A short back story. I've been working with computers for quite a while now as a video editor, and more recently got really into the hardware side of things. I've spent a lot of time learning lots of information about all aspects of desktop computer hardware, and I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. I wouldn't say I know everything there is to know about hardware, but I have a good basic knowledge of what's best for certain uses, what components are made using quality parts, etc. I've also got some hardware and software troubleshooting skills I've aquired over the years as the go-to tech person in the family/worklplace. I spend a lot of time contributing on forums and reddit, and became a quality officer on r/buildapcforme.
I'd like to know if these skills and the knowlege I have are worth something to either a business or individuals. I'm not looking for full time employment, but I would like a little extra income and would like to spend more time working on computers. I'd love to build custom PC's and things like that, but I understand that's a limited market. Is there anywhere else my skills and knowledge could be useful to a person or business?
Usually an employer would want to see a few years exsperience (paid) and some qualifications before considering paying you for work.
Your best hope would probably to just do it yourself, throw a private add in your local paper offering your services at a decent price.
The PC industry where i am (UK) is just over saturated, too many students doing shitty courses at UNI then trying to get jobs, every other shelf stacker in my local supermarket has a degree in IT :)
It may be diff where you are but for simplicitys sake youd be better off going solo with it in your spare time, theres also online courses you can take (MCSE) which would help out if you needed some legitimacy.
Get your A+, Security+ and Network+'s if you don't want to go to uiversity. You can typically get a pretty good job with those... specifically the Security+.
I live in the southern US so getting a job with just an associates in computer networking is painfully easy. Buddy of mine got his, had a job two weeks later at a school and now is the IT admin for a county school district making 30+ an hour (which is really good in these parts.)