IT Career - paths

[proxyc]

Hi all.
It's has been a while since I'm trying to get into the IT industry in the UK but I've always been unsuccessful/rejected to all the jobs in IT which I've applied for.
Long story short I've moved to England 10 years ago with a dream, become a football player and everything was moving in the right direction until I was diagnosed with a heart failure. Ever since, I've been trying to reinvent myself as a man and a person because the only thing I knew how to do properly was to play football.
Worked my way up in a fast food brand from staff member till management level but after 7 years I decided to leave the company and look for a different job as I love to learn new skills and ended up working in a warehouse nevermind, I'm not ashamed of that. While in college I've completed my studies as IT technician but it's not helping me much to get a job in that industry. Can someone please advice on what can I do to get a job in IT? What path should I try to follow?

Forgive me for the long text !
pr0xyc

** Please delete if not allowed or in the wrong section. Read the rules again and tried to find the right section. Here, it seemed to be the best place to post the threads **

 

[proxyc]

Back in college I was qualified to network installation and troubleshooting. Recently completed my CompTIA ITF+

 

[proxyc]

ITF will get you a basic entry level support job. You are competing with thousands who have similar experience or qualifications, so without significant experience to go with your applications, they are likely going in the bin.

If you want to start rolling in the big bucks you need to find something of interest and specialize in it.

Cisco engineers for example are always in demand, and usually well paid.

I've recently been looking at the CompTIA A+ course as a next step but I wasn't 100% sure about if it would the right direction

 

[proxyc]

I think developer is a good path if you can code - or are willing to learn how to code

Main reason I say this is because its not really a deal breaker if you've not had previous experience as a programmer - if you can get any kind of app out there, or do some web development, or make some contributions to (or start) an open source project then theres probably going to be a role out there you can get.

We've employed a few of people in the last couple of years who came from retail - but it didn't matter to much to us, as they had great personal websites, and their public stuff on Github looked pretty good. They've worked out really well - and have transitioned from hobbyists to developers well.

One of them had worked at a petrol station since leaving school - joined us at 23 years old, 2 years later he's a senior React (front-end) developer on 50k+

One thing I'd say is - programming / design / development is not for everyone - some people just aren't wired up for it no matter the effort they put in.

Programming is something that I never really considered as a contender because I don't really know much about it. At the college I remember learning about VB / C / C+ .
What programming language would you say it's better to start off/worth learning for someone that will start with a clean slate?

 

[proxyc]

What in IT interests you? Software? Hardware? Security? AI? Robotics? Networking? Databases?

I've not done the ITF but the blurb says, "Helps professionals determine if a career in IT is right for them." Did you find anything on that course that you wanted to look at in more depth?

Honestly speaking hardware and security have always been my main interests. I do build pcs ( for myself and help friends with troubleshooting since I was 10 ) and recently I've decided to start scouting/studying the market again about the difference in between components etc..
Security/bug bounty is something that I found recently during the first lockdown by watching a YT channel from someone called Stök

 

[proxyc]

Welcome to the forum. What do you want to do? What interests you?

Ideally I'd like to start from the bottom and work my way up to cyber security, but I just didn't know where to start from. However I just turned 30, and I know that time isn't in my favour therefore I need to put my sleeves up and start working hard to follow my goals

 

[proxyc]

Football by the sounds of it.

Can't deny that it was, 8 years ago, before being diagnosed with the hearth failure. Took me a while to accept that I wouldn't be able to play anymore but now I've moved on and my head is set about getting into IT industry

 

[proxyc]

Python
- Its an easy language to learn
- There are massive amounts of free resources out there
- You can be productive quickly, which helps maintain motivation
- Lots of jobs for it

VB ties you to the microsoft stack. C and C++ are harder.

Thank you for the advice. I will take that into consideration and see what I can find about it in regards basic courses and what does python needs me to deliver to the market

 

[proxyc]

If you want to do networking stuff with some programming but not software dev have a look at Cisco CCNA followed by DevNet Associate. Its likely to be viewed well by a lot of networking companies. Try and get a first line job while you study though to build up some experience.

Thanks for the advice. I thought that Cisco CCNA was more like an expertise level. I will have a look about it as well as the costs involved. In regards getting a first line job, I've been trying for a while but as people have mentioned above I am literally competing against thousands of people with the same entry level knowledge that I have. But I will keep trying !

 

[proxyc]

You've got more practical experience with management and being public-facing. You'll have much more success finding roles that aren't tech-based but may branch out and give you the scope to learn and progress.

For example, I went into a management/customer service role and developed tech skills within the role to branch out to develop new products and services for the business. I did the same again as an administrator at another job.

To be fair I never thought about it because my management skills were retail based and I never imagined that I could transfer them into a different industry

 

[proxyc]

CCNA is pretty simple stuff, a good chunk of the certification is basic networking skills (brand agnostic) that will help you understand the fundamentals of networking. Sure some of the course is Cisco specific, but that's no bad thing. With your head-down, assuming you have the desire and the technological interest, you can knock CCNA on it's head in a matter of weeks, though I'd probably budget for 1-2 months.

CCNP is your "intermediate/advanced" level, and CCIE is your "expert" level.

I understand. Tonight when I get back home from work I will search for about it and see what I can find.
Thank you very much

 

[proxyc]

Good morning everyone.
First, I would like to apologize for the delay on answering your messages but I forgot about the "max 15 post in 24h".

Thank you all for the answers on the thread, which I've read them all and researched about the trainings/courses/potential job requirements that you have mentioned above, there was great content out there on the shared links.

@dowie sorry if it wasn't clear. My educational background is coming all from my home country and I finally understood that they are not recognise in England. New courses/trainings are definitely a way to go for me now

@shephga I've always been around computers since I was 6 years old but really triggered me into IT industry is the fact that I'm never satisfied with my knowledge level, I am constantly chasing new things to learn, new things to try. The IT industry is an industry that never stops improving/changing so there are always new stuff to keep learning. That motivates me a lot and makes me feel alive.
About your suggestion it was a good call, refresh my Linux knowledge would be a good way to start as well, thanks.

Have a great day you all. Be safe.
-pr0xyc-