The state of the IT industry

as has been said, yes, it sounds like you have a good experience of the workplace. It's largely down to how you come across in the interview too, just be confident, be confident in your abilities and put across your desire to learn and be a success. That's what I want to see in a new member to the department. :)
 
to be honest a CCNA isn't worth anything anymore. Too common and too many people who did it at school and have no idea of how to put it into practice or passed on a intensive course which taught them nothing more than how to pass an exam. I'm growing tired of people with Cisco qualifications now (which is saying something coming from me - CCNP, CCDP, CCIP) and I'm looking for something from another big manufacturer to differentiate candidates....
 
I've just recently managed to get into IT which was a huge relief, it was starting to look like I would be stuck as a van driver for ever.

I learned instantly that my degree was as good as worthless but I'd already expected this to be the case anyway, since I've started I've learned a hell of a lot from just doing things, I've already had to help rebuild a large multiple domain network and because there's only two of us I'm often left to use my own inititive and work/plan things out for myself but at the same time I know that if I do get stuck there's someone I can ask.

The only areas I've come accross so far that I might have benefitted from doing courses in would be managing a 2003 server, specifically active directory and gpos. But at the same time I was coming into the job with no real world experience so a couple of extra qualifications probally would have done a lot to make me stand out more.
 
I got an IT role as my first proper job after uni, was a few months after leaving though.

Whilst a technical degree it was not computer related, and apart from putting in the odd pc for my folks office I had no experiance.

The team I joined was a desktop support team who did lots and lots of stuff, 1st, 2nd and 3rd line support, project work, designed and implemented new systems, looked after a whole raft of things (much more than your standard desktop support team including a shed load of servers). This was for one of the largest employers in Devon and Cornwall.

Just over 4.5 years later and I've just left to go onto a more specialised role, but without the previous years experiance effectively starting from the bottom, I wouldn't have had a chance in getting this new job.

I think the problem at the moment isn't that there are not jobs available, it's just that the jobs that are there people don't seem to want, they all want to be on the big money and not want to work from the bottom up.
 
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Aye, having a Degree is no bad thing, its just that having a degree or not having one is not the end of the world. With effort, passion and knowledge of the field your after, you will get in. Just dont expect to start working for 50K a year, the TV lies! work your way up, unless like 'the_chicco' you can get into a nice field like VMware and DR, you will have to learn like the rest of us and take it easy for 2-3 years before going for 'better than average' wage.

And as I have said before, there are routes you can take other than full time work...

ColiN
 
Yea well i work part time as a network engineer now, when ever i go for a interview for work experience its the first thing they ask me about compared to qualifications. They seem happy usually when i talk about recent activities, im sure building up servers and configuring them to join in the networking, and boy that is challenging, to see how big the network was!

Then again if students didnt move on to do a degree do you really think and employer would still employ them? like i know you can learn from experience and all that but im sure there are some things that need to be taught. I would certainly say i prefer hands on experience and admit cisco is so boring to do, we have to sit and read pages and pages of it.

my current plans is to stick at college, do a foundation degree for 2 years and thats 6 grand compared to 16 - 20 you would pay at uni and then leave to get a job i was going to try get my employer to pay off the rest of my course as i was going to do my honours but i have a feeling they will turn round and say no need we want you to gain the experience here.
 
Hades said:
I agree that most of the issue is people not having real world experience. With so many experienced people competing for jobs, a junior person can't compete against them. Instead they end up competing against cheap offshore labour - and are too expensive.
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The main problem i have seen with junior/graduate people coming into IT is that they don't want to start at the bottom on the lowest rung of the ladder at the bottom of the pay scales. The amount of times i have interviewed people who have the paper MCP/MCSE or Uni degree, you offer them a job as a service desk analyst/desktop engineer for around the 14-18k mark and they turn around and tell you they can get paid that for stacking shelves in Asda and were expecting to start out at £25k and feel they are worth that price or more!

If you compare it to other industries you find that they nearly always make you work your way up the ladder 'learning the trade' so to speak, it's just that people think they can just jump into IT at any level because it has been an integral part of their life.

One thing said above is quite true i believe, developing yourself on a 3-4yr basis is essential if you want to move on/up in IT
 
kefkef said:
The main problem i have seen with junior/graduate people coming into IT is that they don't want to start at the bottom on the lowest rung of the ladder at the bottom of the pay scales. The amount of times i have interviewed people who have the paper MCP/MCSE or Uni degree, you offer them a job as a service desk analyst/desktop engineer for around the 14-18k mark and they turn around and tell you they can get paid that for stacking shelves in Asda and were expecting to start out at £25k and feel they are worth that price or more!

If you compare it to other industries you find that they nearly always make you work your way up the ladder 'learning the trade' so to speak, it's just that people think they can just jump into IT at any level because it has been an integral part of their life.

One thing said above is quite true i believe, developing yourself on a 3-4yr basis is essential if you want to move on/up in IT
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Nail on the head, exactly what I would say if I could construct a decent few paragraphs :p Especially the last bit, definitely think of the slightly longer game plan. You may start lower than you want but give it a few years and I'm sure you'll be earning a lot more :)
 
One thing I would add is that while a long-term plan is important, don't be afraid to change jobs if things aren't going for you.

I made the mistake of taking a technical but not strictly 'IT' job working with computers as my first job after uni, and got stuck in it for 4 years. I'd hoped it would provide a platform for breaking into IT but with very little in the way of transferrable skills it didn't work out that way (at least in the short term). But as soon as I stepped up to the next job my rise has been astronomical (relatively speaking) in terms of knowledge, experience, status, confidence, salary etc. Within 9 months I was able to move into another much better job.

My biggest regret is not taking that jump sooner. There's no reason why I couldn't be doing what I am now 3-4 years ago, which kinda makes me feel like I need to be making up for lost time.

Next year I plan on starting an IT related MSc with the OU, as my degree (Economics & Maths) isn't really of much use.
 
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