Making It in IT: Career, Exam Advice for Community College Student

By Ed Tittel February 24, 2012 10:23 AM

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Certifications and training expert Ed Tittel advises prospective community college graduate on IT exam preparation coming job search.

Dear Mr. Tittel,
I am currently getting ready to graduate from Lincoln Trail Community college, and I must say that I have enjoyed it here for the three years I have been here. I read in your post about the costs of the private training compared to the cost of going to community college, and it has made me feel better about my decision in doing so. But it also has me kinda of wondering if I shouldn't have done it sooner instead of later, seeing how I am 26 going on 27 in July.
The reason I say this is because well we aren't getting any special certifications like A+ or CompTIA. I mean we sure used the books for them but our teacher/student adviser couldn't get it passed to offer the certification tests yet. That makes me a little upset, because I don't have the $300 to dish out for these certifications.
I have learned so much here and I just don't want it to go to waste because, I can't get some certifications to go along with it. I should through in I am getting a one-year certification onto of my degree in computer forensics as well since I signed up to take it while I finished my degree cause I had most of the required classes.
My big question is what do you think I should do and what would be some good places to start looking for a job in technical support?
Sincerely,
Brandon B.
a guy who has little work experience

Dear Brandon:

Glad you found the community college blog interesting and even encouraging or perhaps validating. It’s never too late in life to partake of the benefits of education, and at almost 27, you’ve still got more than two-thirds of your life ahead of you, at current life expectancies (according to this life expectancy calculator you can expect to live another 60 years or longer).

If you’ve already studied for A+, it still might be worth paying for the exam yourself. Ask the Community College if they can get you a student discount on an exam voucher: most educational institutions that teach to a certification can also save you money on the exams. Good news on the forensics stuff, too: it’s a pretty hot area right now, with lots of job opportunities.

As for what I think you should do, looking for a tech support or help desk job is a great place to start. Ask your friends, relatives, schoolmates, and other people you know well enough to use your connection if they know of any such jobs. Check the classified ads in your area, and post yourself on all major job listing/resume sites (check out this list at ebizmba.com for the best options).

In the Indy area (a fairly prosperous and relatively low-unemployment area in Indiana), you should have pretty good prospects. You have to understand, however, that looking for a job is itself a job and should be approached as such: put in at least eight hours a day, at least five days a week, and keep at it no matter what happens to you.

My guess is that with your background and interests you should be able to find something in less than three months, perhaps significantly faster than that. And be sure to start at Lincoln Trail’s outplacement office, because lots of cc’s (community colleges) know which employers are hiring for IT-related jobs. Some even help in arranging job interviews.

Good luck with your search. I hope you can be as confident as I am that you it will come to a successful conclusion.

Best wishes,

Ed Tittel is a 30-year-plus veteran of the computing industry, who’s worked as a programmer, a technical manager, a classroom instructor, a network consultant and a technical evangelist for companies that include Burroughs, Schlumberger, Novell, IBM/Tivoli and NetQoS. He has written and blogged for numerous publications, including Tom's Hardware, and is the author of over 140 computing books with a special emphasis on information security, Web markup languages and development tools, and Windows operating systems.

E-mail Ed at etittel@tomsitpro.com with your request for IT certification or career info, or your ideas for future blogs. If your e-mail leads him to a blog topic, he’ll have the Tom’s staff send you your very own Tom’s IT Pro t-shirt! Be the envy of your friends and colleagues, and help him help you with your IT career!