Computer Jobs Blog

Hello and welcome to the new improved blog discussing computer jobs for those new to the industry. There will be a lot covered here including full study note write ups for various professional certifications starting with the new 2006 CompTIA A+.

Also be sure to check back for up to date news and info on industry trends, emerging technologies and other developments.

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December 17, 2006 22:00 - A+ 2006 book arrives!

Well I couldn't wait for the Mike Meyers book to be available in January so bit the bullet and bought my second option which was the Sybex Complete Guide covering all 4 exams. I won't take all 4 I'll be taking the IT technician route which appears (so far anyway) to be the most popular one.

So far the book doesn't read as easily as the Mike Meyers one will, he has a style of writing that makes the subject matter a whole lot more palatable and I like his sense of humour. It takes talent to make computer hardware funny and Mr. Meyers has that talent in spades. Still Sybex are famously good and I'm in no doubt that their complete guide will cover all the ground and the bonus disk will test my knowledge and prepare me for the exams.

So far I've just read through the preamble about the new certification, the different designations and the explanation of the restructure. I must say there is a lot of it but then again there is a lot of material to cover! I don't expect this to be a walk in the park - even with my knowledge and experience I know there will be plenty of gaps that get filled in on this journey.

It's a bit late to start studying tonight so I'll start writing up study notes for chapter #1 - personal computer components - this week. Click here for more on this subject

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December 18, 2006 17:39 - Helpdesk and A+ sections go live!

No site about entry level computer jobs would be complete without sections on help desk work and CompTIA A+ certification. Especially now that CompTIA have completely revised the curriculum to include up to date technology and (at long last) some customer interaction skills!!

It's great to see that finally someone has taken notice of the fact that getting people into help desks, call centers and other entry level IT roles takes more than an understanding of how 1's and 0's make up all this technology.

What's the point in having a paper MCSE if you don't know the first thing about dealing with people, prioritising your work, basic project management and teamwork?

Anyone who's interviewed for entry level IT support roles will be able to identify with scenario based questions that typically start with situations like "You're the first person into the office and the network is down" or "You've got 2 urgent problems to fix - one for an entire department and one for the big boss"...

Now you may be a complete whizz at building computers or a first class expert at memorizing multiple choice exam answers but without some business awareness and customer focus you won't be answering any of those tough interview questions without having to go 'umm... errr...' for a while first.

So now there is an entry level cert that includes customer communication, environmental and security awareness will it be able to fill that gap? Well seeing as my site is all about developing the right non technical skills as well as technical ones and marketing them effectively to outshine one's competition I thought I'd find out for myself.

Now my trusty 2006 A+ book from Sybex has arrived I will be taking the new A+ IT technician exams and documenting my progress in this blog complete with study notes and a thorough review of the training materials. I'll include all the links to extra reading around I do and anything else I find helpful.

Along the way I will no doubt find more info and resources to add to the helpdesk and A+ sections of the site so if you want to follow my progress be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed by using the link roward the bottom of this page that says "RSS Feed for this News"(RSS Explained)

Help Desk Section of main site

CompTIA A+ section of main site

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December 20, 2006 21:57 - Business Awareness Training - what's all the fuss about?

You may or may not have heard that to get ahead in IT - or to get a foot in the door for that matter you need to be business aware

This is true of any field really and should not come as any suprise so why is it such an apparant revalation that business awareness training is "the way forward" for the informed tech?

While it may be true that those of us who are so purely technical can still get away with being considered in our own world by our non-technical colleagues (read: project managers), as times move on a new breed of tech is being shaped to effectively wear both the business/project management hat and the in depth thick glasses mad scientist hat all in one.

At the end of the day isn't that what highly paid consultants do anyway?

It would seem that the relentless world of business now demands we take on the technical business consultant role a lot sooner than we're comfortable with. So - is this a bad thing?

Good or bad its here, maybe not a mainstream trend yet but it won't do any harm to start integrating some business awareness skills in with that technical knowledge.

A major indicator of this is CompTIA's revamped A+ certification track for 2006 - customer 'soft' skills, environmental and security awareness?

Next Microsoft will have a Sarbanes Oxley module for the MCSE qualification......

It's important stuff though - no matter how much we don't want any part of it - business relies on electronic data and as the keepers of that data our responsibility has increased tenfold.

It's not a bad thing - more workload yes which should be paid accordingly - the future's bright for the business aware tech.

It's all good..... even if it is more work...../grumble Click here for more on this subject

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December 21, 2006 21:18 - CompTIA A+ 220-601 Essentials Domain 1 chapter 1 Personal Computer Components

Here we are at the beginning of the cert - time to break the ice on the beast that is A+ 2006!

