? Home PC Repair/Consulting Tech?

[Tiger Dave]

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[ofcdn]

It is hard to be an independent...considering not health or retirement benefits. Unless you are an all knowing guru who does huge consulting/project work...which means you have a BS or Masters Degree in a specific field like a network engineer. Starting from scratch? Definitely take classes, but it is much more than that. You have to be obsessive compulsive about computer stuff. You should want to eat and breath it (at least in the beginning...the rest will come natural). A lot of high schools offer an A+ class with certification...so yeah there are plenty of those. However A+ is really the basics and basic hardware...the rest is Networking (Net+) Networks Security (Sec+) Data Recovery (actually a small field right now...so a good choice) Cisco routing (CCNA and CCNP...which are always in demand), and network cabling. Web design is o.k., but again there are so many programs and people who can do a basic/half way decent web site cheap...you really have to become an expert in that specific field. A good tech...finds A+ stuff extremely easy and can network small offices and homes in their sleep. Most IT jobs start as phone support and move up...if they don't have a degree in the field. Most independents that do all right are usually retired and supplementing their income (no worry about benefits or if work slows down) or again they are hired by a major company with a degree in a specialized field.
If I had to go out an get a full time job and also want to learn in the field (CCNA with certification) is a quick start. On average you can take CCNA 1,2,3, & 4 then go for the certification. There are books and "quick crams" for certification, but you really want the 4 semesters of hands on lab and class work. Then look for the CCNA jobs...start out and work your way up. I took the CCNA classes...did well...learned a lot...but found it very boring/dry...you do everything in command line (even though most new Cisco routers/swiches have GUI interfaces).
I think you should take a class or two and see how you like them.

[Elliot1111]

Most people in the field consider an A+ cert as supplemental in the field but not a selling point. Im not saying it isn't usefull, but once you get it, you can't stop there. Places like ITT Tech turn out people with these certs daily. ofcdn has suggested you go down the right path though, look for cisco certifications. Once you have a few of these under your belts then you'll be running with the big dogs without any problems.

p.s. Strong and Solid rarely go with Independent in the IT field. Those ugly corps are really where you want to be because they can afford to train you on the expensive high dollar stuff which inturn makes you more money with that experience....things you'll never be able to afford to touch nor get the experience to even be qualified to touch independently....I just like to point out that i started this paragraph with RARELY

[Elliot1111]

forgot....if your in IT at one of the big companies, your salary is pretty large and you basically make your own hours as long as you dont end up in the hell we refer to as "the call center"

Why do you get to do this.....because in IT it can be twice as expensive to fire someone and fix their mistakes!!