Changing career (Back to IT)

redrabbit29 · 17 Apr 2014 at 17:49

Hi Everyone,

What I do now
I've been in the police now for 7 years, and I'm a qualified detective. I enjoy the work, but you're very restricted progression wise and the salary I'm on has been frozen for the past 4 years, with no real prospect of promotion. I've got 30 years left and can't imagine me lasting that long (seriously).

What I used to do
I joined the Police at 22 and at that time I was a web developer. I built e-commerce websites using PHP/MySQL, all hand written code. I barely remember any of it, but think I could pick it all up fairly quickly if needed, but ideally I don't want to go back to this.

Possible plans
I was looking online and saw that an Oracle DBA has great prospects long term, and entry level jobs start between £20-25k which I could live with. Then possibly after 2 years or something similar, move up a little if it goes well.

I'm willing to do a course in it (part time), and saw there are some you can do, so that you can have a good starting point.

My question

What course is best for going into a job like this... are there different types?
Any other part of the IT world I should consider?

My main priorities is quality of life and good prospects, security and decent salary to aim for in the next 5-10-15 years.

Thanks everyone,
Redrabbit

Haircut · 17 Apr 2014 at 17:53

Being a DBA is dull, tedious work IMO, not sure why you'd want to do that.

Why don't you want to go back into development again?
For me that's much more interesting than DBA stuff.

porushinobu · 17 Apr 2014 at 17:54

Haircut said:
Being a DBA is dull, tedious work IMO, not sure why you'd want to do that.

Why don't you want to go back into development again?
For me that's much more interesting than DBA stuff.

Just avoid tech support, thats my advice, low pay and stresful hours.

wingman · 17 Apr 2014 at 17:59

Longest standing active member to post count ratio?

Can't help with the OP though, sorry. But I can't imagine being in the Police force and wanting to get into IT!

redrabbit29 · 17 Apr 2014 at 18:01

Haircut said:
Being a DBA is dull, tedious work IMO, not sure why you'd want to do that.

Why don't you want to go back into development again?
For me that's much more interesting than DBA stuff.

Well, I think I'm so far removed from that world, that to get anywhere near that level again would take ages. When I started work as a web developer at around 19 I had been writing HTML/CSS by hand for years.

Now I look at jobs, and it's all .NET, ASP, OOPHP, Java, C#. I've done a bit of OO PHP, but the rest I've never touched really.

There's also mention of about 10 other different platforms I've never even heard of.

I'm not unambitious or against learning at all, but it's just so daunting. The salary average is about £30k and they seem to ask for so much. For me to get anywhere near that level of knowledge would take a huge amount of time which is hard to find as I work very long hours.

As a side note... I don't expect Oracle DBA or whatever I mention to be a walk in the park, it's just hard to know what direction to take. I've barely written any code in 7 years.

porushinobu said:
Just avoid tech support, thats my advice, low pay and stresful hours.

Don't worry, I wouldn't go into that!

redrabbit29 · 17 Apr 2014 at 18:08

wingman said:
Longest standing active member to post count ratio?

Can't help with the OP though, sorry. But I can't imagine being in the Police force and wanting to get into IT!

I've been waiting years to come up with a reason to post!

It's amazing work, I deal mainly with Rapes, Stabbings, a lot of gang violence, some firearms, etc... All amazing stuff and very interesting.

However, I regularly will do 16 hour shifts with no notice. Sometimes doing 20 hours, having a few hours at home to sleep and then back in. I work 7 days in a row, with 3 days off, sometimes less if I'm in court.

It's something that wares you down, and over time you become exhausted by it. You see the worst of life, the most horrible people, the most vulnerable, people who don't like you and victims who really don't like the Police and in fact quite often are criminals themselves. Working tirelessly for people that don't care, or who have been kidnapped, shot or stabbed because they were dealing drugs in the wrong area is interesting, but not for the next 30 years.

It's by no means glamourous, it's not well paid for the work that I do. People mention the pension... this is really good, however it's changed twice now, and I pay in 14% of my salary, with a reduced end rate. Pay freezes, poor working conditions, lack of control over your own destiny, no real chances of moving up or into other departments means morale is depressingly low.

I'm thinking outloud, I have options which is good, and I'm willing to look at other areas, or re-consider my thoughts on leaving, but just wanted to "put it out there"

Diagro · 17 Apr 2014 at 18:21

Hmm.
I would tell your employers that you are not happy hopefully they will reduce your hours

jsmoke · 17 Apr 2014 at 18:24

I don't think web dev has changed a huge deal, C#, ASP and PHP have been around for years. There is HTML5 and CSS3 now(well been for a while really), which mixed with JavaScript gives you WebGL(a web based gaming platform).