This domain counts for 21% of the Essentials exam and really forms the core of the qualification. Material here will cross over into all the other exams in each of the 3 designations.

The 10 Key Personal Computer Components are:

• Storage devices
• Motherboards
• Power Supplies
• Processors
• Memory
• Display Devices
• Input devices
• Adapter cards
• Cables
• Cooling Systems

In this chapter I will learn how all of these components work, I'll dig up some of their history for better understanding, explore common problems that can go wrong with them and how to troubleshoot them.

Something to understand as well is interoperability and compatibility between the various different devices. Compatibility is never assumed so knowledge of what goes together and especially what doesn't go together is key.

Installing the wrong types of hardware can lead to unusable systems - anyone who's blown a motherboard will know what I'm talking about.

Well over the next few weeks we'll get to know all these components very well - I might even start ordering up some cheap individual hardware bits and build a PC just to really have some fun with this.

Now there's an idea! Yup think I'll put together a kick ass gaming machine with one of those really cool cases and flashing lights etc!

OK time to stop getting carried away, still got Christmas to get through so back to the task in hand:

Personal computer components will be the topic of up and coming posts - check back for the first instalment tomorrow - Storage devices, there is a lot to cover, so I might cover 1 type a day depending on how much material is needed.

In the meantime I'm going to get excited about the by product of this little venture - my new gaming machine!

Time to go and salivate over some cheap computer hardware at Pricerunner methinks!

So- Storage devices begins tomorrow - see you then!

Click here for more on this subject

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December 24, 2006 11:29 - Making friends with frustrated users and influencing them

Several times I've had users delegated up to me from the helpdesk because of one reason or other. More often than not it's for a technical issue that needs to go up the chain, but on occasion it'll be because of a procedure that a user is trying to get around. When they're told they can't have what they're asking for they'll play the 'I want to talk to your superior' card..

I'm sure we've all done it, I certainly have when dealing with customer service reps who won't deviate from their script when they know full well what the answer to your problem is.

I had one of these passed up to me recently. The helpdesk guy who was dealing with it actually called me to pre-warn me of an impending angry call from a highly ranked user in an agitated state.

When the phone rang I braced myself for some flack and all the 'do you know who I am?!' stuff that usually comes with it. The guy did immediately introduce himself and his position within the company, although with none of the hostility I'd been led to expect.

So I acted as though I hadn't had a heads up phone call from the help desk and carried on asking him how I could help him overcome whatever hurdle was standing between him and accomplishing his goal for that day.

This approach instantly pacified him and transformed his IT support experience from one of conflict and frustration to one of teamwork (me and him) in the interest of the company's bottom line.

With this relationship established early on it took very little time to conclude that his situation was bound by bureaucratic rather than technical constraints. With this in mind I ensured him that there had to be a way around this problem and that I would personally find it ASAP and let him know.

Within 15 minutes I'd spoken to my superior and got a go ahead to grant this request, fed it back to the helpdesk who carried it out and everyone was happy.

So why did he need to be angered and frustrated in the first place? The stress caused to him and to the helpdesk would have been completely avoidable had they worked together as a team with the company's bottom line as a common goal.

This is the kind of situation job interview questions are born of. Remember - the company's bottom line is what counts more. Sometimes rules do need to be bent in order to maintain optimal productivity.

Learn to think outside the box and be flexible - don't break rules without asking first- but if a user has a request that involves circumventing a procedure try and see it from their viewpoint and the impact on the bottom line.

Policies and procedures are ever changing things in today's business environments. If a certain rule is having a detrimental effect on productivity - it needs to be reviewed.

Getting ahead involves thinking outside the box and seeing what you do in context with how smoothly your organisation runs. Learn to communicate that to your users and work with them toward that common goal - don't be a script parrot.

You may be at the bottom of the chain (or still yet to get on to it) but you are still in a position to recognise the need for - and bring about change - and get noticed for it. Click here for more on this subject

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December 27, 2006 10:52 - Why start at A+ and not MCSE?

Looking around any job search site and searching on entry level IT roles you'll be pushed to find any actually requesting that candidates be A+ certified.

In fact I've seen some employers stating things like "must be MCSE qualified" and even "don't apply if you don't have a full MCSE" - this is for 1st line and help desk jobs!

Some organisations are like that, they want the absolute cream of the crop and demand the 11/10 candidates. But really - what good is a full MCSE going to do you if you're working on a help desk?

The time it takes to study for and pass all 7 exams could far better be used taking much more relevant entry level certs that will actually assist you in your day to day job assisting users with desktop problems. The MCSE is not a suitable help desk certification or to be considered as help desk training.

These organisations who 'require' full MCSEs to work on their help desks are helping to fuel the fast track/braindumping culture that is creating such a stigma over what should be regarded as a mammoth achievement.

