New IT Career

[siovey]

Hi guys, since being made redundant at the end of last year I really fancied a career change, so I paid for an online course for the CompTIA A+ qualification and am pretty much ready to take the exams now. Assuming I pass them, is there anything else course wise I'd need to get into an entry level role? I've also paid for Security+ and Network+ courses if required to secure a role. Would anyone take me on whilst studying or do I have to be qualified first? Am I wasting my time trying to change careers in this economic climate?
Any advice is gladly welcomed!
Cheers

[Wilmslowboy]

IT is a very broad church, have you any idea what role you are looking for ?

Lots of growth areas, I.e. support (user), data, reporting, cloud environment admin, O365, cyber security etc

A few areas in decline, traditional networking, server and storage admin spring to mind.

[rustyuk]

I've been in IT for 20 odd years and have never seen anyone apply or get a job with those CompTIA courses.

As the previous poster mentioned above you need to pick an area of IT and then get experience in that area. I'd steer clear of those training centres asking for £££ to get experience & a guaranteed job.

For me I went back to college / Uni and did a HND whilst working part-time. Hard work for a could of years but it seems to have worked out well.

[anonymous-user]

Disagree with the above; Comp TIA roles are well known in the industry. The selection you have picked give a good grounding.

How much do you need to earn?

Also, I have seen people do residential coding training for a couple of months and be quite successful in getting roles.

The trick is to search the qualification on Indeed.com and work out how many jobs it relates to, the level and whether it's a fit for you.

[siovey]

Thanks for the replies so far. Initially just a helpdesk adviser just to get some experience under my belt. I did fancy cyber security as I reckon this will always be in demand. I'm looking for somewhere to spend the next 10 years until I can think about early retirement. I don't need to earn much. £18k is the minimum I can 'afford' to earn to cover my bills. Eventually, in a few years I'd like to be earning £30k + if I can. This is way more than I need but would be nice to earn.

[Wilmslowboy]

Edited my response, after reading yours, about seeking a service desk role.

We currently have 3 IT service desk roles available, ranging from £21k to £24k - key skills in order are:-

1. Good on the phone / email (with users)
2. Good trouble shooting / problem solving
3. ITIL foundation

4. Support desk experience
5. AD/ windows/ 0365 experience



Go on jobserve.com and look up support desk jobs, and see what skills are in demand.

Edited by Wilmslowboy on Sunday 28th February 10:05

[bitchstewie]

siovey said:

Thanks for the replies so far. Initially just a helpdesk adviser just to get some experience under my belt. I did fancy cyber security as I reckon this will always be in demand. I'm looking for somewhere to spend the next 10 years until I can think about early retirement. I don't need to earn much. £18k is the minimum I can 'afford' to earn to cover my bills. Eventually, in a few years I'd like to be earning £30k + if I can. This is way more than I need but would be nice to earn.

I may be a bit old-school but I think helpdesk roles can be a good way to build up real-world skills and also to get a foot in the door and some experience under your belt as you say.

My guess is if you can show that you're keen and eager and have good communication skills and look like someone who wants to learn rather than just get paid to do something you'll have no difficulty with most IT teams.

It's more once you get into company policies like HR wanting everyone to have a degree and so forth.

[rustyuk]

01WE01 said:

Disagree with the above; Comp TIA roles are well known in the industry. The selection you have picked give a good grounding.

How much do you need to earn?

Also, I have seen people do residential coding training for a couple of months and be quite successful in getting roles.

The trick is to search the qualification on Indeed.com and work out how many jobs it relates to, the level and whether it's a fit for you.

I stand slightly corrected there are 10 vacancies advertised on JobServe within 100 miles of London - That's out of 4883 jobs available.

Of those 10 - one is a graduate / entry role in which I would guess there will be several graduates with a degree in IT applying. 4883 to 1 - not great odds.

The residential places are cowboys IMHO. If development is your thing go to an actual College or try School of Code for free. Do not pay 10k for a 3 month training course.

I have always found that a certificate is usually worth the amount of effort put into obtaining it.

Good luck OP - If you have an interest in technology it can be a great career.

Edited by rustyuk on Sunday 28th February 10:09

[siovey]

Wilmslowboy said:

Edited my response, after reading yours, about seeking a service desk role.

We currently have 3 IT service desk roles available, ranging from £21k to £24k - key skills in order are:-

1. Good on the phone / email (with users)
2. Good trouble shooting / problem solving
3. ITIL foundation

4. Support desk experience
5. AD/ windows/ 0365 experience



Go on jobserve.com and look up support desk jobs, and see what skills are in demand.

Edited by Wilmslowboy on Sunday 28th February 10:05

Thanks mate, I've certainly got the first one. Need to work on the others though!

[siovey]

bhstewie said:

I may be a bit old-school but I think helpdesk roles can be a good way to build up real-world skills and also to get a foot in the door and some experience under your belt as you say.

My guess is if you can show that you're keen and eager and have good communication skills and look like someone who wants to learn rather than just get paid to do something you'll have no difficulty with most IT teams.

Yes, that's what I was hoping. I've always had to work my way up from the bottom so happy to do this again!

[siovey]

rustyuk said:

Good luck OP - If you have an interest in technology it can be a great career.