XML and JSON are still used for storing data and MySql and MSSql and Oracle are still the main databses used.

IIS and Apache are still the main web servers used.

I think ASP.NET has a few additions, but nothing you couldn't really do before.

The__Malteser · 17 Apr 2014 at 18:26

Might not be possible, but can you suck it up for one year, reduce your hours a bit, and do some 'revision' at home, i.e. brush up your IT skills. you might earn less for some time (less hours) but you are really investing for the next period of your life. It might not be possible, but that might be your best choice for a well paid, 'comfortable' job in the future.

LiE · 17 Apr 2014 at 18:36

Grass is always greener and all that...

IT will wear you down long term also, so keep that mind.

Housey · 17 Apr 2014 at 18:38

Ive quite a few close friends in the police, people I've grown up with (I'm mid 40's) and people i've got to know over the last 20 years or so. I'm sure I proportionally have more than I should, but a quick count shows 7 close friends and maybe 15 associations through business within the force. Of my close friends most are my age so have been in for a long time, one is two years from retirement age and will do well from it and one is very very senior, as senior as it gets really and the others are all fairly well progressed shall we say. The youngest is 31 and a bobbie, but only joined a few years back but without fail all of them say the same thing....

"I'd hate to be joining the force today and I'd hate to be in my 20's in the force today."

It is a real shame but there is not question the police force today as a career is not what it was. If you have the opportunity to do something else then do it but do bare in mind that the grass is often very ungreen. I'm also aware that something hasn't changed, it is still all about who you know in the force and who you align to and if you are not willing to play 'that game' you are not going to progress. Another consideration is life outside of the force is very different and that culture needs to be prepared for.

jsmoke · 17 Apr 2014 at 18:44

Housey said:
Ive quite a few close friends in the police, people I've grown up with (I'm mid 40's) and people i've got to know over the last 20 years or so. I'm sure I proportionally have more than I should, but a quick count shows 7 close friends and maybe 15 associations through business within the force. Of my close friends most are my age so have been in for a long time, one is two years from retirement age and will do well from it and one is very very senior, as senior as it gets really and the others are all fairly well progressed shall we say. The youngest is 31 and a bobbie, but only joined a few years back but without fail all of them say the same thing....

"I'd hate to be joining the force today and I'd hate to be in my 20's in the force today."

It is a real shame but there is not question the police force today as a career is not what it was. If you have the opportunity to do something else then do it but do bare in mind that the grass is often very ungreen. I'm also aware that something hasn't changed, it is still all about who you know in the force and who you align to and if you are not willing to play 'that game' you are not going to progress. Another consideration is life outside of the force is very different and that culture needs to be prepared for.

I don't understand how anybody can play 'that game' as you say. It would drive me mad. Maybe that's how it has to be to keep control of everyone in that type of profession but I still don't understand how people put up with it, day in, day out, especially if it's a corrupted, racist, bigoted culture.

redrabbit29 · 17 Apr 2014 at 18:46

jsmoke said:
I don't understand how anybody can play 'that game' as you say. It would drive me mad. Maybe that's how it has to be to keep control of everyone in that type of profession but I still don't understand how people put up with it, day in, day out, especially if it's a corrupted, racist, bigoted culture.

I've never seen any corruption, racism or bigoted people. Everyone I've ever met (in the Police), have been open, friendly, tolerant people. I think the corruption element relates more to the MET police which really is a world of it's own and most other forces don't particularly agree with how they do things.

redrabbit29 · 17 Apr 2014 at 18:49

Housey said:
Ive quite a few close friends in the police, people I've grown up with (I'm mid 40's) and people i've got to know over the last 20 years or so. I'm sure I proportionally have more than I should, but a quick count shows 7 close friends and maybe 15 associations through business within the force. Of my close friends most are my age so have been in for a long time, one is two years from retirement age and will do well from it and one is very very senior, as senior as it gets really and the others are all fairly well progressed shall we say. The youngest is 31 and a bobbie, but only joined a few years back but without fail all of them say the same thing....

"I'd hate to be joining the force today and I'd hate to be in my 20's in the force today."

