Honestly, and this has been said on many other threads out there, you would probably do best to get a help-desk type of job. It may not be sexy to be on the help-desk, but believe me when I say you will learn A LOT about all the technologies your company uses. This provides you with a baseline of knowledge to work with. It also hones your troubleshooting skills which you will use for the rest of your career!

I would then suggest working a few years at least in an operational role, ie system administrator, application developer, network administrator, etc. This should be based on your interests/skills. By working in this role, you get an understanding of what its like on the "front lines." I've found there are a lot of security-type folks that don't understand the demands on the operations-type folks. (I find myself doing this a lot too.) It also gives you a lot of hands-on training in your role of choice.

As far as certifications go, your best bet is the CISSP. It is recognized throughout the industry as the "gold standard", and a lot of doors will open based just on the one certification. There's nothing wrong with any of the others that you mentioned. They're just not the CISSP. Besides, you will have plenty of time throughout your career to do all of them!

Good luck! And welcome to EH-Net!!!

Thanks a lot for the replies

I would love to work in a front-line type role, I enjoy getting my hands dirty, so to speak. I would just hate to work in a call centre, running through some pre-made diagnostic script on a screen. Im a good problem solver and enjoy the challenge of it immensely, its the main attraction of a career in IT for me.

I was hoping to try and skip the entry level phone tech support type roles by gaining enough certification to prove my knowledge. Im guessing that even if my CV is bursting with certs that im still destined to start at the bottom?

ah excellent, Id really enjoy a jack of all trades type position, I can see how a range of responsibilities like that would help me gain a broad amount of experience.

Ive been searching around for jobs, as ill begin applying soon, but the job market isnt so great at the moment. What would you recommend cert wise that would help me get the sort of position im after? I was thinking maybe something vendor specific like the CCNA, but im really not sure which cert to persue next, thanks again for your help and advice, its greatly appreciated!

thanks mallaigh

Ive been running my own mini pc repair business for years! Literally everyone I know and everyone they know come to me with their pc problems, just a shame that doesnt count as on the job experience. I bet everyone on the forum has a similar story :p

I would happily accept a low wage if I thought the job would benefit my CV, Im under no illusion that ill be making any decent money for the next 3-5 years, so given my lack of experience it doesnt matter so much which cert I go for next?

And to add what Dynamik said, I'd certainly count the experience you have in computer repair on your CV. You may not be running a full-fledged business out of your house, but as you stated it is a "pc repair business." It'd be on my resume/CV...

The A+, Network+, and Security+ combined with your pc repair experience are probably enough to get you in the door for the entry-level position with most companies. Its all about how you market yourself....

Glad to help aphelion.  I want to add to what ziggy and yatz are saying.

Ziggy is right, your independent computer repairs count as experience, and if I were you I would put it on my resume.  You should put it on your resume if you current or prior jobs didn't involve computers, as it shows experience.

Like yatz said, smaller companies are also a great starting place.  The pay isn't as good as a larger company (a generalization), but you get exposed to a lot more.  You also have a better chance of working with systems admins, network admins, etc also you will get more exposure to other technologies. 

The corporate IT positions are a great starting place because you will get exposed to a lot of the basics of networks, systems, and security in a business environment.  That kind of experience you can't really get doing PC repairs. 

oh man, correction, for $605 they've given me:

MCITP, MCSE, MCTS, CCNP, CCNA, SSCP, CISSP, Linux+, Server+

Now I dont know where to start :/