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Will I still make it in IT? Please help :/

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  • Computers
  • Networking
  • Business Computing
Last response: in Business Computing
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Anonymous
May 2, 2014 7:32:00 PM

Hello guys I'm Mike. so pretty much I've been going to school for Computer Networking and I love it. I finally found out what I wanted to do. Without going into to much detail pretty much my father passed away and my student loans got messed up because it was under him. They are threatening to kick me out of school and there's nothing I can do. I can't get other loans. The only way to do it is to pay out of pocket. Can I succeed in this amazing field with just certs? I'm so bummed I literally cried all day today because of this. My dad was so excited when I was going to school and now I feel like I'm going to let him down.

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May 2, 2014 7:36:54 PM

You might do better if you've got other qualifications already. But if you haven't and you're really keen then its worth continuing with the course.
Just the fact that you completed a course will help open doors for all sorts of jobs. Employers need to know you will see projects through to the end.
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May 2, 2014 7:38:51 PM

Experience is worth more than a college degree, and having certs will get your foot in the door. I'm working on my network engineering degree now but only a few guys in my department have degrees. Most have CCNA cert, Comp+ ect, I work at CVS Corps.
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May 2, 2014 8:06:50 PM

If you are smart and work hard, there can be great opportunity starting at a lower position and working your way up.
If you don't get your qualifications, prospective employees need to know why.
Stay hungry and chase everything you can.
Be humble and work your arse off.

I was sick during my last year of high school and didn't graduate (funny story, i got put a year ahead and skipped my last year of primary school, so Im a high school AND primary school drop out).

Floundered through 4 years of uni (I did graduate tho) and got a 'sales assistant' job in a tile showroom. Pretty pathetic, yeah.
After 2 days training and 1 day at the branch, i got lucky and the branch manager also quit. So after 3 days I get handed the keys and codes and get told to open and close, and that somebody would be in to help me for a few hours around lunch time. You can bitch and moan, or just get it done with a minimum of fuss. Ran that place for 3 months before they got another full time employee. When they did, I asked if I could help out at their head office one or two mornings a week. Did as much as I could handle including learning the account execs job. One ended up leaving a few months later.
I stepped up and asked to do the job, since i'd done some of it already. I said it would be easier for them to find new sales staff than an account exec. A week later I had my own office, company car, laptop and phone.

What started off as an embarrassing job (my friends were all becoming engineers and doctors etc), ended up being quite nice. I still wasn't on the same money, but I didn't work nearly the same hours and I got better perks.
I worked hard and every 3 months I asked for a raise. And I got it. Every time.

Ended up leaving after ~2 years and going into business with family, but thats another story.
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May 2, 2014 8:16:24 PM

Given any thought to applying to an Armed Forces technical position?

I don't know the details for the USA, but in Canada I was sent to college for two years as an Electronics Technician then got more courses in the Navy for Radar specifically.

You do have to commit to a specific number of years, but for many people it's a great experience overall even if you don't stick with it after five years:

a) school paid for
b) military training can feel rewarding
c) combination of education and military service gets your foot in the door for a lot of jobs.

We had MANY people finish their terms and get hired elsewhere. One of the guys did his IT mostly by correspondence once we weren't in class anymore and he had the time so he had that on top of the military experience and Electronics Technician diploma. He had a job arranged before he left.
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May 9, 2014 8:42:30 AM

Certs should be good. I know in my area more companies were more inserted in what certs you have most did not care I had a degree in Cisco network. But experience is worth more than any paper. Maybe try and see if you can find a paid internship, or a level 1 help desk.
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May 12, 2014 10:58:50 AM

Certification and education are important components in a resume, but also important is competence and knowledge of the subject matter. There are plenty of free resources out there on utilities that can greatly increase the efficiency of any IT department. Check out the Springboard Series on TechNet, there you will find immensely powerful Microsoft tools to help resolve issues every IT department faces. Learn to use these tools and keep up with the advancements made within the field. A few examples:

The Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) enables you to create specific customized compatibility solutions with targeted shims (or compatibility settings). Being the tech who can make a company’s custom ERP software work on a new platform is a very noticeable asset. Particularly if that custom ERP software is from a developer who spent a decade developing it at considerable cost, then subsequently went out of business. Also be sure to become familiar with Orca in case you come up against an incompatible MSI.

The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) enables you to create a deployment system capable of providing a network enabled deployment solution which can deploy images to disparate hardware (various makes and models) with various software configurations (such as different software for different departments). In organizations with separate images for each model of computer and each software configuration you can save multiple TB of storage space, eliminate great inefficiency with image maintenance, and provide an environment with greater flexibility where imaging can be performed at any time in ever more granular configurations. Check out the Windows 8.1 Deployment Jump Start to see what I’m describing.
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