Whether you work in IT or are planning to, here are some great tools and skills you can acquire to level up in the field of Information Technology.
#Upskill
What we will cover
- Free knowledge building tools
- Good paid resources
- The hottest and most sought-after certifications employers are looking for
- Good study methods/habits
- Summary
Free Knowledge Building Tools
- Microsoft Learn
- Microsoft Learn is free
- It has practice tests for certifications
- It has videos and labs
- Practice tests results point you back to which sections you need to study up on
- Free Comptia practice tests for A+, Net+, Security+, and more
- Comptia is well known in the IT industry and they provide free practice tests as well
- Never underestimate the power of “The University of YouTube”!
- YouTube can be a great resource when you want to learn how to do something specific
- They even have full courses for certain certifications like this one for the Comptia A+ exam
- Google is an excellent source to find sources when you are trying to learn how to do/fix something, we will provide some search tips in this article
- Whether you are using Google to help solve and issue or find a source of knowledge, always be very specific (copy and paste the error code you are experiencing and the platform/version of software you are experiencing the problem with)
- Remove any system specific details from the error codes such as a computer name or an IP address, you want to:
- Avoid putting sensitive information in a google search post query (for cybersecurity sake)
- Non-public information such as computer names or IP addresses can hinder search results.
- Try rephrasing the problem if it yields little results the first time.
Good Paid Resources
- Linkedin Learning
- Linkedin Learning is a great paid resource that comes along with a premium Linkedin account
- Other benefits come along with the premium account include
- Resume building assistance
- Career coaching
- Full visibility into who is visiting your profile
- and much more
- Plurasight
- Courses on:
- CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) prep
- Comptia A+, Net+, Sec+, and more
- CCNA, CCNP (Cisco Certified Training)
- Azure training
- And so much more!
- Courses on:
- Books
Hottest and Most Sought-after Certifications
You can’t have too little certifications in the IT world these days. Even back when I started out I couldn’t even get my foot in the door at a computer company until I got my Comptia A+ certification as a minimum requirement. As you may have seen from the news, more and more companies are getting breached by hacker groups. This makes the world of Cybersecurity a very hot topic and it is at the top of the list of most sought-after certifications. The certification of which I speak is the CISSP or the Certified Information Systems Security Professional certificate. Not only is it one of the most sought-after certifications, it is also one of the highest paid certifications in the IS world.
Microsoft Azure Fundamentals the Azure line of certifications have proven to be quite valuable in today’s IT market. The AZ-900 is a great starter certification, it is for the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam.
The Microsoft Azure Administrator or AZ-104 exam is the next level up from the AZ-900 and equips you with the skills to administer Azure at a mid-level.
The Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect is a high level certification that equips you to design, manage, and maintain even the most complex of Azure infrastructure environments. This is a high-valued and very sought-after certification in the Information Technology and DevOps world today.
The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) is a great certificate to equipment for network management and operations. It focuses on the OSI model and Cisco switching and routing. It is a great computer networking fundamentals certification and it is highly sought-after.
Comptia A+ is a great certification to help you start a career in Information Technology. It covers much of the fundamentals of computers and computer networking in general. It is also a great certification if you want to learn how the components of a computer work together.
Good Study Habits
One of the greatest study habits I’ve ever learned was in my first year of college when I was working through my bachelor degree in computer science. This was a three step method as described below.
- Read and Summarize
- Review
- Review again
Read and Summarize
The first step is to read what it is you want to learn. It is a good idea to summarize what you read in your favorite note-taking software. Mine is Obsidian, but most use OneNote or something similar.
Review
The next day, you should review your notes on what you read. This helps bring it back to mind and keep it fresh. I always like to repeat it to myself in my head like I am trying to explain it to someone who hasn’t learned it yet.
Review again
Then, let it simmer for three days, then review it again. After reviewing on the third day, it helps transition the knowledge you learned from short term memory to long term memory. This is an important step that you should not skip.
Summary
In this article we provided some great free and paid resources that you can use to prepare for some of the certifications mentioned above. Some great free resources include Microsoft Learn, YouTube, and Google. Some great paid resources include Linkedin Learning, Plurasight, and some great books/study guides to help prepare you for some of the certifications mentioned above. We also described some of the most sought-after and valuable certifications on the market today, all of which can help you get started in IT or move up to the next level and get that promotion you’ve been looking for. Whatever the motive, it is always good to be in a constant state of improvement.
We also learned some great study tips, it is important to use the three-step method Read, Review, Review Again. You should also keep this process in mind as the process takes 5 days in total for each knowledge cycle. So keep this in mind as you plan to study for certification exams. Make sure you give yourself enough time to complete as many of these 5-day cycles you think you will need to complete your studies for a particular exam.