Need help/advice on getting a job in the I.T sector

[The Lillster]

The purpose of this topic:

 

• Help me gather as much information as possible
  
• General advice
  

 

My experience regarding I.T related subjects

 

In terms of commercial experience, I have none but I have a lot of self-taught knowledge since I was a kid.

 

I can do things like create basic websites, remove viruses, basic hardware upgrades, excellent knowledge of Windows based operating systems and resolving general computer problems.

 

What I'm doing to help my cause

 

I'm gathering as much information as possible and in my spare time I'm learning ASP(dot)Net with C#.

 

What type of I.T job am I looking for

 

I'm looking for any kind of I.T job.

 

Education (I.T related)

 

I have an ICT GNVQ Intermediate certificate.

 

If anybody can offer me any advice at all, I would be very grateful.

 

Thanks for your time.

[James]

I work in IT support, I got the job after working in the warehouse of the company I work for for years, thankfully the company have a good policy of hiring from the inside and did well to get the job, I had A levels and what not, but nothing great.

 

Are you working at the moment? do they have an IT department? have chat to your personnel department and see if they would be willing to let you do a few days a week in the I.T office helping out with stuff and what not. They be able to see if you have potential.

 

apart from that everything you apply for asks for experiance which is very annoying, Have you considered working an IT admin job, resetting passwords and various other rubbish. It's a starting point for you and you can work up from there.

[The Lillster]

I work in IT support, I got the job after working in the warehouse of the company I work for for years, thankfully the company have a good policy of hiring from the inside and did well to get the job, I had A levels and what not, but nothing great.

 

Are you working at the moment? do they have an IT department? have chat to your personnel department and see if they would be willing to let you do a few days a week in the I.T office helping out with stuff and what not. They be able to see if you have potential.

 

apart from that everything you apply for asks for experiance which is very annoying, Have you considered working an IT admin job, resetting passwords and various other rubbish. It's a starting point for you and you can work up from there.

 

I have no job and my previous work experience is only Pizza Hut and Mc Donald's.

 

I was thinking I could contact various Computer repair shops and ask if I could work voluntarily, but I want some advice/tips before I do, so I have a better chance of them accepting me.

 

I don't have any higher education qualifications, but I might have the opportunity to go to University. To get there, I need to complete an Access to Higher education course. I only want to go to University if it's 100% necessary.

Edited July 1, 2010 by The Lillster

[Will]

Best bet would be to apply for any IT support role that you see available. You may end up doing something pretty crappy to start with but at least it will get you the experience to then apply for other roles - or maybe even simply mean that you get to progress faster within the role you take on.

 

Keep up with the self taught stuff, it can only be a benefit, look to expand it as much as you can and try to get some examples of the work you are able to do available to the people you apply to.

 

Most of all just keep trying, you're likely to get knocked back a lot with no experience so don't take it too hard and keep pushing.

 

Good Luck!

[Cube]

Best bet would be to apply for any IT support role that you see available. You may end up doing something pretty crappy to start with but at least it will get you the experience to then apply for other roles - or maybe even simply mean that you get to progress faster within the role you take on.

 

This is essentially how I've got the job I have now. I had a massive two year gap (due to failing uni) on my CV and not a lot of IT qualifications. My Young Enterprise work did help a lot, though.

[Raining_again]

Self teaching!!!!!

 

Get as much experience with..

 

troubleshooting

fixing computers

operating systems

networks

hardware

building websites

backup systems

 

anything and everything you can think of.

 

Buy plenty of books and learn learn learn. I.T is an industry where you have to have your ears to the ground and be ready to take on new study. Anyone without a big passion might as well not bother if i'm honest. You could end up with a job in software dev and that may be all you ever need to know, but for job prospects its good to be an all rounder.

 

A+ (compTIA) is a good qualification to get, and microsoft does a lot of msdn training and cisco training! (although its not for the faint hearted!!)

 

And get a driving licence if you haven't already, as its pretty much essential for I.T, as you have to often travel to other locations to fix problems.

 

and you'll probably need to get degree level education, thats nearly an absolute for any of these jobs

[The Lillster]

In terms of self-teaching I'm trying to learn C#, ASP(DOT)NET Web Forms and MVC. I have a long way to go. Once I've learned enough to start developing my own ASP.Net website, I'm hoping by building my own website I will gain even more knowledge.

 

I have designed websites in the past, using Photoshop and Fireworks, I haven't done that in years though and I don't have Adobe Photoshop etc... anymore. The best I have is Microsoft Expression studio.

 

What books would you recommend Raining?

 

I'm going to have a good look for any IT Support jobs, Will', in the College course I did this year, I helped my class mates and my Tutor a lot with computer stuff. It was only basic, things like moving files, USB Pen Drive connection problems, Microsoft Word editing and general stuff. My Tutor said he would give me a reference, so hopefully that will help my cause.

 

Raining, sorry for being dumb, but how do I get experience in the areas you listed, especially networking? - I suppose I could buy a broken PC, fix it and then re-sell it.

 

Don't know what else I can do. I'm saving up for an intense driving course but without a job it's taking too long to save.

 

Thanks for all the help everyone.

[Raining_again]

In terms of self-teaching I'm trying to learn C#, ASP(DOT)NET Web Forms and MVC. I have a long way to go. Once I've learned enough to start developing my own ASP.Net website, I'm hoping by building my own website I will gain even more knowledge.

 

I have designed websites in the past, using Photoshop and Fireworks, I haven't done that in years though and I don't have Adobe Photoshop etc... anymore. The best I have is Microsoft Expression studio.

 

for most jobs the arty side isn't really important, corps very often have their own design team or person anyway. Its the theory thats more important. Doing the design side isn't too important unless you want to be a web designer. Coding your own website (hard code with html or whatever, not using wysiwyg!) can be very valuable exp. Gaining an idea of the logic behind coding, and how to use it efficiently, can be found in every kind of coding.

 

What books would you recommend Raining?

 

I like some of the smaller "n00b" books for beginning a particular topic. A lot of them you can find on amazon or in your local bookstore.

 

Wrox/O'reilly do some great books, but I don't advise for beginning. They are monsterous in size, very good for reference. A bit scary if you are tackling a topic for the first time.

 

O'reilly books are awesome because they have fantastic front covers =P

 

I find the best thing to do when looking for a book, go to your bookstore, and read a bit of it. You can usually get a feel as to wether it would be useful. And have a look at the index to see what kind of topics it covers.

 

Don't rush in too hard and try to learn too many things at once, because it really gets too much sometimes.

 

Raining, sorry for being dumb, but how do I get experience in the areas you listed, especially networking? - I suppose I could buy a broken PC, fix it and then re-sell it.

 

Lots and lots of reading, assisting with computer fixing (more to gain experience for you and not neccesarily a CV point) Fixing peoples computers other than your own, because thats where you learn a hell of a lot. Installing lots of operating systems (you can use vmware of virtual machine to test a lot of them out and fiddle with settings) so you can work in a different "environment than you would be used to. Get an old PC and upgrade it, do it up, whatever. Experimenting is pretty fun. Building a PC yourself can be a monster task for a newbie to hardware (just make sure you get a static strap for the love of god!)

 

Don't know what else I can do. I'm saving up for an intense driving course but without a job it's taking too long to save.

 

I completely understand how hard it is!

 

To be honest, I really would suggest you go to uni and study I.T. I know it's probably not something you would be interested in... but in all honesty the only way you'd get in without a degree would be with 20 years of experience in the field. Even then it would be tough going.

 

I wish you all the luck in the world. I was once interested in working in I.T but things didn't work out so I hope you can make it =)

[Murr]

As Raining again said ... self teaching is pretty handy.

 

i started at my current job 3 years ago working as a telesales agent (i'd phone you up about re-mortgaging)

 

yet concentrated on SQL learning as-well as having done an Advanced AVCE in IT at college.

