17. No job. No GCSE's. No experience.

Jihad said:
BTEC First requires four D's or equivalent college course, not sure if he'd be a able to get on, they do consider mature applicants though so could be worth a shot.
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Do they acualy check though?

I went on a BTEC National without having my GCSEs. This was 15 years ago though.

EDIT

When I enrolled on the coruse they asked me for the proof , I said I didn't have it. They said ok, bring it in on your first day though I was never asked for it again.
 
Get your maths and English GCSEs, ignore the debating on whether they are worth anything- a lot of jobs you will try to go for will require a minimum standard of maths and English and GCSEs are pretty much the standard.

Another vote for Connexions, they will help you out.
 
Hi Mate

Don't worry I was in pretty much the exact same position as you. Didn't sit any exams in school and wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Most of my friends ended up working in a factory but I knew that wasn't for me so I enrolled on a BTEC First Diploma in IT (1 Year course) then went on to a BTEC National Diploma in IT (2 year course). After this ended up as an AS/400 programmer contracting for a year or so. Whilst I was contracting I was doing some GCSEs part-time and a HNC in Computing. I then decided I wanted to go to university so I got my A-Level in Maths and with my HNC was accepted at Cardiff Uni (Computer Science).

Now I'm working as a software developer earning a very respectable salary especially considering where I am based and I teach part-time as I have a PGCE as well.

Good luck to you but don't leave it to late. If you work hard now it will pay off.
 
Tom2k8,
i appreciate you don't want to discuss your problems here, and i wouldn't sugegst you do either, however, most people are suggesting college/study again.
Can/do you at 17 think its possible for you to do this, considering you didn't bother with school in the most important year of your schooling life? Was missing the last year in-keeping with your character? Would you do it again?
Be honest with yourself mate, because you are at a critical stage and you NEED to choose a career path now.
Personally, ignoring my GCSE's, i did nightschool A+ and a couple other computer based courses about 4 years ago. Luckily my boss is now funding my N+ and MCSE. BUT, my initial experience is what got me the job as I.T manager where i work now.
If you have an aptitude for I.T. i suggest gleaning the internet for MCSE study books etc, don't bother buying an expensive course, then pay to take your exams when you're ready.
Regardless of what some people say, experience AND certification DO go hand-in-hand in I.T. There are the odd exceptions, but be prepared to study hard.

Good luck dude, hope it works out. :)
 
Thanks very much for your advice guys, it's greatly appreciated.

Should I avoid writing a CV at this time? I don't think one would look to good without any qualifications listed and I'd rather not lie about them.

I've been reading some local I.T job adverts and some of them state that no experience is necessary and they will supply training, the only problem is they ask you to send a CV to them.

Should I go ahead and write a CV even though I have no experience or qualifications? Or would that be a bad idea?

Thanks.
 
Tom2k8 said:
Thanks very much for your advice guys, it's greatly appreciated.

Should I avoid writing a CV at this time? I don't think one would look to good without any qualifications listed and I'd rather not lie about them.

I've been reading some local I.T job adverts and some of them state that no experience is necessary and they will supply training, the only problem is they ask you to send a CV to them.

Should I go ahead and write a CV even though I have no experience or qualifications? Or would that be a bad idea?

Thanks.
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I think you'll be struggling getting an interview for a IT job with out at least GCSE maths/english in your CV.
 
magick said:
I think you'll be struggling getting an interview for a IT job with out at least GCSE maths/english in your CV.
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If not an I.T job then anything else will have to do I guess. I just want to stay away from fast food restaurants, say no more. ;)
 
Tom2k8 said:
Hello guys.

During my last year of school I didn't attend much because of problems I don't want to discuss.

Because of this I didn't get any GCSE's and didn't get into College.

What options do I have now? I really want to find work, but all the things I look at require experience except the really bad jobs which no one wants to do.

Will I have to take a crappy job? I'd love to work in I.T as I feel it's the only thing I'm good at, but I don't know which part of I.T and I'm pretty sure companies wont take on people who have no qualifications.

Any advice on this matter please?

Thanks.
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Hi,

Your in exactly the same situation I was in when I left school. I went on to do a modern apprenticship with ITEC, this meant going to one of their centres for a few months until they found me a placement. Eventually I got an interview at a local IT company and got the job/placement, three years later I was still working there with a NVQ under my belt. Since then I have moved on to another company (been working here 3 and a bit years), I am now earning a decent wage and have numerous IT/Security related qualifications under my belt. It can be done if you have the motivation! :)
 
I also suggest going down the college route. You could do anything below and AVCE (2x a-levels) along side maths and english GCSEs without too much worry. If yuo explain to the college you need to take these courses they would usually let you do so while learning for something bigger, so long as you ARE going to have the basics at the end.
I started colege 4 years late cause I wanted the career path, then realised it needed qualifications before they look at you as anything below lvl1 (checkouts, shelf stacking, hot drinks fetching, photocopying), and I got my GCSE english during my course and am now at uni. My advice is start this sept and dont leave it as late as I did. You still have age on your side.
 
Berserker said:
There's a response to that, but I won't engage in a flame war. :/


Anyway, I'd contact these people > http://www.connexions-direct.com/

They'll probably be able to give you the best advice to fit your circumstances.

Edit - list of local services here. There's quite a few in your area.
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Yes that's good advice, I too didn't release my full potential shall we say and i'm on my way back to college in September to do a ICT Practitioner HND. I would say leave your GCSE's if you can and go straight in and do something like a First Diploma or something along them lines.

Also Modern Apprenticeships are a good route to take :D
 
Blu-ray said:
Funnily enough it's these type of people who become international billionaires :confused:
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Stangely true going from past experience of certain friends. It isn't the 'swots' who make it but those who think very differently from others.
 
Work out what you want to do, go to carears advice and ask away. Maybe for a few eyars do things like camp USA, EURO camp then when your 18, go back to college, at least get maths/english the rest dont matter.

Go get a NVQ in what you want to do and get some experience in your chosen field. Took me till i was 28 to work out what i wanted to do so if you know at 17, good on you, your better than 50% of people already.

Its not what you did in school that matters, ltos of us came out with nothing, but librarys and internet are god sends, use them and good luck.
 
why didn't you do your GCSEs? Don't worry about anything embarrassing, i feel we could all help if you share with us
 
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