I need Advice

[TRICKORMATE]

For those of you that are in the IT/Web Design careers I would like some advice.

Back Ground:

I work for a company that trains people how to turn a computer to programming.

Working for this company I get all the training for free in every certification you can imagine.

What would you recommend that I'd take advantage of?

I'm fairly new to this company as a sales rep, but I would really like to take advantage of some of these classes.

Interests of mine:

Desktop support,
Web Design,
Security,

And a lot more.

I'm open to suggestions,

Regards,

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[morintp]

I would say first and foremost you should get your A+ certification. You can get a job almost anywhere with that.

If you want webrelated stuff, take classes that will teach you:
how to use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
program in HTML (very easy and basic, but extremely important)
program in Javascript (harder, but very important)
program in PHP (once again, harder than HTML but very good to have)
program in other languages like ASP, DHTML, XML, etc.

If you want regular programming I'd recommend Java first, then C++.

I'm sure there are better people here than me that can give advice here. I'm self taught on most of my programming and computer skills. But even so, I've been able to work with computers for the last 16 years or so. I wish I would have taken more formal classes to fill in gaps in my knowledge. You have a great opportunity here that can give you a good paying job for the rest of your life. Take as many classes as you can stand.

[David in FL]

Please take this in the genuine spirit in which it's offered.

I'll leave the technical recommendations to those much better qualified than I am to make them, however, as a senior executive of the type that you might hope to target for a sales call, I'd like to offer an observation......

In the business world in general, but particularly in sales, spelling counts. It indicates a level of professionalism and attention to detail that can separate several closely competing candidates from one another. Your relatively short post contains at least 10 grammatical and spelling errors. I understand the informal nature of a post to a forum such as this, but if you take the time to clean up your informal written communications, it becomes second nature and your more formal ones will improve as a result. Even emails should be written with a degree of care and sensitivity to grammar and spelling. You never know when one might be forwarded to a potential customer or client and as they say, you never get a second chance to make a first impression!

Again, if this came across as inappropriate or in any way mean spirited, that wasn't my intent and I apologize. I simply meant to offer some constructive advice to someone obviously interested in being proactive with his own career.......a trait that I admire.

Good luck!

[TRICKORMATE]

Please take this in the genuine spirit in which it's offered.

I'll leave the technical recommendations to those much better qualified than I am to make them, however, as a senior executive of the type that you might hope to target for a sales call, I'd like to offer an observation......

In the business world in general, but particularly in sales, spelling counts. It indicates a level of professionalism and attention to detail that can separate several closely competing candidates from one another. Your relatively short post contains at least 10 grammatical and spelling errors. I understand the informal nature of a post to a forum such as this, but if you take the time to clean up your informal written communications, it becomes second nature and your more formal ones will improve as a result. Even emails should be written with a degree of care and sensitivity to grammar and spelling. You never know when one might be forwarded to a potential customer or client and as they say, you never get a second chance to make a first impression!

Again, if this came across as inappropriate or in any way mean spirited, that wasn't my intent and I apologize. I simply meant to offer some constructive advice to someone obviously interested in being proactive with his own career.......a trait that I admire.

Good luck!

The advise was well taken, no worries.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

[GWRedDragon]

When it comes to programming, C++ should always be taught first, because when you learn C++ you learn the building blocks on which other languages are based. People who learn Java first tend to be much sloppier programmers. Of course, if all you are doing is writing a navigation bar for a website it doesn't really matter.

So, I'd say, if you intend to be a "software developer", take C++. If you intend to be a "web developer", you can skip it and take Java. If you want to be a true software developer, some more theory-oriented CS classes might also be in order...such as algorithm analysis.

[TRICKORMATE]

Should I get the A+ or MCDTS?

[MadDog]

What type of languages are you teaching or getting certified in? if it's anything Microsoft it is a waste of time and will get you laughed at out the doors of any respected company. My brother and I are both software engineers and this is my advice if your serious about a career switch:

You NEED at least a BS degree is computer programing from an accredited school. The programers that I run into and interview either know there stuff or don't, there is no middle. Most people think they can learn visual basic php and be a programer, I am here to tell ya that will get you nowhere. My first job was developing in rubby and rails. As one can imagine, such languages must be learned quickly to be able to work on projects. a college degree allows the person to learn the basics of any program languages such as c++ and be able to apply it to other high end languages. this job market is highly outsourced, so if you don't have the skills you won't make it....

