A+ Qualification

Shermanator

gaming_guy wrote: »

take a snapshot before you start messing around and if it breaks then you can just revert to an older snapshot instead of reinstalling the OS.

Thats cheating - you will never learn like that ha ha

I retrained 5 years ago, started on a helpdesk and now a Senior Consultant for a Microsoft Partner. I started with A+ and even now I am not an MCITP and have no burning desire to be one, I have just got 3 MCTS quals, CCA (Citrix) and VCP (VMware). I agree that quals are needed, but I strongly disagree that they represent an individuals ability. However, the MCTS exams are a lot better now that there are simulations

You have already made a good start if you have an environment at home, the fact that you are talking about virtualisation and snapshots, well, that already makes you better than a majority of the helpdesk guys that I know

Mr_Oink

The thing with touch typing is speed and appearance. You can be the best sysadmin on the planet, but if you type like a retard at an interview it's probably not worth taking your coat off ;-)

Being fair - it's probably less of an issue to Windross point'n'click people, but for any command line working it is a really useful (and cheap and easy to obtain) skill.

I once laughed at a guy trying to do a port 25 telnet session to troubleshoot a mail server issue. His stumbling two finger typing skills handicapped him on that occasion. The distant server would time out and close the connection every 30 seconds as the poor guy was trying to enter an email address at the rcpt to stage. Sent him off to make a coffee whilst the men who could 'type' sorted it out :-)

Clearly some know nothing numnuts who can type properly is not going to get first choice of a decent IT Job - but don't underestimate the importance of this simple skill. Ten quid and a few hours of your time - worth the investment in anyone's money that.....

elvch01

I must admit that I've been an IT techie now for 20+ years - and started on Unix/Linux. I have a comfortable 6-finger typing style and I know my way around a QWERTY keyboard, so I don't suffer from telnet timeouts. However I haven't found my inability to touch-type has held me back, but I do appreciate that it can have its benefits & I think that it would be a relatively quick skill to develop with practice & discipline

Mr_Oink

elvch01 wrote: »

but I do appreciate that it can have its benefits & I think that it would be a relatively quick skill to develop with practice & discipline

In an employers market, any skill that makes you stand out from the pack is benefit - especially cheap and easy to obtain ones. I guess the point I'm trying to make is spending £100's to £1000's on courses is all good and well, but don't overlook the basics that can really make a difference.

elvch01

Mr_Oink wrote: »

In an employers market, any skill that makes you stand out from the pack is benefit - especially cheap and easy to obtain ones. I guess the point I'm trying to make is spending £100's to £1000's on courses is all good and well, but don't overlook the basics that can really make a difference.

I totally agree

pstones578

fluffnutter wrote: »

I've worked in IT for > 10 years (coder and now project management) and I've never heard of A+ or N+. Is it a networky/hardware support thing? It's not apps that's for sure.

That's why you've never heard of them as you've just been a coder and a PM