Quote Originally Posted by nn_step View Post
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Won't disagree with the first paragraph, that's certainly an option.

Basically, you recommend teaching yourself from beginner -> advanced/expert level knowledge in programming or circuit design and hope you can ship out an example that impresses someone enough to give you a job? Aside from the fact that the technical people are rarely HR (the ones you also have to convince), this sounds like a path highly, highly unlikely to work out for most people.


Quote Originally Posted by Scubar View Post
Doesnt always work like that, I dont know of any of the companies around here that take any notice of the A+ and Network+ Certs. They just arent recognised by any decent employers and are hence a waste of time and money obtaining.
They are recognized well for entry level work. You're not getting a sysadmin job, but a help desk job is not out of reach. And really, in IT, you do have to start at the bottom. As a quick example, to work as a PC technician in most stores, an A+ is absolutely required. I have also seen people get entry-level network jobs on a Network+ (along with verbal statement that they were pursuing a CCNA).

Plus, really, the knowledge is required as pre-requisite for higher-level certs and you might as well get the piece of paper as well. You get to validate your knowledge for yourself, and if it helps with a job more so the better. Sure you'll spend an extra $300, but to look at it as an expense from a cost perspective, you can pay that off in a year if you can get $0.15/hour more for the effort... and that's pretty trivial.