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Google IT Support Professional Certificate

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Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#141

Post by jstewartmobile »

user5994461 wrote: post #122
jstewartmobile wrote: post #46

Between very-very large scale integration, walled-garden consumer devices, and the everyday nature of distributed computing, IT is a dead man walking. When each compute node becomes essentially a disposable quantity, what does that do to the value of the people who service them? People will say "What about networking?", as though locality makes a difference here. I've seen so many local network deployments where a gu…

I've seen that at big brand name. The network was dead multiple times every week for entire hours. It's so terrible. There would be a dozen contractors in the room. They discuss who works on what in the morning, then the network is down and noone can do anything for half the day.

Most megacorps don't seem to care. IT by goon squad has been standard operating procedure for almost a decade now.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#142

Post by comstock »

gaius wrote: post #114
influx wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More like Computational Mathematics

Discrete Mathematics is the actual term “integers, graphs and statements in logic” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrete_mathematics

But you generally can’t get a degree in it (I don’t believe I’ve seen one). But wow, a discrete mathematics undergrad degree sounds like a lot of fun.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#143

Post by [deleted] »

meritt wrote: post #64
gaius wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some certs must be regularly renewed, e.g. ScrumMaster. If it’s de-supported then the certs evaporate.

"Hey Doug, Got a minute? So the university where you learned Computer Science, well we just found out they recently closed their doors. Since they are no longer an accredited institution, nor do they even exist, we're going to have to let you go."

[deleted]

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#144

Post by AustinLin »

aesthetics1 wrote: post #119
tvanantwerp wrote: post #105

I'm not convinced of the quality of this course material. I thought I could try it out, see if I could fill some gaps in my knowledge. I tried out some of the quizzes and they were just bad. Course 1, week 2, for example, asks you to match items to where they go on a motherboard. This quiz is flatly wrong. It asks you to match a PSU to the rear Ethernet port, and a SATA cable to an IDE port. Being so obviously wrong…

I went through the first several weeks of course 1, and you are spot on. The quiz in week 2 is absolutely wrong (did anyone audit this?). I skimmed through the first 6 weeks and even for a beginner course, this is way too dumbed down. I checked out some of the material a bit further through the course as well, and I cannot recommend it for anyone serious about the profession. It looks good on the surface (reading the…

I was also a bit surprised by the simplicity of course 1, but then remembered that the course as a whole is designed for folks with no experience. Looking through the descriptions for the other courses (the actual material isn't out yet) I'm hopeful they will have the level of depth I think we're all expecting.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#145

Post by mickduprez »

I signed up for this course even though after a brief look it looks like more of an entry-level course than a full-blown IT specialist course (which is understanding considering the course delivery being web-based).

I've been writing code for over 15 years and have seen more than enough opportunity to expand my business into the IT side of things, a lot more than contract coding anyway. I've let these opportunities go by as I don't have any real qualifications although I reckon I could cobble enough together with my experience to get by.

That being said, if I get a cert' from this it might be the confidence to push my business further if nothing else.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#146

Post by userbinator »

tvanantwerp wrote: post #105

I'm not convinced of the quality of this course material. I thought I could try it out, see if I could fill some gaps in my knowledge. I tried out some of the quizzes and they were just bad. Course 1, week 2, for example, asks you to match items to where they go on a motherboard. This quiz is flatly wrong. It asks you to match a PSU to the rear Ethernet port, and a SATA cable to an IDE port. Being so obviously wrong…

That reminds me of the quality of the claimed "study helping" material for similar certifications that I occasionally stumble upon while looking for solutions to actual problems. It's hard to resist a physical facepalm or other expression when reading some of that stuff, since it'd otherwise make for great satire.

Personally, I don't have a high opinion of anyone whose only stated qualifications are these sorts of certifications --- all it really shows is rote memorisation, when good IT support relies on creative and insightful problem-solving skills --- including being good at... Googling.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#147

Post by tyingq »

ClassyJacket wrote: post #124
kbwt wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to be a common confusion in the EU. A lot of people refer to CS as IT where I live.

Here in Australia, most people just think "literally anything to do with computers = IT". So when I talked to course counselors they said if I wanted to be a programmer, I had to do an IT degree. Not even close. Software engineering, or maybe CS, is what I wanted. I hadn't even heard the phrase "computer science" when I started university. The total incompetence of the course counselors at the core function of their…

In the US, at least, outside of Silicon Valley, the type of degree isn't necessarily a barrier.

Some of the best developers, DBAs, system engineers, etc, I've hired had history degrees, math degrees, journalism, EE, etc. The degree itself, for me, is just proof that you finished something important. I care more about what you know, and how well you can learn something new.

I don't think I'm that unique in this respect. The tech shops I've worked in over my career were full of non-CS degreed people. Mostly my experience here, though, is with non tech companies. Things like the IT departments in Healthcare, Travel, Automotive, etc.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#148

Post by arbie »

dx034 wrote: post #89
bluthru wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>IT Support will replace factories in Middle America. Hardware continues to be more reliable, more integrated, and cheaper. For most office jobs something like Chrome OS or iOS would be sufficient.

Not if you have to run Excel with 5 add-ins that regularly destroy each other.

How many of those add-ins can be replaced by SaaS providers with mobile gateways?

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#149

Post by lwf »

tyingq wrote: post #147
ClassyJacket wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Australia, most people just think "literally anything to do with computers = IT". So when I talked to course counselors they said if I wanted to be a programmer, I had to do an IT degree. Not even close. Software engineering, or maybe CS, is what I wanted. I hadn't even heard the phrase "computer science" when I started university. The total incompetence of the course counselors at the core function of their…

In the US, at least, outside of Silicon Valley, the type of degree isn't necessarily a barrier. Some of the best developers, DBAs, system engineers, etc, I've hired had history degrees, math degrees, journalism, EE, etc. The degree itself, for me, is just proof that you finished something important. I care more about what you know, and how well you can learn something new. I don't think I'm that unique in this respec…

At my San Francisco employer, my org has several people without degrees, and one of the best managers in my team has a degree in one of the hard sciences, not CS.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#150

Post by ams6110 »

jstarfish wrote: post #130
ClassyJacket wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Australia, most people just think "literally anything to do with computers = IT". So when I talked to course counselors they said if I wanted to be a programmer, I had to do an IT degree. Not even close. Software engineering, or maybe CS, is what I wanted. I hadn't even heard the phrase "computer science" when I started university. The total incompetence of the course counselors at the core function of their…

The school could have done you better, but don't externalize your problems. Most schools' CS degrees won't teach you version control, makefiles or any of that practical stuff. You learn it for fun, incidentally, or on the job. I was once in your shoes. Same background, same regrettable life choices, same potential future. If you want to develop, do it. Start by looking at the crap software your company likely pays hu…

My CS degree didn't even teach any specific languages. Pretty much every course used a different language. I'll date myself here but I used PL/1, Pascal, Modula 2, C, Scheme, assembly, and maybe a couple of others. None were the explicit focus of the class. The programming language was incidental, students were expected to learn it on their own. And my first job used none of those languages. My next job didn't either. In fact I've never used any of the languages I used in school on the job.
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