IT Support

Brumboy · 19 Jan 2017 at 15:15

Hi there,

I'm looking to get into the IT industry and I know I have to get IT experience first to get anywhere as I don't have a degree.

So I'm applying for entry level IT support jobs and have had no luck this week.

I have read that the Comptia A+ qualification is required sometimes by companies and I was wondering if it's definitely something worth doing? I don't want to miss out on jobs because I don't have it.

Any other tips appreciated regarding job applications/CV or anything else.

Kind regards

DAIR · 19 Jan 2017 at 15:27

Definitely worth having. As it'll give you an edge over most. However getting into IT shouldn't be too difficult (especially if you have any interest in tech). I say this because I have a couple people in my team who are not experienced IT people.... I'm often left wondering how they bagged the roles in the first place.

They act more like middle men / women between those who require assistance and those who can actually help.

AHarvey · 19 Jan 2017 at 15:46

You need to go an spend a week working in a playschool....if you don't smack a kid you may be ok at support work.

Today for instance I had a user that couldn't print on the printer i'd set up for them yesterday.

I asked if she was using a cable to access the network or was it wifi (we have 2 separate networks).

She said wifi.

I said you'll need to use a cable as the printers on the network.

OK she said, and off she trotted, until she came back 5 mins later saying it still wouldn't work.

So off I go to investigate and ended up pointing out that a network cable only works if both ends are plugged in....

May sound funny to start, but as you experience it more and more and as your workload increases and you have important tasks to do and have to deal with **** like that it gets really tiring.

I was under the impression A+ and N+ were pretty useless really. Microsoft virtual academy might be better suited, get an exam or two done there.

Kuros · 19 Jan 2017 at 15:52

A+ isn't really worth the paper it's written on, to be honest...
For first line support, it's more about communication skills, phone manor and reading off a script... anything beyond that is more than the A+ will cover.

Brumboy · 19 Jan 2017 at 16:11

DAIR said:
Definitely worth having. As it'll give you an edge over most. However getting into IT shouldn't be too difficult (especially if you have any interest in tech). I say this because I have a couple people in my team who are not experienced IT people.... I'm often left wondering how they bagged the roles in the first place.

That act more like middle men / women between those who require assistance and those who can actually help.

That's what I thought. If someone has that and I don't then I'd assume they'd get picked over me every time.

I understand. I have a heavy interest in IT. I've been studying Java for a bit now and I really enjoy it. Infact I've never enjoyed studying in my life until now

AHarvey said:
You need to go an spend a week working in a playschool....if you don't smack a kid you may be ok at support work.

Today for instance I had a user that couldn't print on the printer i'd set up for them yesterday.

I asked if she was using a cable to access the network or was it wifi (we have 2 separate networks).

She said wifi.

I said you'll need to use a cable as the printers on the network.

OK she said, and off she trotted, until she came back 5 mins later saying it still wouldn't work.

So off I go to investigate and ended up pointing out that a network cable only works if both ends are plugged in....

May sound funny to start, but as you experience it more and more and as your workload increases and you have important tasks to do and have to deal with **** like that it gets really tiring.

I was under the impression A+ and N+ were pretty useless really. Microsoft virtual academy might be better suited, get an exam or two done there.

Haha it sounds entertaining! I know I will have to deal with those kinds of situations but that's totally fine. I'm good at handling people like that!

Ah I see, everyone says something different about this Comptia A+ qualification. It's £120 to take the exam which is fine but I thought I'd get at least one positive response by employers. I've applied for almost 30 IT Support/Technician/1st Line jobs so far.

Kuros said:
A+ isn't really worth the paper it's written on, to be honest...
For first line support, it's more about communication skills, phone manor and reading off a script... anything beyond that is more than the A+ will cover.

I thought that too and I've had plenty of experience in my past jobs that would be perfect for the jobs I'm applying for. I also have a heavy interest in IT (since I was a kid) and I'm studying Java in my own time which I enjoy a lot.

Maybe I'm being impatient I'm not sure. I've been applying since Friday, almost 30 applications sent and nothing positive so far.

Brumboy · 19 Jan 2017 at 16:25

Just to add, my end goal is to become a software developer.

But I will have to start from the bottom to get some IT experience right?

I'm hoping to land any IT Support job, study Java and other computer languages while I work there. Network at the job and at other places. Slowly get better at Java, create some app's and develop a portfolio. Then apply for entry/junior developer jobs.

Zefan · 19 Jan 2017 at 16:29

I'd say expecting a reply within a week is a little impatient yeah. Unless they're urgently looking to fill a vacancy they'll likely sit on lots of applications before sifting through and interviewing.

:edit: I'd strongly advise getting a degree if you want to be a dev. It's very different to what people call "IT support".

By the way, the advice from your previous thread, including that which I gave, stands!

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18739463
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18725679

Why do you want to be a developer? Do you particularly enjoy and show ability as a coder? It isn't something you should necessarily lock yourself in to without really knowing what you're getting yourself in to.

