is why I am seeking advise from others who may be more experienced than I. Obviously providing for my family is my ultimate goal and is my first priority. Which is why I am not ashamed to work long hours and low paying jobs to make ends meet. I was raised a rancher and thus dealing with bull#%$ both figuratively and literally is not something I shy away from.

I am simply looking at getting the most I can in as reasonable time frame as possible with a good job growth outlook. As for pay I know with continued education/certification I can boost my income. Thank you all again for the input and recommendations.