Because getting MCSE qualified (properly) is something to shout about. It's hard work, it's a huge amount of info to consume, it takes time, dedication and costs a fair amount in exams alone not to mention training materials and courses.

Due to its popularity and apparent demand the MCSE is being ruined by training companies offering 'fast track' courses and people selling braindumps of the exams. You'll see adverts claiming to get you MCSE certified in months - some even say weeks. Many of these companies will even promise well paid jobs at the end.

It all sounds too good to be true and it is. Just check a few IT certification forums and see all the paper MCSEs posting about how to get their money back when the high paying job part of the bargain never materialised and now they can't get a job even with an MCSE!

Certification does not substitute experience - no matter how anyone tries to dress it up. All getting a fast track (or worse cheating your way through) MCSE will do for you is teach you how to memorise exam questions and answers.

Employers want candidates who can walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Starting at A+ will build that foundation and make you such a candidate.

This base knowledge in hardware and software will give you the knowledge and confidence enough that will show on your resume - and in interviews without having to hide behind flashy certs.

By all means do your MCSE - just don't spend thousands on a fast track - cram over a years worth of study into 1 month - course or even worse cheat.

Do it bit by bit and take the time to actually learn it.

Oh yeah - another reason to do A+ first, it's an elective exam (2 exams) that counts as one of the 7 for MCSE. Get the most relevant entry level cert, be able to walk the walk - and tick off one of the 7 modules for MCSE at the same time - it's win-win! Click here for more on this subject

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December 28, 2006 17:41 - New Year New Job anybody?

With the New Year in sight you may be thinking what will be your big changes for 2007. A new job is a very big change indeed - and not to be skimmed over lightly.

I've recently discovered that job satisfaction and happiness at work is probably the most important thing in life for someone like me who spends 8+ hours a day 5 days a week in the workplace.

You spend more time at work than anywhere else and if it doesn't get you out of bed in the morning with a spring in your step then it should!

In my free newsletter I recently wrote about my job change. I found what I thought was the perfect job - all the right boxes were ticked;- huge successful company, step up the ladder, more responsibility, more money, company car and 5 minutes down the road!

I got quite a shock when I got there, things weren't at all how I expected them and I spent the first few days applying for new jobs and even was in talks with my previous employers about coming back!

Now the dust has settled I'm going to give it a go - the network may still be running NT4 but a NT4-AD 2003 upgrade will be a valuable experience.

I never actually looked for this job it was a random call as a result of having my CV posted on lots of job boards. If I decide to move on in the Summer I'll definitely use a resume posting service as part of my job search campaign.

Watch this space… Click here for more on this subject

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December 31, 2006 17:40 - Resolution time - stay focused - that's it for me.

Still get A+ certified, then MCDST, possibly MCSA.

How ironic that my next cert of choice is CCNP- but the time to do that is a bit of a way off.

Changing direction is not something I'd recommend. The path you choose at the very beginning is so important - and changing direction is painful to say the least.

I got into IT from nothing, as an unemployed unqualified nobody I went from claiming benefit to having administrator access in a global blue chip bank - in the space of a month.

Finding myself 'in the door' I never looked back. I got there by making myself as useful as possible to those that could use an extra hand. Even knowing nothing I could be useful by being given a set of instructions (which I wrote down) and not having to ask the same question more than 3 times.

Taking to technology like a fish to water helped but what helped more was the fact that I'd try and find ways to ease the slow of operations for everyone in the department.

Put yourself in my shoes for a second arriving at the big bank straight from the welfare office - you know nothing about systems- but you *want to* know it all.

How do you make an impact on your colleagues who will ultimately have a say on whether you get kept in to help some more or not?

I did it by identifying the kind of menial tasks that would free up people's time. They showed me how to build a machine, I got shown through it twice then left to get on with it.

The pile of machines to be built they expected me to do in a couple of days - I did them all in an afternoon - without having to ask any stupid questions that I had been told answers to already (I wrote it all down).

So what does this have to do with changing direction?

I unwittingly found myself in a MS software type of support environment (NT4). Not being in any kind of position to turn my nose up at anything I took the ball and ran with it.

7 years on I'd discovered I like purer networking with routers, switches, firewalls, bridges, gateways and so on and so forth. I'll leave the servers to the MCSE's - I'm a Cisco guy.

But with all my experience in the software side of networking (so to speak) how do I cross over? - The jobs that I get calls for now (because of my CCNA) all require hands on. I am a newby in terms of network admin that doesn't involve MS servers.

So my resolution is to beat that experience gap - just like I did when I had no career at all. I did it once - I'll do it again. Happy new year! Click here for more on this subject

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