Brumboy · 19 Jan 2017 at 16:31

Yeah that probably sounds like what's happening. Hopefully you're right

jaybee · 19 Jan 2017 at 16:34

A+... I did it years ago. Like maybe year 2000 or something. It was irrelevant then. Can't imagine what it's like now if they stuck to some of the same stuff. All worth knowing the history of PCs but largely irrelevant for a first 1st Line Support role imo.

Zefan · 19 Jan 2017 at 16:45

jaybee said:
A+... I did it years ago. Like maybe year 2000 or something. It was irrelevant then. Can't imagine what it's like now if they stuck to some of the same stuff. All worth knowing the history of PCs but largely irrelevant for a first 1st Line Support role imo.

It had been refreshed a lot over the years (no more CRT questions...) but the content is definitely of varying relevance. The decision to life it has made it more valuable IMO, and it still sits as a decent "baby's first cert" in my opinion, if only to get you used to the wording of cert exams. Looking forward, we seem to be trending more and more towards the American way of doing things, and with American government agencies only employing techs that hold A+, Network+ and Security+, it's arguable that it's not as irrelevant today.

AHarvey · 19 Jan 2017 at 16:54

Rossuk89 said:
Ah I see, everyone says something different about this Comptia A+ qualification. It's £120 to take the exam which is fine but I thought I'd get at least one positive response by employers. I've applied for almost 30 IT Support/Technician/1st Line jobs so far.

Just before Christmas I was looking at the Virtual Academy to get Windows Server certs, first one was £89 and would probably look far better than A+

Check it out.

However, if you're ideally looking for a development career, you'd be better off taking part in opensource projects, building a portfolio for yourself and getting involved in the industry. Other than both being based around problem solving and logic there is no guarantee you'll be able to move from one to the other.

You'd be better off focusing on what you want. Even if it's looking at low paying web dev jobs for juniors etc.

I'd also be giving it 4 weeks between applying and writing it off.

DAIR · 19 Jan 2017 at 17:08

OP. Where in the UK are you from?

If you're not from London..... Come to London. This is where all the monies and top jobs are. We're ballin out here.

Brumboy · 20 Jan 2017 at 09:38

Zefan said:
I'd say expecting a reply within a week is a little impatient yeah. Unless they're urgently looking to fill a vacancy they'll likely sit on lots of applications before sifting through and interviewing.

:edit: I'd strongly advise getting a degree if you want to be a dev. It's very different to what people call "IT support".

By the way, the advice from your previous thread, including that which I gave, stands!

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18739463
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18725679

Why do you want to be a developer? Do you particularly enjoy and show ability as a coder? It isn't something you should necessarily lock yourself in to without really knowing what you're getting yourself in to.

That was posted a while ago, I'll re-read that thread again!

I do enjoy coding, I instantly felt like it clicked with me when starting to learn it. I don't find learning Java difficult. I am definitely passionate about it as I did it when I had time travelling last year when I could have been doing other things

I understand. But it would be difficult to try other areas of IT without starting at the bottom right? I don't know anyone in IT so I'm hoping to network and get to know people within the industry aswell.

jaybee said:
A+... I did it years ago. Like maybe year 2000 or something. It was irrelevant then. Can't imagine what it's like now if they stuck to some of the same stuff. All worth knowing the history of PCs but largely irrelevant for a first 1st Line Support role imo.

Hmm see now this puts me off doing it. I'll give the applications a few more weeks then if I don't have any success I'll probably think about doing it.

AHarvey said:
Just before Christmas I was looking at the Virtual Academy to get Windows Server certs, first one was £89 and would probably look far better than A+

Check it out.

However, if you're ideally looking for a development career, you'd be better off taking part in opensource projects, building a portfolio for yourself and getting involved in the industry. Other than both being based around problem solving and logic there is no guarantee you'll be able to move from one to the other.

You'd be better off focusing on what you want. Even if it's looking at low paying web dev jobs for juniors etc.

I'd also be giving it 4 weeks between applying and writing it off.

I'll have a look, thanks for the link.

You're right about open source projects and building a portfolio and that's what I'm heading towards at the moment. I've still got at least 5-6 months left of learning before I can build any solid basic app's which would be used for a portfolio. So I thought I could do that while I work in a job in the IT industry.

But surely I'm under qualified for web dev jobs/junior developer jobs? Otherwise I'd definitely apply for them.

DAIR said:
OP. Where in the UK are you from?

If you're not from London..... Come to London. This is where all the monies and top jobs are. We're ballin out here.

I'm from near Birmingham! I know I know but that's not a solution right now unfortuntely.

However there seem's to be some kind of "Silicon Valley" happening up in Birmingham - http://siliconcanal.co.uk/

I was very surprised to come upon this and also very excited. It looks interesting and promising so I hope this is as good as it looks!