Right now I am in a slump. I basically have no education and I would like to at least get my foot in the door (I am 22, just to let everyone know). I am not really sure how companies hire in the IT field. I love using Linux and just tinkering with anything that is not M$ based (using Slack 10).
Now my question is how do I do this. I know that having a college degree is always helpful, but I don't have the four years and the money to invest in it. I can always get more training if I can make a decent buck.
Now, with no college education can I still get certified and hired?
What certs should I work for and have the biggest growth ( I heard Cisco was the way to go because you could go all the way to CCIE and make really good money)?
Can someone give me a lowdown on the major certs and how they have helped them?
Are there any schools that train for certs (besides bootcamps and 5 day-2 week classes, I will not retain anything from those classes)?


Thanks for the help.

I would say getting into the field is very hard with no experience, although I have seen it happen. This varies by situations and being in the right place at the right time helps. I dont have any college either but I do have 8 years experience. That is the main thing companies look for usually. College degrees do help you get a foot in a door but aren't always required. Certifications don't always help either, then again sometimes they do. When I go on interviews I tell them about my certs and they kind of brush it off like ok whatever(they still hire me though ). What did you do before now? Anything computer related? If you don't have any experience maybe go to some classes at one of the technical schools near you for some sort of linux related stuff. While in those classes do some networking, maybe one of the guys in the class works at a company that is hiring. Plus you will get some knowledge too if you don't make any contacts. The school may even have a placement department. With no experience I would say networking would be the best way to get your foot in the door. Finding an intern position might be another way to get your foot in the door, who can resist free help. I would say build up your skills, maybe get a couple certs, make yourself as attractive as possible to a prospective employer.

Check to see if your local community college offers any certification classes.
A lot of schools are members of the Cisco Networking Academy.

Also check to see if there are any computer training centers in your area where you might be able to take some classes.

You could also prepare for some of the certs on your own. The basic CompTIA certs would be a good place to start. Check into the A+ and Network+ certifictions. There are many books available on these subjects to get you started.

The best thing to do IMHO is to take your general ed courses at a community college. Work part-time at a data center (or the like), maybe even the schools computer labs. After those two years, at least you will have some work experience and have 2 years of college behind you.

You may even find that you really enjoy taking computer courses and then you can transfer to a State college into their CS program. You can then work on campus in the IT department while taking courses, even do a great internship.

It will all be over in 4 years, and you will come away with work experience, a college degree, more knowledge and many contacts. College is not just there for you to pass the time, its there to help you cultivated future career contacts.

Just my opinion.

Some member can share more details of some school maybe if we know where you hail from.

Currently most Certs requier "experience time", which usuly dose not include tinkering arround with your home computer. I'm not trying to bumb you out, but its a bit of a heads up.

You could try offering to work cheap/free for charity orgs. They're always stretched for cash. I would recommend you try to build up a home net of at least 3 boxes; Linux server, Linux wkstn, Windows wkstn.
Try to get a large disk for the Windows box so you can have Win 95, 98, 2K, XP all on different partitions.
You don't need huge amts of ram or fast cpu's for these boxes, just enough so you can practice networking, filesharing, printsharing, setting up users.
Practice getting all the usual services set-up on the server, pref from the cmd line so you know the ins+outs in detail.
Obvious services are :
httpd (Apache), Samba, NFS, netfwding/gatewaying, backups, ntpd, cups (printing), sendmail.
Prob also mysql or postgresql and ssh/scp.
Openoffice on Linux wkstn, MS-Office on MS wkstn.
They prob also use ftp...
If you learn how to configure that lot (from the cmd line), you can prob handle any interview qns. They prob run mostly MSWin, but may be open to Linux if it saves them money and is more stable on the server. You definitely need to know how to integrate MS/Linux, hence Samba.
Also, learn iptables/firewalling.
Have a look at www.tldp.org for HOWTOs in general.
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/index.html for mysql.
Here's a stack of on-line books: http://www.mamiyami.com/document/oreilly/
HTH
PS Good luck

...this is weher the partical-only RHCE comes into play ~ it PROVES you know your stuff & can walk into any problem on the 1st day

You might also join an Open Source Project in addition to the other fine suggestions made here.

what would people suggest for a first coarse fairly basic stough that can be done online and not to expensive and get a certificate at the end of it
i have just had a quick look at open university i could see plenty of computer related coarses not linux and all about 300 pound so my question is
where can i study linux online thats fairly cheap ?
people like my self who have children, mortgage,job,don,t have the time or money to go to full time /part time college or university but can put a few hours work in on the night after work when the kids have gone to bed so come on folks help us out.

Honestly, you have all the resources you need right here at this site. Just ask a question and it will get answered by at least one person. Try http://www.google.com/linux for a linux search engine.

Jon

http://www.lpi.org/en/lpic.html

I have A+ and Network+ and a psych degree and planning to get Linux certified someday. The above link is considered one of the best besides RHCE. Take a look at them since they are vendor neutral but Redhat is big so check them out too.

If you do go to college, take my advice: don't follow profs recommended courses too much. I done that and when I wanted to attend another grad program at another college, I can't get letters of recommendation or anytiing since they wanted me in thier grad program. I moved for that program too and I'm stuck. Mmmm should have majored in philosophy....er.... wait.....

Look into Linux+ certification... and A+ certification... You may know that A+ is the certification for M$ based computer technician... 2 tests.. 1 hardware 1 software...

Linux+ is the equivalent of A+ on linux... with 1 test.. but half is on PC hardware and basic networking just like A+...

Also Network+ is a great choice...

Then you can look more into vendor specific Linux certs... such as Red Hat or SuSE...

u know the lpic is 2 tests so is there a specified time gap in between taking 101 & 102 ie can i take exam 101 in january and 102 in march
thanks nige

A ton of good suggestions here. You may also wanna try some of the
consulting/contractor companies in your area. Many of these companies
are willing to give someone just starting out a chance. Most likely
you will need to demonstrate some form of basic ability and skill. But
if you are familiar with Linux you should be able to show entry level
Admin skills.

This is how I got into the IT field about 10 yrs ago. It was hard at
first because I did not have a degree, but if you study, then attempt
to apply what you learned on your home systems you should have a
good chance.