Who works in IT?

pault123

Little_John wrote:

The reason that companies like to employ MCP's and MCSE holders is so that they can show the Microsoft solution provider logo on their stationary and website it builds confidence for the customer. The reall !!!!!! take is that you have to pay every year to retain your mcse/mcp status which I refused to do so I cant say I am an MCSE but I can say Microsoft trained. Its stupid.

How much does it cost per year to keep the title?

pault123

albertross wrote:

If you have a spare PC (or a spare hard disk), you can download a time limited demo of windows 2003 server from Microsoft. Play around with it for a week or two, do research on the internet, and you will gain some confidence in the bits of knowledge you are missing (principly networking/domains/active directory/tcpip). The consumer versions of Microsoft products have been used in industry as well, so your knowledge is relevant. To be upto date, you could do with a copy of XP Pro, as that is more likely to be used in industry than home.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/trial/default.mspx (itanium)

http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/evaluation/trial/default.mspx

To get your foot on the ladder, you could consider contracting, but it helps to have a few quid in the bank to pay the bills during the gaps in contracts. A lot of companies are rolling out XP at the moment, they often hire contractors to do this, and don't always go for tons of experience, they just need bodies to put PC's on desks and sort out problems. If you can get a contract doing this, it would be a good confidence booster, and look good on your CV for a permanent job (especially after 5 years in sales).

http://www.jobserve.com/searchresults.aspx?jobType=C&d=7&page=1&q=support&order=Rank&all=on&cbAllCountries=on&cb01=1&dt=1&ps=20&cid=0&x=6&y=11

Personally I wouldn't waste any money on home study courses. Buy a couple of books (O'Reilly are quite good), and surf, it's much cheaper. Use what you learn to practice networking on the 2003 server.

You need a solid grouding in Office products. The only difference between home and work versions are that outlook points to an exchange server, rather than a pop3 account. Just about every other application in use varies from company to company, so the only way to learn about them is on the job.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on. If you are stuck on a technical point, post here, someone is bound to know the answer.

ive got a spare harddisk, does this mean I can install it on there and effectively have 2 operating systems and choose at boot up which one to use?

I use XP Pro at the moment and know it pretty much inside out, I do a lot of tweaking and benchmarking so im good with event viewer, processes, registry, msconfig, services, computer management, all the little admin type tools that can improve and streamline a pc. Faultfinding in Xp pro again ive had my fair share of software/hardware conflicts, BSOD's etc, and have become pretty adept at fixing things when they go wrong.

I use Office 2002 at home, mainly Excel and word, and Excel every day at work, also a bit of powerpoint.

Looking forward to getting the server 2003 installed and having a mess around with

Doonhamer

I do industrial measurement, control, automation. PLC's SCADA and the like. If possible try and do some engineering courses. If you can get into this field it is well paid, not many people about doing it. There is more of an overlap with IT now, I do a lot of database stuff too now with automation systems now linking to tracking and maintenance systems. It's all quite integrated now.

pault123

Doonhamer wrote:

I do industrial measurement, control, automation. PLC's SCADA and the like. If possible try and do some engineering courses. If you can get into this field it is well paid, not many people about doing it. There is more of an overlap with IT now, I do a lot of database stuff too now with automation systems now linking to tracking and maintenance systems. It's all quite integrated now.

Can I ask Doonhamer what a typcial day of yours would consist of? Engineering has always interested me, and it sounds like you would have quite a varied busy day there?

albertross_2

The earlier link I posted was for the 64 bit itanium version.
This is probably the one you want - Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition (32-bit) - (if it is still available from Microsoft, They've pulled the 2003 server small business trial for the time being)..

I'd suggest installing it on your spare hard disk, and swap them when you want to go back to XP. To practice properly, you would need two PC's to create a network.


Some further info here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/trial/viewtrialoptions.mspx

Doonhamer

pault123 wrote:

Can I ask Doonhamer what a typcial day of yours would consist of? Engineering has always interested me, and it sounds like you would have quite a varied busy day there?

