Maximum PC

Hi, i'm new to the forum. I have been interested in computers for quite some time now basically ever since my dad first got a computer back in like 2000. Anyways, i want to ultimately work in the computer field and would like to get some entry level certifications basically so i can get my foot on the door and get an entry level it position. Whether it be a tech bench, tech support etc. I was also trying to get some opinions on what is a better route to go? certifications or a 2 year degree? I've heard arguments both ways but i figure some of you on here are possibly already in the field and would be able to give me some good feedback.
thanks in advance for any replies.

Take my recommendation with a grain of salt, but I would recommend you look at going to a 4-year university.

Why? Many higher-up jobs like you to have a 4-year degree in some type of field (IT, management, finance, accounting, etc) to move up to a higher position. I assume you don't want to work as a PC technician your entire life.

While in college, start studying for certifications and take them at your leisure. Then when you get out, you have a degree and certifications.

Though everyone will have different opinions.

If you just want a temporary tech job, just look for some. Many don't require any certifications and even if they do, they are relatively low cost and fairly easy to obtain (normally A+ and Network+).

Yeah i figured i'd end up getting that response. So i'll be honest. I was a horrible student in high school and a 4 year university is simply out of the question for me. And since 2 year schools have little to no requirements, and certs do as well i figured either of those would be most realistic for me.

If you think a degree from ITT Tech or some other trade school carries as much weight as a diploma from a college, think again. Those degrees will get you in on the bottom level of a career in your field. You'll have to work your way up, where as a degree from a real college will get you in midway or the top of the ladder. The choice is yours, really. Honestly, I would purse an Associates Degree from a community college or some other school. Stay away from the likes of ITT Tech, Phoenix University, or whatever else you've been looking at. Those are good ways to build debt, and that's about it.

About those certs.......some of those can be just as big of a PITA as school. A lot of them don't mean much either. Cisco certs are good, if you want to do networking. My point is, you need to pick a field before you go and get your certs. They're not cheap, and some are field specific. Hell, when I was job hunting this last year, I was seeing ads for jobs wanting Bachelor degrees paying 13-14 bucks an hour for help desk type stuff. One other thing, it would be good to pick a field to focus on. There are so many jobs out there that deal with computers it would blow your mind. You like hardware? Programming? networking? What's your focus?

My opinion? Hit up your local community college, get a two year Associates of Science degree, and then go job hunting. Trying to find a job without one in your field is damned near impossible. Get a job at the local mom and pop PC shop, or a help desk job while you're in school so you have some experience when you graduate. Just don't sign on at Geek Squad.

No i definitely was not thinking of any of that online school stuff. I was just thinking of like a local 2 year community college type of deal.
See this was my plan in my head..... get some entry level certs, and get a job as help desk, or whatever else i can get, and then go to school while working a job like that which will get me experience for when i graduate.
Funny that you mention geek squad haha, i actually work at best buy as a mobile electronics installer. Hate to say it but only like 2 or 3 guys out of the 10 or so actually know what's going on. One day out of curiosity to test out the "lead geek squad guy" out i asked him what ram stood for..... he didn't even know. But then again like i said the 3 other guys seemed very knowledgeable. I was actually thinking of trying to apply there, since i'd likely get the job since i've already got a good work history with them.

Let's just say that Geek Squad over here was on the news and it WAS NOT good. That, and they don't let you really fix stuff. They have policies that you have to follow, and that's it. No ad libbing for simple problems etc. But anyway, that's a whole nother forum post lol.

It sounds like you are on the right track. Believe me when I say DON'T worry about certs if you are getting a degree. Unless you are going into Networking, where a Cisco Cert would be useful, your degree and work experience will carry far, far more weight than a cert will. Decide what you want to do, what career you want, then ask about certs. Otherwise, just focus on an Associates.

IMO, a 2-year college experience should work just fine for you if you don't know what you want to do in IT yet. BigToyota is right in that there are a mind-boggling number of options out there for someone who's interested in working with computers.

You might be able to start on your certs while you're doing the community college thing as well if that school has a partnership with Cisco or Microsoft. For example, Microsoft has an "academy" program that they set up with schools to help students get learning resources and discounts for their certification exams. If there's one near you, you might consider checking it out.

I'd assume Cisco also has something like that, so you should also take that into account.

Good luck!

What do you consider horrible? Local community colleges are pretty easy to get into. I wasn't a stellar student when I was in high school either.

Its never out of the question. Start out at the 2 year school and after you have a couple years under your belt you can start looking at 4 year universities that will be favorable to you transferring. Leave the past in the past and if you're willing to apply yourself now, you'll be fine.

This is actually the route I took. I started out at a local community college (mainly because I could go there tuition free ) and found a University with an awesome articulation agreement with that community college. Once you have enough credits at the community college, a lot of universities aren't at all concerned with your high school records, just that you graduated. I know of at least one other person on this forum who took nearly the same route through the same two schools.

