books vs. hands-on

I've been in IT for about 7 yeard now woth NO certification, Its just something I haven't gotten around too (im a bit lazy when it comes to these things). But I think what it really comes down to is your comfort level.

I can comfortably sitdown infront of an application i've never seen before and figure it out with no docs, because its really all the same just different names procedures workflows etc...

If you've red enough books that you have confidence about what you read then it will show in the interview.

I walked into my last job knowing i would get it and my confidence came thourugh in the interview, even when describiing my lack of certifiaction.

So build your servers at home, "play" with as many apps and OSes youcan and become confident in your knowlege.

This will get you the job, but getting the interview with NO experience is the hard part.

I started out as a parttime techsupport for an independant guy, I worked for him for about a year for really crap money but then the next jon I got (though a guy he knwe) was to run a 1 man tech support (eventually 3 man) dept for a small software company.

So I would look for some volenteer for some grunt work to get some stuff for your resume.

Goodluck!!

Rob

Hi;
I was more or less in your same position. I really liked computers and I knew lot of stuff but I didn't have the experience to find a suitable job. I found a job in Tech Support in Gateway three years ago, and from there I could build experience and a CV. Now I'm Network Administrator and I'm already looking for a better job with Cisco Products. Hard work always pays, if not in the short term, in the long term. Good Luck.

I am a newbie to the title of Network Administrator, but know a number of people that are in the field. If you have the certs, and the drive, I know a number of people that go through temp agencies for their first jobs. You miss out on things likebenefits, and sky-high pay, but what you get is some awesome experience, and you aren't stuck working the same system all the time. One week, you may find yourself working on Winows 3.11 and the next with some Cray super computer (okay, that is a little extreme, but you know what I mean). It is very diverse experience, and if you do a good job at a place you like, they may just ask you to stay around for a full time position.

If you're looking for experience and are willing to start really low on the pay scale, there are a lot of non-profits charities that would love to have you there to help out.

Keep experimenting, though - you don't know how it works until you break it.