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IT Support: Work Experience or Teach Myself?

Tags:
  • Business Computing
  • Support
  • Virtualization
  • Exchange
Last response: in Business Computing
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February 8, 2014 10:06:10 AM

Hi guys, I'm trying to get a job in IT support but I'm missing some key skills that I see in most job postings like supporting MS Exchange, Virtualization etc.

Should I apply for a low paying apprenticeship/ or buy my own equipment and teach myself and get the certifications?

I've worked as a part time Desktop Support tech for 2 years as a lone IT guy (so no feedback and only about 2 weeks training, rest is learned on the job by myself)

More about : support work experience teach

February 13, 2014 12:49:12 PM

Train Signal was a good site for you to understand different facets of the IT business provided that you already kno an get your certs but the costs were expensive till they changed their business model. Now it's $47/month instead of $ $1500 for Server 2008 and Exchange 2010 like my boss paid.
Most of the training videos have a lab set up and tell you what they are using to test out their functionality....For an example using a laptop with an i7 processor and 12GB of RAM and using virtualization software Peter had run a MS Server 2008 server running Exchange 2010 and a few VM's to act like work stations for testing
Anonymous
March 12, 2014 4:25:15 PM

Tech school, a couple certs, hands on experience and lots of reading.
Related resources
March 13, 2014 7:44:08 AM

My first recommendation would be to swing by The Springboard Series on TechNet and have a look over the resources that are available there. You will find articles, videos, and step by step guides that walk you through common IT professional tasks such as application compatibility and deployment, explore the Windows environment from an IT professional perspective, and provide free tools and solutions which revolutionize the way these tasks are performed.

Also be sure to check out the Microsoft Virtual Academy. This is an entirely free site filled with courses you can take to better your understanding of Microsoft products and technologies. For example, there is the 5 part series What’s New in Windows® 8.1 for IT Professionals which explores in great detail the latest Windows client environment from the eyes of a system administrator. Also be sure to check out the Windows 8.1 Deployment Jump Start from yesterday, when it becomes available as a recording, which answers the question “How do I deploy Windows the “right way”?”

Of course, nothing is a substitute for hands on experience as Beachnative described. Windows 8.1 Professional or Enterprise client systems now have access to a full-fledged server virtualization solution in the way of Client Hyper-V. Combined with the evaluations available from TechNet for many Microsoft products and technologies, you can have a complex environment set up to test out various tasks and scenarios with ease. If you have a separate system to dedicate as a virtual lab, you can also use the free Hyper-V Server 2012 R2.

Combine that with the free solutions provided by Microsoft like the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) and the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) and you can quickly become an expert in solutions which can revolutionize common administrative tasks. In the Windows 8.1 Deployment Jump Start Johan Arwidmark cites one situation where he was flown in to an organization and in half of a day’s work with MDT prepared a deployment environment which the existing system administrative team had not been able to complete in three weeks’ time. MDT can also be very helpful to a laboratory environment, as a properly configured deployment share will allow you to recreate evaluation environments with various applications and configurations on the fly as you test out various scenarios.

Lastly, in the ever changing world of the IT profession, new information is available all of the time. Stay up with it by subscribing to the monthly newsletter the Springboard Series Insider and the Springboard Series Blog.
August 19, 2014 3:07:27 AM

IMO going down the apprenticeship route would be the best option. I went down that route and I was exposed to many different technologies, and now am a sysadmin with 500+ users. it has been year since my apprenticeship, I stayed with the initial company first.

Also they give you a few free certs. Here in the UK I got server 2012, windows 7, Comptia a+ and network+.
August 21, 2014 4:55:07 AM

I'd say get into an entry level position that utilizes those technologies to gain the experience. Having a home built test environment is something you should get at some point anyway but unfortunately employers want to see the experience on your resume from a position you've held and not necessarily just you listing the skills as proficiencies.
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