A career in IT with no experience or knowledge

Associate
Joined
11 Feb 2020
Posts
2
I am looking to get into a career in IT. I have no experience or knowledge, therefore, I thought the best route forward and getting my foot in the door is starting from 1st line support. I did manage to get a temp 1st line support job but it seems from the job role and discussion with the manager I will be doing little to no technical related issues as it would be more of a call centre customer job. Researching the company it seems to have no progression at all.

I am a little lost in whether I should take this job, as I would not be able to progress my way up or be able to expand my knowledge and skills. (Plus, reading the past threads here, it gives me the fear with with people and their 1st line support working experiences) On the other hand, it would look good on my CV. I am unsure how to push forward, any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
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58,899
IT is a broad area, working in IT support is not the only route into a career in IT... though might be a common one for people with no degree, few qualifications etc..

If you have a degree (any degree) or some experience in a certain domain etc.. then there might be other routes... did you use particular software in your previous job(s) for example?

Your age, past experience, qualifications, desire to undertake further study etc.. are all revenant here. There isn't a single applicable answer to I want to start in IT should I get a 1st line job but rather it depends on you, your situation etc...

There are things like degree apprenticeships these days if you don't have a degree and/or want to keep earning an income too/not get into debt.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
11 Feb 2020
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2
IT is a broad area, working in IT support is not the only route into a career in IT... though might be a common one for people with no degree, few qualifications etc..

If you have a degree (any degree) or some experience in a certain domain etc.. then there might be other routes... did you use particular software in your previous job(s) for example?

Your age, past experience, qualifications, desire to undertake further study etc.. are all revenant here. There isn't a single applicable answer to I want to start in IT should I get a 1st line job but rather it depends on you, your situation etc...

There are things like degree apprenticeships these days if you don't have a degree and/or want to keep earning an income too/not get into debt.

I was hoping to progress and go into 2nd line then 3rd, as I am interested in working potentially with network and servers. I do have a degree but it is not relevant and I have tried applying for grad schemes but nothing. Majority of the apprenticeships is aimed for 16-24 due to funding so I feel I would not have a chance. I did apply for some but did not get it either. Past experience is retail and I guess I was hoping for a company that was willing to take me on and train me
 
Man of Honour
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What do you do currently? If you have no knowledge or experience then how do you know you want to go in to it?

My route would be either sticking to your job and perhaps seeing if there's any way of sliding in to some IT work, or taking a 1st line job while gaining certification.
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
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58,899
I do have a degree but it is not relevant and I have tried applying for grad schemes but nothing. Majority of the apprenticeships is aimed for 16-24 due to funding so I feel I would not have a chance. I did apply for some but did not get it either. Past experience is retail and I guess I was hoping for a company that was willing to take me on and train me

I wasn't talking about apprenticeships but degree apprenticeships - you take a bachelors degree over 4 years instead of 3 while working at a sponsoring company, the degrees seem to be more vocational than academic (for obvious reasons) and you get paid/company pays tuition etc.. someone mentioned them on here a while back and I just took a look out of curiosity - they'd seem to be quite suitable for various non-grads asking "how do I get into IT" and perhaps provide a better starting point than bashing phones.

On the other hand you've got a degree, even if not directly applicable that opens up one possibility - a conversion MSc degree... you basically get the core elements of an undergrad CS degree without having to take 3 years (or 4-6 if part time) to complete it.... that also means you're a recent grad and can use a uni careers service, apply to grad schemes.

By retail do you mean literally working at a till/on a shop floor doing some Joe job or do you mange a team/store etc..? That could make a difference - like if you're a grad plus you have management experience that could open up different ways in.

Also if you're in a reasonably well paid job you can do well etc... then that might be less stressful if studying part time for academic or professional qualifications than changing jobs and potentially having additional stress, pay cut etc..etc.. too.
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Nov 2006
Posts
4,922
Have you looked at IT field work, it's often relatively easy to get into and you can learn a lot as you have to do first and second line stuff and if the third line guys teach you stuff you'll pick it up. You also get exposure to a bunch of stuff from Windows to networking to phones and can pick a direction. You have to study a bit then and maybe pick up a cert or two but you'd then have a broad base to blag your way into a more technical job.

