40 years old and currently studying FETAC 5

taxidriver22

Hi all,

I am 40 years old and currently studying for a FETAC level 5 in Computer and Network maintanence. I work as a Taxi Driver at night and weekends and study by day. I am interested in going on after this year to ITB or similar and would apreciate advise on how to go about this and what to aim for. I realise I am looking at another 4 years in study and although unsure about this I am open to it. Any advise is welcome.

hearny

Cant give you a whole lot of advice but fair play to you.

Its not easy to go back to education especially if you are going to be driving a taxi too.

I found that you learn more about computers with a hands on approach. Most people I went to college with wouldn't know one end of a computer from another, and I did a degree in Applied Computing.

Saganist

Best advice I can give you having worked in IT since 2001 is to be curious about everything.

If you see an acroymn that you don't understand, then google it.

NTFS, USB, HTTP, Web Servers, SATA drives, FC, whatever, try and stay curious. And as the other poster said. Get hands on. Get old PC's, dismantal them and try put them back together. Get familiar with installing Opertaing Systems and software. Bascially throw yourself into it and before ya know it you'll have a wealth of knowledge.

mbiking123

Fair play to you. From talking to others sometimes getting your foot in the door is the hardest part. For IT there are so many specialised areas that I would say to take one and aim for it

If you like networking then I would say study the cisco CCNA

If you like Microsoft server then something like MCSE

If you were into databases then try to learn Oracle or SAP and they have there own qualifications

I hope I dont confuse the whole issue, but find out were you think you can get a job then do some extra learning in this area. If you want a job with oracle I would say at least know about OCA and what it is about. I think you will do a better interview that way. Once you get in the door you can always do your specialised exams then. Experience is the key, and getting a start can be hard even during the boom. While in Oracle on a course (5 years ago)I always saw big long lines of graduates doing interviews and they always said there was a shortage of suitable people or at least back then

If you spealise in Oracle, then you will also need some knowledge of either Linux or Microsoft server of both. Knowing some Unix/Linux code is always handy for an interview. DO a bit of DOS too and know about microsoft SMS/SCCM, profiles etc etc. For Oracle you can de a developer, DBA, middle tier, forms etc etc. Many areas and very hard to switch to IBM DB2 or SAP. Almost learning again from scratch, so try to get it right first time.

Working in PC world for a while will give you a good grounding. I started off doing PC repair. So many IT people cant fix a PC ? If you cant fix a PC you wont be able to fix a server. As the other person said get a PC, format it, reinstall. Break it and then fix it. Just remember your anti-static strap ! dont break it too much

and good luck


where are you studying ?

taxidriver22

hearny, Saganist & mbiking,

Thanks for your advise and support will take it all on board. Why I did not think like this when I was 17 ?? old head and new shoulders and all that. But I know its not too late and I intend to reach my target again thanks for the advise and feel free to keep it coming

Fanny Cradock

I wouldn't worry too much about your age. When I did my degree there were other mature students in their 50's.

Anyway, I know of a charity (the name escapes me at the moment) that refurbishes computers before they are sent of to schools in Africa and the like. Perhaps you could do a little work for them to get some practical experience. If you are interested you can PM me and I'll see if I can dig up the details.

demakinz

taxidriver22 wrote: »

Hi all,

I am 40 years old and currently studying for a FETAC level 5 in Computer and Network maintanence. I work as a Taxi Driver at night and weekends and study by day. I am interested in going on after this year to ITB or similar and would apreciate advise on how to go about this and what to aim for. I realise I am looking at another 4 years in study and although unsure about this I am open to it. Any advise is welcome.

Hi op im doing the same course at the minute 6 weeks in and flying at it. How are you finding it? There are 3 guys in my class around your age and found it difficult to get back to studying after years away from the class but their flying at it now.
We had a lady in from fetac on Friday and she gave us CAO forms and a prospectus(not sure if thats the right word) for Athlone IT. AIT have alot of places for mature students and with a good level 5 fetac result you could get most computer courses you apply for.
She did say if we wanted to go on and got to college we needed to get our CAO forms ready before Christmas.Feb 1st is the dead line for 2011

I hope your enjoying the course as much as i am and the best of luck with it.

Dude111

taxidriver22 wrote:

I am 40 years old and currently studying for a FETAC level 5 in Computer and Network maintanence.

Good luck to you my friend!

Sounds like your quite dedicated and will come out ON TOP with this

norbert64

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

Anyway, I know of a charity (the name escapes me at the moment) that refurbishes computers before they are sent of to schools in Africa and the like. Perhaps you could do a little work for them to get some practical experience. If you are interested you can PM me and I'll see if I can dig up the details.

These guys?

http://camara.ie

mbiking123

good advice here, good way to start. working on so many different types/models of computer def good for experience. A good cause too

Fanny Cradock

norbert64 wrote: »

These guys?

http://camara.ie

That's it!