So you moved away from an I.T career....

I'd love to move away from IT.

Been doing support one way or another since 1994 and up until recently have enjoyed it. My current position is fairly well paid, almost zero stress and stable, however it lacks the chance of promotion. My boss is one of the owners and isn't going to retire for 10+ years, so that puts a cap on how high I can get. Money will increase at a steady rate per year but it's not going to jump up like when you're promoted etc.

I have no idea what I want to do and don't have the resources to quit work to study full time. Next year will be make or break for me as I'm not going to waste my life having a job that just pays the bills.
 
Sp00n - I think we are in similar predicaments

After 4 years I've quit my IT support role. I started as 1st line in what was at the time a very small firm providing out sourced IT to lots of SMEs. Progressed to 2nd line and then ended up as the Helpdesk manager for my last 12 months! My colleagues were great, we had company holidays abroad which were a laugh and the office was always full of banter. But as other posters have also mentioned that isn't always enough to keep you happy if thats the only factor keeping you there.

I left as I found the constant heavy workload (50 hour weeks min were normal), and the reactive nature of support driving me crazy. I never had the time to do the type of work I wanted, couldnt train the techies beneath me which ended up creating more work in the long term as they couldn't cope. Just far too busy and stressful that it started affecting my health.

So, against all advice from friends/family I've quit without another job lined up. Probably not the smartest move in today's climate but I really had to get out (I intended to leave in 2008 but was persadued to stay til the Summer 2009, then Autumn and finally Xmas when I left).

I love hands on project work and prefer to be onsite with the client rather than on the end of the phone. I enjoyed the variation in my last job, before I became helpdesk manager I'd spend at least 35 hours a week on customer sites. So on that basis I'm looking for a varied project role which includes support, as far removed from a helpdesk environment as possible. Maybe working in an IT department rather than outsourced, which gives the impression of having a bit more control. Contracting sounds very appealing as I dont mind regular travelling.

Are there any IT contractors out there that can recommend a good first step? e.g. a contracting website they frequent for work, any tips or lessons learnt? Might be worth considering too Sp00n? Don't let IT support kill your love of IT
 
I think it's important to separate support from the rest of IT. There's no way in the world I'd ever touch a role with support involved again because, well, it's hell. It's a good starting point to get in the door if you've got the talent to move on quickly though. Don't give up on the field necessarily though, there's some great jobs out there.
 
I did a couple of years in a Support/Development company and I'm now halfway through my teacher training, best decision I ever made :)
 
Sounds to me like you are just fed up with IT Support (and possibly outsourcing/consulting), rather than IT in general. Maybe look at going into a different field within IT.
 
IT Support / Helpdesk is not IT!

eStu - hit up the general job websites like any IT person would, there arent many ones which aren't known about in general (do a search on here, loads of threads mentioning it).

its a quiet market with lots and lots of contractors out there without jobs.
 
I did 3 years working in 1st/2nd Line support for a software development company, as well as doing some DB development and testing and I quit to become a teacher. Currently studying towards my PGCE in Secondary ICT and I don't regret it for a second.

kiwi said:
I did a couple of years in a Support/Development company and I'm now halfway through my teacher training, best decision I ever made :)
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Woah, are you me?!
 
Deiwos said:
I did 3 years working in 1st/2nd Line support for a software development company, as well as doing some DB development and testing and I quit to become a teacher. Currently studying towards my PGCE in Secondary ICT and I don't regret it for a second.
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After 10 years as a systems analyst/developer/infra support I have gotten tired of the whole thing after being made redundant and so decided to go down that route myself. Unfortunately I haven't got a degree and so am starting a BSc next year in Comp Science and then looking to do the PGCE in Secondary ICT. 4 years of study at my age, ouch!

Thankfully I have a pretty supportive wife but I really do need to get myself a contract till Sept and then probably work part time whiles studying.
 
Not exactly in a career yet, but I left IT before I had the chance :p

Did a Btec in Computing, then 1 year at Uni doing Digital Art but just got bored. Changed courses this year and I'm doing Environmental Science :p Get to go outdoors now ;)
 
RDM said:
After 10 years as a systems analyst/developer/infra support I have gotten tired of the whole thing after being made redundant and so decided to go down that route myself. Unfortunately I haven't got a degree and so am starting a BSc next year in Comp Science and then looking to do the PGCE in Secondary ICT. 4 years of study at my age, ouch!

Thankfully I have a pretty supportive wife but I really do need to get myself a contract till Sept and then probably work part time whiles studying.
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There are people on my course who don't have a degree, but do have a lot of experience in the industry so it might be worth looking at that instead? I suppose it depends where you can study though.
 
Zaphan58 said:
I'm in the same boat, I don't think I can handle sitting in front of a computer all day any more, wondering whats going on outside.

No idea where to start though, I thought about an appreticeship but at 27 I feel like that boat has sailed and I don't want to go back to Uni for another three years and more debt.
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I feel the same about sitting infront of a pc all day!... and I've not even started a career ! I been sitting on pc's since I was about 12 and now in uni in a digital media course at 20, I am SICK of it !

But with my circumstances, its best I stick and finish it, I am half way through my degree. Feel the same about theres LOADS more out there than the small world of a pc. I want adventure, something physical.

I like the sea and watersports, so I have been looking in this area. Sometihng I wouldnt mind experiencing is what its like to work on superyachts, motor yachts ! get to travel all over the place !
 
I got out of IT a few years back in order to make a complete career switch. I am now training to be a radiographer and graduate this year, I don't miss the work but I do miss the money.
 
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ilikedthecore said:
I got out of IT a few years back in order to make a complete career switch. I am now training to be a radiographer and graduate this year, I don't miss the work but I do miss the money.
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I went straight from 6th Form into a Helpdesk role and stayed there for a year and a half, then found another Helpdesk role and quickly realised it wasn't the environment I hated, it was the job.

Have now been unemployed (read: playing games whilst living with my parents) since July trying to figure out what I want to do.



At one point I had considered studying Radiography (most likely diagnostic).

Would you mind if I emailed you with a couple of questions?
 
Been in IT (development) for EVER. And still love it. It's always changing, I've not stopped moving, learning and enjoying the work yet.

Whatever you pick, you need to pick something that changes constantly. I can't really think of any area of work where the landscape changes as much as IT development.

I do production support as well - but I find this particularly challenging, it's more like complex problem solving and you rarely see the same problem twice, and it's never a problem where "reboot the PC" is the solution.
 
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