thinking about MCSE.... Network Engineering field

[revexrevex]

NYMUSCLE, MSCE costs $1500, plus books. I don't know where they came up with $15,000. They are probably charging you with full tuition to only take a few certification courses. Be very careful bro.

About the grant, you cannot redeem it in college, only in technical school. I suggest you take MSCE and A+/N+ in a technical school because it will be free for you (the grant will cover it). It will only take you 1.5 months to get certified during the summer. That college is ripping you off bro.

 

[flexygrl]

It's definetly possible. It happened to me. You just have to be realistic. Even after graduated and with an MCSE the chances of you getting hired for anything more than 50K(if that much) is very slim.

 

[XBiker]

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?

You are at least taking a realistic approach to it.

Technical support sucks, but it's the best way to learn. You deal with problems and you learn how to deal with people.

If you are serious about getting in to the IT field and/or the networking arena, the best thing to do it build yourself a LAN at home.

Network your PC's. Break it, fix it, run it to the max and see if you like it. Next step is to get a server on your LAN and break it, fix it, repeat the process.

Building a PC is a great way to see what makes it tick. You assemble all the stuff, load the OS and you create your own little PC. You even get to name it.

Bottom line is make sure the IT field is for you. IT people are no longer considered nerds as it's now a mainstream vocation that can pay very well.

It's also the culprit of lost hair (by pulling it out), frustration, and many a late night/early morning to get things done "off production"

I really liked it when I did it and I still consult. It was the corporate mindset of using people up and discarding them that made me bail.

 

[jnuts]

I suggest you learn Microsoft and at least one unix variant at the same time.

Dial - how much penetration have you seen w/*nix vs. Msoft? I've been doing some web frontend db work lately and the last 5 companies I've worked for all wanted a SQL Server/ASP/ASP.NET/IIS solution. I was/am prepared to do a *nix/Apache/PHP/Mysql solution, but nobody seems to want to go there.

 

[Dial_tone]

It boggles my mind that people pay thousands just to get an MCSE. I paid about $200 for books and spent another $1,500-2000 or slapping together a home network. I've got 7 computers at home now running Windows, Linux, OpenBSD & FreeBSD Unix. Go the do-it-yourself route. You can always sell the hardware on ebay when you're done.
For Cisco certification go to www.routersim.com for software to simulate Cisco hardware. I used it and aced the CCNA easily, 71 of 75 questions correct and no it did not get me a better job. Why should they hire YOU, a freshly minted MCSA w/no experience when there are experienced and certified people coming out of the woodwork? You'll be asked that so have an answer.

 

[flexygrl]

Another little tidbit of advice...

Most of the people going through the resumes know jack about I.T. They are just looking for keywords. So if you find a specific job that you are after that requires a certain skill set, just put it on your resume. It may open the door for you, then learn the skill yourself or get a friend in I.t. to teach it to you. This has worked very well for me. After school I went on 3 interviews and got all 3 jobs.

 

[NY Muscle]

It boggles my mind that people pay thousands just to get an MCSE. I paid about $200 for books and spent another $1,500-2000 or slapping together a home network. I've got 7 computers at home now running Windows, Linux, OpenBSD & FreeBSD Unix. Go the do-it-yourself route. You can always sell the hardware on ebay when you're done.
For Cisco certification go to www.routersim.com for software to simulate Cisco hardware. I used it and aced the CCNA easily, 71 of 75 questions correct and no it did not get me a better job. Why should they hire YOU, a freshly minted MCSA w/no experience when there are experienced and certified people coming out of the woodwork? You'll be asked that so have an answer.

Ok this all makes sense but I have pretty much no knowledge of this field or even the basic shit I need to learn like intro to DOS, intro to PC hardware, diagnostics and troubleshooting, , I do know that in the lab part of the class which the $700 is for, goes to building a computer from scratch, which u take home and its yours when u are done. But like I said b4 im "done" so to say with all these "certificates" I wanted to try to find a job say 1/2way through or so, so I can work in the field and continue the classes so when im done I have somethign on my resume.

 

[NY Muscle]

It's definetly possible. It happened to me. You just have to be realistic. Even after graduated and with an MCSE the chances of you getting hired for anything more than 50K(if that much) is very slim.

Exactly how I feel but that is why I wanted to try to get work after I have learned help desk support so when I finish MCSE I will have soem experience in the field and something on my resume, which I am assuming will give me a better chance a t a job/higher paying job... right? i hope lol

 

[NY Muscle]

also $15,500 just covers up to and the MCSA the MCSE is another $3000, now at the university its like $13,000 maybe for up to AND the MSCE plus i save $100 a credit (normally $500 a credit) because of my high GPA from my college degree plus a few other things where I can get $$ back so maybe $10,000 or less for up to and the MCSE, so I save like $5000 but im pretty sure this isnt a technical school and if i got a grant i cant use it here. the name of the school is WBI, Westchester Business Institute

 

[AAP]

Where you been for so long NYM?