BTEC National 3 ICT to what?

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Hello.

Just interested to see what people are doing who completed the BTEC National level 3 course in IT.

I had a big shock when I came out of college and was told I can't do apprenticeships due to my level from college.

I finally managed to get some shop work repairing computers but obviously this isn't my life time goal as it is just minimum wage pretty much.

I don't fancy spending loads and going to Uni but I would like to get into networking. The problem with the level 3 IT course was that we only covered a little bit from a lot of areas of IT. EG, Hardware, Web Design, Animation etc. I do not have the knowledge to apply for a 30k a year networking job. (yet) :(

So where did you go from completing the BTEC National Level 3 course in ICT?

Hope you don't mind me asking, cheers.
 
Soldato
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That's weird. I ended up on an apprenticeship doing a lower-level qualification, my employer was a school. What I will say is that the course was pretty useless (it was the IT Practitioner one, completed in 2007), didn't really cover anything I didn't already know and did nothing to prepare me for working within IT. I definitely regret not doing A levels, as they'd help immensely with my current desire to go to university, but I digress...

Look at entry-level 1st line/desktop support roles and try to get a foot in the door. It's not where you want to stay for your career, but it's a good enough starting point. Then look at doing networking-related qualifications whilst you build up your experience. Obviously, getting the job is easier said than done, but there are certainly some out there. I'd also definitely query the apprenticeships thing, as I had no problem when I did mine. I just found the coursework a little tedious. :p
 
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Basically apprenticeships are funded by the government apparently. The standard apprenticeship is a level 2 and I have a 3 from college so they can't fund it. Even a advanced one is level 3 which I already have.

When I came out of college it was 2 years before I got a IT related job at all. I applied for 2 apprenticeships and heard the same thing from both :(
 
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I did the Btec Level 3 Diploma at college. I got a job as an assistant IT Technician at a secondary school.

My friend who did the same course got a job at Fujitsu on an apprenticeship. He says its really good. 15k a year I believe + learning

What was your overall grade. I got DDM
 
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I did the Btec Level 3 Diploma at college. I got a job as an assistant IT Technician at a secondary school.

My friend who did the same course got a job at Fujitsu on an apprenticeship. He says its really good. 15k a year I believe + learning

What was your overall grade. I got DDM

DMM I got.

I did apply for 2 jobs as an assistant techy at a school. One was apprenticeship and one wasn't. Didn't get either but thats just due to so many people applying for one job.
 
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DMM I got.

I did apply for 2 jobs as an assistant techy at a school. One was apprenticeship and one wasn't. Didn't get either but thats just due to so many people applying for one job.

I am right down south. There are plenty of schools looking for apprenticeships as the government will pay them. I applied to 10 schools and only 1 replied to my application. I now drive 75 miles a day to get to and from the job but it's worth it. Trying looking on your local councils job website as there are IT jobs up all the time! Keep looking and keep applying. :)

Even going to your old school and asking to work for free so you can gain some experience.
 
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I am right down south. There are plenty of schools looking for apprenticeships as the government will pay them. I applied to 10 schools and only 1 replied to my application. I now drive 75 miles a day to get to and from the job but it's worth it. Trying looking on your local councils job website as there are IT jobs up all the time! Keep looking and keep applying. :)

Even going to your old school and asking to work for free so you can gain some experience.

Will do bud. Cheers.

I must admit im happy working where I do its just a one man business. I can't see me getting any pay rises and im expected to run the place most of the time. lol
 
Soldato
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When i was at college i did an IT technician nvq and also got a Comptia A+ Certification. From that i managed to get a job as IT Technician in a school.
 
Soldato
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I think a lot of these network administrator jobs you need to know coding etc don't you? I may be wrong.

Not coding but you will need decent knowledge of windows networks in general, so Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, Group Policy etc. To be honest for these kind of jobs you should look at maybe doing A+ & Network+ exams, or some of the Microsoft certifications
 
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Not coding but you will need decent knowledge of windows networks in general, so Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, Group Policy etc. To be honest for these kind of jobs you should look at maybe doing A+ & Network+ exams, or some of the Microsoft certifications

Yeah we did none of that. I might just email some companies locally and explain my situation and see if I could get training there for a lower wage :)
 
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Soldato
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Not coding but you will need decent knowledge of windows networks in general, so Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, Group Policy etc. To be honest for these kind of jobs you should look at maybe doing A+ & Network+ exams, or some of the Microsoft certifications

This pretty much. Maybe do CCNA or something similar.
 
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Not coding but you will need decent knowledge of windows networks in general, so Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, Group Policy etc. To be honest for these kind of jobs you should look at maybe doing A+ & Network+ exams, or some of the Microsoft certifications

I would second this. Had experience in all of the above but no support roles have ever come back to me.
 
Soldato
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you can either go into an hnd at uni or the 2nd year of an it course with that, atleast my friend did the same, got either a level 3 or 5 and did an hnd in software engineering at Queens
 
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Thanks guys.

I will look in to it.

Hope to have a car soon so might go back to my old college and do a night course after work. Pretty sure there were some network courses at night but not sure what qualifications they gave
 
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4 years on top of the btec nat??

In a small computer repair shop.

Fixing laptops,desktops etc

I can setup wireless routers etc for home use but that isn't a big achievement is it? I want to be able to do the big networking stuff with a lot of computers involved sort of thing
 
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