New Career in IT - Help!

[Grem]

Hi all.

Now my youngest is starting school in September (we're in the UK) I'm gone and got myself a job at another local school as an ICT Assistant.

My knowledge is better than that of the average person in terms of computers and Windows systems, however my knowledge of other areas is very little.

I've been employed with them knowing exactly what I do and don't know, so I'm not expecting them to suddenly ask me something I have zero idea about, but I would like to learn the basics of what I don't know over the summer before I start.

What free (online) resources are there to learn about networking, servers and security? Is there anything else you recommend learning about before I start?

Thanks

[katsiki]

I would look into materials online to prepare for certifications.  That would be a good starting place and there should be a lot online for free.  Check out Network+, Microsoft certifications (Windows 10 client, Windows Server, etc) and Security+.

Also, you may want to setup VMWare or MS hypervisor.  It will allow you to test out networking between multiple machines (really virtual machines) and also learn about different operating systems and/or versions of Windows.

Good luck!

[Swish]

Congrats!

Right now there is a lot of demand in our area for people certified in MS Dynamics. A basic course can be worked on over a couple weeks and give you an advantage over others. The company I used to work for paid for the training and 90% of the work is just managing/troubleshooting the web client content for people who have an input on their share point site for the team to reference and are completely IT illiterate.

[jlcnuke]

https://alison.com/courses/it

https://mva.microsoft.com/

and to an extent https://www.coursera.org

[skibum]

Check with your local library. Not sure about the UK, but mine offers complete access with a library card to Lynda.com, and other useful reference sites.
Your library may also have some good modern reference books about the tools you may encounter.

Your school may have access to some training sites as well - maybe they would give you early privileges?