Givus a Job!

[huggy]

Could I get a low-level(e.g. copy centre) job with just a compTIA A+ cert.. and a few(3-6) months experience with some charitable organisation?

[BadBob]

While the good old days are gone in I.T. the success of getting a job is still based on experience. I.T. is also a very moveable skill and therefore its not an industry where people tend to stay in one place too long (so people do). Therefore having 4 years experience with multiple employers is prefered over 2-3 years with one. So to answer the question I think your chances are good depending on what the charity work was, if it was full time work then yeah I think you would be OK if it was part time then I don't think it would be a huge help. But like I say all experience is a plus sign. It all depends is low-level to you means low-pay. My advice to anybody wanting to get into I.T. would be to take any job you can get however low paid it is, work hard for a year and get as much experience as you can, then move up the next step.

[huggy]

Thanks BadBob. I only asked this question because a company training rep I saw gave the impression I should continue from A+ to MCSE. I know this is a good quali but I want work and the money and experience it supplies.

[lisaj]

I'd argue that an MCSE isn't worth anything really: all my old clients were MCSE qualified and still said they hired me (who is not) because they recognised that many years of experience were FAR more valuable than a qualification that can be obtained in three days from nothing. Bottomline, BadBob is bang on the money : get experience long before any industry qualification. Some jobs will require certifications (eg. CCNE, etc. for network architecture), but I get the impression you're not aiming at this sort of professional level.

[huggy]

Thanks lisaj. I believed this was the case all along. I realise qualifications demonstrate required knowledge,but almost every employer wants pratical work exp too. There is still this big gap,in all fields to my mind,between what you know and how to do it.For e.g.junior doctors who practically have to been spoon fed by ward nurses.I want to avoid this as much as possible.