Career advice sought (sorry, long)

Gamefreak501

Gamefreak501

Gamefreak501

Soldato
Joined
7 Aug 2003
Posts
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Location
Bedfordshire
Hi everyone,

A bit like giving up an old habit, I'm trying to desperately; once again, find a career and not to stay in a dead-end job. I really want to try, but much harder this time around.

I'm being driven by a profound; as well as grim and burning realisation that I am approaching my 30th birthday and I don't expect a management or supervisor role to land in my lap anytime soon, not where I work anyway - indeed these positions are filled and whilst I have been given further responsibilities, I've not had any promotion as such to my job title of 'Technical Support Engineer'. I don't want to stay in this part of the company either.

Looking at the job market, there are much higher paid 'Technical Support Engineer' roles out there, but these require programming, or networking qualifications amongst others, which I don't have. I'm not too fond of programming either, or database administration. Maybe I am dismissing this possibility too soon, but I'd like to explain myself further:

I won't be too specific, but I am earning under £20,000 a year before tax. Maybe I should be grateful I have job, but my grey matter doesn't get used a lot and I spend the time twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the next phone call, or e-mail, with the same old **** on a different day.

I was hoping by this time of my life, I would be on £25,000 or something a little more reasonable before tax and the cost of living is only going up up up. Indeed my current role is more geared towards Customer support; solving technical issues for Customers, offering pre-sales advice, answering queries.

So I'm trying to wittle things down a bit. Get a shortlist going. I'm giving myself next week and this weekend to shortlist courses and to decide what to do.

I want to choose a course which still allows me to work full time - I still want to be able to save money - my two Cars - my labours of love won't stay on the road on a part time salary, and I couldn't live or save on any less.

My highest qualifications are A2 levels in Technology, RE, and ICT, grades DCD respectively. I tried and failed my second year of university doing Computer Science. As such, I do not want do a 'programming' heavy career or course, I just can't apply myself enough for this.

I consider myself a jack of most trades (please forgive the cliche).

My photography is pretty good, I am happy making web sites at a basic to intermediate level, using HTML, CSS, PHP, ASP. I can play piano to a high grade, I am comfortable fixing computers, fixing cars and can also make music on Ableton (until my 30 day trial ran out at least).

I can also touch type. But without sounding like I'm blowing my own trumput, I am no 'genius' at any of the above, in fact, everyone on this small island called the UK is probably every bit as good as I am at all the above, at the same time.

So I don't know what I can offer..and this is a very, very important card to play when trying to secure a higher salary at a different firm or department and standing out above the other candidates.

I enjoy all things technical and I am quite happy to type all day. But I have little else to offer, apart from the precious little highlighted above. My CV contains job details of all my previous jobs - all Customer Service related and not really lucrative roles.

So I have decided that I now want to move into a more technical/engineering role, perhaps with design aspects.

I am more than happy to see my girlfriend less, play no video games and even improve my maths (my GCSE Maths grade was a D) if necessary; but I don't want to be a web-design monkey, I don't want to do programming, fix computers or do photography, because everyone else can do these and I feel these parts of the market are now saturated with people of a high ability in the highest number.

Hardly areas I could crack.

That's not to say design/engineering/technical roles are the same; but I feel these roles are just more in keeping with what I want to do, if that makes any sense. I enjoy using my hands, getting them dirty if necessary and I want to keep my brain sharp as I approach my 40s. I am not an overly ambitious person. I try to be and my Mother hates that I have never been as ambitious as she was and still is, but I am really trying.

I would rather keep my interests in fixing cars and computers, photography and web design as hobbies, perhaps on a freelance basis.

So I ask this question to the helpful people of OcUK, what course, or courses, based on the above limited information might be worthwhile to prevent staying in my soul-destroying job?

Many thanks and kind regards
 
Manager at a supermarket?
Don't know why that was my first guess! You clearly have good people skills if you interact with customers. A manager doesn't have to have too any qualifications and you know quite a lot about IT. You can probably earn around £30-35k
 
First, I think you underestimate if not your own ability then at least the lack of ability of the general public :p

It sounds like you don't have a huge amount of self-confidence in your abilities to be honest and where you say that you spend the time in between tasks twiddling your thumbs and waiting for the next one, you could try being more pro-active and looking for extra work and extra responsibilities to do. Even something moronic like looking after office inventory is a string to your bow which will elevate you above your fellow monkeys in your manager/supervisors eyes and even if there isn't anything else to do, the fact you asked is something in itself.

Have a bit of faith I'm sure you aren't as average as you describe yourself :p
 
Why list everything that you have experience with, then summarily remove them all from what you want to do? That's just pure dreaming.

If that's the path you want to take, then drop everything and train to be a pilot or astronaut or something.

If, however, like most you have bills to pay and a mortgage/rent to keep then -- and I'm sorry if this sounds harsh -- welcome to reality.

You do need to get above that 20k pay bracket, and your experience should be enough to do that. Get out there and get applying for positions in what you already have: IT support. Sorry, but that's your easiest gap to more money right now, and if you find a decent internal position in a small to medium company you'll slot in around 22 - 26k easily. Not awesome dosh, but more than you have and it'll open more opportunities for you to progress (just don't join a massive corporate where you become an entirely overlooked number).

