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Not sure if this belongs here, but wanted serious answers so I didn't want to put it in the main.

How did you guys get into the IT field, I know a couple guys who went to a 4yr college and another went to IT Tech and spent 91K

The reason I ask, is there is a company here call centric training that offers a 4 month program that will train you on the basic stuff, you end up walking out of training with 5 Microsoft certs. problem is it's 23K. Spoke with a cousin that just finished that program a year ago and had a job before finishing school at 45K and is now at 70K.

My salary now is 30K, but with overtime I'm at 55K, I know I don't want to do this job for the rest of my life let alone for another couple years but don't see where I can go. Paying 23k for a 4 month program also makes me nervous.

I just feel like I'm stuck, not sure where to go or what to do.

Why would you spend so much? A Comptia+ exam is like 188 dollars I think. In some countries you can make a good living with only this cert, ideally the network one too. Less stress than some engineer with no social life.

I've worked in IT for about 10 years now with no certs. I will only get if a specific client requires me to for their specific something or other.

Maybe get just network + and one other simple and cheap one of you wanna learn the basics. Depending what you wanna do ultimately.

I did go to college for IT but I don't necessarily known if it did anything for me knowledge wise. More of a foot in the door.

I started at help desk, then started doing sysadmin stuff. Then took a paycut to do a network admin role in a small company with a decent budget that allowed me to gain exposure in network/servers/storage. After a year I left . I think most people start off in help desk

Investigate the company before you buy anything from them. Also, analyze your other options, such as a community college. I grew up on a computer and my programming saga really came in when I started programming in PHP. I'm self taught for the most part, but college inspired me. Most of what I know is beyond what many people learn in their first years of college as I have experience in the real world and with over a decade of experience, I could give doctorates a run for their money in some places. I don't claim to be the best, but when you pour your heart and soul into something, you'll learn a considerable amount about it.

You can learn SQL free online or out of a book. Start there, find an entry level job where you can put that to work, and expand your knowledge base from there.

Also,look around to see what those certs will gain you in employment because it seems to me every college kid going through any IT-related course seems to have Microsoft certs so they are a dime a dozen.

Check into VMware or Cisco certs. Seems to be lots of need there.

I've been in IT for 12 years now. I have an Associates degree and two certs that I was forced to get from one job. I've worked two help desk jobs  and coding at a hospital. You can start out easily at a help desk since most just require you to be able to breathe. Then you can work your way out by getting any certs or just by having the experience. Just a warning, a help desk or now they are mainly call centers, are usually a right of passage. It will be your nightmare until you get a better job.

No, just freaking no. IT Tech is a total freaking scam. It's actually an employer repellent more than a helper.

Certifications do help. Experience helps more.

In what countries can you make a living off comptia certs only without formal education? because i have no formal education.

You don't need a degree to get into IT. The stuff you learn in the first half of schooling is obsolete by the time you graduate. The textbooks themselves lag behind the industry by at least a year. A school isn't going to get you caught up on any particular language or field, but it will teach you how to wrap your brain around the abstract concepts that may be waiting for you. That is, school will teach you how to think like a programmer, or network administrator, or whatever.

But if you can get to that point without school, then you can get a job in the industry. Just go take the tests to get your certs once you've learned the material. For some fields (such as software engineer, i.e., programmer) you don't need a cert; you can just create a portfolio to show off your knowledge.

Forgetting about IT hardware (say setting up a wireless infrastructure for a school campus or a small town or city), the field to get into is Security. You've heard of the Target, Michaels, Home Depot break-ins, right?. Cell phones will soon be used to make payments. The crackers are salivating at the prospect of stealing everyone's money.

If you want to break into IT then take some courses at your local Community College or on-line. If you want to become rich quick by writing the next "Angry Birds" app then take up programming. And if you want to engage in Global IT Warfare then you'll probably need to join the armed forces.

I.T. is a diverse field, what are you interested in getting into?