Changing careers from aviation to IT. Where to start?

[bodean]

I've been an airline pilot for 9 years now. Due to the instability or the career, being away from home a lot during the week, and the current low pay, I am looking at getting out of flying, and finding a career in IT. I have a BS degree in Aviation Science. I am looking at working on my Major in something business or IT related to add to my resume.

My computer background, well, not much to show on a resume or paper, as most is freelance work. Building PC's for people, setting up and maintaining their systems and software. I have beginner knowledge with networking. So my question is, how do I get started in this business? My wife can get me a pretty good deal on a cisco certification through her work. So that is a start, and something to have on a resume. I know that where ever I find a job (in Chicago) it will probably be entry level with possibilities to move on up given my lack of "real world" experience.

Any tips, readings, websites, or real world advice would greatly be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[vickedslava]

Since you don't have real world experience, I would recommend earning your A+ certificate first, followed by network +. These will help you land your first entry level job and you will learn a lot.

It's important to build a proper foundation.

If you decide you enjoy networking, then considering getting the Cisco certs.

Goodluck.

 

[bodean]

Thank you for your input.

 

[Pinhedd]

I've been an airline pilot for 9 years now. Due to the instability or the career, being away from home a lot during the week, and the current low pay, I am looking at getting out of flying, and finding a career in IT. I have a BS degree in Aviation Science. I am looking at working on my Major in something business or IT related to add to my resume.

My computer background, well, not much to show on a resume or paper, as most is freelance work. Building PC's for people, setting up and maintaining their systems and software. I have beginner knowledge with networking. So my question is, how do I get started in this business? My wife can get me a pretty good deal on a cisco certification through her work. So that is a start, and something to have on a resume. I know that where ever I find a job (in Chicago) it will probably be entry level with possibilities to move on up given my lack of "real world" experience.

Any tips, readings, websites, or real world advice would greatly be appreciated. Thanks.

My advice would be "don't quit your day job". I don't know how well your current job pays, but I can guarantee you that with nine years of flight experience it will pay substantially better than an entry level IT job.

There are a lot of things that you can do on the side though. The various CompTIA certifications are very affordable and nice to have on a resume, as are Cisco, Novell, Microsoft, and RedHat certifications.

The really well paying IT jobs require degrees in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, or information technology.