Looking to learn something to help me earn a bit more
Discussion
I'm now 43, stuck in a relatively dead end job with very few prospects and being driven up the wall with both boredom and decisions made on high with no relevance or awareness of what goes on 'down below' which again causes issues. I'm on £23.5k in Central Scotland and can't really move but with Edinburgh and Glasgow realtively close by it should be too much of an issue finding something suitable
So, I used to be will into computers and still am on the hardware side so thought about learning something new. I see 'stack' and '.net' stuff being advertised all the time, are these worth getting into? Can I learn these without paying thousands in online courses and certification? Obviously experience will be an issue, but I'm prepared to come in low, as long as it's more than I'm making, allowing for commute costs as well. I currently live 2 miles from my work!
Is there a 'next big thing' happening? Something I should get my foot in the door with? Can anyone recommend something? Where should I be looking?
Thanks.
So, I used to be will into computers and still am on the hardware side so thought about learning something new. I see 'stack' and '.net' stuff being advertised all the time, are these worth getting into? Can I learn these without paying thousands in online courses and certification? Obviously experience will be an issue, but I'm prepared to come in low, as long as it's more than I'm making, allowing for commute costs as well. I currently live 2 miles from my work!
Is there a 'next big thing' happening? Something I should get my foot in the door with? Can anyone recommend something? Where should I be looking?
Thanks.
Hard to get into IT these days with no experience. "Well into doesn't count.
Can you document in your cv what you've done?
Courses are ok but without any experience you'll be on the bottom rung in support and the. Your competing for the job with keen young kids with more up to date knowledge who are also "well into" it.
You need to identify what skills you have that you could use to separate you from everyone else when applying
Can you document in your cv what you've done?
Courses are ok but without any experience you'll be on the bottom rung in support and the. Your competing for the job with keen young kids with more up to date knowledge who are also "well into" it.
You need to identify what skills you have that you could use to separate you from everyone else when applying
The trouble with technical jobs in IT is that you're also competing with technical teams in India, China and Poland (although not so much there now!) who are considerably cheaper!
I don't know what industry you currently work or what role, but your comment re senior people not understanding the day to day role makes me wonder if Business Analysis might be worth looking at? For a lot of folks who are well versed in their business processes, its a good way in to IT and can lead to both technical and project work.
Best of luck in any case.
I don't know what industry you currently work or what role, but your comment re senior people not understanding the day to day role makes me wonder if Business Analysis might be worth looking at? For a lot of folks who are well versed in their business processes, its a good way in to IT and can lead to both technical and project work.
Best of luck in any case.
At the moment, the UK is crying out for top IT Talent, as much as everyone tells you it's being shipped out 24/7, in the right skillset the work is there.
A lot of the .Net work you'll be seeing, will be related to DevOps or development work. Have a look into the DevOps methodology and see what you can understand or pick up relatively easily - With an IT background and the right training, you could become appealing as a Junior and it still might be a slight increase in salary still.
Feel feel to drop me a PM if you want anything else mate.
A lot of the .Net work you'll be seeing, will be related to DevOps or development work. Have a look into the DevOps methodology and see what you can understand or pick up relatively easily - With an IT background and the right training, you could become appealing as a Junior and it still might be a slight increase in salary still.
Feel feel to drop me a PM if you want anything else mate.
Faz50 said:
Along the computer line you could try and find contract work?
Desktop deployments etc build up from there and leading to project management of the same or in the IT field?
I get loads of these offering £100-120 a day but they're all short term, 3 months max. If anyone has done this sort of thing were they left without new contracts lined up? Left in the lurch at very short notice? Or were you generally kept on or got new contracts if you worked hard and kept your nose clean from one contract to the next?Desktop deployments etc build up from there and leading to project management of the same or in the IT field?
I know people who do/did this sort of thing on a weekend. Big organisations who were undergoing a tech refresh - new desktop builds, etc.
DVLA was one that he mentioned although I can't recall how he got into it. He made it fit around his 9-5 and from what he told me, once the first gig was out of the way there was always the opportunity to carry on with new projects.
DVLA was one that he mentioned although I can't recall how he got into it. He made it fit around his 9-5 and from what he told me, once the first gig was out of the way there was always the opportunity to carry on with new projects.
MissChief said:
I'm now 43, stuck in a relatively dead end job with very few prospects and being driven up the wall with both boredom and decisions made on high with no relevance or awareness of what goes on 'down below' which again causes issues. I'm on £23.5k in Central Scotland and can't really move but with Edinburgh and Glasgow realtively close by it should be too much of an issue finding something suitable
So, I used to be will into computers and still am on the hardware side so thought about learning something new. I see 'stack' and '.net' stuff being advertised all the time, are these worth getting into? Can I learn these without paying thousands in online courses and certification? Obviously experience will be an issue, but I'm prepared to come in low, as long as it's more than I'm making, allowing for commute costs as well. I currently live 2 miles from my work!
Is there a 'next big thing' happening? Something I should get my foot in the door with? Can anyone recommend something? Where should I be looking?
Thanks.