It is a real shame but there is not question the police force today as a career is not what it was. If you have the opportunity to do something else then do it but do bare in mind that the grass is often very ungreen. I'm also aware that something hasn't changed, it is still all about who you know in the force and who you align to and if you are not willing to play 'that game' you are not going to progress. Another consideration is life outside of the force is very different and that culture needs to be prepared for.

Great post and really helpful - thanks. I think it's sensible you warn me that it's not always greener, as I'm really cautious of that. I don't hate my job, I enjoy it but don't want to do it for 30 years in this condition so time is on my side, i.e. I'm not desperate to leave.

You're right to say it's entirely different now. I hear stories of how it used to be.

Promotion is the biggest problem I think. There aren't many opportunities, I know people who have been actively trying to get promoted for over 5 years and still haven't.

I will bear your advice in mind and think hard about it.

redrabbit29 · 17 Apr 2014 at 18:52

Diagro said:
Hmm.
I would tell your employers that you are not happy hopefully they will reduce your hours

I think this is where people find it hard to understand how the Police works. I don't really get any say in my hours.

If I'm only working till 11pm, and at 10pm, someone is stabbed I can't just go home. Equally, if someone has been arrested for trying to burn down their neighbours house, I can't just go home as they're locked up and need dealing with. The risk side of it, means that you can't just release them as the victim or the one's they targetted could be under a lot of threat.

I said in my previous post - I'm not unhappy, in fact I enjoy work but just don't want 30 years of this lifestyle

Diagro · 17 Apr 2014 at 19:05

redrabbit29 said:
I think this is where people find it hard to understand how the Police works. I don't really get any say in my hours.

If I'm only working till 11pm, and at 10pm, someone is stabbed I can't just go home. Equally, if someone has been arrested for trying to burn down their neighbours house, I can't just go home as they're locked up and need dealing with. The risk side of it, means that you can't just release them as the victim or the one's they targetted could be under a lot of threat.

I said in my previous post - I'm not unhappy, in fact I enjoy work but just don't want 30 years of this lifestyle

Don't you have others that can take over on not shifts???

redrabbit29 · 17 Apr 2014 at 19:18

Diagro said:
Don't you have others that can take over on not shifts???

You do as a uniformed officer, but not as a detective.

Additionally, if over my normal 10 hour shift, I've been talking to a victim, 2 witnesses, been to hospital to check the persons injuries, reviewing forensics, CCTV, talking to 3 different departments about some incident, I can't easily have someone else take over.

Sometimes you can, but normally not unfortunately :-(

Housey · 17 Apr 2014 at 19:22

redrabbit29 said:
I've never seen any corruption, racism or bigoted people. Everyone I've ever met (in the Police), have been open, friendly, tolerant people. I think the corruption element relates more to the MET police which really is a world of it's own and most other forces don't particularly agree with how they do things.

It tends to be a tabloid view sadly, most coppers try and do a good job in often very hard environs. Sure there are bad eggs, there are broken processes and there are some biggies but that isn't most. When I see people try to paint that picture I view them as ignorant, unlawful or often just ill informed and therefore pick up d'word on d'steer bro.

I've had dealings with the Feds both as a victim if crime and in my youth as a prat driving like and eejit or being drunk and having a sleep in the van. Not once have I ever come close to mistreatment or underhanded ness though I have met arrogance, but happy to cut em some slack and it then tends to evaporate quickly.

redrabbit29 · 17 Apr 2014 at 19:27

Housey said:
It tends to be a tabloid view sadly, most coppers try and do a good job in often very hard environs. Sure there are bad eggs, there are broken processes and there are some biggies but that isn't most. When I see people try to paint that picture I view them as ignorant, unlawful or often just ill informed and therefore pick up d'word on d'steer bro.

I've had dealings with the Feds both as a victim if crime and in my youth as a prat driving like and eejit or being drunk and having a sleep in the van. Not once have I ever come close to mistreatment or underhanded ness though I have met arrogance, but happy to cut em some slack and it then tends to evaporate quickly.

Yea you're right.

Things like Stephen Lawrence, Hillsbrough, Mark Duggan shooting, the person who died in the G8 protest (I think it was there), have all damaged the reputation.

Glad you have a balanced view of the Police! :cool:

Housey · 17 Apr 2014 at 19:34

Balance comes from experience. The easy approach is to **** off d'pigs and you'll get lots of bandwagon jumpers, often with a few years of being an adult. I know some are bent, I know some are corrupt, experience shows the vast majority simply aren't, well except traffic, thems nasty