I need help sorting my life out! Career in IT.
- Thread starter Alfie
- Start date
I'd, personally, do some courses and get at least some basic qualifications - but also use the courses to find out what you actually LIKE doing. You can't rock up to a job interview and say that you want the job to find out if it's something you'd like to do.
Without experience, you need qualifications - otherwise your CV will just end up in the bin.
That's best done in an academic environment, rather than a work one. You won't find out much about what you like, doing a job you WILL hate (1st line support).
Do you have any concrete examples of how you improved the efficiency? How did you measure the efficiency? Can you prove (to yourself primarily) that you do have enough basic knowledge? Not knowing about Active Directory and domains strikes me as a bit of a fundamental (and big) gap already...
Good shout, I'm going to get my CV out there and hope for the best.
And yes, sorry if I seem too cocky. I'm in a slightly heightened state of needing to prove myself. I need to feel that i'm doing the right thing as i've made a big step leaving university. We shall see
Learn some AD stuff too, it's VERY easy for what you'd require at first line. Like, how to reset a password (if they don't have a password reset utility), how to find a user, what the different containers are, all very easy and something you can pick up in an hour tops I reckon.
Been in IT for years. Still passionate about learning more and more. Too many people base IT on front line support role experience. The problem is that most people have to go through that to "get in the door" so to speak. You will find it hard to walk into a job "skipping" the helpdesk roles etc, as you need to be a) very well qualified and b) find someone that cares. With regard to point B, I'm deadly serious. You will do well to find a company that will take on someone with all the qualies under the sun when they have had no IT job experience. People don't say it to be controversial, but you really will do better to "work up" in IT and start low and show you have good attitude in a good company, and they should reward you with promotion eventually. Patience is key. You can't expect to walk into a "good" IT support based job necessarily straight away.
Perhaps If my CV shows promise and I give a good interview they could train me on this stuff?
Otherwise, what's the best way to learn?
And if I do need to do a course which sort is the best sort? This is really difficult to know as there is so much out there
Thanks.
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You should get training. With the majority of 1st line roles it's more about the person and how they conduct their selves. Have a read up on Domains and how to get into AD and fidn users etc. Once you've seen it once, you'll remember it.
Stuff like: start - run - dsa.msc which is the shortcut in how to get into AD (or windows key + r for the pedants). Just have a browse of the net and you'll find some resources
i've never really understood this pov... I can't see it happening with me.
College killed my ambition a bit i suppose; i say that because soon as I left I've done nothing but study.
edit what's the difference between 1st/2nd/3rd helpline(?) jobs?
forget this. if you're earning any money worth talking about in IT, you wont be building computers. in fact, i'd even have to check to know what processor my work laptop has.
the client computer is a grey box. when it breaks, the company that sold it to you send a man to fix it. when the warranty expires, if it breaks, it goes into a skip. what's in it doesnt matter beyond the point that it is the same as all the others.
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You'll make bigger bucks forgetting about PC's and how you know how to install a graphics card and what the registry is.
Rather you should be heading for UNIX (just abiout guaranteed employment -- 50K), Developer (NOT web - all the kiddies want to do it -- hence the market has made it very cheap although you may get some money (24K?) if you're good at .net) developing NOT WEB you should be looking at starting on 30K and 45K after 3 years ..), DBA (45-50K .. once you know it, it's easy. Can self-learn.) or SAP (up to 200K but could be a 'fad')
Rather you should be heading for UNIX (just abiout guaranteed employment -- 50K), Developer (NOT web - all the kiddies want to do it -- hence the market has made it very cheap although you may get some money (24K?) if you're good at .net) developing NOT WEB you should be looking at starting on 30K and 45K after 3 years ..), DBA (45-50K .. once you know it, it's easy. Can self-learn.) or SAP (up to 200K but could be a 'fad')
I can appreciate this. I have to say that being a system builder for an enthusiast PC company would be favoured but I don't see that happening.
the system builders at most PC suppliers are likely middle aged women doing things by repetition.
