It just kind of hit me a few minutes ago….it would be REALLY TOUGH to be new in IT these days. Back when I started, you could go get your A+ certification and take a couple of Microsoft exams, and then get a job. A+ taught you the basics of PC hardware. Where the video card went, how to plug in a network card, etc. Nothing outrageously difficult, and nothing that’s really changed that much. The Microsoft testing track had a basic networking course, a “workstation” course, and a “server” course. Then you could take elective exams on other topics. Most of these tests could be passed on your own, with a $50 book and a few weeks of work.

Nowadays, I don’t see any way that you could do that. There is probably an A+ certification out there still, and I’m not sure that basic hardware has gotten that much more difficult. The server side of things, though, is NUTS! There are so many things built into Windows Server now that I have no idea how you’d go about diving in. Windows contains almost everything that VMware ESX server did just a few years ago, a ton of storage technologies that let you build big-ass volumes of differing types of disks, Active Directory is still there and is a big topic, AND you cannot get by without doing some scripting with PowerShell. There are so many directions that it would completely overwhelm someone.

It gets worse when you start going outside of the Microsoft server stuff. Think about Cisco! Back in the day, you had routers and switches. Now, you have big virtual hosts running virtual apps that are those routers and switches, and you can even put other virtual machines on top of the Cisco host. Mind blowing stuff.