I don't want to sound demeaning, but I want to put the facts out there for you to make an good decision. Anyways, best of luck

[TRICKORMATE]

If you click on search courses this is what i have access too, and also if you click on certifications.

So getting training by my employer would really not be a benefit?

Microsoft Training, Cisco Training, IT Training, Computer Training, Certifications - New Horizons Computer Learning Centers

[MadDog]

Please take my opinion for what it is, and I mean no disrespect.

these courses listed are great knowledge to have, but alone you will not have enough knowledge to compete in this career market. If your serious about wanting to get in this job market you will need a degree in Information systems or computer science. I wouldn't even waste time with anything that is Microsoft driven as no company will touch it due to lack of security.

When I was first hired out out of college I worked with a group that had "certifications" and ended up fixing their bugs for a year. In the end the group I worked with was let go because they could not solve problems efficiently or affectively.

Also know that developing takes more than programing skills, you need the theatrical and mathematics skills to be able to program efficient programs. Being a software developer is a great career, but you need to take the time to make sure you learn the info needed. like I said you will need at least a college degree to make it in this field.

This type of certification is more for a business manager who wants a better understudying of networking, so it's not a waste of time but maybe not what exactly you are looking for.

[packinnova]

What type of languages are you teaching or getting certified in? if it's anything Microsoft it is a waste of time and will get you laughed at out the doors of any respected company. My brother and I are both software engineers and this is my advice if your serious about a career switch:

You NEED at least a BS degree is computer programing from an accredited school. The programers that I run into and interview either know there stuff or don't, there is no middle. Most people think they can learn visual basic php and be a programer, I am here to tell ya that will get you nowhere. My first job was developing in rubby and rails. As one can imagine, such languages must be learned quickly to be able to work on projects. a college degree allows the person to learn the basics of any program languages such as c++ and be able to apply it to other high end languages. this job market is highly outsourced, so if you don't have the skills you won't make it....

I don't want to sound demeaning, but I want to put the facts out there for you to make an good decision. Anyways, best of luck

As one who has had to try to learn rails and grails quickly and without the degree, I can attest to that. Then again, that's why I'm not a developer. I'm an engineer and I'll stick with my handy dandy scripting.

[fatcat]

When it comes to programming, C++ should always be taught first, because when you learn C++ you learn the building blocks on which other languages are based. People who learn Java first tend to be much sloppier programmers. Of course, if all you are doing is writing a navigation bar for a website it doesn't really matter.

So, I'd say, if you intend to be a "software developer", take C++. If you intend to be a "web developer", you can skip it and take Java. If you want to be a true software developer, some more theory-oriented CS classes might also be in order...such as algorithm analysis.

Actually I would recommend learning VB.NET first ........ everything in C+/C++ stems out from there.....

[fatcat]

As someone who has worked in IT since 1999, I will toss in my .02-cents.

I was a web designer, and am now a network engineer. So I've run through the entire scope of IT in general.

As other have said, programming is great. Excellent money and a lot of jobs. However, as one poster noted you need a 4-year degree to really be considered for a good job. Most, even entry level, are looking for a BS with programming.

IMO you would be better off taking the desktop support class, because there are support jobs that you can get with certifications alone. Ideally an Associates degree based on science like an AS or AAS is what most technical support jobs are asking for these days, but there are lower level help-desk type jobs you can slip into.

Most certifications alone are useless anymore by themselves. I have an A+, and very few jobs care about that one anymore. So I also got my MCSA and MCSE (although they are basically the same) and I also got my CCNA from Cisco. Those last 3 certs seem to hold a lot more weight with employers than the A+ or CompTIA. Years ago the A+ was more valued, and in some hardware type situations they are still looking for it. I also recently updated my Linux Red Hat cert which is a nice one to have around.

[MadDog]

Actually I would recommend learning VB.NET first ........ everything in C+/C++ stems out from there.....

I disagree completely, VB is nothing more than Microsoft crap... it is the easy way of programing, where the user doesn't need to know coding, as the program writes it for you. As I was saying in my other post stay away from Microsoft there products aren't used in real everyday situations...

If you take the time to learn the code your programs run on your better set to understand the concepts.

I started out on pascal and c++ those are the core of most languages, and the ones people should start out with.