which path to take

Hi folks

I'm looking at a change in career direction at the moment, having taken time
out to have a family. I'm a part qualified accountant, and in every job I've
had, I've ended up being the person someone comes to for IT support! I now
work part time running a business, maintaining and updating the company
website (in asp) and pretty much all the day to day stuff.
In my spare time I've written database driven websites (using VWD and doing
some extra coding too, and SQL server 2005). Pretty simple stuff but good fun.

I would like my next career move (when my youngest starts school in
September 2009) to be into the world of vb.net programming.

and to my point:
As I don't currently work in the industry (which seems to be a prerequisite
for most of these courses) what do you recommend my path should be?

I was assuming I'd be looking at the foundation .net framework course,
following up with MCTS in either web development or windows development (at
the moment, I'm veering toward web development, but open to either
suggestion) and eventually MCPD.

I work and live in the UK if that has any bearing on what you'd suggest

 

I answered a similar question a few days ago, although they were specifically
looking at Visual Stuido 2005. But the paths are similar. Look below at "MCAD
to MCTS migration" 5/14/2008

If that doesn't help, say so and I will dig about for you.

 

Thanks for the reply Pete, I did actually miss that post when I was trying to
see if my question had previously been answered.

It does help - a bit - however I'd also like to know if my not actually
working in the industry would be a problem. I can certainly say I've got the
enthusiasm, willingness to learn, and I believe the capability to do it
however.

If there's anyone that has knowledge of the UK job markets at the moment,
I'm curious as to whether they'd recommend going the "windows" or "web"
application route. I'm veering toward the web side, but as I haven't made the
final decision yet, I'm open to suggestions either way.

Thanks for reading my message

 

argh, my post got lost somewhere..

thanks for replying Pete, I appreciate the time. I did miss that original
question when I was looking to see if anyone had asked something similar
before.

I was more concerned with the fact I'm not working in the industry at the
moment - this does appear to be a recommendation for starting any of the
courses - I do believe I have the enthusiasm, commitment and willingness to
learn despite not being in the industry at the moment though.

Additionally, I was wondering if anyone knows whether the UK job market
needs more "web" or "window" application developers - as I haven't made my
final decision, it would be nice to try to fill a skills gap so to speak.

Thanks for reading my message!

 

No problem.

I'm not going to go into the Certification vs. Experience debate (much)
since everyone knows how to sing that song by now.

But with regards to the market, it will depend on if you want to go
Contractor vs. Permanent employee.

http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk tracks the salaries/rates in job ads.
Developers get £40,000 as a Permanent Employee or £400 per day as a
contractor.

Whilst a new starter wouldn't be getting that much, the demand for code
monkeys of any stripe is still high. Really, between web and apps, it is your
choice. The line between them is blurring anyway.

As for whether you need to be working before you take the courses, no.
Providing you have the experience of the product, whether through work,
courses or just experience from making your own stuff, you can start the
learning programmes. How difficult you find them will be related to your
competence.

The reason they say a minimum of one years work experience is because this
is typically the length of time needed for the majority of people to have a
good knowledge of the system. You may need more or less. I couldn't say.