If you were to work in IT
 

What kind of qualications would you need? Along the lines of these kind of jobs.....

Systems engineers
Technical support engineers­
Systems analysts
Network analysts
Technical consultants

I'm intrested in the techical side of the job, putting things togther, how they work ect. Putting new systems togther.

I'm just thinking what else I can do, that offers a long term career.

Re: If you were to work in IT
 

Cisco CCNA is a good one to look at. I'd rather have that than say a MCSE. But big companies like branding, so many like the MSCE.

Re: If you were to work in IT
 

I'll reply properly when I have stopped laughing........................

Re: If you were to work in IT
 

I have worked in IT since 1982, I have a BSc in Mech Eng and needed some code to control a vehicle crush so picked up the RT11 manual, knew Fortran/Basic and Pascal and got on with it. From that I went to a company making cash handling solutions using CA Naked Minis and I learned macro assembler.

From that I moved to my current employer in 1984 got into VAX, Macro32, C, and then SunOS/ Solaris, Oracle dba/ forms development, then into Java, Linux, C#, PHP, etc. plus networks. I installed the first privately operated satellite link in China. firewalls/security/intrusion detection etc.

Jobs have been :-
Analyst Programmer,
System manager,
IT manager,
Systems Architect,
Solutions Consultant,

current title is service development project manager. which basically means I take a requirement and provide a solution.

My only formal qualification in 25 years in IT is an ITIL foundation. although I have spent a fortune on training from DEC, SUN, Oracle etc.

TBH it depends on the type of work you intend to do. I have always worked in engineering environments where it was important to be able to deliver business advantage through IT deployment. My customers and I spoke the same language, I understood their requirements etc. I employed engineers (mechanical, electrical, chemical, nuclear) who brought their knowledge to IT. I never employed anyone with a pure IT background.

I have done courses where people wanted a manufacturers qualification on the back of it and thought really and what do you want to do with it.

What is the point of going for a job with a CCNA qualification and claiming to be a network guru when you are then required to maintain a heterogeneous network with switches from Fore, Cisco, 3Com/ Routers from ACC, Cisco, Nortel, Firewalls from Nokia/checkpoint etc. then WANs made up of X25/SMDS/Point 2 Point VSAT etc.

In other words a manufacturers qualification is useless in the real world without the detailed knowledge of the underlying process that enables you to easily move between environments

Re: If you were to work in IT
 

I've got a BTEC National Diploma in Computer Studies and thats it.

I have the following job titles associated with my job role

Technical Support Analyst
Data Centre Manager
Windows Server Technical Design Authority

Bascailly I do support, data centre management and Infrastucture design. I have no formal qualification apart from my BTEC, I've learnt my stuff as I've gone along.

Qualifications on there own without the necessary skills and experience to back them up mean nothing.

My advice, get in somewhere on their helpdesk and start learning the trade and then work your way towards doing what you want to do.

MSCE and Cisco CCNA are all very nice, but I've met so many candidates with those qualifications and they have no real world skills.

Re: If you were to work in IT
 

Err, none in my case...

Re: If you were to work in IT
 

I have 2 degrees in Maths....I work in IT Service Management though.

I started off behind a retail counter selling computer bits, then moved to a Team Leader job on a Helpdesk and from there to Service Management.

I am not technical but I can understand technical....when explained properly :)

Qualifications in IT, I only have an ITIL Foundation Certificate.

Current role is Service Protection Manager......I deal with audit/service improvement plans/risk management and government bodies.

Unless you already have some tech skills it will take you some time to get up the ladder....can you survive it financially? Also bare in mind that big companies outsource their support to outside the UK.....i.e. positions might be on low demand.

If you cannot "wait" until you acquire the technical knowledge you should look into your other skills and how they could be applied in IT.

Re: If you were to work in IT
 

To be honest the type of jobs names that you have given are very generic. One company may call someone a system eng, another company may call the same role a network eng.

As for the qualification, it probably depends on your academic and current work background. If you are young (below 25ish) I would suggest trying to get into a big company and get then to train you in as many recognised qualifications as possible. Even if you never use the qualifications again, it can not hurt. Keep this up for 3 years and you will get a good background even though it will kill your soul to see how inefficient these companies are.

If you are looking at msce or cisco then these are more comms/network qualifications that are recognised in the commercial world. Not really hands on black box system engineering (most of which is now defence related in the uk).

If you go down the commercial world way, in time you can earn a pretty penny if you learn your trade, get a decent name then go contracting or move up the ladder. However, please be sure that you will never be a hit with the ladies; you will probably talk about star wars/red dwarf all the time and insist on CAMRA beer instead of something that tastes good. Don’t worry it happens to all engineers.....and remember you will always have your bike

Re: If you were to work in IT
 

Have worked in IT for 6 years. Did an apprenticeship alongside my job when I started which I finished after 2 years. Got 7 certificates that hang on my wall, and did Microsoft training, but didn't get any accreditation from it apart from the BTEC diploma in Systems support.

As said above, you can have the paper but then no expertise to back it up at all. Best get some real world experience under your belt, as that's more favourable...

Re: If you were to work in IT
 

CCNA is a good one to have

MCSE is common and isn't worth it imo.

Nothing comical about it? Least im trying :p