Life Turning Point...

It doesn't help that requirements are set so high and trainee level opportunities literally don't exist. At all. You could have a masters in computer science, few companies would touch you with a half decent wage without a couple of years commercial experience.

Not really, I didn't particularly work that hard and ended up with a 1st class CS degree and a summer placement at IBM. Apart from a few personal coding projects that's all the experience I have, not a couple of years. If you can demonstrate a proper passion for the area and your not just in it for the money then its no problem. I applied for 5 jobs, got accepted on 3 of them and took the best one. I start on 24k which is pretty low, but after a few years I was told I would be on 30k+ no problem. There's graduate jobs out there which start on 28k~ ish.
 
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I wouldn't go into I.T. fullstop. Engineering is the one in demand. In two days i've had 11 phone calls from different companies, i've had to remove my CV and pretend i'm taken. When asked about my CV and qualifications, i said "it's mainly experience haven't really got proper qualifications, just the little degree in I.T." haha!

what sort of jobs in engineering are they contacting you about ? you not got any sort of engineering quals ?

i do keep hearing allot of good things like this though :) makes me feel happier about spending all this cash doing an engineering degree :p
 
what sort of jobs in engineering are they contacting you about ? you not got any sort of engineering quals ?

i do keep hearing allot of good things like this though :) makes me feel happier about spending all this cash doing an engineering degree :p

Good choice. I'll be doing an engineering degree part time in september hopefully (HND first, then onto Degree). Compare a good 30yr old programmer with a 30yr old run of the mill engineer...see who's on the most :)

Nope, with me it's just I.T. (will be funny if i end up with 2 degree's,ownage).

I'm at the lower end of the scale in design/CAD and the wages offered for that are £18-25k for a standard technician. I only got 1.5-2yrs experience in it since leaving Uni, but my price would be 18-20k on that alone. That may sound small fry, but considering this is based purely on over 1yrs experience, shows you how much they need people. Add a couple more grand for a HND (2 yrs part-time day release!). Engineer, you're looking at graduate £22k+ (in my company anyway), then very fast progression from that.
 
Hi All,

Second interview went ok, the HR manager was a little of an arse, playing down my experience with being in the public sector, it was quite interesting... I should hear tomorrow... I'm thinking about taking it but still looking, what do you all think about that? I'm not sure if it would be seen as a bad thing to accept a job and then turn it down for something better?

melbourne720 I have emailed you mate, can you please respond :)

Stelly

Long day mate, apologies for slowness. I can't tell you whether or not to take the job (if offered) but I will have a reply to you soon with a plan. Hang in there :)
 
I would stay if I was given training, but thats not going to happen...

Bear in mind that (generally speaking), local government is actually often better in terms of training offered than many private sector companies. Pension is also traditionally very good and you'll be lucky to find yourself a job with 30 days holiday.

My degree is in Information Technology and Business management, but i would seriously consider not putting degrees on paper, they put employers off because of the type of people rgaduates usually are (Work? i haven't done that before so i don't know wtf i'm doing, but i can pour a good pint!).

Bit of an extreme viewpoint there! Maybe this feels right at your age, a recent graduate. But I can't see the logic in someone not putting their degree down. Heck, for someone with limited experience, I deem it even MORE important to highlight any other strengths you may have e.g. academia.

I am not one of these people who think having a degree gives me a divine right to get a good job or phat paycheque (in fact, to my knowledge I've never got a job or promotion on the basis of my education), but equally excluding it from your CV is setting yourself up for a fall. People will want to know what one did in those 3-4 years, since there usually won't be a fulltime employment history for it. Then when they find out you were at uni but excluded it from the CV, they are going to think you have something to hide.

Now, in other industries it can be different. My best mate is a plumber and electrician, and he's kept his degree (2:1 in Economics & French) quiet from employers, becuase it would just lead to ****-taking on the sites. In IT though? Doesn't make sense to me.
 
I got the job, now have to had in my resignation, I have been here five years, its going to be hard, I'm going to do it tomorrow... I dont know how I feel about it...

Stelly
 
Of course you're going to feel reluctant about it, you've been there for a good stint of time and you're doing something out of your comfort zone.

Your skills are worth much more than what you're getting about the moment.

You could try tell your employer than you've been offered a new job for a fair bit more money and see if they are interested in keeping you for a higher wage?
 
I got the job, now have to had in my resignation, I have been here five years, its going to be hard, I'm going to do it tomorrow... I dont know how I feel about it...

Stelly

Be brave, you're about to feel demob happy :)

If they make you do an exit interview, read out the form in your leaving speech, always good for a laugh.

Congrats on the new job, hope you like it.
 
Of course you're going to feel reluctant about it, you've been there for a good stint of time and you're doing something out of your comfort zone.

Your skills are worth much more than what you're getting about the moment.

You could try tell your employer than you've been offered a new job for a fair bit more money and see if they are interested in keeping you for a higher wage?

In public sector, thats not going to happen mate :)

Stelly
 
Handed in my resignation yesterday, both managers looked surprised to be honest with you... ah well...

Stelly
 
UPDATE!

Ok well I have started in this company, its good, trying to get my head around their business, car manufacturer, its all the sequencing, but it was cool to sit in a Rolls Royce the other day, and nope dont work for RR :)

I'm finding the whole getting my head around the part numbers, aplha codes etc the biggest thing that is holding me back at the moment... but I'm hoping that its just all going to fall into place soon... really soon, can really notice the difference between private and public sector, especially when trying to buy something, I mean I have to justify everything, to the point where at the moment I dont have my own computer... shocking...

I think that I will give it a year and look for something else... dont get me wrong its good here, but its not what I really want, I think that I'm really missing the whole training/ education thing at the moment, I have even started to reread my MCSE books again...

Stelly
 
nice one stelly, Its always sad to leave your old place of work even if you didnt like it much. But you made the choise to better yourself. and good for you.
I know me and a few others on this board are kinda in the same situation public sector stuck in a rut dint know where to go.

You dont have your own computer?
 
The new environment and experience in the public sector will without a doubt do you favours :)

I thought justfying the procurement of items would have been even tighter at your old private sector place, since their budget is probably stricter :o
 
At the moment I'm sharing a computer, not impressed with that to be honest with you, especially if I'm going to be doing some asp.net programming, but they also want me to setup a web server as well for my applications, I think that this is a first for them to have web based applications

Stelly
 
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