Career advice needed.

[LAPTOP GAMER]

I am a 45 year old military veteran that held a secret security clearance my background is in aviation. I have developed an obsession for computers and the internet and i want to get my A+ cert and a networking cert of some kind. Do I have a chance being an older want to be IT of getting a job or do they want younger IT's or IT's with 3 to 5 years experience, what direction should I go?

[Planet]

I think most IT managers are looking for skilled, dependable, and slightly dedicated people on their staff. I’m certain that many other qualities go in to each manager’s final choice however I think in most cases, a little “seasoning” is preferred and having military discipline can also be an added advantage. Best of luck!

[golfnut]

Some places are big on certs, some value experience, and some would rather groom you. It all depends on how a company views new hires and more importantly if it's an environment you would like working in.

There are a lot of networking jobs out there ranging from security, design, monitoring, etc. You might try doing an internship somewhere while working on your certs (many cities and counties offer them). Once you get your feet yet, consider working with a technical temp agency. Although this path may have you working at a lot of different companies, it's a great way to network with other people in the same field.

Good luck!

Greg

[ad5mb]

I am:

A+
Network+
i-Net+
Server+

Working on:

Security+
Wireless#
CWNA

and:

FCC GROL. The pitiful descendant of the once proud first phone license.

And a couple of Microsoft certs, which I won't do again.

If I was doing it from scratch, I would do it the same way, except I would skip the i-Net+

Some people get the cert thing, others don't. Some people see that the cert is evidence that you have the ability, will and discipline to study and learn to a standard set by others.

I would recommend to anyone that they learn how to teach. Teaching requires the ability to explain things well to others. This means that you need to develop the ability to explain things well to yourself. You have to get past parroting the textbook and truly understand the subject to teach. You find this out the first time a student asks a question.