Advice on Practitioners Route ....

[saxman]

Just passed my ITIL foundation course (self-study) and want to keep the momentum going now ... only problem is which process(s) to specialise on now ? I am an IT contractor at the mo, so I need to plan for the longer term - one day I will go perm.

There seem to be lots of jobs available in both Service support and Service delivery arenas... but which way to go is the question ?
All of the subjects interest me, but which in peoples opinion will provide :-

Guaranteed future work/employment in that specialism
Maximum earning potential & opportunites for expansion etc..

Also what seems to be the average price to pay for a practitioners course in one of the ITIL processes ? I presume only ISEB & EXIN offer the actual exam still at this level.

regards
Saxman

[scrufmonst]

Deciding which way to go is not really the important issue here.... what is important is that you follow the requirements to get your Practitioners cert.....
You have to go through a certified class to be able to present to exin/iseb that you have the knowledge to sit for the test.

Choseing which path to take is like saying i am pigeon holeing my self to this part of service management. When in actuallity it would not take much if you have a practitioners in Release and control to transistion your thought process for Support and Restore. A service is just that a service.

regards
Scott

[Chippy]

With V3 is there any point in doing these exams now? I understand V3 will be available Q4 2007.

[ARoll]

From some of the detail that i've looked into yes the exams will still have merit and will begin to count as credits towards the itil diploma. So yes if you have the plans to take the courses by all means take them, they will only help you.

to the original question in the post, it really depends on what you would be most passionate about. Myself i had originally came from the Incident and Service request world but moved into change management and found my own calling. Far as job outlook, well its really all relative. its been awhile since i job hunted (6+mos) but when i was looking i saw posting all across the board for nearly each discipline(including capacity and availability). i would assume its more than likely still the same today as it was then, just really depends on your area and if you are open to relocation or not. For the earning potential again that really depends on you, the certification may help you get your foot in the door, but demonstrating the skill set is what will drive your furture potential
_________________
Adam
Practitioner - Release and Control
Blue Badge

"Not every change is an improvement, but every improvement requires a change"

[saxman]

I have been researching the Practitioner exam options ... what do people feel about the 5 day release & control course & exam versus the 3 day single process option. Is the extra cost/time/effort worth it ?

How much harder is it than say just doing a change management 3 day Practitioner course & exam. At the end of the day doing the 3 or 5 day option I would hopefully be a blue badge holder whatever route I take ... so why put extra pressure on myself by trying to do all three at once, is it too much to take on ? whereas studying for one topic will be easier/less cost/less time etc ...

what do people think ? anyone done both ?

[Ed]

I have'nt done both, but my understanding is that if you have a combined course at Practitioner level, then it is worth 3.75 points towards the V3 Diploma, whereas the single courses are only worth 1 point. plus the fact of 9 days classroon as opposed to 5 - looks like 'No Contest' to me.

Regards

Ed