Recommendation for a HND Computing Graduate

tony888

tony888

tony888

Associate
Joined
31 Jul 2008
Posts
1,328
Location
London
hello fellow OCUKer's, I just graduated from my HND Computing course and I'm looking for any IT related jobs. Being using Reed employment agency but have found nothing so far.
Can anyone recommend company that take HND grads or would I be better of doing a top up to get a degree?

This is in London btw ;)
 
tony888 said:
hello fellow OCUKer's, I just graduated from my HND Computing course and I'm looking for any IT related jobs. Being using Reed employment agency but have found nothing so far.
Can anyone recommend company that take HND grads or would I be better of doing a top up to get a degree?

This is in London btw ;)
Click to expand...

To be honest, given the excessive graduate competition and current market climate I would invest the time/money in topping up to a full degree. It will pay off in the long run.
 
Last edited:
tntcoder said:
To be honest, given the excessive graduate competition and current current climate I would invest the time/money in topping up to a full degree. It will pay off in the long run.
Click to expand...

This

I myself am doing an BSc course, and planning to top it up to a Masters Degree if I don't manage to emmidiately land a job a month or two after graduating.
 
Thanks for the replies. Does seem the best option is to do the extra year for the full degree. Back to Portsmouth I guess :)
 
I never did go back and get my degree after the HND, very glad I didnt bother now. Experience you gain over 2 years of work will count far more than 2 years spend getting a degree everyone else has.

Put it this way, I am hiring/interviewing at the moment - if you had just come out of University now I wouldn't touch you at all for anything other than a chumpy IT Support role (giving advise to non-technical staff, troubleshooting/fixing office workstations, low level admin work etc..) earning maybe £18k - £20k. If you came to me with a HND + 2 years working as IT Support I would consider hiring you as a NOC/Datacentre engineer or even a junior sysadmin for about £25/30k.
 
Last edited:
JBod said:
I never did go back and get my degree after the HND, very glad I didnt bother now. Experience you gain over 2 years of work will count far more than 2 years spend getting a degree everyone else has.

Put it this way, I am hiring/interviewing at the moment - if you had just come out of University now I wouldn't touch you at all for anything other than a chumpy IT Support role (giving advise to non-technical staff, troubleshooting/fixing office workstations, low level admin work etc..) earning maybe £18k - £20k. If you came to me with a HND + 2 years working as IT Support I would consider hiring you as a NOC/Datacentre engineer or even a junior sysadmin for about £25/30k.
Click to expand...

Hire me I need a job!
 
Lol - enough! I didn't post that as job advert, just as an example to the OP. Many degrees are still worth while, unfortunately (IMO of course) "Computing/Computer Science" and many other IT technical ones are being diluted by useless courses.
 
Last edited:
JBod said:
I never did go back and get my degree after the HND, very glad I didnt bother now. Experience you gain over 2 years of work will count far more than 2 years spend getting a degree everyone else has.
Click to expand...

Experience is important but I do think people place too much importance on it. You can have 2 years experience at something and still be completely rubbish at it. How many times have you hired somebody to do a job around your home perhaps, maybe on your car, and they've made a hash of it? I bet they had more than 2 years experience.

I've got over 10 years experience when it comes to playing FPS games, for example. I'm still utterly shocking at FPS games.

I'd say somebody with a degree and no experience has a lot more potential in your organisation than somebody who couldnt hack a degree and did a HND instead and has had a job for 2 years. For quick win perhaps they are best, they'll need a bit less training time, but for long term? I'd have the person who has proved they can go all the way with something rather than not bother...

Put it this way, I am hiring/interviewing at the moment - if you had just come out of University now I wouldn't touch you at all for anything other than a chumpy IT Support role (giving advise to non-technical staff, troubleshooting/fixing office workstations, low level admin work etc..) earning maybe £18k - £20k. If you came to me with a HND + 2 years working as IT Support I would consider hiring you as a NOC/Datacentre engineer or even a junior sysadmin for about £25/30k.
Click to expand...

Interesting you'd hire somebody as an engineer who isn't... a qualified engineer! Do you mean technician?
 
Last edited:
I'm with Fox on this one.

I'm currently half way through a BEng in Mechanical Engineering, fully accredited with all the major institutions (IMechE etc).

I doubt very much the companies I'll be looking to work for would take someone on with a random 'engineering' HND and 2 years experience over someone with a degree like the above.
 
I'm sure everyone has known somebody useless in the workplace who can't get anything right but seems to get away with it because they've been there since the year dot. Just imagine how much 'experience' they have on paper when going to interviews..
 
[TW]Fox;17001045 said:
Experience is important but I do think people place too much importance on it. You can have 2 years experience at something and still be completely rubbish at it. How many times have you hired somebody to do a job around your home perhaps, maybe on your car, and they've made a hash of it? I bet they had more than 2 years experience.
Click to expand...

Ok perhaps I should have clarified - hiring would be post an interview process involving technical questions and demonstration of various abilities such as troubleshooting.

[TW]Fox;17001045 said:
I've got over 10 years experience when it comes to playing FPS games, for example. I'm still utterly shocking at FPS games.

I'd say somebody with a degree and no experience has a lot more potential in your organisation than somebody who couldnt hack a degree and did a HND instead and has had a job for 2 years. For quick win perhaps they are best, they'll need a bit less training time, but for long term? I'd have the person who has proved they can go all the way with something rather than not bother...
Click to expand...

I realise you posted this before you read my second reply just above yours so I'll point you there. I am not attempting to make a sweeping statement for effect or any such. I was purely giving my point of view from a very similar experience.

[TW]Fox;17001045 said:
Is that because of your own prejudice against those who went on to do something you yourself did not?
Click to expand...

I would hope not, I have worked with many people who do have degrees in the usual IT fields. I have had people work for me with a degree. Nothing has ever suggested that it has given them an advantage.

[TW]Fox;17001045 said:
Interesting you'd hire somebody as an engineer who isn't... a qualified engineer! Do you mean technician?
Click to expand...

Ah is this the old "IEEE" argument ;) One of the people (as I said above) who has a degree I worked with actually is a member of the IEEE and did his degree in Electrical Engineering. So yes he was a fully qualified engineer - and yes he would also trot out the same line.

However... realistically (possibly unfortunately) a job title makes you what you are professionally... on paper (good or bad at the job).
 
Depends on the industry.
In education, experience is a definite advantage :)

Irrelevant in this thread perhaps, but a point nonetheless..
You can only learn so much with theory.
You improve with practice. Ideally you need both.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom