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Ollie

Career advice

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I finished my degree a couple of years ago and got a job, a job that was never really supposed to be a long term thing, it was more of a good place to be whilst I learnt my trade and decided what I wanted to do a bit more long term.

 

Well I'm still here, and I'm bored and feel a bit stuck. A few months ago the company I work for got bought out by a big American firm and in that process I lost a fair amount of my responsibility and my identity within the company. Now obviously right now isn't the best time to be making any major job decisions, what with all of the redundancies etc, but I can still plan and research for when things settle down.

 

I did a degree in Computer Science, and have a job in a support role, hardly what my degree was designed for, in fact, no one I work with has a degree, and without trying to sound big headed, I feel over qualified, especially now that I have almost no responsibility.

 

The problem is that I feel my talents are wasted here, but I don't have anything to offer a new employer, I can't get training here to boost my CV but I can't imagine someone who offers any kind of training would be interested in taking me on with my current CV. Hence the reason I feel 'stuck'.

 

So the point of my thread is, what should I do? Where can I get advise from, and how do I get it? Are there good websites for finding specific types of jobs? Anybody else like this or been like this in the past?

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I presume prospects.ac.uk would be a good start at least.

 

See that is the kind of thing I need, but not being at uni any more, no one tells me about this stuff :bowdown:

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See that is the kind of thing I need, but not being at uni any more, no one tells me about this stuff :bowdown:

 

There is another similar one I can never remember. I always found prospects better anyway. There is a discussion board on there but its hidden under "my prospects" > "talk to graduates online". Best of luck :)

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It doesn't help but half the people I work with are in the same position.

 

I would image there are very many people out there like this. Instead of whining about it (like I normally do) I have decided to actually do something about it.

 

There is another similar one I can never remember. I always found prospects better anyway. There is a discussion board on there but its hidden under "my prospects" > "talk to graduates online". Best of luck :)

 

Apparently I'm going through what is known as a 'quarter life crisis' on this site, haha.

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There are a few different avenues you can take.

Firstly you mentioned your computer science degree...What did you have in mind (job wise) when you started/finished the course? Did you envision yourself going in a certain direction? Also, if the company hadn't been bought out how would you feel about your current situation? These are things you perhaps could ask yourself. Use some of the sites I've given you (below) to look at computer science and the career paths people take with them. There are many things you can do. Even the fact you have a degree means you can usually fast-track (as it were) to management levels. Perhaps this is even something you could bring up in a work-based meeting - if possible. Maybe think about the following things:

 

"Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?"

"Is it the job 'role' or the position in the company which is more important to you?"

 

A list of sites you may find useful:

 

http://careersadvice.direct.gov.uk (can be useful if you need advice)

http://www.prospects.ac.uk (for graduates - as others have mentioned)

http://www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4u/ (primarily for 13-19yr olds but offers good information on jobs/qualifications).

 

You're doing the right thing by researching what's out there. As I've said, there are many different avenues you can take just by having a degree. You'll be fine in the long run. Your aspirations will see to that :)

 

Oh and I'm training to be a careers advisor at the moment (can you tell? lol) so if you want some more advice just ask.

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Wow tapedeck, thanks man. I don't think you'll have any problems in becoming a careers advisor!

 

prospects.ac.uk is already looking to be an amazing site, I have already decided on about 100 new careers to try lol, might need to stream line that a bit :D

 

To answer your questions, in 5 years time I would like to be in a more long term position. Possibly even the job I may do for the rest of my career -which means I need to be happy in what I'm doing (I'll be 30 by then and intend to retire early with any luck!).

 

The second question is bit harder, to answer it in a slightly round about way, I love recognition. So what ever I have to do to be noticed by the people I work with and for is what I'll do.

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