looking to change career to IT, are the compTIA certs worth it?
my background: criminal justice grad, 3 years working in office setting post grad in an auto claims office. i have average computer experience, i've built my own computers etc. nothing advanced however.
any suggestions to landing my first job? should i get certs? CompTIA or MCP? i imagine i need to start with helpdesk.. any personal stories getting into the IT field appreciated.
They're a money grab. But they look good on a resume if you want an entry level IT position (small companies) or repair tech job at a retail store. Focus on applying your existing experience somehow, and gradually move your work towards IT. Small companies are amazing for that. You may have a better chance avoiding certs right now and availing your existing computer experience where needed.
Net+ if you know nothing about networking
Sec+ If you are pretty good and can take your knowledge to the next level
They are good if you know absolutely nothing on the respective topics and need to acquire a baseline. You will probably find A+ fairly easy, maybe something like Network+ a bit more challenging, but nothing killer.
They are also good for passing HR standards and getting your foot in the door if you have no social capital to leverage.
Being more blunt: It's pretty cheap and can't hurt. Many entry level positions advertise it as a requirement.
>are the compTIA certs worth it?
Yes, but only to get past the HR
>criminal justice grad,
Try working in information security, at least then your background looks relevant. ( certification.comptia.org
Here are some free related courses: cybrary.it
Google around or use Piratebay for resources. The books bought new are as expensive as the tests themselves. I have them all as PDFs found free online, and there are a bunch of practice tests floating around.
In fact, several questions I took on my N+ exam were exact replicas of questions I had seen on the internet before.
IT is fucking garbage. You're a glorified janitor/customer service agent. Pay is terrible too due to heavy competition and off-sourcing. Just stick to what pays the bills.
What exactly "pays the bills"?
whatever OP does right now (whether it's an adjustor or claims investigator or whatever) guarantees makes a shitton more than entry level tech garbage. fuck i'd even wager he makes more than skilled IT like a entry or intermediate level programmer / developer.
If you are going to do comtia certs then remember Professor Messer for great free vids, training and texzts professormesser.com
Being a CEO of a billion dollar company.
If you want to work for the government or a government contractor, you will need at least Sec+
>To work for in the public sector you must get a private company to let you
Fucks sake, America
It's useful in European governments as well.
I'm also thinking about trying to get some certs, if I complete the program at my local trade school i will have certs/classes in
CompTIA A+ cert
CompTIA Network+ cert
CompTIA Security cert
MCTS cert
STRATA
Linux Essentials
Programing Logic
CCENT
CCNA
does anyone know if this would be worth it? the program is about 13k and lasts 640 hours,I would be done by this time next year if I don't fuck it up. really need some advice not sure what i'm gonna do
>does anyone know if this would be worth it?
nope
Well, you likely will get a job with that... But is it worth it? Those comptia certs cost ~$300 per exam and you can easily get access to free learning material (there are several links itt) like professor messer
why?
thats true but i'm also kind of a dumb ass and would like to be taught with hands on experience, they also have job placement if I complete the program with connects out my state which I would like to move out of which could be beneficial
Well... I think it's overkill... You can likely get the 3 CompTIA certs and land a decent entry job and then get the rest later. But if you get all those certs then you at least know a decent amount.
Get a Sec+ and join the FBI. Should be easy with your degree.
This also assumes you aren't a degenerate drug user with a background.
>landing my first job
>starting at helpdesk
ah man.. how old are you?
Helpdesk is pretty much on the same tier as janitorial. You ought to be able to get something better with a criminal justice degree.
Why are you changing to IT at this point anyway?
How about you reiterate what kind of IT jobs are garbage, you can't just say it like all of them are since decent to higher up ones pay a fuck ton. And what fucking off-sourcing are you even saying? OP doesn't want the same job a poo in the loo has in india being call center support for verizon you dumbfuck.
Actually, I've heard there are a few decent helpdesk jobs out there. Try Comcast or one of the other ISPs.
>Sec+
>degree
>join FBI
...is that really the only technical requirement? i thought government IT only hired the elite of the elite who write linux kernel patches in their spare time
r u serious?
yeah why? i never thought the gubmint would just hire any rando with a sec+ and clean record
You must be pretty young. Everyone is pretty much retarded and if you spend 5% of your time every day studying you are in the 99%.
Top 1%. Sorry I'm drunk it's my day off.