i read some old fourms bout a+ certs and just wanted to talk more bout it....im am looking into getting my a+ but read that it did most of you no good i do have 6 years of tech experience no schooling just staied home up all day and night learning till i got a headach now i got so many friends calling me asking me to fix there comp i even have a friend who is certified (ex name don) and a friend who is friends with don as well (ex name tod) and tod would call me not don...makes me feel specail....anyways what do u think i should do? get certs? or what....i want to be a tech support...and make lots of money.......thank you......oh yea and i dont know cr*p bout linux but in the process of learning form these fourms
you're not going to make lots of money in tech support. you'd be better off learning to program and writing software for your living.
Even those aren't so hot these days; they're both in decline numbers. The whole industry has been hit very hard. I have a lot of people with Microsoft and Cisco certifications in my office looking for funds to study something else because of this. Every county throught the U.S. has a career "one stop" center, I would suggest you stop by one and talk to someone about which (if any) areas in IT are growth industries in your area and labor market information changes from one area of the country and even your state to another. If you don't know where that would be, I can find out for you; just tell me your zip code of state/county NOT your address. You don't want to invest time and possibly money studying something that won't get you employed or get you a better job. If you've talked to proprietary schools about this, just bear in mind that they're out for the money and will tell you anything you want to hear to get the bucks so don't trust what they tell you no matter how seemingly logical. Before investing time and money in a career, take this step first to make sure that careers even exist in that field in your home area.
Here is a link to the center nearest you in Lubbock zip code 79410 http://jobsearch.about.com/gi/dynam...&sdn=jobsearch&zu=http://www.twc.state.tx.us/ (Click on Texas workforce centers on the left and search by your zip code) or contact: Workforce Center: Worksource, Lubbock 1218 14th Street Lubbock, TX 79408 phone: 806.765.5038 The Texas Dept of Labot Site does have labor market information but I wouldn't trust it. These are only compiled every three or four years and industry demands can change in a matter of a few months. Go in and ask them about what they're seeing in the IT industry in your area ... what is hiring / what isn't etc. In this area, the only jobs available are in database management or security (Usually requires MCP cert with security. That sort of thing changes from one region of the country to another though. A+ and N+ really wont get you anything but is a good first step toward the vendor specific certs like Microsoft and Cisco. If you're looking to go to school, ask them about training funds under "The Workforce Investment Act of 1998" WIA Dislocated Worker if you paid into your area's unemployment system or WIA Adult if you haven't. I can't really get into eligibility because it will change to some degree in both state and county but if they do have money, you may be eligible and its not difficult to get ... if they have any...washington has dramatically cut funds to the unemployed. Let me know how you make out!
You can make money, you just have to be more diverse than just A+ cert. I would get Net+, Linux+, MCSE, and CCNA as well. You'll be just fine in your field with those certs. In 2007, website developer is supposed to be one of the number one jobs. So maybe take up website/server administration, PHP & MySQL programming, CSS, and XML.