There is certainly plenty of variety. It can be anything from sitting at a desk writing a program for a PLC or SCADA system to commissioning on site in all sorts of industries and locations. You have to decide whether you are a IT programmer type or more inclined to do some practical stuff too. I think that the secret is to find something that you have a fairly natural apptitude for and enjoy. There are so many people out there that can program stuff all day long and I decided that it was not for me. I prefer the real world physical side because I'm not cut out to be a full time developer and PC support as has been mentioned is being passed to call centres in India. Control & automation systems give me a good balance between the two, but I have the advantage of having an apprenticeship and a background in engineering, which is not so easy to aquire now.

byb3

I'm currently doing a Masters in Mathematics, but have always been clued up on the techie side of things and help basically everybody in my family, their friends and their families etc......

I've built plenty of PCs, first ones not so stable but I've got it fine tuned now. Never understood about thermal paste until the 4th computer!

Anyway I've always thought that IT is the passion of my life, and I could do really well at it. I've had hands on experience for over 10 years (literally from the age of 11 with windows 3.11), theres not many problems I haven't been able to fix.

I'm a bit unsure how to get from A to B, as in Degree -> Decent Job as I have no qualifications in IT, just hands on experience.

I'm also well clued up in the networking area, but I still find this more annoying as sometimes you do everything right and it still doesn't work. I blame windows for this!

I really need to learn more on Databases,Servers etc...

I have a basic grasp of Visual Basic, but needs improving on.

Any hints?

Thanks in advance,

zappahey

albertross wrote:

Ditto any application, you are always going to come across applications you know nothing about.

Surely you jest. When I was in support, we were expected to be omnipotent. Even if it was the most obscure function in the most obscure package, we were expected to know it..."but, but, but you're the IT guy, you must know how to do it!"

For the record and to keep on topic. I'm in IT security and network defence. I started in IT by being in a business change group which was implementing an ERP package and, from there, managed to work my way into Unix and Windows support, then sys admin and then IS manager.

From there I spent 3 years in Canada managing software development and now I'm back doing this. Qualifications include MCSE and BSc in Computing, both done to reinforce the experience that I had. I started off as electronic tech with an HNC in that area.

mooncalf

pault123 wrote:

Thats seems the problem you cant become CISCO certified by books, I can't get hands on experience as I would need to be CISCO qualified to be doing a job everyday which would expand my knowledge. So would you suggest buying some parts, paying for an online course and practice building servers etc?

You can get virtual router and switch simulators..have a look around for them...they are enough to get you through the exam and give you a practical view. lets face it unless you set up swithces or routers normally you dont console to them you telnet to them.

Little_John

@byb3
Sorry to say but your degree means jack. sorry it doesnt but all it says is that you are prepaired to sit in lectures, make notes and learn them for 2,3 or 4 years and employees suposedly like that. It being in a very specific subject of mathematics, what sort of job were you looking to get with such a degree?

Your knowledge of PC's is great but a company I worked for a few years ago used people from the job centre to build and fix pc's they didnt have a clue but after a few weeks could build basic pc's to a neat and resonable standard that were sold by dabs.com. their wage was about £10k I am sure you wont be happy earning 10 a year for a while? I didnt think so.

Your knolwedge of VB would help slightly if you wanted to go in to programing but very few programing houses us VB but it would be a good stepping point for you if you decided to go that route.
Networking isnt just plugging pc's it to a hub or switch setting the IP addreses and giving them interent access and sharing resources. people want servers, that can do everything, security web logging the possibilities are endless and you could sit an MCSE course and learn the basics but you need to customise everything for every customer so you need the hands on experiance earning very little as a gopher for someone else. the money at the top isnt brilliant if you are an employee it is only good if your the employer or self employed which can be scary if things go wrong as the buck stops with you.

Good luck