I'd say, at this stage of your life, it's settle in and rocket on with what you have or throw it all to the wind and go hell for leather at a dream. The only deciding factor is whether you can legitimately afford to do the latter.
 
Firstly, I would like to say thank you very much for your helpful replies,

I am getting to the point where I am going to make some big decisions on what my life is doing and whilst I do have some financial 'commitments', I don't have any that are bank breaking.

I have subsequently applied to some jobs which are offering a higher salary; and will be applying to any further ones I come across.

As I don't have any managerial experience, I am now looking at ways to get on to a managerial course, whether I become a Customer Service Manager (i.e. Store Manager) or Technical Service Manager doesn't matter too much to me - any Management role will offer a significantly higher salary than I am currently on - £30-£35k would be very nice!

I am also ready to 'start again' and still considering the idea of going into a more lucrative IT or Engineering role; the main reason being that a lot of the Technical Support roles that were offering good salaries required a Degree, Microsoft, Programming/ICT, HND or HNC qualifications, which I don't currently have. Some were offering salaries of over £45k.

Could anyone recommend a good place to start for a Managerial course? I have looked around a bit, but none seem to be clear cut about pricing, duration or examination centres.

It would be even better if someone have found themselves in the same predicament where they needed to further themselves into a Management role and could inform what the cost and duration as well as the Training Centre they went with.

I am also considering a HNC or HND course and would welcome any help or advice in getting this; again if anyone has done one of these and could provide me with advice on cost and duration as well as the Training Centre they went with, this would be most appreciated.

Many thanks and kind regards,
 
You've decribed me in the OP! lol Thing is, I don't want to be a manager....at all. Quite happy taking orders as long as my boss is not a ****er. Thankfully I've generally had very good bosses to be fair. I'm in IT and my job is dead end to the point where I have zero to do each day as they are winding down the things I do and I'm twiddling my thumbs literally waiting to be layed off.

Thing is, I am sooooo the same as you in terms of jack of all trades master of none. That is so me. I can tell you a little about a lot of different technologies, but couldn't be an Oracle DBA without starting as a junior, couldn't be a Network Architect without getting past some basics first. I guess my company has "used" me and not really developed me in a single dedicated area. But you have to turn that into a good thing on the CV as it shows you can adapt. You might land a job in a company that has bespoke solutions for example, where you would be just the solution and no amount of Microsoft bla bla or Cisco ga ga is gonna help.

Put yourself out there would be my advice. 29 is still young! Stop looking to your 40s and finish your 20s dude! Enjoy life...only you can change things. Become motivated and move jobs. I am....as soon as I get my cheque for redundancy. :)
 
Many thanks for your reply jaybee,

It is a bit of a knockback finding that a job requires a 'Degree' etc. and I can understand that they want to only employ the candidates of the highest calibre.

I'm glad that I'm not the only one on the boat to a career change - and the similiarities between our current stage in our carrier is really quite remarkable haha! :)

I'm trying to be as motivated as possible; and really putting myself out there, even found a couple of jobs in my local area which is good. I was really quite proud of the covering letter I wrote and I'm hotly anticipating the responses I get! :D

All the best and kind regards
 
I'd always been a kind of jack of all trades within IT, had a pretty wide knowledge of a lot of things but maybe not too deep in each area.

Over time, within roles and when moving, I've slowly become more specialised up to the point of my new job which is something reasonably specific.

If you like IT and would like to work in that area have a think about specifically what in IT you want to be doing and work on ways to get there.

For instance at the moment you sound like you are in one of the lower levels of support, kind of a mixture of 1st and 2nd line desktop type stuff.

So maybe look to push that to the next level, maybe some third line or server side stuff.

Take ads that ask for the world with regards to qualifications with a pinch of salt, if you think you can do the job and have the knowledge, or at least some way along to getting it, then go for it.
 
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Bit like me OP, however i'm 25, and on something silly like 12k, and i can't live like this....Yes im glad i have a job, but you know...? =/

I just need to get into something else...my problem is i hate pure phone helpdesk jobs, which is sadly 'all im good at'
 
[FnG]magnolia;19404225 said:
Sorry for the <snip> but you should really consider what those first two points mean.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for your reply - my Girlfriend said that if I need to better myself with a course, she'll be happy to see me less temporarily.

My other weakness is video games, but fortunately Skyrim is a while away, so I won't be getting distracted for quite a while.

I think on average I spend 4.5 hours a week playing video games, more if I'm bored/have nothing better to do.

Kind regards
 
HNC/HND is a good qualification to go for if you're more "hands-on" (like me). The course I did (Which was a HND, but I believe it's now called a foundation degree) is less academic and more focused on giving you the skills you need to actually get a job. Definitely something to look into - should be easy enough to find part time too =)
 
Thing is, I am sooooo the same as you in terms of jack of all trades master of none. That is so me. I can tell you a little about a lot of different technologies, but couldn't be an Oracle DBA without starting as a junior, couldn't be a Network Architect without getting past some basics first. I guess my company has "used" me and not really developed me in a single dedicated area. But you have to turn that into a good thing on the CV as it shows you can adapt. You might land a job in a company that has bespoke solutions for example, where you would be just the solution and no amount of Microsoft bla bla or Cisco ga ga is gonna help.
Click to expand...