How would you reccomend I train for these sorts of jobs? Looks like I do need to go to college afterall.
I went the route of getting into a 1st line position and then trying to pick up qualifications going to college & uni part-time. It hasn't really helped so far, i'm stuck in a position where I have qualifications, knowledge of a lot of different areas of IT but no working experience in any as the role i'm currently stuck in supports bespoke software/systems and provides no transferrable skills aside from Customer service experience.
After struggling through 2 years of uni and coming out of it with a good result it's not fun doing the same basic stuff day after day. My place offshored 2nd line so no real progression opportunities coming up here. I'm glad I went to uni though as I learned a lot of stuff and gained loads of skills and I have the option to go back and continue studying but I can't help but think that my time (and money) would have been better spent getting some MS/Cisco type certifications and looking for different jobs.
If you do go for a 1st line role look for roles supporting MS products, industry standard stuff and not software and systems that only one company use, at least this way you will pick up some transferrable skills and experience and will be better set to move on to something different
After struggling through 2 years of uni and coming out of it with a good result it's not fun doing the same basic stuff day after day. My place offshored 2nd line so no real progression opportunities coming up here. I'm glad I went to uni though as I learned a lot of stuff and gained loads of skills and I have the option to go back and continue studying but I can't help but think that my time (and money) would have been better spent getting some MS/Cisco type certifications and looking for different jobs.
If you do go for a 1st line role look for roles supporting MS products, industry standard stuff and not software and systems that only one company use, at least this way you will pick up some transferrable skills and experience and will be better set to move on to something different
From my experience of getting into IT was a struggle but I got there in the end.
Left high school 10 years ago, ever since I was young I have loved computers. Ended up in college for 3 years (should have been 2) doing Advance IT. Left college in 2003 but by this time the so called “IT Boom” had come and gone so every Tom, Dick and Harry had jumped onto the same IT boat as everything else, making life getting into IT difficult.
Started working in a call centre which I hated but this was a start if I wanted to do anything along the role of IT as 1st line support. I also kept on doing IT outside of work which was my general hobby, building computers etc.
A year later I was working for an well known IT company but again it wasn’t 1st line, just general admin work in their call centre BUT just having the name of an IT company on my CV got me some interviews.
Few months later I had my first proper IT job for a law firm (which head office is actually based in the centre of Sheffield). Because I highlighted on my CV that I worked with computers as a hobby and my call centre experience I was placed straight onto 2nd line support, by passing anything to do with 1st line. Since then I have worked for another IT company (already mentioned above) and currently doing 2nd/3rd line support for the Police and I love it.
As already stated about once you get into IT you end up hating computers, my option that will only happen if IT isn’t for you. That’s like telling David Beckhem not to bother with football because he will get bored of it once it becomes a job.
Left high school 10 years ago, ever since I was young I have loved computers. Ended up in college for 3 years (should have been 2) doing Advance IT. Left college in 2003 but by this time the so called “IT Boom” had come and gone so every Tom, Dick and Harry had jumped onto the same IT boat as everything else, making life getting into IT difficult.
Started working in a call centre which I hated but this was a start if I wanted to do anything along the role of IT as 1st line support. I also kept on doing IT outside of work which was my general hobby, building computers etc.
A year later I was working for an well known IT company but again it wasn’t 1st line, just general admin work in their call centre BUT just having the name of an IT company on my CV got me some interviews.
Few months later I had my first proper IT job for a law firm (which head office is actually based in the centre of Sheffield). Because I highlighted on my CV that I worked with computers as a hobby and my call centre experience I was placed straight onto 2nd line support, by passing anything to do with 1st line. Since then I have worked for another IT company (already mentioned above) and currently doing 2nd/3rd line support for the Police and I love it.
As already stated about once you get into IT you end up hating computers, my option that will only happen if IT isn’t for you. That’s like telling David Beckhem not to bother with football because he will get bored of it once it becomes a job.