IT Operations Engineer

GJM

GJM

GJM

Associate
Joined
31 Oct 2011
Posts
216
Location
Cheshire
Hi folks,

I'm in my mid 30s and have been teaching at primary level for 10 years.
Been looking for a career change and a friend of a friend invited me for an informal chat re the role of IT Operations Engineer at his place of work.
IT was not something I'd considered, presume IT would mean a lot of retraining from the base up, something I'm not that interested in. Tech however always being a vague interest, PC building etc.
However, said contact detailed a staff shortage in the field and that the role was now being aimed at proactive individuals willing to learn on the job with taking on own reading around the relevant subjects and with basic training provided.

Obviously Cloud based incident management, keeping a large organisations online services up and running. Use of AmazonWebServices at it's core and basic Linux command line to restart servers etc. All remote working and a good salary, although shift work 24/7/365.

Said contact implying all the basics needed could be covered in a few 10hr online courses, a few pointed out on LinkedinLearning, Linux Fundamentals, AWS Core Services, Introduction to SQL etc

All sounded very interesting and from what he showed me, looked quite intuitive and logical.

Just wondering if anybody had experience in the role, and, I guess my main question would be, from a beginners perspective, where to begin learning the basics of what's required. What should I be watching/reading up on?

Thanks folks
 
Quartz said:
You have a job for life. A neighbour started off as a primary school teacher and became a headteacher.
Click to expand...

Not a job I wish to have for life unfortunately, or even the next 12 months if at all possible :)

SupraWez said:
Switch it off and on again :D
Click to expand...

Yes, contact did seem to imply using Linux command prompt to restart servers was one of the more technical tasks to learn.
 
GJM said:
Yes, contact did seem to imply using Linux command prompt to restart servers was one of the more technical tasks to learn.
Click to expand...

I'd avoid anything where 'one of the more technical tasks' is to reboot a server via the Linux shell. Unless you find running (for example on Ubuntu) sudo reboot to be technical.

IT Operations is an interesting one, a good Ops Engineer can be worth their weight in gold around BAU/Operational Efficiencies, but a lot of the time it's just another word for break/fix/helpdesk. If it's a job you can use as a stepping stone though go for it. We all mostly start at the bottom of the ladder with IT, I definitely did my share of rebooting servers and fixing printers. But don't stay in that initial first line role too long.

An MSP is a great way to get 12 months experience and learn something around loads of tech. Can be super intense and not to everyone's taste though, I've been lucky enough to work at two great ones but I know a lot of people won't have had that fortune.
 
Last edited:
Sounds promising, not worked in cloud/infra directly but it’s where the big bucks is at.

If you’ve dabbled in it already and find it interesting then why not give it a shot.

Also it does sound more cloud orientated which is what you want, skipping the generic IT help desk stuff.

It’s not all about salary but in a few years you could be earning double or even triple what you are now.

Most people do have to start at the bottom so you could find yourself in a fortunate position with the training and certificates etc.
 
Last edited:
GJM said:
However, said contact detailed a staff shortage in the field and that the role was now being aimed at proactive individuals willing to learn on the job with taking on own reading around the relevant subjects and with basic training provided.
Click to expand...
[...]
GJM said:
Said contact implying all the basics needed could be covered in a few 10hr online courses, a few pointed out on LinkedinLearning, Linux Fundamentals, AWS Core Services, Introduction to SQL etc

All sounded very interesting and from what he showed me, looked quite intuitive and logical.
Click to expand...

Probably is, there were a few guys in that sort of role at a vendor I worked at, not cloud computing but it was SaaS and managed services, basically, they were doing the job the client's IT operations people would have done except the client was either paying us to use our servers or in some cases just paying for the team to manage the software on the client's own servers remotely instead of their own IT people.

It was pretty much the most junior technical position you could get in the company... along with the guys who worked in software delivery and some junior guys who worked in the in-house IT team (as in the people responsible for the company's laptops, phones etc..). Just requiring some basic Unix/Linux, SQL etc.. sounds about right.

You couldn't go too wrong in that sort of role so long as you know your limits and don't try and be a hero and do anything silly in production. Worth checking what the prospects are like for progression, I've seen people progress from that sort of role into QA or support roles and then onwards from there. I guess AWS experience is good in general too these days.
 
HangTime said:
Sounds like a good opportunity, especially considering you've been given some good background and have a friend to vouch for you.
Click to expand...
That would be my view. Got someone offering to get you into the tech industry with no prior experience and train you up? Unhappy with your current career?

I'd be grabbing this opportunity with both hands (with superglue).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom