Bigred1995;803045 wrote:In a lot of cases, (if you decided to take the classes to prepare) it's almost as much as a obtaining a 4 year degree from a state school. On top of that the test aren't cheap either!

That sounds like BS to me. I recall someone I know taking the test and it not being very expensive.

O-Trap;803043 wrote:I've actually considered this as well. Do you know what kind of cost is typically incurred getting certified?

What certifications are we talking about here? MOS basic level ones or like Cisco ones?

dlazz;803332 wrote:That sounds like BS to me. I recall someone I know taking the test and it not being very expensive.

I guess it depends on what you consider, "very expensive". I'll say the test aren't prohibitively expensive, but unless you really really know your stuff, you can't go in and take the test without the study material and that's where they get you!

Bigred1995;803602 wrote:I guess it depends on what you consider, "very expensive". I'll say the test aren't prohibitively expensive, but unless you really really know your stuff, you can't go in and take the test without the study material and that's where they get you!

There are plenty of self-help materials at your disposal for A+ and things of the like.

The tests themselves are typically ~$125, according to a supervisor of mine .

dlazz;803332 wrote:That sounds like BS to me. I recall someone I know taking the test and it not being very expensive.

I've heard it is ac ouple hundred bucks to take the test. I don't know how much the classes are, but I can't imagine it is anywhere near what a 4 year college degree would cost.

Dice.com lists technology jobs.

An A+ or network + cert are cheap but they aren't going to land you a high paying job. Most basic IT jobs (help desk, pc support, hardware maint. etc) don't even require degrees and don't pay squat. The high paying jobs are database admins, programmers, network or system admins and the certs for those jobs are a hell of a lot more expensive to get. You would also need experience to land any of them.

Best bet is to find any entry level job at a larger company and move around the IT dept learning as much as you can. They will pay for your certs and you will gain experience. Getting in the door is the hard part as their are a ton of out of work IT pros. Not to mention you'll be fighting for entry level jobs with grads who have degrees in the IT field.

DualCore;804200 wrote:Best bet is to find any entry level job at a larger company and move around the IT dept learning as much as you can. They will pay for your certs and you will gain experience.

That's the goal. I just don't want a "help desk" job, as they tend to hire anybody, and there is literally NO room to move up.

dlazz;803327 wrote:I wasn't trying to be cocky, I was giving proof that I am not just talking out of my ass when I say that I'm good with computers.

I know, sorry, didn't mean to come across as a douche.

What i meant, like others have said, is that your best bet might be to try and get in at a lower level somewhere, and see where that takes you. You have to start somewhere, and because you don't have a degree, fair or not, you're probably going to have to start closer to the bottom.

dlazz;804224 wrote:That's the goal. I just don't want a "help desk" job, as they tend to hire anybody, and there is literally NO room to move up.

Then get a low level computer job somewhere and start getting either some certifications or working towards even an associates in something you want to do with PCs.

Degrees are really helpful despite what a lot of people try to tell us these days about not needing them. They aren't all access passes to great jobs but can be very helpful.