That's what I did and I'm now working towards CCNP and some GPON stuff as I love the networking side.
 
Caporegime
Joined
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58,899
The only place you would get into IT with 0 IT qualifications would be helpdesk.

This is definitely not true - plenty of people started various IT careers via different means without IT qualifications from BAs to project managers to developers to sales etc...
 
Soldato
Joined
16 May 2007
Posts
3,220
I am looking to get into a career in IT. I have no experience or knowledge, therefore, I thought the best route forward and getting my foot in the door is starting from 1st line support. I did manage to get a temp 1st line support job but it seems from the job role and discussion with the manager I will be doing little to no technical related issues as it would be more of a call centre customer job. Researching the company it seems to have no progression at all.

I am a little lost in whether I should take this job, as I would not be able to progress my way up or be able to expand my knowledge and skills. (Plus, reading the past threads here, it gives me the fear with with people and their 1st line support working experiences) On the other hand, it would look good on my CV. I am unsure how to push forward, any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!

The challenge is in IT people will not let inexperienced people loose on critical systems and operations, the cost could be the end of the company. This is why like you suggest people have to work their way up from somewhere. It is not uncommon for people to change employer as they seek to develop skills and experience. From my experience I have see people over time and by putting in the work move from first line roles eventually to technical architects, project managers, VP's of IT etc. Also people have done the same coming into IT from a business role which developed over time. One thing to keep in mind is it is not just the technical knowledge that is needed for the more senior roles and career plan where you gather skills and experience is useful even if you change direction later on.
 
Associate
Joined
31 Aug 2017
Posts
2,209
First thing i would ask is... is this really what you want to do? I mean REALLY?
I see a lot of folk come through IT nowadays and many are just doing it because its a job, something they fell into ect. Now many of these folk are doing a decent job but the ones that really get IT, really live it are usually the better ones that end up with the better positions... unless you have grade A ******** capabilities :D

If you do want to do IT as a career and are coming from nothing then its a tough slog, but doable.
The biggest thing is getting in the door, you will be right at the bottom and for a while as well unless your that grade A ***********. This means helpdesk support for a while.
Of course getting there is a problem, you could try doing work experience while perhaps doing a computer science or some other IT related degree/qualification - this shows you are willing to put in hard work to get somewhere. A friend of mine did this with my own IT dept while studying then went on, quite easily... ish... to proper IT jobs else where and the time spent with us was valuable.

We wont let someone with a couple of years experience or worse someone just off the street start poking around the comms room so you wont be going near the fancy stuff for a long time, but that time will shorten the more you get involved.
 
Associate
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Loughborough
Don't pay for any qualifications until you know exactly what you want to do in IT in the long term - you could be wasting cash or worse by focusing on an area you aren't interested. Also there is nothing wrong with working on a service desk whilst you plan your next move - you will get some exposure to different areas of IT without any requirement for experience. It would be better than whatever you're up to now.
 
Associate
Joined
3 Sep 2019
Posts
263
Have you looked at IT field work, it's often relatively easy to get into and you can learn a lot as you have to do first and second line stuff and if the third line guys teach you stuff you'll pick it up. You also get exposure to a bunch of stuff from Windows to networking to phones and can pick a direction. You have to study a bit then and maybe pick up a cert or two but you'd then have a broad base to blag your way into a more technical job.

That's what I did and I'm now working towards CCNP and some GPON stuff as I love the networking side.
Is the NP getting affected by Cisco's change with the NA certs now end of Feb ?
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Nov 2006
Posts
4,922
Is the NP getting affected by Cisco's change with the NA certs now end of Feb ?
Yeah, very much so. I passed TSHOOT today but haven't done route and switch, meaning I need to do Enterprise core to get CCNP. There's big changes in all tracks and no more wireless, being incorporated with routing and switching.
 
Associate
Joined
3 Sep 2019
Posts
263
Yeah, very much so. I passed TSHOOT today but haven't done route and switch, meaning I need to do Enterprise core to get CCNP. There's big changes in all tracks and no more wireless, being incorporated with routing and switching.
Well done man.

I'm currently doing some Pulse Secure certs. Then onto my JNCIP-SP to accompany my JNCIP-ENT
 
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