Advice on how to start a career in IT

luckyguy20

luckyguy20

luckyguy20

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14 Jun 2011
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182
I am a nurse trying to move into IT. Just wondering how you guys started out. I am doing my CompTIA A+ and Network+ at the moment to hopefuly get a start towards a career in IT. Am I doing it right? Well I guess its a bit late now to turn around as Ive paid for the courses already. :( How did you guys start out or how did you guys secure a job in IT?
 
Me personally, I went through 3 years of college studying IT Trouble Shooting & Repair. 3 years working at a World where they sell PC's, worked on there customer services then onto the tech department. While working there I also got a job at the college i used to go to as an IT Tech then exactly a year today I got a job as a Systems Engineer working within the Rail Industry.

And for all the haters, yes....yes it is a cool story!
 
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I don't have any quals, started as an apprentice helpdesk technician but half-way through the apprenticeship I was bumped to jnr. sysadmin. Easy.
 
I did Environmental Biology at uni, went to work in a bank afterwards, then into a genetics co. and then onto an IT helpdesk after that (major pay cut!). Three years later I moved into desktop support and about ten years after that moved into network stuff.

I have no IT qualifications whatsoever.

You'll probably need to start on a helpdesk of some sort; bottom rung of the ladder sadly.
 
Did 3 years IT course in college, wasn't till 5 years after I got my first job in IT doing 2nd line support. Skipped 1st line as it was a case of who you know not what you know, also the law firm I worked for at the time knew I did IT as an hobby. Not another person who read a book and passed exams.

Still working in IT 6 years on from then doing 2nd/3rd line support for a police force.
 
I got a job working for specsavers head office down in southampton. I was a part of team of about 10 of us doing 1st/2nd line support to the 600+ retail stores across the uk. This involved supporting the point of sale systems and the custom software that cuts lenses and does the contact lens calculations and so on. the software was built in the same floor where i worked.

My advice is if you go for a customer service job doing IT support you want a job that supports internal staff or at the worst like i had supporting the staff of a retail chain. What you don't want is to deal with end users or customers.

Good thing about IT is that you can work in every sector. From retail to property to marketing to everything. As these days every industry needs IT and internal IT support.
 
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I don't think you need a degree to work in 1st/2nd support.

I think what is more important is the customer support compatible personality. presentation, written and spoken language capabilities, troubleshooting capabilities and ability to prioritised based on specific circumstances. All stuff you don't specifically learn when you get an IT degree.

My boss says you can always teach someone active directory but you can't always teach someone how to act within corporate environments appropriately and how to deal with specific situations.

In my opinion if you like IT at home and think you know windows well and you pick up software fast then the technical side of things at the 1st 2nd level should be ok to deal with the biggest task will be the customer support side of things.
 
in my case, I got the job because they needed someone to help streamline the upgrade of all the office PCs from XP to 7. they needed someone temporary, that could start immediately, they glossed over my technical experience (work experience, temp work refurbing barcode scanners, 2 years of uni doing electronic engineering), and were more interested in my history of working in warehouses!

Whilst I was doing that I displayed my enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, PCs, and was taken on permanently a couple of months later.

I appreciate that I got incredibly lucky, but I guess what I'm saying is that the entry requirements aren't necessarily all that high!

Best of luck
 
anything I don't mind said:
I don't think you need a degree to work in 1st/2nd support.

I think what is more important is the customer support compatible personality. presentation, written and spoken language capabilities, troubleshooting capabilities and ability to prioritised based on specific circumstances. All stuff you don't specifically learn when you get an IT degree.

My boss says you can always teach someone active directory but you can't always teach someone how to act within corporate environments appropriately and how to deal with specific situations.

In my opinion if you like IT at home and think you know windows well and you pick up software fast then the technical side of things at the 1st 2nd level should be ok to deal with the biggest task will be the customer support side of things.
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yep, I'd also add to my previous post, that the technical aspect was a doddle for me, whereas learning to put myself across properly in an office environment (coming from 5 years of pizza delivery) was a challenge!
 
Had no quals, can build my own systems and generally know what I am doing with computers.

Found a civil servant job that was seeking no experience in an IT Support role, applied and got the job. Was already a civil servant and even though I had no experience working with the infrastructure they use I interviewed the best.
 
I wouldn't mind ending my career in IT :p

Not that I don't like my job or can't do it, I do and can but after 8 long years and working from the ground up to where I am now I feel I've done it and want to shift into another path.

It's nice and pays the bills but is it the dream career? I'd say certainly not any more.
 
luckyguy20 said:
I am a nurse trying to move into IT. Just wondering how you guys started out. I am doing my CompTIA A+ and Network+ at the moment to hopefuly get a start towards a career in IT. Am I doing it right? Well I guess its a bit late now to turn around as Ive paid for the courses already. :( How did you guys start out or how did you guys secure a job in IT?
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Don't its not that great anymore.
 
I hate it when people use the acronym IT. It is basically meaningless it is so broad.


You want to know how I got into IT? I did a 4 year joint Honours BSc with 1 year industry internship and then 5 years of PhD.

I'm also looking to get out of 'IT' as soon as possible. I got a good gig running
At the moment letting me work from home. When that falls through I will be looking to move into management.
 
mrk said:
I wouldn't mind ending my career in IT :p

Not that I don't like my job or can't do it, I do and can but after 8 long years and working from the ground up to where I am now I feel I've done it and want to shift into another path.

It's nice and pays the bills but is it the dream career? I'd say certainly not any more.
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Out of curiosity, what is the dream job now?

I still enjoy programming, but find myself leaning towards the idea of product-based development more and more. I like the idea of crafting something that someone might seek some value in. I've built so many websites over the years that're torn down and replaced by something else after a year because the business is looking for a "new look" or a "rebrand".
 
I just progressed from doing IT at school and into college, eventually doing a Computing degree. I've not done any industry certs, although we did study part of ICND1 during a networking module at uni which we never took the exam for.

I had to find my feet a little as I'm currently in my third job. The first two were very first-line orientated (telephones and boring), but I guess fate was on my side and I managed to land a junior technician role at a secondary school. If you can, working in a school is probably the best way to get a feel for 'everything' in the IT world as no day is the same and the kinds of projects we do during holidays are generally quite exciting and challenging.
 
meandu229 said:
Do you have a degree at all?
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I have a Nursing degree which I think is quite irrelevant?

TrojanWhore said:
Whilst I was doing that I displayed my enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, PCs, and was taken on permanently a couple of months later.

I appreciate that I got incredibly lucky, but I guess what I'm saying is that the entry requirements aren't necessarily all that high!

Best of luck
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If that was the case then why haven't I had an interview? :o I have applied for a couple of positions as a 1st Line support but didn't even get a reply. :(:(


I build my own systems and basically been working with computers for 10 years now. But coming from a different country (Philippines) I think is one of my biggest disadvantages (communication and a different school system)hence the reason why I decided to take some online courses to have some recognized qualifications. But I still wonder whether it will secure me a job in IT. :confused: Like most people I've spoken to say "it's not WHAT you know but WHO you know".
 
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