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Help me become a mac pro... please?

P

Philll

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 7, 2008
7
0
So I was hired at my uni. to help freshmen with their computers. The job only lasts a week, but it has the possibility of becoming a year-round gig. During training I was told that they currently lack a "mac specialist" and would jump at the chance to hire one. My mac skills are better than most, but I wouldn't call myself a specialist. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go to learn more about the inner workings of my machine?

Thanks!
 
Philll said:
So I was hired at my uni. to help freshmen with their computers. The job only lasts a week, but it has the possibility of becoming a year-round gig. During training I was told that they currently lack a "mac specialist" and would jump at the chance to hire one. My mac skills are better than most, but I wouldn't call myself a specialist. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go to learn more about the inner workings of my machine?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Forums. Forums. Forums.

If you want to spend the money, there are some books out there, but my recommendation still stands– read forums, and play on your machine. Dig around. It's good for the soul.

Good luck. I filled that role at my University for 3 years.
 
Here. I learned more about computers here and on my own than my high school ever taught. They only have two computer classes. Typing... and a rudimentary Office class. As in, teaching Word and Excel exclusively. My school was worthless. I'm going to college for computer science/engineering, so just come here with any questions. We'll be happy to help.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Here. I learned more about computers here and on my own than my high school ever taught. They only have two computer classes. Typing... and a rudimentary Office class. As in, teaching Word and Excel exclusively. My school was worthless.
Click to expand...

Same here.

When I first saw the title, I thought you literally wanted to turn into a Mac Pro. LOL
 
I agree with the general sentiment that it just takes some time and experience with OS X to really become conversant to the point where you can do basic troubleshooting and such. If you are serious though about building some formal 'specialist' skills from a job perspective, the official route is to get Apple Certified. There are official Apple-sanctioned companion books that give you all the info to learn for passing the certification tests. However, if you're just looking to do this as a college job and not a career, certification isn't worth it... just hang out here and you'll learn enough :).
 
As well as some scripting knowledge. And disk utility should also prove useful. Not to mention the popular apps that most ppl use, like iTunes, iMovie, Safari, Mail, iChat, etc. Good luck! We're happy to help and search the forums before asking to save some time!
 
Defiantly go on this forum. It's great and a lot of help to new Mac Users. Also YouTube is great. There are a lot of great YouTube Mac Geeks out there such as:

Nick Danforth
Glenn Wolsey
David Di Franco
etc.

Good luck!

-Chris
 
Hi, I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet, so I will. Read and participate in the forums... and other forums. And keep up to date on everything. Get a list of Mac sites and read them everyday. And also... read and participate in some forums.

PeachPit Press has some Apple Training books... they're the certified books for the Apple Certification tests... Apple Desktop and Portable Systems is one of them I think.
 
its going to be very hard to turn a person into a powerful computer.....:p

but in all seriousness, ive learned almost all i know about tech (im a nerd) from sites such as this, discussions with people, and just my own research on the net.
 
HLdan said:
You should also learn how to use the Terminal.
Click to expand...

Sentiment echoed. I taught myself how to use it many a sleepless night just reading man pages on an internet-deprived G5, making bunches of little example.txts. I can't stress how much it's helped me in day to day use. Things that normally require an arcane series of tasks with a GUI are done with a quick Terminal trick. I've always thought that OS X is a much more keyboard-friendly OS than Windows, which encourages ample use of the mouse. I've found that concentrating on the keyboard has made me a much more efficent worker.
 
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