Career Advice- IT
Discussion
In my view you need to work your way up to be an it architect. I dont see how you can design soluitions without ever been exposed to supporting and putting them in within your career.
That was my path, but recently been involved with architects that dont even know the basics which i find unbelievable.
That was my path, but recently been involved with architects that dont even know the basics which i find unbelievable.
Guvernator said:
If I were you I'd skip the technical side and move into project management or IT architecture\design. Get a few years as a permie under your belt then go contracting. By far the biggest earning potential with day rates starting from £400 a day and going up plus it's not as competitive.
Technical IT is a dead end unless you are VERY good or do something VERY specialised. Everything is being outsourced and you can't really compete with a 100 million Indians who have multiple degrees\qualifications but are willing to work 12 hour days for peanuts in comparison.
IT salaries have been pretty much stagnant for the past 10 years and some even going backwards. I've seen jobs which want CCNE qualifications up to the gazoo paying £30k a year because they know if you won't do it, there are a hundred overseas people who will. Sorry to paint a gloomy picture but I work in Technical IT and unless there is a massive u-turn on outsourcing, we are pretty much fu*ked within 10 years.
I'm still on the fence about contract work. Unless I can get £5-600/day these days it's probably not worth it for me. And I'm still writing code these days (although been at it for a decade now - time flies!). Also not convinced about getting straight into IT architecture - the things you need to think about to create a scalable, resilient system are things that you really need to get a load of real world experience in.Technical IT is a dead end unless you are VERY good or do something VERY specialised. Everything is being outsourced and you can't really compete with a 100 million Indians who have multiple degrees\qualifications but are willing to work 12 hour days for peanuts in comparison.
IT salaries have been pretty much stagnant for the past 10 years and some even going backwards. I've seen jobs which want CCNE qualifications up to the gazoo paying £30k a year because they know if you won't do it, there are a hundred overseas people who will. Sorry to paint a gloomy picture but I work in Technical IT and unless there is a massive u-turn on outsourcing, we are pretty much fu*ked within 10 years.
Outsourcing is an issue, but if you're any good then you should still find work easily. I was dumped from a permie role in October as one project was moving to Canada and another to Bangalore. It was a bit of a s
t happens moment and slightly ironic - I've been involved in setting up offshore teams in China (good but expensive), India (st with an attitude problem) and the Ukraine (awesome - but we may have got lucky with our outsourcing partner). I think a lot of companies have been burnt by the outsourcing shops (TCS et al). And if you are outsourced? Find another job / skill. Flexibility is key.As for stagnant salaries - it's not the cash cow it once was, but I've done pretty well as of late and have a comfortable life (well into 40% tax territory).
Anyway - OP - considered software testing? Probably can find a small dev shop willing to take you on. I know some very good developers who started off as testers and don't have degrees etc.
eliot said:
In my view you need to work your way up to be an it architect. I dont see how you can design soluitions without ever been exposed to supporting and putting them in within your career.
That was my path, but recently been involved with architects that dont even know the basics which i find unbelievable.
I was about to say the same thing. You need experience to become an architect; you can't just 'go into' architecture. That was my path, but recently been involved with architects that dont even know the basics which i find unbelievable.
In my view of someone wants a career in IT but isn't sure what area, that kind of says they're more interested in the money than the career.
There is as ever a varying quality/viewpoint on the advice in the thread.
One thing I will say is, don't think a CCNA will be the magical key for the door. If you keep that in mind, you'll be fine. Experience is key, and whilst a CCNA shows you 'get' the principals of networking/cisco kit, all it really does is get you to a technical interview.
I like the idea someone further up made about transitioning into IT from the business. Be bold, find the name of someone senior in IT and just mail them and ask. Don't just write a single line saying 'got any jobs mate' but explain why you want a change, and the experience you could bring.
You want them to be thinking that you aren't some guy in IT that see's a network switch go down and thinks 'so what, it happens' and just fixes it. You want them to think you will be some guy in IT who's worked in the business and realises the impact that has 'on the shop floor'. Someone who thinks 'this is costing us money, how do we ensure it doesn't happen again/mitigate it/whatever'.
It's a brief post on an internet forum, but you get my point.
One thing I will say is, don't think a CCNA will be the magical key for the door. If you keep that in mind, you'll be fine. Experience is key, and whilst a CCNA shows you 'get' the principals of networking/cisco kit, all it really does is get you to a technical interview.
I like the idea someone further up made about transitioning into IT from the business. Be bold, find the name of someone senior in IT and just mail them and ask. Don't just write a single line saying 'got any jobs mate' but explain why you want a change, and the experience you could bring.
You want them to be thinking that you aren't some guy in IT that see's a network switch go down and thinks 'so what, it happens' and just fixes it. You want them to think you will be some guy in IT who's worked in the business and realises the impact that has 'on the shop floor'. Someone who thinks 'this is costing us money, how do we ensure it doesn't happen again/mitigate it/whatever'.
It's a brief post on an internet forum, but you get my point.
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