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Google IT Support Professional Certificate

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Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#91

Post by dx034 »

amelius wrote: post #63
geff82 wrote: post #61

In Germany, this is called "Fachinformatiker für Systemintegration" and is an official professional apprenticeship for which you do not pay money, but GET PAID as you are spending 30% of your time in school and 70% applying your knowledge in a company. If you have 4.5 years of experience on-the-job in IT you can just apply for the final exams without going to school.

Your boss can still pay for your education if you take it from Google.

But then you have a Google degree and not one certified by the government. Google is reputable now but I wouldn't be so sure if the Google degree is worth much in 20 years.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#92

Post by danans »

I got started at Google years ago in the IT support department. I was an atypical case because I have a CS degree from an prestigious university, but at the time, I was caught in the fallout of the dot-com bust, so I needed any job I could get.

I eventually interviewed successfully to become a SWE, but my experiences working with the broader swath of people (not just CS/CE grads from elite programs) in IT really opened my perspective on technology, products, and the diverse set of people and talents it takes to make an organization function.

I have no connection to this certificate effort (I moved into development eons ago), but I think that the opportunity for exposure to a technology profession that this program offers could be the foot in the door for a lot of people, regardless of their background.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#93

Post by oblio »

ggg9990 wrote: post #73
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I vehemently disagree. The whole SWE/DevOps trend isn't super popular once you leave Silicon Valley. At the end of the day, most businesses still use Windows, and most IT staff are telling people how to print correctly and resetting the passwords people forgot for the umteenth time this week . This isn't going to change in the near future, and I assume Google's IT Support certificate is either teaching the skills nec…

Good software can move that IT job to a cheaper admin job. If printers are easy to install, or passwords are easy to reset, then the admin can just say “the printer nearest to you is Floor3-South. Go into Printers and select it” leaving IT to just maintain the printer and not have to coach users.

Have you seen printer software? Those jobs are safe for the foreseeable future :)

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#94

Post by gregcoombe »

geff82 wrote: post #61

In Germany, this is called "Fachinformatiker für Systemintegration" and is an official professional apprenticeship for which you do not pay money, but GET PAID as you are spending 30% of your time in school and 70% applying your knowledge in a company. If you have 4.5 years of experience on-the-job in IT you can just apply for the final exams without going to school.

According to Google translate, that is a "Systems Integration Specialist". I really like it: it's more descriptive of your actual job than "Information Technologist".

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#95

Post by gregcoombe »

dx034 wrote: post #91
amelius wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your boss can still pay for your education if you take it from Google.

But then you have a Google degree and not one certified by the government. Google is reputable now but I wouldn't be so sure if the Google degree is worth much in 20 years.

This is a certificate, not a degree, which is a fairly important distinction. The goal is to teach a set of technical skills that allow you to get a specific job. In 20 years, your experience will count much more than either a degree or certificate.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#96

Post by JBlue42 »

bluedino wrote: post #10

>> the average starting salary is $52,000 according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics That's a decent salary for a Windows or network admin in middle America. Helpdesk positions are lucky to pay half that.

I've definitely experienced as well as seen lower here in Los Angeles.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#97

Post by JBlue42 »

datguacdoh wrote: post #56
kevin2r wrote: post #2

How this certification program compares to CompTIA A+ ?

We based this on our internal training for our IT hires based on the gaps we found when we onboarded people over the last 7 years. We invested a lot in making the material practical and lab driven vs just rote memorization. Disclosure: I worked on this program.

Thanks for being on this thread and commenting in a few places.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#98

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

xcryogenicx wrote: post #49
w8rbt wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IT is not CS. Not even similar.

AS in CS working in IT here, can confirm. My college classes were programming C++, physics, calculus, and hardware architectures. Barely anything to do with IT.

Depends on what level of IT you're working at. There are segments of the market where the various computer-related jobs that need to be done aren't neatly siloed.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#99

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

pm90 wrote: post #37
rb808 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially as I think many dev jobs will disappear. More free, open source platforms that are powerful and free but just need some configuration, customization and support. Developing getting simpler to becoming just config anyway. We're already seeing this, you dont need to know anything about pointers any more, just hooking up libraries.

At the risk of sounding utterly foolish in the future, I would say that there will always be jobs for the creative developer. The one thing that has made Software Engineering stand out from other professions is just how SE is essential/Integrated in fields outside of its immediate application. What I mean is: devs are required in Oil and Gas, Academia, Education, Manufacturing etc. apart from the regular jobs in the…

Technically there are still jobs for horse carriage drivers, but that doesn't mean there's a bright future in that career.

Re: Google IT Support Professional Certificate

#100

Post by commandar »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #70
debt wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree completely. IT is going the opposite way, much of the maintenance is becoming commodified so the more complex tasks almost always involved writing actual code. It's become more of a SWE org everywhere. It's funny because SWE peeps get really defensive about IT vs SWE roles; like they don't want to be associated with IT for some ego-related reason.

I vehemently disagree. The whole SWE/DevOps trend isn't super popular once you leave Silicon Valley. At the end of the day, most businesses still use Windows, and most IT staff are telling people how to print correctly and resetting the passwords people forgot for the umteenth time this week . This isn't going to change in the near future, and I assume Google's IT Support certificate is either teaching the skills nec…

> most businesses still use Windows

And Microsoft has been pushing businesses increasingly toward technologies like Powershell and products like SCCM in the past decade. The trend is slower in the Microsoft world, but it's definitely toward automation taking on the type of work you'd traditionally have support techs running around handling.

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