# Career Change



## CM-14 (Jul 19, 2011)

I am looking at making a career change into the IT field and would like to get an idea of what certification(s) I should start with in pursuit of an entry level position. I am profcient with helping friends and family with everday issues in a Windows enviornment. In the little research I have done so far, I found Microsoft's MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician on Windows 7 certifcation, would this be a good starting point? I would extremely appreciate any insight and guidance in this area.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

You should go for compTIA A+ and compTIA Network+ first then the 70-680 which is MCTS windows 7.

Microsoft used to do an entry level cert which was the MCDST but this has now retired and there are no other Microsoft certs at its level. The windows 7 certs are a very big step up from the MCDST.

If you really want to work in IT in support or as an IT technician do not wait until you have any certs before applying for jobs, start now.

Experience is king in IT not qualifications or certifications. Certs and qualifications can help though. Certifications are primarily designed to show your experience level so the A+ and N+ will show that you have a good understanding of the concepts but little/no experience where as technically the windows 7 exams require that you have a years experience in supporting and administering windows 7 in a domain environment it is generally regarded as what your first MS cert should be. You could consider doing the 70-270 which is the same as the windows 7 exam but with XP, be aware that there are companies out there who will always use xp (atleast for the next decade or so) even after Microsoft stop officially supporting it in 2014 so they will need certified people who can support it to work for them.

Not every company can afford to move to a new OS every time MS realease one.


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## CM-14 (Jul 19, 2011)

Thank you very much for your advice, I really appreciate it.




greenbrucelee said:


> You should go for compTIA A+ and compTIA Network+ first then the 70-680 which is MCTS windows 7.
> 
> Microsoft used to do an entry level cert which was the MCDST but this has now retired and there are no other Microsoft certs at its level. The windows 7 certs are a very big step up from the MCDST.
> 
> ...


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## Rodomantade (Apr 1, 2008)

I would highly recommend starting here. This site contains hundreds of hours of free videos covering A+, Net+, Security+, and 70-680. Make that A+ page your homepage. Watch every A+ and Net+ video. The quality and depth of the videos are better than what I got when I purchased videos. It will give you a really good feel for what these certs are without having to enroll in a class or drop 60 bucks on a book. It also makes an excellent companion to any (of Mike Meyers) books.


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## CM-14 (Jul 19, 2011)

Thanks for the site, it has been bookmarked!



Rodomantade said:


> I would highly recommend starting here. This site contains hundreds of hours of free videos covering A+, Net+, Security+, and 70-680. Make that A+ page your homepage. Watch every A+ and Net+ video. The quality and depth of the videos are better than what I got when I purchased videos. It will give you a really good feel for what these certs are without having to enroll in a class or drop 60 bucks on a book. It also makes an excellent companion to any (of Mike Meyers) books.


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