Getting into I.T WITHOUT a degree...

[obibup]

Hi Everyone,

My work recently advised me that they’ll pay for a part time learning course of my choice (from any accredited educational provider) on a loan-based scheme. I’m 27 years old, never studied at College or University, and I’ve been in a call centre environment for about 7 years now. I know my way around a computer, have recently taken an interest in programming and I’m definitely ready for a career change. I’d like to take my company up on their offer, with the hope of getting employed in an I.T related field with my new qualification.

My question is- If you’d never been to University or College, what kind of course would you choose and what steps would you take in order to get gainful employment in the I.T field? What avenue within I.T would be the most likely to lead to employment without a formal degree? I’m at a cross roads in my life where I know I’m ready to put the hours in and knuckle down to make a career change, but going to Uni would be a bit of a problem in my current situation. I’ve been self-studying in my spare time pretty much since I left school (read- ‘pissing about on the internet’) and I’m not completely useless when it comes to applying myself to something, so I’m confident that taking a course won’t be a problem in itself. I realise that a course alone won’t cut it for many employers, so I know I’ll need to work on projects in my spare time to build experience and to show potential employers what I can do.

I can see how naïve of me it looks to be asking this by the way. There’s so much information out there on I.T careers but a lot of it is conflicting and I can’t see the wood for the trees. So I’ve come here for the opinion of those in the know.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated, especially anything related to specific courses and what particular steps you’d take in the same situation.

Thanks

 

[peterorl]

I am not sure what kind of courses they have offered you. You should state if you prefer hardware or software too.

 

[The Kasafist]

I go to Branford Hall and I am in their Computer Network Management courses. It's pretty basic but goes into a lot of detail later on. The school can offer vouchers up to 4 of them that allow you to take 4 certification course free. I say if you want a career change like "peterorl" said it's a matter of software or hardware. The "CNM" courses I am in are mostly about the OS and the Hardware. There is very little to no programming involved. A computer science degree would probably get you going in the programming world.

To make a lateral move in your company (which is what I am currently working on doing myself) I say study for your A+ and then work toward your Networking and Security and maybe you can get like a Networkin Administrator position in your company. Helps to make friends with the current IT personnel in your company too because they can tell you how they got to where they are and whether the company even needs another IT guy there or if they could find a branch they might need you in afterwards.

The certifications can be acquired at CompTIA they also have a website, just google CompTIA. Remember that in the IT field there is a ton of different specialties and it's impossible to learn it all. So my greatest advice (got it from my teacer) is "Pick a specialty and master it" be the best at what you are most interested in working on and you will be successful in this field. So if it's software maybe you have particularly mastered say Java and Python. Or in the hardware side of thing perhaps you're a security expert with all the knowledge you could muster about cyber defense and hacking.

Or perhaps you're a recovery expert and can work with intrusion and forensics to recover data from a damaged drive that is needed to solve a crime. What ever the case like I said pick a specialty and master it. The entry level stuff that gets you the foot in the door and the experience are what I mentioned earlier the A+, Networking and Security. Those are your bread and butter to becoming a Network Administrator. Hope this helped.

P.S. something I forgot to mention you can check out codeacademy.com to learn some programming languages here and there like Java and PHP bes to learn a little before feeding yourself to the sharks haha!