thinking about MCSE.... Network Engineering field

[XBiker]

One other thing to remember about the IT field is support.

No matter what you do in any field (tech support, network administration, security, programming, etc) you are supporting one of three things (or a combination of the three)

People

Machines

Programs

I cannot tell you how hard I have laughed at people who say, "I want to be in the IT field, but I don't want to do support."

It doesn't work that way. People have problems and hose things up. Machines break and need maintainance, and programs (or code) are written by humans who are fallible.

 

[XBiker]

nymuscle, do you have AOL?

Friends don't let friends join AOL.

(An old IT saying)

If you mean AIM, that's bad enough, but AOL's service... Oh god.

 

[flexygrl]

Oh....I forgot to mention. I got my job without any certs. I had a really good gpa and some experience. I got my MCP about a year after being hired.

 

[revexrevex]

NYmuscle, they might be rippng you off.. as jimsbbc said, IM me at "RvxRvxRvx1" and we can talk

Xbiker, yea i meant aim. Btw hows the progress on injectabe protein going bro?

 

[Jimsbbc]

I would much rather put $15500 toward a masters than any cert that is the same as throwing money out the window. Most of the people in my MCSE class couldn't find jobs in IT, and the rest were helddesk (me included).

 

[TheProject]

Another thing to keep in mind is that cerification does NOT = employment.

The term "paper" MCSE has been around for years now. These are the guys that can pass any of the MS tests, but still can't get the services started on a server that is down.

They can't troubleshoot your PC/Laptop/Printer/etc, because they have no experience other than what they have memorized out of a book.

To really be good in the IT world, you gotta live it and breath it.

It's much like the training certifications that many of the trainers in the gym have. Anyone can probably train, test and pass the exam, but would you really trust them to train you?

Yep, what he said.

 

[XBiker]

Xbiker, yea i meant aim. Btw hows the progress on injectabe protein going bro?

As soon as you find a way to make sterile protein without degrading the structure, let me know.

 

[revexrevex]

Bro, my senior project was to design a system to digitize a business. That was a freaking nightmare, you can't imagine how many things you ohave to consider in order to get physical business on internet. I had to do hours of ROI calculations, approximate costs involved for inhouse or outsourcing blablablah. Then I had to make a web site with a server/client and oracle database to transfer the existing product/service offering into the computer. God that was a nightmare, that project made me reconsider getting a job in a computer field

 

[NY Muscle]

Another thing to keep in mind is that cerification does NOT = employment.

The term "paper" MCSE has been around for years now. These are the guys that can pass any of the MS tests, but still can't get the services started on a server that is down.

They can't troubleshoot your PC/Laptop/Printer/etc, because they have no experience other than what they have memorized out of a book.

To really be good in the IT world, you gotta live it and breath it.

It's much like the training certifications that many of the trainers in the gym have. Anyone can probably train, test and pass the exam, but would you really trust them to train you?

Well like i said I was hoping to get a job once at the MCSA level or shit even at the networking help desk support if I had to so I have hands on experience while I continue my education an once i get MCSE, I will have some work experience under my belt and refelct on my resume and able to get a better job since I have been in the field a little bit.


Am i still off track here?

 

[Dial_tone]

1. Certification is a nice touch but if you have to go to "school" to get it, DON'T!
Get a job (any job) then study for MCSE at night on your own time. This is what I did for MCSE & CCNA.
2. For job security you have to specialize - security, web development, programming, SQL, etc. MCSE desktop support people are a dime a dozen.
3. It will take years of experience to get any IT job worth having. Certification alone hasn't cut it since 2000.

Linux administration is a growing area but most of those jobs will require knowing some programming - shell scripts, perl, awk, sed and possibly SQL.
I suggest you learn Microsoft and at least one unix variant at the same time.