New Member MCDST advice

[bornwina]

Good Morning and a big hello from myself.Ive been reading through this forum quite a bit before i registered and iam now hoping i can have a few of my own questions answered.

I have been a pc user for over 10 years and spend a lot of my time either doing music,designing websites for friends building pc's and other bits pieces on the computer so i thought i would get a qualification of some sort in the hope of getting a foot onto the IT ladder.Ive been thinking of doing the mcdst,the comptia a+ and the ccna(not all at the same time)and wondered what reading material would be invaluable to myself.Ive decided that self study is the one for me as i had a salesman round from computeach asking for around the 3k mark for the A+ and the MCDST courses and that kind of money at the moment is well out of reach..Cheers for reading my rant

[paradoxni]

I have completed A+, Network+, MCP 270 and working on MCDST all via home study. Given you already have some experience of building systems etc you shouldnt have much of a problem doing the same from home.
I used Meyers All-in-one books for A+ / Network+ and found them very good. Microsoft Press books for the MS stuff are also very good and include discount vouchers for exams. Book your exams via prometric.com and pick your nearest prometric centre.

I am much happier doin the CCNA academy at college, its only 1 day a week and I have an instructor I can ask questions and plenty of hands on practical experience with Cisco equipment and Packet Tracer virtual environment. I did find Network+ invaluable for this, giving a good sound knowledge of the networking theory from which to build on in CCNA.

A+ and Network+ together count as the elective exam on the MCSA pathway, should you want to head down that route in the future. Though as I have no server experience at all I have no plans on working on the server exams until I can get some handson experience in my job - MS exams are supposed to reflect your knowledge AND experience not just your ability to learn from a book.

[hbroomhall]

Hi and welcome to CF!

I'd say start with A+ - it is vendor neutral and is a good foundation for further certs.

Harry.

[onoski]

Welcome to CF and I too would also recommend you start with the A+ cert.

[slypie]

Originally Posted by bornwina

Good Morning and a big hello from myself.Ive been reading through this forum quite a bit before i registered and iam now hoping i can have a few of my own questions answered.

I have been a pc user for over 10 years and spend a lot of my time either doing music,designing websites for friends building pc's and other bits pieces on the computer so i thought i would get a qualification of some sort in the hope of getting a foot onto the IT ladder.Ive been thinking of doing the mcdst,the comptia a+ and the ccna(not all at the same time)and wondered what reading material would be invaluable to myself.Ive decided that self study is the one for me as i had a salesman round from computeach asking for around the 3k mark for the A+ and the MCDST courses and that kind of money at the moment is well out of reach..Cheers for reading my rant

A+ - Mike Myers book and Sybex A+ book
MCDST - Official Microsoft MCDST books (there is one for each exam)
CCNA - Official Cisco CCNA books

You might also want to consider doing the Network+ as well as it's a natural follow on to the A+ (if so I think the Sybex Network+ is the best for that exam).

[bornwina]

Thanks for all the replies folks. I have arrannged a meeting with an IT adviser on Monday from NewHorizons(got there details from prometric),he automatically said i should start with the A+ also and slowly build from there on.I'll let everyone know how i get on and get back to you's

[Modey]

Good luck with whatever path you decide to go down bornwina. For some people a more formalised training course is what they need to get going and the like the backup and support it can offer. Certainly with entry level certs, self study is a great way to go and many people here (including myself) have done it that way.

The good thing about starting down the self study route first is that if you find it's not right for you, you won't be out of pocket by several thousand pounds.

If you do go with a training provider, just make sure you do so with your eyes fully wide open. Their salesmen seem to have a habit of promising the moon on a stick and more often than not, failing to deliver ...

p.s. Good answer paradoxni, rep added.

[Johnd76]

I am currently working towards MCDST certification, im doing a self study course, If i knew then what i know now i wouldnt have paid to do the course but got the books of Amazon or something......mind you i went on a workshop for 4 days which was included in my course and i learned more from those 4 days than i did from reading from the books!

[BosonMichael]

Yep - you don't need to spend all that money... self-study is a perfectly good way to learn this stuff for most people.

Welcome to the forums!

[sunn]

The advice above pretty much covers it…
Welcome to the forums

[liamardo]

Hi all,

i must admit i'm new to here and i just wanted to know what you thught of computeach as i've decided i want to get into a career in computers and i'm starting from scratch really. does anybody have any advice?

[greenbrucelee]

Originally Posted by liamardo

Hi all,

i must admit i'm new to here and i just wanted to know what you thught of computeach as i've decided i want to get into a career in computers and i'm starting from scratch really. does anybody have any advice?

Have a read above SELF STUDY i.e no training provider, learn by yourself. If you really need a course look at your local college and start of with the A+ , N+ then MCDST do not do any certs above those untill you have some commercial experience.

Training providers like compuTEACH etc will do the above but they will get you certs beyond your experience level which is bad for your employment prospects. Do not believe the crap about that they can get you a job for 37k because its rubbish.