 Hey everybody, this is Brian. I started doing tutorials, man years ago, because of my daughter actually. She was in high school and was asking me questions about computers, so I thought, you know, our schedules didn't always match. I wanted her to have some sort of medium so she could just refer to it whenever she wanted to. Well, she kind of, you know, gone on to other things, but turned around and asked me the other day, hey, can you do a video, kind of describing computer careers and the state of IT. I thought that was like great. Yeah, sure, no problem. So I was going to just sit down and tell her, but she wanted a video. So this one's for my daughter, Heather. If you go to my website, voidrums.com, and you click on contact, you'll see that I have got a lot of experience in multiple things. I'm not really trying to toot my own horn, it's just these are kind of like my bona fides or my credentials. Fluent in C, C++, Java, Python, Visual Basics, C-Sharp, ASP, HTML, Java, VBScript, a few others. Java.Net, E&Q, certifications, these are all current, by the way. CISSP, which is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional, that is the gold standard for computer security. I'm also a Certified Ethical Hacker, looking to actually take the upgrade for that here soon. A Microsoft Certified IT Professional, I'm an Enterprise Administrator. Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator. Cisco Certified Network Administrator, a VCP, basically VMware Specialists, VMware Certified CompTIA, A++, Network Plus, Server Plus, and Linux Plus. Fluent in almost every operating system on the planet, and I actually specialize in security and virtualization. What a mouthful. How did I get all this experience? Some of you out there, much like my daughter, are sitting there going, well, I'm interested in a career in computers, where do I even begin? That's what this video is really going to address. Giving you all this, I want to really relay the fact that even though I have all this on my resume, and years and years of experience, I still don't even consider myself an expert in computers. The reason why is because the computer industry is constantly changing, and it's very challenging. More to the point, you have to constantly stay up to date with those changing and challenging technologies, because it's constantly evolving. For example, Solid State Drives didn't exist 10 years ago. Totally different technology. That's a very down-to-earth kind of example there. All right, so we're going to start right at the beginning. Helpdesk. A lot of companies want to paint this rosy picture that there's this beautiful maiden on the other end of the phone who's just a computer genius and will solve all your problems. 90 times out of 10, this poor soul doesn't eat, doesn't sleep, is getting paid minimum wage in whatever country they're working in. I'm not going to make some sort of rhetoric joke about what country they're working in, as most people would. But my point is, typically they outsource the helpdesk to lowest bidder. Well, you get what you pay for. You ever try to call, I don't know if you're here in the States, but if you try to call Comcast customer support, I know they've been in the news. Yeah, you get what you pay for. You're talking to somebody who hates their job. They've got a script they're reading off of, which is why every time you call it's, you know, did you turn it off? Did you turn it on again? Did you try this? Do you try that? Because they're just reading a script. They're literally getting paid minimum wage to sit there and read what's on the computer screen, open a ticket and forward it to level two support. That's it. I wouldn't, I don't want to say I wouldn't recommend working on the helpdesk. I would just say if you're really interested in career computers, helpdesk is sort of a dead-end job. She looks happy, but most of the people in helpdesk positions are not happy. Reason being, well, you're in computers because you're technological, which is kind of the entry-level PC repair. PC repair is like your desktop support sort of thing. Now, I should note that some jobs will actually kind of merge PC repair, aka desktop support with helpdesk and expect this person who's getting paid minimum wage to actually, through the phone, try to troubleshoot some of the more common computer problems. Desktop support would do things like switch out monitors, keyboards, replace hard drives, upgrade memory, you know, I can't print those kind of tickets. Basically, you see this gentleman with a voltmeter. I don't think I've ever put a voltmeter inside of a computer. I've never had the need to. Everything nowadays is pretty much plug-and-play. You, here's like a little slot for RAM. You plug it in and it just clicks. Back in the day, it used to be, yeah, you had to get to voltmeter, you had to know your IRQ settings and things like that, but nowadays, it's pretty much plug-and-play. Some of the certifications for that would be like a CompTIA A+, I recommend CompTIA because they are internationally recognized and they're vendor agnostic, meaning they don't cover a specific vendor. You don't want to get what's called vendor lock-in, meaning you don't want to be only Dell certified because what if you're interviewing for a job that has HP computers? Yeah, you get the point. I also recommend CompTIA because, as you can see, they have a plethora of certifications. And unless something's changed, these certifications are life long, meaning you take it once and you have it the rest of your life, and I have most of these certifications. Average study time for a CompTIA A+, depending on your experience, can range between a month, month-and-a-half. The prices and all that are up on the website, but I think the test itself is like 400 bucks. If you're really looking to get into a job, yes, this would be a great start. Now, a little hint. Anybody go to Best Buy, those kind of stores? The people at Geek Squad behind the counter, if you have an A+, you are overqualified for that job. I've actually had the Best Buy manager tell me that. All right, number two would be networking. This is kind of like your step up above. These are the people that make networks function. And they do network cables, routing, things of that nature. Now, I don't want you to be fooled into thinking that this is an entry-level position. This is not an entry-level position. Networking is a complex topic, and it can range from your little home network that you plug the cable into yourself all the way up to how the internet actually functions. Two certifications for this. CompTIA's Network+, once again, vendor is agnostic. It's just how networks function. And I would highly recommend the Cisco CCNA. The CCNA is more challenging. You can do one test or two. CCNA, I'm going to go out on a limb here based on my area. I think most people making a CCAA are pulling down 30 to 50, maybe 60,000 a year. Now, here's the thing. This is an entry-level video, so I'm not going to get into the discussion about like a CCIE or a Cisco