slipstream_uk

iTrader: (1)

I was made redundant 4 weeks ago, so Im retraining into I.T.
The courses the college want to put me on are:

2272 - XP Operating System
2273 - Server Operating Systems
2276/2277 - Computer Network Infrastructure
2400 - Exchange



Is there anything else that I should be looking into, aswell as above ?


Cheers Phil.

Sonic'

Cisco too, the College courses will see you get your CCNA which will always stand you in good stead, and its not expensive doing it through college, just takes a while

If you start the Cisco one before the Network Infrastructure it will make that one quite a bit easier

I know quite a lot of people who do the Cisco one like that thesedays

warrenm2

unix might be useful

stevem2k

If you are going to do exchange , do they offer (or include ) active directory ?

Sonic'

Im guessing that AD would be covered under Server Operating Systems

Petem95

Yeah everyone is doing the Cisco ones now, which is why we can employ a Cisco CCNA network engineer and pay them the same as the service desk girls who just answer the phones, and more applications per job as well!

Always the way with IT - everyone assumes its a gold mine, and it just isnt!

If I were you I'd do some research into what areas are likely to see an increase in personel before you commit to anything. SAP could be worth a look IMO.

Sonic'

I know there are a lot of CCNA's out there, but the CDA's and higher are still commanding a good salary

Ive moved more into Managed Wireless thesedays as there arent that many people doing it (compared to other technologies) and I have become quite profficient at it now and we have just partnered with a newish company who seemed to be leading the way for a lot of our customer base
and they are recruiting too

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Just avoid being a DBA, its too hard

NotoriousREV

XP is a bit of a hard choice right now. It's pretty ubiquitous at the moment but is going to go end of life in the not too distant future. Basically you need to do it, but understand that you need to be doing Vista as soon as poss.

slipstream_uk

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the input guys. Ive got a meeting with the college on Friday morning to go over all my courses and what ever else I can think of.

I know XP fairly well, a little bit about networks. I was a printer by trade, but helped out in the I.T. dept in my spare time. Ive just bought myself Vista so I can get to grips with it, just so I can get a head start on it.

jonc

I'd avoid Vista, hardly any businesses will upgrade to it in an enterprise environment, in the short to medium term, and most likely go to Windows "Vienna". It doesn't offer enough over XP especially as SP3 is now available. To much costs and redevelopment costs, especially with the current financial cliamate for very little commercial/productivity gains. Stick with XP its rock solid and still widely used.

It does depend on what you want to get into, Desktop, Back Office, Networking, packaging, DBA, development, unix/linux. If you have little commercial IT experience, then perhaps starting in helpdesk/desktop support is easier to get foot into the IT world. You'll need at lteast a few more years of commercial experience to get into infrastructure and development roles, experience counts more than qualifications for many employers in IT.

slipstream_uk

iTrader: (1)

Right Ive been to the college and theyre wanting to put me on the following:

Windows XP Professional MCSE
Windows Server 2003 Network Management MCSA/MCSE
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 MCSA/MCSE
Windows Server 2003 Administration MCSA/MCSE
Server 2003 Security Admin MCSA/MCSE
SQL Server 2000 Admin MCDBA/MCSA/MCSE

Also looking into the Vista side of things aswell


Does this look ok, Im trying to get myself upto MCSE level. I know its going to be hard work, but in the long run it will be worth it. Might have to sell the scooby, to help me fund this.

ScoTTyB

Looks good to me, security is always well paid. I'm sure you'll be close to an MCSE with those, as I had to do 7 exams for mine.

TopBanana

Haha, backup and restore too vexing for you!?

Sonic'

make sure its SQL 2005 if you are going down the SQL route, not 2000, SQL 2008 will be out soon too

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Yes, you do a point in time restore on Oracle 8i, then you stop wondering why DBA's twitch and cower at loud noises.