Being a Jack of all Trades isn't necessarily a bad thing; but it usually doesn't make things easier - but in the end if you are good you'll soar higher. I'm one of those, the obvious career path for a "Jack" is to get involved in Projects, not necessarily management but a key part of delivery. Cross functional skills are really useful here in general.

You get another decision a bit later, tech or manager.

None of this comes automatically, you have to work at it, make friends, big up yourself, make yourself indispensable.

Edit: You also need to work a bit on this, Jack of all Trades, Master of None is useless. You need to make yourself Jack of all Trades, Decent in Many. Once you get that, you have an extremely useful, rare and marketable skill in that you can see how different areas interact. (This is how you become an Architect)

I could probably go and do 3 or 4 different specialist jobs and be as good as a decent guy in any of those fields, but would never be as good as a real specialist. It's not the point tho; the specialist is great at what they do but they cannot see clearly outside of their area. I work in web systems architecture, and could probably handle a team member job in front & backend coding, networks, servers & databases - the point being I understand enough about all of those areas to give some technical direction to specialists. I don't expect a web programmer to understand how to write code to deal with the read/write access profile of a SAN just as I don't expect a Unix sysadmin to understand how to pipeline JSON requests over a HTTP/1.1 connection or why it's important to serve up static css & js files quickly (or what order to send them to enable the quickest rendering on a browser)
 
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Gamefreak501 said:
Many thanks for your reply - my Girlfriend said that if I need to better myself with a course, she'll be happy to see me less temporarily.

My other weakness is video games, but fortunately Skyrim is a while away, so I won't be getting distracted for quite a while.

I think on average I spend 4.5 hours a week playing video games, more if I'm bored/have nothing better to do.

Kind regards
Click to expand...

That's really nothing mate, not even an hour a day! Some mongoloids sit in front of the tele for 5 hours a day!
 
Thinking outside the box here...How about going into a sales role, but also technical on the side.

I work in the world of packaging, as it is a 'specialist' product knowledge is key. People seem to be on decent wages and good perks.

Can be out on the road or office based depending what is going at the time. Sell machinery, end of line packaging, food contact packaging...you name it people need it!

I would be suprised if you would earn less than £25k in this game...currently on that as a basic @ 25. I work in the office...going out on the road be looking anywhere from £30k - £50k + company car + expenses etc

It is a growing market, and as everyone needs the packaging it is quite a safe bet...
 
If you're good with both cars and computers, have you considered auto-electronics?
It seems more and more indy garages that struggle to to deal with more modern car electronics so it may be worth asking around?
 
Many thanks for your continued support and advice so far everyone. I am sorry that I can't possibly thank you all individually;

The job front is pretty much the same for the moment. I was in a conversation with two of my colleagues and we have all agreed that we are in a 'dead-end' job as such with no real chance of moving elsewhere. In fact, it spurred a member of staff - who had been with on the team for 4 years, in our same position to move on to bigger better things in another role.

He felt he deserved the Supervisor role but didn't get it and I do feel for him.

I did apply to some more jobs but no reply. My disappointment prevented me from approaching them again and asking where I went wrong. I am still looking at possible qualifications, HND, HNC or maybe something else. A short course that I can complete part time would be very good.

A Sales role would be good - Sales Executives do get good pay with commission - and if I can marry it with my technical aptitude and hands-on nature, I might be in for a very lucrative career. Plus I'm pretty sure I am good at selling things!

Although cars are a hobby, (along with photography, computers!) I do think an auto-electrician could be a good role. I still remember that my first ever car - a Triumph Spitfire 1500 with poor bodywork in brooklands green had an electrical fault. The independent garage who carried out the MoT had to arrange for a Sparky to come in, diagnose and repair the fault.

With almost all cars from the mid 70s to early 80s (started by the Mk1 Golf GTI, making Carburettors almost defunct) having a fuel injection system which was later regulated by an ECU (normally worth as much or more than the car) and requiring special plugs and software to diagnose engine check codes, it certainly is a good call to look at an Auto Electrician role.

Whilst I feel I have made my options higher in number and maybe I am a bit confused and lost; I know that I don't want to do programming and I know that I don't want to do photography to a professional level.

I also know that I do want to do something technical & sales orientated, maybe an auto-electrician or another technical role. I just need to get on to the right course and do some looking. I need to spend less time trying to get the mixture just right on my Spitfire and sort my long term prospects out.

If I am in a dead end role (something I will raise in my next appraisal if I am there still) I need to think fast before I miss the career boat - and I am not getting any younger.

I'll keep looking for jobs and find a few courses. Hopefully my next post will be less confusing and will say that I have found a course and/or I have secured a better job!

Many thanks and kind regards,

David
 
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