[Exchange Server 2010 Administration: Real World Skills For MCITP Certification And Beyond (Exams 70-
Kody Coste
I aimed for the certifications because 1 teacher (who is a Sys Admin turned teacher, not like most who have 0 field experience) pushed the class to do it. However when talking with the Sys admin of another school, he said that the A+ is almost worthless, while the Net+ and the Security+ are only marginally better. He says experience is the only real weight.
Exchange Server 2010 Administration: Real World Skills for MCITP Certification and Beyond (Exams 70-
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After getting these certs, I was thinking of going to collage for a class like MIS (Information Systems) and minoring in CS. But is it worth it to spend so much money on those things if experience only matters? Should I not consider collage and go straight to work? Should I not worry about certifications (they aren't cheap you know)? Or should I do what I was planning to do?
A lot of people bash college for IT geeks, but you learn a lot in those 4 years, and 99% of it takes place outside the classroom. Colleges are one big business, at their lowest levels. And spending time fighting through the bureaucracy of a college is a hell of a way to prep for the bureaucracy of just about any company. You learn patience, you make contacts, build relationships with peers in your field (which are some of the most valuable things ANY geek can have), and generally it gives you a few years to "season" yourself and really figure out what you want to do. Trying to jump straight out of high school and into a career is NOT normal, it only happens in extraordinary circumstances, and odds are, you don't fit the profile (but maybe you do).
All those "crap classes" you take in college? English, Management, Economics? Do I use that stuff day to day in my SysAdmin job? Nope. Am I thankful I have SOME understanding of stuff so i can hold a conversation on any range of topics with my manager, my director, my EVP/CIO, or the CEO? Yes. Having a mature personality goes a long way towards getting your foot in the door for interviews, jobs, and promotions. Think you have a personality now? So did I, when I was a freshman in college. Now I look back at that terrified, uneducated twerp I was, and appreciate that 5 years I spent deciding where I want to be and taking the time to get my education.
Also, don't go getting a ton of certifications until you have a career path lined up. There's no point spending hundreds (or thousands) of dollars getting your CCNA, CCNE, or whatever, when there's still potential you'll never use them. Not sure you wanna be a Windows Admin? Why waste time, energy, and money getting an MCP certification?
Also, as was pointed out elsewhere here, Internships are some of the best ways to test the waters of a particular field, build industry contacts, and find permanent jobs. Colleges (at least the ones worth going to) and clubs at colleges, host job fairs regularly. Impress a recruiter there, and you might get an interview. Impress people there, and you got an internship. Companies send recruiters there to look for POTENTIAL, not for experience.
IMHO, Any CompTIA certification is good if you want to work for the Geek Squad at Best Buy. If, on the other hand, you want to work in the IT field then my suggestion would be to look into Cisco and Microsoft certifications while pursuing a college degree in the computer sciences. You can do all of this while looking for an entry level job in the IT field doing tech support, etc. in order to build up a base of experience.
I can't recommend highly enough that you continue to go to school. Sure it doesn't apply directly to working as a system administrator, but it does help in lieu of experience. Additionally, many companies aren't going to even consider you unless you have a degree.
In either case, while you are going to school, take any opportunity you can to work in the IT field. This can either be through internships, student jobs or part-time jobs. Sure, you might be working help desk or desktop support but it gives you the experience and contacts you need to break in to the field.
Beyond that, I would ignore the certifications for now. The CompTIA certs have little value and most employers are going to ignore any certifications unless you have the experience to back them up (which you don't right now).
I have a B.S. in computer science and it has opened doors that would not be available otherwise. Several employers have hired me on as a programmer and when they found I could also manage systems and networks started having me do that instead. I would look to at least complete a B.S. before entering the field full time. That being said I didn't learn much about networks or system administration from completing my degree. Get an internship play with systems. Set up your own home networks. Host your own web site.
When you hear administrators telling you that CompTIA certifications are "worthless," keep in mind that we're biased: most people here are earning 50-100K and up, so what's "worthless" to us might be gold to you.
Will the A+ and Network+ certifications help you get an internship or a $10/hour entry-level job? Absolutely, they will. Will they help you put money in the bank, pay off a mortgage, and feed a family of four? Probably not.
In terms of your career, get internships. As many as possible. Offer to work for free in the IT department at whatever local businesses interest you. If you or your parents know someone who knows someone, that's the perfect way to get started. You want at least three internships on your resume before you finish college (more is better), and you want them all to have excellent references. That means even when you're working for free, you want to act like you're getting paid: show up early, work hard, get things done, make a good impression.
Fast, cheap, and practical: Sign up for WGU's 4-year online degree BSIT program in network administration, the one that includes an MCITP certification. If you are a killer student, you can finish this kind of a program on an accelerated basis; even if it takes you all 4 years, you will graduate with about 10 certifications and an accredited 4-year degree from a real university (albeit one that no one has heard of). You will owe little or no money because the tuition is cheap. Your MCITP certification, along with the degree and your internships, will get you noticed.
Serious, respectable, but expensive: Get a CS degree from the best university that you can afford. While you're in school, get a student job in the university's information services department. You will end up with an attention-getting degree (and the programming skills to match), and you will have entry-level administration/support experience too. (It wouldn't hurt for you to find yourself a CCNA certification in your spare time.)
My personal opinion is that you have been steered wrong. A+ may demonstrate your willingness to learn and get certified but beyond that it's pretty worthless. All it shows is that you've learned to tinker with computer hardware and the subject is generally taught on old and irrelevant hardware at that. Net+ and Security+ are slightly more valuable but as they are broad overview certifications they bear little relationship to the work as it's performed in the real world.
Vendor certification will be very valuable to you, so I think you should make that a priority, rather than more generic stuff. The reason it's valuable is because it relates to what is in actual use, as opposed to some theory that is probably no longer valid or relevant, and that is what employers are interested in.
As for getting your resume looked at, the first make sure you apply for positions you have a chance of getting. That probably means helpdesk work and internships (we don't have those here so I'm interpreting what they are based on what I've read elsewhere).
If at all possible see if you can enlist the help of family, friends and acquaintances to get your foot into the door somewhere. Maybe one of them knows someone, who knows someone, etc... Don't be too fussy about your first couple of positions, as they should be seen as mere rungs on the ladder, not career prospects.
You might also consider getting some experience, which you can list on a resume, by helping out somewhere, even if it's unpaid. I'm thinking here along the lines of schools, charities, community groups and the like.
Find local computer places ISPs, large companies, IT Consulting, whatever. Put your resume together with an objective that you're looking for an Internship. Start sending it to as many places as possible (99% will pitch it; you're look for that other 1%).
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