Couple of things. Where are you (lol, don't answer that) and how good at computers are you right now?
My last gig I worked with a bunch of talented people, only one had a 4 year in computers. Boss was a music composition major, one was a former lawyer, one never went to college, I'm a drop out.
If you're in a big market (Boston, NYC, Austin, San Fran, Seattle, Portland OR), you should be able to land a low-level help desk/desktop support role by just showing competency at working on computers. Like, just go talk to a recruiter and they'll get you hired.
A+ is fine, but it's kinda bleh and no one in tech really takes it seriously. It's fine for helping you get your foot in the door, but once you have actual work experience, it 100% doesn't matter anymore.
Being a vet is good because a lot of people have respect for the troops and that'll help you as well.
I'm in Chicago (I don't care), I'm honestly not really good at computers, I just know a lot the basic end user shit. All I can say is that I can learn and can put up with stress decently.
Chicago isn't bad as well, I just never think about it.
I mean, honestly, being able to learn quickly and being able to deal with stress are key skills, especially once you start getting up the ladder.
Finishing the A+ will be good for getting your foot in the door to desktop support, and from that, you can springboard into servers and networking.
@anthropicprincipal is very right about figuring out where you want to go work-wise.
Personally, I've done the path of Help desk -> desktop support -> Systems Administration -> DevOps Engineer. Not everyone does that and it's very your milage may vary
You can definitely get those things in tech. Definitely finish A+ and keep looking for desktop roles.
Put some time in to learn Powershell (critical for managing Windows these days) and Python (honestly, just a good tool to have in your toolbox) as well. Learning to code is dumb, but every level of tech is moving to being managed programmatically.
FWIW, recruiters I worked with have an office in Chicago. I was pretty happy working with them the last two times I was looking for work https://motionrecruitment.com/
Yeah, I guess I'm not really surprised. I kinda just tossed it out there in the off chance.
It's absolutely incredibly demoralizing to look for new work. I've got a friend that's been trying to get a data analyst job for a while now and it's been rough. I have another friend that was looking for an entry level front end dev job for a long time and got lucky because a company took a risk on him.
Another thing to do, is look at Meetup.com and see if there are any technical groups the pique your interest. Even if it's above your skill level, it would be good way to network and meet people.
A+ is fine, but it’s kinda bleh and no one in tech really takes it seriously.
I really wish I knew this before blowing money on it. I passed and got the 901/902 three years ago (so my cert is nearly out) and nobody wants to hire because "lack of professional experience," no matter what I apply for. Help Desk? "Oh you need experience!" SysAdmin/punching above my weight obviously, "Oh you need experience!"
Like, I've dabbled with C, Javascript, know HTML and CSS, can manage systems and troubleshoot most anything. I help people "how do I open .pdf" types at my current place but none of that shit apparently counts for entry-level help-desk and it's frustrating. I've finished the Network+ textbook but it's hard to be motivated to spend another $500-600 for the exam voucher and try to get Network+ if places won't even consider me in the first place if I get that one.
The only reason I'm considering it is because it'd renew my A+ and give me Network+ at the same time. But my worry is that even with Network+ a lot of places will balk.
Couple of things. Where are you (lol, don't answer that) and how good at computers are you right now?
My last gig I worked with a bunch of talented people, only one had a 4 year in computers. Boss was a music composition major, one was a former lawyer, one never went to college, I'm a drop out.
If you're in a big market (Boston, NYC, Austin, San Fran, Seattle, Portland OR), you should be able to land a low-level help desk/desktop support role by just showing competency at working on computers. Like, just go talk to a recruiter and they'll get you hired.
A+ is fine, but it's kinda bleh and no one in tech really takes it seriously. It's fine for helping you get your foot in the door, but once you have actual work experience, it 100% doesn't matter anymore.
Being a vet is good because a lot of people have respect for the troops and that'll help you as well.
I'm in Chicago (I don't care), I'm honestly not really good at computers, I just know a lot the basic end user shit. All I can say is that I can learn and can put up with stress decently.
Chicago isn't bad as well, I just never think about it.
I mean, honestly, being able to learn quickly and being able to deal with stress are key skills, especially once you start getting up the ladder.
Finishing the A+ will be good for getting your foot in the door to desktop support, and from that, you can springboard into servers and networking.
@anthropicprincipal is very right about figuring out where you want to go work-wise.
Personally, I've done the path of Help desk -> desktop support -> Systems Administration -> DevOps Engineer. Not everyone does that and it's very your milage may vary
I just want a stable schedule and enough money to support my S/O and hobbies. I don't think my feet are wet enough to know whats good for me yet.
Fair enough.
You can definitely get those things in tech. Definitely finish A+ and keep looking for desktop roles.
Put some time in to learn Powershell (critical for managing Windows these days) and Python (honestly, just a good tool to have in your toolbox) as well. Learning to code is dumb, but every level of tech is moving to being managed programmatically.
FWIW, recruiters I worked with have an office in Chicago. I was pretty happy working with them the last two times I was looking for work https://motionrecruitment.com/
I couldn't find an option for entry level gigs.
Yeah, I guess I'm not really surprised. I kinda just tossed it out there in the off chance.
It's absolutely incredibly demoralizing to look for new work. I've got a friend that's been trying to get a data analyst job for a while now and it's been rough. I have another friend that was looking for an entry level front end dev job for a long time and got lucky because a company took a risk on him.
Another thing to do, is look at Meetup.com and see if there are any technical groups the pique your interest. Even if it's above your skill level, it would be good way to network and meet people.
I really wish I knew this before blowing money on it. I passed and got the 901/902 three years ago (so my cert is nearly out) and nobody wants to hire because "lack of professional experience," no matter what I apply for. Help Desk? "Oh you need experience!" SysAdmin/punching above my weight obviously, "Oh you need experience!"
Like, I've dabbled with C, Javascript, know HTML and CSS, can manage systems and troubleshoot most anything. I help people "how do I open .pdf" types at my current place but none of that shit apparently counts for entry-level help-desk and it's frustrating. I've finished the Network+ textbook but it's hard to be motivated to spend another $500-600 for the exam voucher and try to get Network+ if places won't even consider me in the first place if I get that one.
The only reason I'm considering it is because it'd renew my A+ and give me Network+ at the same time. But my worry is that even with Network+ a lot of places will balk.