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Personally I wouldn't shoot for just a Mac career unless I was in development or working for Apple.
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Become a Mac IT specialist?
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Personally I wouldn't shoot for just a Mac career unless I was in development or working for Apple.
I'm not sure about any specific Mac related certifications, but you could probably do worse than get some general Unix related certifications like Sun Certified System Administrator or Red Hat Certified Engineer. Maybe even some of that Microsoft doohicky. Then when you've landed a job start converting the unwashed masses.
On the one hand, the demand for Mac-savvy IT people isn't nearly as high as for Windows or *nix, but since there are very few skilled Mac specialists out there, you can really write your own ticket if you're good.
If you're an undergrad, I'd probably go for a regular degree in CIS and pay extra close attention to the *nix side of things there. With that background, you should be able to learn the Mac OS X client and server administrative side of things on your own. Peachpit Press publishes the official Apple Training Series books on administering Mac OS X clients, Mac OS X Server, repairing Apple hardware, etc.
http://www.peachpit.com/store/browse.aspx?n=601656c1-f91d-4352-bfb6-0db0dbf6b2a5&b=newrelease
Studying these books should allow you to pass Apple's certification tests for helpdesk support, server support and administration, &c. Follow the tasks these books discuss on your own Mac. Buy a copy of Mac OS X Server 10-user and mess around with that for a while, if you can.
Apple has a fair amount of resources on its web site that aren't terribly well publicized. Start with http://www.apple.com/business/solutions/it/
In terms of clients, it's probably best to live in a larger metropolitan area and have some in's in some fields where Macs are prevalent, such as graphic design, advertising, video editing and production, animation, and so forth. Most of my own clients come from those fields.
If you're an undergrad, I'd probably go for a regular degree in CIS and pay extra close attention to the *nix side of things there. With that background, you should be able to learn the Mac OS X client and server administrative side of things on your own. Peachpit Press publishes the official Apple Training Series books on administering Mac OS X clients, Mac OS X Server, repairing Apple hardware, etc.
http://www.peachpit.com/store/browse.aspx?n=601656c1-f91d-4352-bfb6-0db0dbf6b2a5&b=newrelease
Studying these books should allow you to pass Apple's certification tests for helpdesk support, server support and administration, &c. Follow the tasks these books discuss on your own Mac. Buy a copy of Mac OS X Server 10-user and mess around with that for a while, if you can.
Apple has a fair amount of resources on its web site that aren't terribly well publicized. Start with http://www.apple.com/business/solutions/it/
In terms of clients, it's probably best to live in a larger metropolitan area and have some in's in some fields where Macs are prevalent, such as graphic design, advertising, video editing and production, animation, and so forth. Most of my own clients come from those fields.
Over the years the hardest thing to find is someone who understands the Darwin (which is Unix right) and Mac.
I mean we have a rack of Mac OS X servers which have all these cool Unix and open source tools in them, like Cyrus, that should be doing cool stuff for us.
The Apple gui's are but do fall short at times, if you can find unix or linux guy they can't help you extend that without starting from scratch, the Apple certified guys don't go beyond the gui normally as most have no training in whats going on below.
So after that rant, advice study the general.
Anything that will expose you to a range of similar systems is good. Then look at a specific system that grabs your interest to specialize in, hopefully that is still Mac OS X.
I mean we have a rack of Mac OS X servers which have all these cool Unix and open source tools in them, like Cyrus, that should be doing cool stuff for us.
The Apple gui's are but do fall short at times, if you can find unix or linux guy they can't help you extend that without starting from scratch, the Apple certified guys don't go beyond the gui normally as most have no training in whats going on below.
So after that rant, advice study the general.
Anything that will expose you to a range of similar systems is good. Then look at a specific system that grabs your interest to specialize in, hopefully that is still Mac OS X.
I come from a video editing/media background, so I think it'd be cool to have an Xsan background and kinda integrate that with my final cut editing knowledge (not saying that'll turn into a job but one can hope right?).
Very interesting posts by everybody again another thank you keep em comin!
I am currently in my third (and hopefully final) year of a Bachelor of Computer Systems.
Looking to go into Mac support if possible.
I had a job interview halfway through my second year to work as a junior IT support person at a 80% Mac media/advertising company. But decided not to pursue it in favor of continuing my degree.
Looking to go into Mac support if possible.
I had a job interview halfway through my second year to work as a junior IT support person at a 80% Mac media/advertising company. But decided not to pursue it in favor of continuing my degree.