Mate unemployed seeks new career - IT?

[opethdisciple]

I have a friend (of a friend actually) who is 25 no GCSE's etc to his name and currently unemployed.

He is seeking a career path and I suggested IT as that's what I am doing.

At first I told him to look at doing the RHCSA and RHCE and then seeking a systems engineering role. But then I thought this might be a bit too high up for someone with ZERO experience. (Unless you count COD on the Xbox as experience)

As I started out in the industry with some Microsoft certs and then a low level 1st line support role, I thought that would be a good enough start for him. (I did have a degree and a master tho)

What do you think, start at the bottom with some MCP's and then move in to technical support and move up from there or go from A to C and try to get a Linux administration role via studying the RHCSA/RHCE and Ansible?

The other reason why I suggest the 1st line support is because he has nothing on his CV and no money. So really shouldn't spend the next 6-12 months just studying.

The quicker he is in a job the sooner he can start building up his experience hence the 1st line support avenue. It will be quicker to break in via this route than going for a higher up role with no experience in any IT capacity.

 

[opethdisciple]

I cant say too much, but from what I have been told the fact he has no qualifications hasn't been all his fault.

Parents are at fault. Family issues.

 

[opethdisciple]

Really? He needs GCSE's?

I thought he could do some MTA (Microsoft courses) Windows 10, Windows server and Networking and then from there start calling recruiters asking if there are any internships out there he could do.

Work for free essentially for a few months.

Basic tech support stuff.

 

[opethdisciple]

Can they read and write? If so, what path do they want to follow in IT as there are so many?

I would start from the basics such as Comptia A+, N+ then move onto the MS certs such as Modern Desktop Cert (Skip the MTA) or the Cisco route.

Well thats pretty much what Im suggesting here.

A+ and the MTA certs.

 

[opethdisciple]

The other option here is to just lie about having no GCSEs. It's long enough since that no-one is particularly going to question it.

I don't think i've ever really been asked for proof of anything other than professional qualifications (AAT, ACCA etc)

Might not be ethical but might get him in the door.

As mentioned though, is IT something he actually wants to do? What's he been doing for the ~10yrs since high school?

Well 3/4 jobs haven't checked. But the one I am currently in asked me to fill out all education and employment history and did a background check.

 

[opethdisciple]

I think for now we are gonna ignore the issue of GCSEs.

My question more specifically is, can someone study for say the RHCSA, RHCE and Ansible and get a junior engineering role?

I know the RHCE is as tough as nails, but having studied the material myself I thought it was a good learning exercise.

It's a chicken and an egg scenario. He needs experience to get a job. And needs a job to get experience.

But I do know the market is hunger. It's a candidate's market. There is a technical skills gap and companies are willing to take people who are not the finished articles.

I'm just trying to save him time and money. Because if he goes down the RH routes and keeps getting rejected because of no experience that's a waste of time and money. And on the flip side, no point in him going and doing A+ and Microsoft certs if he could just study the RH stuff and start off in a better job at a higher level on better pay.

 

[opethdisciple]

Where do they live? Demand for technical skills is dependent on area. I know the Midlands area isn't so hot right now for IT. That's one reason why I left.

London

 

[opethdisciple]

From my experiences it is definitely a candidates market.

I've always had at least two offers at the same time every time I've moved. With like 25+ voicemails on my phone which I just cannot answer.

Even now, 6 months in to this job, I still get 4-5 calls a day from recruiters, emails via jobsites and linkin as well as direct calls form companies as well.

I had one call me up and when I said I had just started a new job they asked me how much are they offering you?

I didn't reply.

So with the right skill set you can pick and choose whatever you want essentially.

Just a quick Google. Have a read of some of the links.

Taken from the FT:

Information technology Information technology was last year the sector with the second highest proportion of hard-to-fill vacancies, the Employers Skills Survey found. IT is the most in-demand skills set this year across multiple industries, according to a survey published last month by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, an industry trade body. Software engineers and programmers were particularly sought after, with many respondents to the survey mentioning automation, the C++ and C# programming languages and cyber security as key skills. “It’s a high growth area, the tech sector specifically, and we’re not producing the right skills domestically,” said Vinous Ali, head of policy at Tech UK, a trade body. IT workers from overseas were frequently finding they were unable to move to the UK last year, she added, as the sector bumped up against a cap on so-called Tier 2 visas issued by the UK government to skilled workers. “Businesses [will go] elsewhere if they can’t get access to the right people here in the UK,” said Ms Ali."

 

[opethdisciple]

No, I would not recommend doing this. Both RHCSA and RHCE (the latter in particular) expect you to have experience with using the platform for a reasonable amount of time. It is not something that should be considered as a starting point to learn from nothing for. With his lack of experience even if by some quirk of fate he managed to get an RHCE it wouldn't help him get a job because the sort of places which want someone with that qualification want people with real world experience.

He needs to look at more entry level qualifications and roles and build up some experience. Then he can consider more advanced qualifications later. Yes there are vacancies for people with technical skills but having a qualification with no experience does not equal a having a skill.

That's all I wanted to know. Thanks

 

[opethdisciple]

I would also recommend looking at qualifications away from pure OS qualifications, be there Windows or Linux related. Cloud and devops technologies are good things to do courses in as well as things like Scrum and large companies HR department's favourite ITIL. Something like AWS Cloud Practioner is relatively easy and cheap to do and would be a good introduction to cloud technologies and principles.

Agree. But maybe not for an out right beginner with no experience. I'm trying to get him in to a job as soon as possible.

 

[opethdisciple]

Does he want to do IT as a career or was it more you told him he could get a decent wage by doing a few certs?

I only ask as he's likely to need to really "want" to do it to get any employer to take him on and look past the lack of qualifications.

Another option which doesn't require any qualifications is for him to start offering basic IT tech services himself, even just to bring some money in while studying. Depends if he's already pretty good at sorting the usual home customer bugs out, setting up wifi etc etc. Personally in his situation I'd get a part time job doing anything and study towards something I wanted to do, probably a trade.

Lmao. I've been told he cant even put together a computer. And no it wasnt me that told him to do IT, it was my mate. (he is a friend of his not mine. I'm just giving the advice as I'm the one in IT)