UK IT Job Market

[Trojan]

I'm currently living in Australia however I may be returning back to the UK in the next 12 months. I'm just wondering what the state of the UK market is in terms of IT jobs, specifically in the north? Are there many 3rd line Wintel SysAdmin roles about? Are the roles paying well?

Ideally I'd be looking for a position within a medium to large enterprise rather than a small shop as that's where my experience lies. I've got a couple of MCPs, am in the process of getting my MCITP Enterprise, and have around 5 years 3rd line experience with 8 or 9 years in IT in total. Although I'm mainly Windows focussed, I can find my way around HP-UX and various linux distros, and have a lot of experience with VMWare ESX3.5 and vSphere 4.

My current position is around 30% support to 70% strategic and project work. Am I likely to find it difficult finding a similar, well paid position given the current economic climate? Or are good SysAdmins in demand over there?

 

[Trojan]

I'd stay where you are if I was you

Heh, still a possibility, but it's looking increasing likely that I'll be heading back over there.

I'd say good luck finding a 3rd line windows position that doesn't want a completed MCSE/MCITP, we're recruiting senior Windows sysadmins (well, one additional) at the moment but that'd be a minimum standard for us. My feeling is the market in general is picking up down south but I can't say much about the rest of the country as I've utterly no interest in working there!

I'll have finished my enterprise MCITP by the time I get back to the UK so that wouldn't be an issue. Are companies really still wanting MCSEs? I can't imagine 2k3 is on anything but a decline.

 

[Trojan]

Trojan if you don't mind me asking, how tough is the MCITP? I'm looking to pick up some microsoft certifications after I finish my degree but am unsure if I should get the microsoft self study books and go for the MCITP sever administrator (which I can then advance to Enterprise administrator later on, as enterprise administrator requires everything that server admin does, but just a couple things extra) or should someone with no previous MS certifications go for something like an MCSE?

The MS website says that the MCITP Enterprise administrator is designed for people with years of experience and managing 250+ users over at least 3 sites with multiple domain controllers, I have none of this but the Cisco CCNA says that is for people with 2 or 3 years experience and I found the CCNA not too difficult without any job experience.

I'd suggest that if you could do the CCNA then you wouldn't have any problems getting your MCITP exams using just the self study books. That's all I'm using, but I do work day in day out in an enterprise position so am already aware of all of the technologies and how they work from a high level perspective.

I would echo what others have said regarding paper MCSEs / MCITPs though. It's all well and good getting the qualifications, but when you come to interview or your first day on the job, it's going to show through that you don't have the experience to back it up.

A friend at work recently did the MCITP EA course at Firebrand, 13 days straight, fun.

Perfect for him though, he's been working in the field for god knows how long so not one of these 'paper mcses', just a good enough way to get it all done in one relatively quick go.

Out of the 12 or so who took the course only 2 actually passed everything, he even did the SA pro exam as well to get that one as well (arguably no point if you have EA but still).

I wouldn't mind doing that myself rather than doing the self study but unfortunately I've not got the company funding to pay for it!

I might be bringing my run of never having got an MS cert soon as I reckon I should take a couple of exams soon, looking at 70-401 and 70-673.

You're in a OS/software deployment role then I take it? Would rather you than me. As good as SCCM is (and I do think it's a great product), it just doesn't interest me in the slightest!

I did my MCSE+2 self taught, although i had been working with the products for 2-3 years. Study weekend, exam monday, for 10 weeks.

Wish I had the time on a weekend to do that! It's all study on a weekday evening for me which unfortunately means only a couple of hours a night, max.

 

[Trojan]

So nobody has any direct experience of the market up north then? I'd be specifically looking at Leeds or Manchester and wouldn't be averse to contracting, for the right money of course.

 

[Trojan]

So it just goes to show qualifications or degrees go no-where these days.

Maybe when getting your foot in the door for a basic 1st line position. Try finding a decent 3rd line position though that doesn't require an MCP as an absolute minimum. You'll be struggling.

 

[Trojan]

The 2008 MCSE (MCITP:E) is much easier than the 2003 exams, if you are familiar with 2003 or 2008 the exams shoould be straight forward.

Which was in turn easier than the 2000 MCSE which was in turn easier than NT4 MCSE right? Rubbish. From what I've done so far I'd say it's about the same difficulty as the 2k3 exams, and the 2k exams.

Sorry to hijack but who would you guys say does the best revision material for MS exams?

I'm using and really liking the MS Training Kit. The practice sections are pretty good with a virtual lab and most areas are covered in depth.