IT certificates(networking etc) - what can i get?

unkkz

Norway2196 Posts

May 13 2013 12:51 GMT

So i'm hoping someone can give me some help with this. I have no formal education within IT except for some programming. I have a bachelor in media but the industry is pretty much dead in the town where i live so my three years are pretty much useless. I can't afford to go back to school so i was hoping i could grab some IT certificates while working some crappy jobs and eventually aim for some IT tech jobs, just maintaining a server cluster or whatever.

Is it possible to grab for instance MCSE and i dunno some Cisco CNA stuff with no education within the field? I'm not afraid to read books and i have always been good with IT stuff and consider myself well above the norm for how good "normal" people are with IT.

So i'm asking if there´s some IT people that can answer this for me?

Can i get these on my own? What are normally the costs? Any books to recommend for a specific certificate? And which certificates are the most useful and valuable?

Would love any form of help.

Onlinejaguar

Australia2823 Posts

May 13 2013 13:33 GMT

CCNA is good if you are keen to read ALOT. Its pretty technical and in depth.

LaSt)ChAnCe

United States2179 Posts

May 13 2013 14:11 GMT

getting CCENT>CCNA is pretty easy to do with no formal training and no lab environment. all of the information to pass it is available online (even on the cisco site for free if you look) and you can use packet tracer for your configuration (packet tracer isn't enough for CCNP, but it is fine for CCNA)

also if you are interested in servers, getting a MCITP cert will only take a few tests but it is a highly valued certification.

also, do whatever you can to get into the industry now. look around for helpdesks, call center, IT grunt work, anything

unkkz

Norway2196 Posts

May 13 2013 15:16 GMT

Googling around it seems the comptia cert would be a good start with A+ net+ and sec+?

LaSt)ChAnCe

United States2179 Posts

May 13 2013 15:31 GMT

On May 14 2013 00:16 unkkz wrote:
Googling around it seems the comptia cert would be a good start with A+ net+ and sec+?

A+ is good for entry level computer work (helpdesk) but you can usually get helpdesk jobs without it (i only got it because the company i was at gave me a raise for it.. same for net+)
Net+ is basically CCENT minus Cisco stuff.. it's a good cert, but not worth getting if you are going CCNA
Security+ is good

evaunit01

United States512 Posts

May 13 2013 18:14 GMT

network+ is a good starting point, it also depends onwhat you want to do in the industry. Are you thinking more server administration or more raw networking, or both?

unkkz

Norway2196 Posts

May 13 2013 18:35 GMT

On May 14 2013 03:14 evaunit01 wrote:
network+ is a good starting point, it also depends onwhat you want to do in the industry. Are you thinking more server administration or more raw networking, or both?

Well i need to read up a lil first and see which way i lean but i just want a job frankly. The economy over here is doing well and i´ve seen quite a few IT tech listings for various stuff. Figured it was worth a shot since i like fixing computers and fiddling with settings and what not. Solving problems is fun in other words.

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IT certificates(networking etc) - what can i get?

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