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I've been in sales most of my life, and dabbled with an interest in using computers since 1993...
USING them - but not understanding how it all works. Life and work always interfered with delving any deeper.
Now I'd like to segue sales into the computer profession, but am at a loss on how to go about doing it. I figure I need some strong core training in programming to do this, but have no idea where to start and still make a living while I'm doing it.
Location: When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic
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If you are looking for a job in programming it's a very bad time right now. All jobs are outsourced to India, our company keep laying off programming stuff starting last year in April and we are going thru round after round. My advise to you - do not do it!!!
Networking and security are where it is at. Especially if you want to run your own shop and do network contracts like re-wiring ancient and non-standard stuff, running wire and doing network drops.
I know of one company that came and re-wired all the connections running to two 48 port switches. It was a pretty scary mess honestly. Took two guys two days and I think they made out with 5-6k. They only ran two wires, all they were really doing was making all the keystones and ends to standard. They brought in and anchored a new rack too I believe.
You don't need any programming skills unless that's what you want to do, and as someone already mentioned, there's not much of a market for developers right now. Programming skills can come in handy in a supporting role to whatever your niche is, but they're really not a requirement for working with computers.
I agree with the one that said networking is a good route to take. Running cable is not something that can be outsourced to another country, and despite the prevalence of wireless, corporate environments still rely primarily on hard lines, as they're more reliable, faster and above all else more secure.
If you're looking for training, hit the library and get some good basic networking (hardware and protocols) books, study up on those, play around at home with protocol analyzers and whatever hardware you can get your hands on, then go for a low level cisco certification. Get a job somewhere and then have them pay for higher level certs. If you're good, you can make some very good money as a cisco engineer, but it'll take a little while to get there.
I've been in sales most of my life, and dabbled with an interest in using computers since 1993...
USING them - but not understanding how it all works. Life and work always interfered with delving any deeper.
Most of anything you've known since the 20th century you can forget, excepting maybe TCP/IP. And that's about to make some big changes as well. Like the above poster said about certifications... 'it's gonna take a while to get there'.
You might try some contractors who take on contracts as a way to get started, mass moves, dropping CAT5. That'll give you some insight as to which way you need to go. Most companies with internal IT shops want some kind of certification, even if only A+, or whatever. It's a place to start.
Where ever you go, what ever you do, you're going to have to be sharper than the next guy, without being aggressive or intimidating.
I'll be working by myself, just helping people keep their machines clean and healthy -- and maybe popping the hood and putting RAM if they want it. I think a small city of 186,106 (according to citydata.com) can support me.
I'll be working by myself, just helping people keep their machines clean and healthy -- and maybe popping the hood and putting RAM if they want it. I think a small city of 186,106 (according to citydata.com) can support me.
How about working in computer sales? That way you can utilize your current work experience in salesmanship while learning and familiarizing yourself about computer technologies. That, plus some extra studying in your free time, could be a pretty good segue towards the next step.
I want to just put my toe in the water to begin with. I have a full time job and want to see what the demand is. My main concern is what Vista looks like. I have a hunch that Start>Run, control panel, and my computer are pretty much the same. If so, then I don't have a lot to worry about.
My secondary problem is talking my wife into the idea. She is concerned about liability. Her argument is that something could happen to someone's computer and I could be blamed for it whether it's my fault or not.
I want to just put my toe in the water to begin with. I have a full time job and want to see what the demand is. My main concern is what Vista looks like. I have a hunch that Start>Run, control panel, and my computer are pretty much the same. If so, then I don't have a lot to worry about.
My secondary problem is talking my wife into the idea. She is concerned about liability. Her argument is that something could happen to someone's computer and I could be blamed for it whether it's my fault or not.
It is funny that you live in Texas...
Computer technicians cry foul over private investigator law | News for Austin, Texas | KVUE.com | Local News (http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/062608kvuePIlaw-cb.40583a30.html - broken link)
I want to just put my toe in the water to begin with. I have a full time job and want to see what the demand is. My main concern is what Vista looks like. I have a hunch that Start>Run, control panel, and my computer are pretty much the same. If so, then I don't have a lot to worry about.
My secondary problem is talking my wife into the idea. She is concerned about liability. Her argument is that something could happen to someone's computer and I could be blamed for it whether it's my fault or not.
You need to get some certifications. Otherwise there's nothing more to distinguish you between some kid who will do the same thing for free because its his hobby. Look into getting A+ certified.
The secondary problem, yes, you could get blamed if something happens to their computer, so make sure you know what you're doing and take the proper safety precautions. If the Geek Squad fried your motherboard, I'm sure you'd blame them, too. Either way, you shouldn't lose your house from the cost of recompensing someone for a PC.
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our company keep laying off programming stuff starting last year in April and we are going thru round after round. My advise to you - do not do it!!!