certified internet expert. Basically, these are the people that make the internet work. You have a bunch of disconnected networks, and these people make them all connect and talk. So for this video, just know that a CCNA would be kind of like the upgrade from the Network+. Now, I know I'm going to get some hate mail because the CCNA and the Network+, are two totally different vendors and totally different certifications, but skill-wise, they kind of build upon each other. Now, servers. This is kind of my bread and butter at the moment. I'm a server administrator. This is a picture of a server room in case you've never seen one. These are called server racks, and inside the racks you have the actual servers. You can see the network cables that go up over to the switches, which eventually connect to the router, et cetera, et cetera. Basically, these are system administrative positions. You would get these type of training, mostly on the job, I would hate to say it. I'd highly recommend a server+. You could, and I don't think I have a tab for it, but you can go out and get a more vendor-specific certification, like a Microsoft MCSE or a Red Hat certification or a Boontoo certification. There's even a Mac server certification or a Solaris sun server. But just to get the foundation, I would recommend a CompTIA server+. Once again, it's server agnostic. I'm sorry, vendor agnostic. It's mostly going to cover the hardware. A server is, well, an advanced version of a desktop, believe it or not. Once you learn the desktop, the concepts are pretty much the same. You've got RAM, you've got CPU, you've got hard drives. It's just bigger and more redundant. Most server rooms look very scary, and you just got to realize the layer of redundancy that's in it. Now, if you walk into a server room and there's no redundancy, then be scared. Database administrators. I didn't really put a certification out here for this, but database is another career path. Basically, think of it as data storage. A database is just putting information into a giant file that other web applications and users can access in real time. DBAs or database administrators, as they're known, they actually get paid quite a bit of money and there's quite a bit of complexity in their job. I didn't put any certifications out there, but you could get Oracle certified, you could get Microsoft SQL certified, those are the two big main ones. You can download MySQL and Postgre, free of charge and play around with those. That's more of an advanced topic, though. And then my personal favorite, computer security. These would be the certified ethical hackers, the CISSPs. I would not really recommend going after a computer security career until you have done pretty much everything that we've talked about already and then some. Because to do computer security, you've got to really understand not just the fundamentals, but the advanced topics in every knowledge domain that we've just discussed. For example, the CISSP exam that I took, I think they've changed it recently, but when I took it, it was a five-hour exam, it's a written exam, it's not on a computer, it's, you know, the old Scantron bubble sheets, five hours, and it was one of the most grueling exams I've ever taken. All the exams that I've mentioned up to date, they take about a month, month and a half, depending on your experience to study for. The CISSP took me nine months of hardcore studying, and I walked out of there feeling like I failed the test. I did pass, knock on wood, but it was a very difficult exam. I should note that if you're going after a CISSP, it also requires five years of on-the-job experience. So you have to actually know your stuff. Awful. Oh, I should actually know. If you go to CompTIA, there is a Security Plus, it's like the lower-level version of that if my internet ever loads. The Security Plus, once again, is vendor agnostic, if their menu'd quit popping up on me. And it goes over the very entry-level kind of computer security. Should note, if you're looking for a job with like the United States government or a military branch, Security Plus and or CISSP and or a certified ethical hacker are required by DOD standards. Last but most certainly not least is virtualization. This is a hot new field, and I'm actually VMware 4 and 5 certified, and I've worked with Hyper-V. And I gotta tell you, this is actually an awesome field. It's one of my favorites, but once again, you should know a little bit of everything, if not all of it, before you get into this field. Maybe not so much computer security, but it does help. Because what you're doing with virtualization is you're actually building a virtual computer inside of a server. So think of it, one physical server can hold 20, 30, 100 actual virtual servers inside of it. It's kind of mind-blowing when you think about it. And the technology is changing it, just breaking at rapid speed. If you're gonna go after VMware, I'm sorry, if you're gonna go after virtualization, I highly recommend a VMware certification. VMware is probably the best in the world, but it's also pricey. It takes a required one-week class that costs about $4,000. So yes, I have about $8,000 worth of virtualization training behind me. I gotta tell you, it was worth every penny. I learned a lot, and it was awesome. So, if you're just starting out, I'm kind of tips and tricks for somebody just starting out. Honestly, I'd avoid the help-dust position. If you just need money, yeah, get a help-dust position, but I'd really focus more on learning the nuts and bolts, the PC repair. And then I would get an A+, and then I would probably get a network plus, and then focus on networking and working towards a CCNA, if you wanna go the network route. Otherwise, you can just ignore the networking CCNA portion and go directly towards working on server. Now, for the server, I'd highly recommend Microsoft certifications. Simply because, well, let's face it, Microsoft has a lot of the server space out there. MCSE is kind of the king. MCSA, Microsoft Certified Substance Administrator, that's more of an entry level, but I think it's like three or four exams at about a month, month and a half study time each. They can get kind of difficult, and you really need to know your stuff. I would also recommend looking into, like, a Linux, like a Red Hat certification, because just going on a limb here, predicting, I honestly think Linux will overtake Microsoft at some point, just because of a cost basis. Microsoft, especially in the server space, is very expensive, where Linux is free. More and more companies aren't, well, trying to save money. Also recommend getting a server plus certification. Security plus, that'll help you out. And I really wouldn't go after database or computer security or virtualization until you've kind of mastered everything that we've talked about. It's a mouthful, I know. If you have any questions, drop me a line. Like I said, I'm speaking from experience. I've done everything that we've talked about, so if you've got any questions, let me know.