Just going to chime in with my experience. In chronological order:

1. Went to 2 year college part time
2. Got Data Entry Job and expressed interest in becoming a computer tech to the network admin
3. Got A+ certified
4. Got promoted from Data Entry to tech - the only tech other than me was the network admin in a 250 computer multi-site organization, so I got experience managing the network while covering for him)
5. 5 years pass (experience), during which I got my Network+, Security+, and MCSE, Graduated with Assoc. in Computer Networking
6. Got a job as a Jr Network Admin (mostly through the connection between my instructor who saw my 1337 sk1llz and the owner of the company)
7. Graduated with Assoc in Computer Engineering (the curriculums were very close, I only needed 5 more classes on top of the previous assoc. to get this one)
8. Got MCITP and some other certs and my hands dirty with VMware.
9. Now with 5 years on helpdesk, 2 years on admin I'm probably becoming valuable to someone who doesn't know me or my abilities on a firsthand basis.

There are three legs, I believe, to getting hired in IT: Certification, Education, and Experience. Some people value one leg over the other others. Without a checkbox next to one, there are many jobs you might not be considered for. There are lots of jobs out there that REQUIRE a 4-year degree. Despite the fact that I KNOW I could do that job, I wouldn't be considered.

In hindsight, I wish I had a four year degree. It may happen someday. My advice to you is to skip the path I took (which is what it looks like you think you want to follow). Go to the 2-year college and work hard. Transfer to the four year (maybe with a scholarship if you do well enough) and get it done while you have the time. Life comes pretty fast, and it's true that it's harder to go back later. Not only mentally, but also time-wise (family obligations, crazy job work schedule - remember, you're in IT).

I hope my diatribe was of some value.

Well said. What's a diatribe.

In today's world most Universities offer a Technology Training Center.
With said center(s) you are able to get certified. Be it A+ with CompTIA materials, or currently Microsoft's own MCTS for exam 70 - 680, and employers LIKE seeing the University of *.* on your certification.

Can a University Technology Training Center get their name put on a real CompTIA or M$ certification or are you referring to generic certificates of completion?

Your certification would read like; (Example)

University of (name) - TTC

John Smith
Has successfully completed CompTIA A+ course
School's information

_______________________ Signature

School's seal

NOW your next step is to take the actual CompTIA A+ certification.
REMEMBER this is ONLY a course you are taking to get you prepared for the actual A+ Certification. Now saying that, YOU would be taking the Certification in said University so therefore if you pass you would see the TTC's and CompTIA's names on your actual A+ certification. Your choice of testing centers have something to do with
what name(s) appear as well. (Example) You complete the course at a TTC, but take the actual A+ exam at a testing center, you would see whichever testing center along with CompTIA's seal(s) on it.

Are you sure about that? I'd like to see one. I have several generic training course certificates and several CompTIA and M$ certifications. I've never been to a University TTC, but my normal TTC's name is only printed on the generic training course certificates, which aren't worth the paper they're printed on. The real certifications are sent via the USPS directly from M$ and CompTIA several weeks later. They do not mention the TTC or testing centers in any way, shape, or form. I don't think my CompTIA S+ or N+ certs have any seals either. Fortunately, my employers could care less about the TTC, testing centers, and missing seals.

I'm NOT familar with the center you took your certification at, but if the course is taken from a traditional university/college THEIR seal(s) will appear. CompTIA works with the USBoE in North America (United States Board of Education) and it is no different than a degree say a lawyer receives, and when he/she passes the Bar, his/her school's name appears. Be sort of worthless if you took the course, passed, took the certification passed and got a piece of paper that's worth with ink included 2 cents, now would it?

I go to normal Prometric and Pearson VUE testing centers. They're sort of the standard.
http://www.comptia.org/certifications/t ... nters.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us ... /exam.aspx

CompTIA and M$ certifications are a lot different than degrees lawyers receive. Do you mean the U.S. Department of Education? I cannot find any information regarding them working together. Education is a state and private responsibility so it shouldn't be a federal organization. Although I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they do work together. I know the DoD works closely with CompTIA and the DoD can be very difficult to work with.

While your wish to follow your desires is awesome, you need to consider what you're saying here on the board. Excuses concerning your ability to be a good student only in a certain environment are irrelevant unless you have the capitol to begin your own business and be your own boss.

The only considerations companies & bosses have (esp. in THIS economy) are their own (profits). Your ability or inability (read as: excuses vs. results) to take the steps to resolve your educational problems will open the doors or close them. It's your choice to be the order taker at the MikkyD's drive through window of the IT industry or to be "Ronald McD" himself.

The more excuses you make for yourself NOT to do something that's been suggested by those in the know only pushes you away from what you want to do or can become.

Just my 2 cents. I have seen many jobs that are entry level and require A+ just to get through the door for a field tech job. If you tell us where you are trying to get employed we might be able to give suggestions since requirements change with the market. I have seend A+, Network+, MCP, CCNA listed as requirements for weed out material. I would say get the A+ and Network+. These certs sa you know basic PC hardware and trouble shooting and TCP/IP. And just has been mentioned to me a CCNA is needed to actually get in the door.

Go to monster and look for IT jobs, and then look for CCNA jobs and see what you come up with. Also the best way to learn the material for a CCNA is an authorized cisco boot camp. Thats what I did and the book are published by element k and are not the same as the ones on the bookshelf.

Ok i'm taking most of your advice and enrolling for classes at a local community college. But i still would like to obtain at least the A+ certification within the next few months. Can anybody recommend me a good up to date current study guide for the test?