Bare Minimum Newbie

[BJamesG*IE*]

First of all, I'm new to this forum and want to say Hi to everyone.... After much research on Computer & IT careers I get conflicting answers on many different sites so I figured why not try a forum with people who are actually doing it and not trying to sell their product which is probably not worth the money or effort for someone in my situation. Aside from surfing the net and doing microtasks for pennies to add to my typing speed and educate me on small added details that I didn't know. I really couldn't tell you what connects to what to give you something.....LOL!!! If you guys can understand my lack of beginners understanding. That being said. Is there any advice as to what free and not free online computer education that someone in my position of knowledge could start off with to get me to a point where I could then figure out what direction in IT interests me more? I know there are branches you could begin your path. Like Networking, Security, Programming and so forth. But in order to figure out the path you need to know what everything does and why. I guess building a foundation of the basics first. Like what the certifications are called and what tech company supplies the info. that I would need to build that foundation. Ex. Cisco, Microsoft or maybe something I've never heard of. Any info is much appreciated. Just thinking about all the info that I have looked through in the past 2-3 years is coming back to me. And to tell you the truth my head is spinning.....LOL! Thanks again!!

 

[Lexluethar]

Build a foundation first - there are literally dozens of different tracks you can take down the IT career path. Your best bet for success and career happiness (IMO) is to start with a broad base, from there build on your knowledge and get exposed to different technologies. As your are exposed you will naturally find things that interest you, or you enjoy studying and learning more about. From that you can start focusing more on that area and perhaps start a career down that path.

Start off small and broad, once you find something you really enjoy start focusing more on that item(s) (hardware, software, networking , programming, infrastructure, applications, planning, ect).

Here is a free website i've pointed a lot of people to. It's got dozens of free hours of training on A+ and Net+ topics (he may have expanded into other areas not sure haven't visited in a while). Professor Messer, CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, Linux, Microsoft Certification Training

I would also suggest picking up an A+ or Net+ book. Mike Meyers is great.

Get your A+ and Net+ certifications first if you want to get certified. CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Net+ to be exact. From there it wouldn't hurt to get a Windows 7 or Windows 8 certification from Microsoft. If you really enjoy networking you can go into Cisco CCNA - but those are generally much more advanced and i'd hold off from a while on those. The last thing you want to do is get burnt out because you are trying to attain a really hard certification. Start small and grow from there.

As for the certification process, generally you study the material, study at your own leisure and however best you learn. There are books, online courses, classroom courses, etc. Once you have studied sign up through a certified partner. Microsoft uses Prometric and Pearson VUE, CompTIA at one time used Prometric but i think they now too use Pearson. You literally create an account on their website (Prometric / Pearson), you schedule an exam date and location, pay the fee, show up, take the exam. If you pass you are certified, if not go back and study more. Generally for new comers I suggest 3 to 5 months to study for a CompTIA exam. You can knock it out way sooner, I'm just being realistic. For Microsoft its about 5 to 6 months, for CCNA its about the same. If you are not working and you devote literally 3 hours a night to studying, you can take the exam in like 4 weeks time and pass - i'm just being realistic to what i've experienced.

Once you get your feet wet you can start focusing on areas that you enjoy.

 

[BJamesG*IE*]

Hey Lex, that has to be the most direct and no nonsense answer I've received or found. Exactly what I was looking for. I'm definitely going to take that info and use it. Thanks for sharing the sites you've given. A big, big, big help. Money being as scarce as it is today I didn't want to waste what I have on something that when I get half way through and find out that there were other qualifications I should've taken first. That's mainly what I was looking for was a base to start and down the road figure out what interests me and hit that direction. As I said before, it seemed that info I was looking for would run me in the direction of where the site wanted me to go. And not a direct answer for a flat out newbie as I am in respect to the deeper tech side of things. Appreciate the well thought out answer and direction and important tips on the career.