Job as an IT technician in London?

Argh. Just spent ages writing a long reply then on submitting my session had timed out lol. Sorry I do not have time to rewrite it now but basically..

Experience is key. I have very few qualifications and have got where I have through experience (and knowing people and luck occasionally). Be very prepared as people have said to have to work on a helpdesk to get that experience. It won't be pleasant, it will be very hard work, and you will have plenty of angry people because they only contact you when something is broken! Finding the right company who will help with progressing your skills will help a lot. Also make sure as someone said that it really is what you want. I nearly wandered down the web dev path but realised I would stop enjoying it if I was doing it day in day out and it was best to keep it as a hobby I enjoyed.

Shell
 
If you want to get in to this sort of thing, my recommendation would be to try to find a position in a large helpdesk team in a profitable industry for the business itself i.e. finance or insurance, legal etc. and NOT just as generic IT support. The reasons being that not only will these jobs pay well, but you will generally be dealing with people who are not idiots and thus the frustration levels are lower. I know several people in 'specialist' helpdesk roles and they pay very well indeed.

My best friend left college with an AVCE in IT, did some work as logistics officer for a few years, hated it, applied for a helpdesk role for a law firm in London, got it, and started on over 30k after shift allowance. He aced the entrance tests and they really liked his can-do attitude and communication skills, so he was a perfect fit. He's now in a position where he has a good wedge of experiencing and they are paying to send him on technical courses. At this point you can decide to move in to 'IT' helpdesk but will do so at a signficantly higher level and bypass the horrors of IT support level 1.
 
Yup until you have the exp & certs to hide away in the server room you'll have to put up with spoon feeding the idiots and the IT illiterate on the basics of IT. Which you'll soon learn is neither challenging nor rewarding and is in fact hard work and not worth the peanuts you're paid.

MW
 
Murf said:
you'll want to kill yourself after a year.
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Im on a placement as a student developer at the moment, but since the support members have left, i've been asked to do support too. At first there was 2 senior support staff and 2 of us students...now its just us 2 students.

You will get good days and bad days, but when you get home, you will hate all computers apart from your own.
 
LordSplodge said:
Do you think Alan Sugar (nee Lord Sugar) or Richard Branson who started with absolutely nothing took that attitude?
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Just for the sake of a counterpoint, for every Richard Branson (I won't mention the other one since who would aspire to be a goblin...rich or not) there are millions of little guys who just scrape by and millions more who failed miserably.
 
The problem with working in IT and being a tehnician is you have to start quite low, no-one is going to fall into a high paying technical role right off the bat.

My first job was during my placement year from uni on helpdesk, which I found perfectly fine to be honest, they even sent me to South Africa for a while.

Post uni I managed to get a sysadmin role (but was mainly 1st - 3rd line support)

Now, two years later (24 years old) I'm a sysadmin on 30k (non london). By this time my Computing and Networks degree doesn't really hold a lot of weight, it's mainly the practical stuff I've done in the past.

Big companies can be good places to get a helpdesk role at, as they like to promote internally. My colleague, who has <1 year IT experience and working on helpdesk is currently temping, but will receive a permanent offer for £21k. Not bad considering his (lack of) experience.

Your users make a big different when you're on the helpdesk, I work with a lot of programmers and analysts, so its rare they bother us with minor things.
 
LordSplodge said:
That, my friend, sounds like excuses.
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I was referring to Alan Sugar btw, not Arnold :) forgot they had same initials :p

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't...Ideally I'd like to join a companys and do the same thing, just not manage, its the whole owning the company thing i think id be scared of, i like to just work...otherwise ill end up working when im not supposed to be working
 
In my experience it's the extra work you put in outside uni work, support desk job or management role. To explain:
-The A+ courses etc will give u a foundation but if u don't build on it...
-support role will train you to do what they want but if you don't explore further...
-management role will pay you what you want but if you don't update yourself.....

For me it's a passion that rewards me more than just financially. Yeah go for it but keep the bigger picture in mind, know when to move on and don't look back.

Book in store.....@
 
I can imagine that most people who go into IT Tech do it for the job satisfaction and therefore if you really want to go in to it (despite the fact it's poor pay and highly competitive) then go for it. Ask yourself what are your values and believes and find a job accordingly.
 
I work desktop support in London for a reasonably fun company (been here 18mnths) ... This would be my second job in the IT industry (first being 18mnth's of app support). It took me 3 months to find this job and while i like it i could do with being paid more and dont have much in the way of progression prospects.
 
hmm well I work in as an IT Admin currently.

My journey to hear is similar ish.

I graduated frm Uni with a degree in Politics and Sociology. When faced with the dilemma of needing to find a job and working for the rest of my life, I though crap what am I going to enjoy doing for the rest of my life?

So being a bit geeky and playing with computer systems throught all of my life, I decided right if Im going to work, Im going to do something I enjoy.

Question was how the hell am I going to brake in to IT witha degree in Politics and Sociology? A careers advisor at Uni advised me to do a Master Degree in Advanced Information Technology. Basically it was a conversion course in IT. I guess it helped.

From what I'v found out, the only reason why Im in my current job, is because out of all the candidates who applied I had a masters degree.

Right so after my Master degree in I.T, I started applying for jobs first line support mostly but I didnt have any experience..... so I was still stuck. I ended up doing a expensive course which basically consisted of MCP's in XP Server 2003, A+ in Hardware and the CCNA Cisco course. Also as part of this course I got two work experiece internships, which really helped looking back.

I was able to put some kind of IT expeirnce on my cv even if it was only for a month at a time.

So after completing this course..... I started applying for jobs.... generally I was still overqualified for positions or didnt have enough experience.

Eventually I got lucky. My father found a job advertisement in the Telegraph for an Assistant IT capacity.... I applied via fax. Didnt hear a bloody thing for four weeks... then was asked for an interview. I thought they interview was my best one since. They where interested in my previous experince and I clicked with the interviewers.

Regardless two weeks later... I didnt hear a thing. I thought oh well getting better at least. Then out of the blue, I get a call, telling me that wanted me to start in January the 2nd 2008 and would I be interested.

So that my journey. I did some expensive courses, which really could be done much cheaper.

I would say, if you want to get in to IT. Look at doing a SELF TAUGHT MCSA course....
I have learnt a lot out of that which I apply in my job now. You can get the books and other material, and sit the exams all on your own, cheaperthan going on a all in one package course.

Next, do the A+ in hardware
Do a linux course as well! Linux knowledge is very sought after in the industry... and pays well.
Also at the very least look at the Cisco CCNA. It will bring you up to speed on the basics of networking, even better would be to sit theexam. But the Cisco CCNA is tough to pass.

After you got those down. The only thing that maybe doing an all in one course through a training company is work placements. They are pretty important. But my course cost me 5k! Yes its a lot of money, but I guess it was worth it, as I am in work right now.....
 
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