IT Course advise - home learning

loksat

Iam currently doing a course with Home Learning college. I find them good.

slipthru

What about doing the microsoft MCSE course, you can buy the books and study at home and it's about £90 to sit the exam. This is and the Ciscos qualifications are the one employers really look for but even then it's hard when you don't have much work experience.

Start on the XP one and if you pass that you will be MCP qualified.

I'm thinking of finally getting round to taking this exam in the very least.

I did some useless 2 year course at college then i found work as an IT tech at a secondary school and i feel i was quite lucky the job found me as i had been looking for around three months with very little response.

nabberuk_2

Personally i wouldnt bother with all these companies. From what i've heard all they do is sit you down in front of a computer with all the learning material on. You might as well buy the material yourself and study at home for a lot less money.

I think your best bet would be to get some sort of certification with microsoft. Start with a MCP in XP or Vista.

I wouldnt aim for a MCSE just yet as you really need to be working in an IT enviroment to do this. (but the MCP can go towards it as one of the 7 (i think) exams)

I'd do a cheap intermediate college course where its actually classroom based. The qualifications from this wont be worth much, but the knowledge will certainly help you.

There are a few college course that teach you how to study. This may help you if you intend to pass microsoft certifications through self study.

There are a few junior positions available, try applying for one of these and mention on your CV what your doing to improve you IT head.

Sharepoint services seems to be the big thing at the moment, or at least it is for the SME's.

goshdarnit

nabberuk wrote: »

Start with a MCP in XP or Vista.

Very few companies run Vista for obvious reasons.

traciekan

why on earth dont you go to your local college and do it there or see if theres a local back to work vol org which does training. we have one where all the computer training is free and you can do most things there. i wouldnt hand over any money

DKLS

cootebird wrote: »

what are the main qualifications you would look for in employing a junior? I assume, a CV without qualifications would be turned away?

Depends, I recently lost my best .Net developer to a 60K a year job in London, he was an ex bin man who was self taught, with not a formal qualification to his name yet he produced fantastic code. If he had applied with a traditional CV, I wouldnt have interviewed him and would have missed out on a great asset to the business.

nabberuk_2

goshdarnit wrote: »

Very few companies run Vista for obvious reasons.

Your correct at this current time, but ofcourse that will change and theres nothing like being on top of your game.

To date, We've been asked to install over 400 workstations (we did try to get them on xp instead). TBH we've had next to no problems with them.

QwertyCat

When I was working in IT - these certifications meant nothing - CCIE is the only certification worth anything - IIRC, 95% of applicants fail the CCIE exam

nabberuk_2

albertross wrote: »

Please don't waste your money on these courses, qualifications might impress a recruitment agency, but not experienced IT managers, experience is far more important. Apply for some junior roles, installations etc, to get some experience under your belt.

they got me my last 3 jobs and were a requirement for my last two.