 

well position came up for Admin reporting (not IT i know but a step off the phone)

 

so applied, got the job, then implemented my SQL knowledge to the reporting methods requesting specific programs to be installed on my pc.

 

my ethusiasm was picked up within the companys development team, i was approached by them, offered alot more money and here i am today.

 

Database Administrator for Brightside Group PLC

 

and you can clearly see how well it went for me as i get to visit these boards and reply back to you lovely people during work hours

[Will]

and you can clearly see how well it went for me as i get to visit these boards and reply back to you lovely people during work hours

 

Always a good thing!

[Raining_again]

Funnily enough I came across a job in my work in the I.T dep (an internal job - have to work for the trust to apply) and its entry level. It's asking for a degree in related subject, or 3 years experience in an IT environment. Pay is band 2: 13,653 to 16,753 (depending on how long you've been in the trust)

 

So thats entry level... they are looking for a degree, and paying basically not far off minimum wage!! D:

[Will]

Crikey, I still find it hard to believe we now live in a world where a degree is required for an entry level job.

[Charlie]

I'm going to have a good look for any IT Support jobs, Will', in the College course I did this year, I helped my class mates and my Tutor a lot with computer stuff. It was only basic, things like moving files, USB Pen Drive connection problems, Microsoft Word editing and general stuff. My Tutor said he would give me a reference, so hopefully that will help my cause.

 

I'm not meaning to sound harsh mate, but anyone can do those things. What you need is to help out people with proper PC problems, removing viruses, offering proper solutions to them etc.

 

Ask organisations if you can do some work experience with their IT department.

[Ten10]

As it's my field I often get IT jobs for graduates by email. Often they are looking for certain skills so not having a degree won't be a deal breaker. Having examples of you work would be good. Will post some links up later. interesting thing is that 17% of IT graduates from 09 are still unemployed

[The Lillster]

I'm not meaning to sound harsh mate, but anyone can do those things. What you need is to help out people with proper PC problems, removing viruses, offering proper solutions to them etc.

 

Ask organisations if you can do some work experience with their IT department.

 

I know , the funny thing is my class mates are really bad with their I.T skills. I was the go to person if you had any computer problems. Most of the time it was something simple like add an image into a Word document and because of this, my class mates thought I was some kind of genius.

 

So yeah, I understand doing something as simple as what I just said, won't get me a £35,000 a year job.

 

To me, virus removal is pretty simple, although I have had trouble with some.

 

The area I need to improve in is, Programming and hardware related problems.

 

As it's my field I often get IT jobs for graduates by email. Often they are looking for certain skills so not having a degree won't be a deal breaker. Having examples of you work would be good. Will post some links up later. interesting thing is that 17% of IT graduates from 09 are still unemployed

 

The hardest part for me is, knowing where to start.

 

Another question: is Computer Science the Degree I will need?

Edited July 2, 2010 by The Lillster
Automerged Doublepost

[Noodleman]

Crikey' date=' I still find it hard to believe we now live in a world where a degree is required for an entry level job.[/quote']

 

I don't really agree with that even my current IT job which is a pretty well paid support job for a pretty big company. I am the only person who has a degree (and mine was a 3rd ) Heck my first job I was the only person in the entire company who had a degree.

 

You really need to decide exactly what you want to do IT is a very broad subject. Do you want to be a programmer ? End user support ? building shit? etc etc.

 

If you want to be a programmer you need to learn some languages c#, Java , any of the web ones are the best place to start imo. I see loads of jobs for a c# developer. Then once you've learnt that you need to create an online portfolio with examples of your work.

 

Or go the database route and bust the SQL out.

 

When I was at college I had to do work experience fortunately I got to a work at a place that fixes / builds pcs etc. I honestly think this has been far more beneficial then my degree to date. Perhaps have a look in the yellow pages etc for any local Computer places and ask if they would be willing to let you do some work experience?