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Writer's pictureAndy Malone

A Career in IT. How do I get Started?

Updated: Jul 28, 2019

Whew I wish I had a penny for every time someone asked me that question. Well, firstly, if anyone says you can't do it, they're talking bullshit. Believe me you have it in you. No matter how much you sucked at school, you can do it? "But Andy I suck at maths." Don't worry so do I :-) My first piece of advice is you have to believe in yourself and stop listening to the doubters, they only want to pull you down. next I have to tell you that IT is a big area, there are so many careers to get into. Development (programming), IT Support, Security (hacking, penetration testing), IT Management and so on.


Next, and listen to this bit, don't look back, look forward. Don't get sucked into expensive courses that focus on old on-site technologies, file servers, networking etc. Although useful, this stuff is dead. Focus on the cloud, next generation computer languages, Cybersecurity. This is where the money is."Do I need a degree?" Absolutely not. My nephew gained an interest in cybersecurity programming early on. he's in his early 20s and earning way more than a graduate. There are a ton of resources out there. Youtube, for God sake I convinced you could learn brain surgery here. Other great sites to help you include:


https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/ & https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-learn-cloud-computing-free-online & https://www.techradar.com/uk/best/best-free-cybersecurity-courses-online & https://www.springboard.com/blog/free-cybersecurity-resources/ Seriously Just Google Free training resources, theres loads. I've been a trainer for 21 years and I can tell you this stuff is out there. Once you've build up a little confidence, buy a book. For IT I recommend CompTIA A+ & Network + or Security+. These are low cost exams and give the basic qualifications to get you started. Then it's on to Microsoft or Amazon or Google. All these vendors have free on-line training resources as well as professional vendor run courses. Next stage buy some exam preparation materials, sample questions, scenarios etc. These will help fine tune your skills and prepare you for the real thing. Then register for an exam through an exam testing provider. For Microsoft you can find all about there certifications here https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/default.aspx or Google https://learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalgarage or Amazon https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certification-prep/ Then book your exam with one of the providers https://home.pearsonvue.com/ or https://www.prometric.com/en-us/Pages/home.aspx Thats it, no secret sauce, it's just hard work on your part. Then once you have the skills just practice practice and before you know, you'll be on a great salary. So trust me don't listen to the doubters, listen to your inner voice. You can do this!!

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