Edited by rustyuk on Sunday 28th February 10:09

Thanks mate

[andrewh]

Wilmslowboy said:

Edited my response, after reading yours, about seeking a service desk role.

We currently have 3 IT service desk roles available, ranging from £21k to £24k - key skills in order are:-

1. Good on the phone / email (with users)
2. Good trouble shooting / problem solving
3. ITIL foundation

4. Support desk experience
5. AD/ windows/ 0365 experience



Go on jobserve.com and look up support desk jobs, and see what skills are in demand.

Edited by Wilmslowboy on Sunday 28th February 10:05

Isn’t that only around £2 an hour more than the minimum wage assuming full time hours?

[Wilmslowboy]

andrewh said:

Isn’t that only around £2 an hour more than the minimum wage assuming full time hours?

I guess it' about £11 an hour (for 37 hour week)

About the going rate for 1st and 2nd line support desk roles.

For 1st line I'd rather take people with contact centre backgrounds than IT grads (better comms, better customer problems solving skills, used to working with SLA's)

Right behaviours, willing to learn and pick up the right skills, can go onto be a £30k to £40k role in 3 to 5 years.

[siovey]

I was wondering about what backgrounds would be ideal. Having been a call centre worker all my working life, account manager, customer services, complaint handling etc, I was wondering how my skills would translate. I was wondering whether employers would train people on the job or whether you need the qualifications first in this economic climate? I have one set of correct skills, just not the other yet!

[bitchstewie]

siovey said:

I was wondering about what backgrounds would be ideal. Having been a call centre worker all my working life, account manager, customer services, complaint handling etc, I was wondering how my skills would translate. I was wondering whether employers would train people on the job or whether you need the qualifications first in this economic climate? I have one set of correct skills, just not the other yet!

I suspect it depends on the company in so much as there is broad IT support which is perhaps less easily teachable and there's specific IT Support (say one specific application for example) which is likely to be more easily teachable.

It also depends if you're fixing or logging.

If you're fixing being able to hold a conversation for an hour might be great but maybe being able to fix the issue in 10 minutes is better.

If you're logging those customer facing skills may come in really handy.

As I said before if you can find an employer that values it a willingness to learn counts for a lot IMO as I tend to think IT is something you probably gravitate towards because you're interested in it rather than it just being a random job to pay the bills.

[siovey]

Definitely, at my age, I'm now looking for a job I can enjoy for the rest of my career. I know I'll be starting at the bottom and am willing to work my way up. Hopefully I'll find an employer who is happy to employ me with minimal IT experience, but able to 'deal' with the enquiry and logging side initially while I learn. Thanks again for all of the input guys

[Pig benis]

This comment is no help to you at all, but I truly do wish you the very best of luck.

The reason for my comment though is this is an interesting topic (to me at least). I fell into IT by sheer luck circa 10 years ago and it's really interesting to see / read of people wanting to get into the industry, all while, I'm trying to slowly phase my way out.

Don't get me wrong, IT has been fantastic for me, especially as I left school with barely any GCSEs, but if you have the right mindset, you can have a very good career and earn decent money at the same time.

The CompTIA A+ and Net+ were instrumental for me at the beginning of my IT journey, so you're absolutely correct in wanting to complete these. They will show an employer you have the right mindset and some technical knowledge. Once you're into your first IT job (most likely a service desk position), you will find a technology you like, for me it was networks. Once you have found your calling start researching in your own time, speak to colleagues in the teams and try to find a way to help them, even if its basic donkey work as this will show you're keen to learn.

Best of luck again OP

[Wilmslowboy]

The bit in bold is worth highlighting, I know many successful IT bods that have gone on to bigger and better roles, in large part through their willingness to hang around and support upgrades and system migrations being undertaken in evenings and weekends.

Might matter less today, but 20 to 15 years ago it was the best way to learn and get ahead.

Pig benis said:

This comment is no help to you at all, but I truly do wish you the very best of luck.

The reason for my comment though is this is an interesting topic (to me at least). I fell into IT by sheer luck circa 10 years ago and it's really interesting to see / read of people wanting to get into the industry, all while, I'm trying to slowly phase my way out.

Don't get me wrong, IT has been fantastic for me, especially as I left school with barely any GCSEs, but if you have the right mindset, you can have a very good career and earn decent money at the same time.

The CompTIA A+ and Net+ were instrumental for me at the beginning of my IT journey, so you're absolutely correct in wanting to complete these. They will show an employer you have the right mindset and some technical knowledge. Once you're into your first IT job (most likely a service desk position), you will find a technology you like, for me it was networks. Once you have found your calling start researching in your own time, speak to colleagues in the teams and try to find a way to help them, even if its basic donkey work as this will show you're keen to learn.

Best of luck again OP

[Fitz666]

Register with an agency such as Hayes. We use contractors all the time via Hayes, might be a foot in the door and give you some experience, which in my eyes for general support roles is worth far more than some certification.

[siovey]

Thanks guys. I suppose I really wanted to know if there's a chance I can get into this field at the bottom, using my current skills rather than a certificate. From the answers it looks like it's possible, but I need to get lucky with someone willing to take a chance on me! I'll carry on studying for now until the exams are passed , whilst looking out for any opportunities
It's either this or a financial collections job I've been offered which starts in April..