If you become a good programmer, yes you can do fine. Not to be harsh but if your thinking power is along the lines of "I see stack and .net stuff" then I'm not sure if it is for you, especially at your age competing with fresh graduates coming onto the market each year. Not impossible though, so just depends on how badly you want it So, I used to be will into computers and still am on the hardware side so thought about learning something new. I see 'stack' and '.net' stuff being advertised all the time, are these worth getting into? Can I learn these without paying thousands in online courses and certification? Obviously experience will be an issue, but I'm prepared to come in low, as long as it's more than I'm making, allowing for commute costs as well. I currently live 2 miles from my work!
Is there a 'next big thing' happening? Something I should get my foot in the door with? Can anyone recommend something? Where should I be looking?
Thanks.
You could get a entry level hep desk type job and see if there are any opportunities to progress.Along with spending a lot of time initially learning, also bear in mind that unlike most jobs, the software trade requires you to constantly keep up to date and re-educate yourself, many people end up leaving/moving into management due to this.
Have you thought about doing a job on the side that you can make into a full time job? As a successful small business of some kind and being your own boss maybe a better change. Even something like advertising to go around and fix hardware for people in their homes, or teaching basic computer use to adults etc may take off and do you ok.
Edited by hyphen on Monday 18th June 23:34
MissChief said:
I get loads of these offering £100-120 a day but they're all short term, 3 months max. If anyone has done this sort of thing were they left without new contracts lined up? Left in the lurch at very short notice? Or were you generally kept on or got new contracts if you worked hard and kept your nose clean from one contract to the next?
£100 a day won't be worthwhile, financially speaking. If you manage to work 11 months in a year at an average of 21 days that is £23k without any employment benefits, pension or any security. It would only make sense if it would lead to better opportunities soonish.
IT can be tough to crack into with zero experience, but seeing as your in the central belt of Scotland and Glasgow's an option as a commute all is not lost.
I've worked in Glasgow since I was 18 in various IT roles (Support, Development, Solutions Architecture, Data Engineering and a few others). Plenty colleagues from previous employers and current have retrained later in life and done well, some started at the very bottom with next to no relevant qualifications or experience, others with degrees or masters.
Its a tough slog on the learning front though as mentioned and to stay on top of your game it will remain that way till you retire or move out of tech roles.
Without a computing science or similar software development degree you'll really struggle to land any programming role even at a junior level, however support roles at the moment are pretty plentiful and will at least in general match your current salary. There not as competitive as the development roles mainly due to lower starting salary's and most computing grads I've dealt with aren't exactly people persons as you might imagine.
In terms of getting into a role with a bit of learning and not a huge cash outlay I'd highly recommend getting up to speed on cloud computing, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure etc. Many companies in Glasgow (if not everywhere) are starting to take running their solutions in the cloud seriously, however I'd honestly say that the majority have yet to adopt the cloud at all which means there is many opportunities to come I believe.
As I briefly mentioned, a cheap way in to learning is available via a highly respected training provider www.acloud.guru, for example gaining an entry level certification in AWS as a certified cloud practitioner takes around 5 - 10 hours of study and if you spare the time can be done for free within the 7 day trial (sitting the actual exam is extra), although I'd highly recommend checking out what else they offer.
For me personally, full time development was not really my passion, whilst I was happy at the time and created some nice pieces of work, database technology, automation and creating efficient software solutions has been my thing for the last 12 years or so. Challenging work, highly technical but I get to be part of the decision making structure whilst also getting stuck in on actually making something work.
Find a niche, do it well in it and you'll receive a good salary, good terms and have no fears of being made redundant as you'll be in demand. Keeping on top of the next big thing is a must to stay that way though.
I've worked in Glasgow since I was 18 in various IT roles (Support, Development, Solutions Architecture, Data Engineering and a few others). Plenty colleagues from previous employers and current have retrained later in life and done well, some started at the very bottom with next to no relevant qualifications or experience, others with degrees or masters.
Its a tough slog on the learning front though as mentioned and to stay on top of your game it will remain that way till you retire or move out of tech roles.
Without a computing science or similar software development degree you'll really struggle to land any programming role even at a junior level, however support roles at the moment are pretty plentiful and will at least in general match your current salary. There not as competitive as the development roles mainly due to lower starting salary's and most computing grads I've dealt with aren't exactly people persons as you might imagine.
In terms of getting into a role with a bit of learning and not a huge cash outlay I'd highly recommend getting up to speed on cloud computing, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure etc. Many companies in Glasgow (if not everywhere) are starting to take running their solutions in the cloud seriously, however I'd honestly say that the majority have yet to adopt the cloud at all which means there is many opportunities to come I believe.
As I briefly mentioned, a cheap way in to learning is available via a highly respected training provider www.acloud.guru, for example gaining an entry level certification in AWS as a certified cloud practitioner takes around 5 - 10 hours of study and if you spare the time can be done for free within the 7 day trial (sitting the actual exam is extra), although I'd highly recommend checking out what else they offer.
For me personally, full time development was not really my passion, whilst I was happy at the time and created some nice pieces of work, database technology, automation and creating efficient software solutions has been my thing for the last 12 years or so. Challenging work, highly technical but I get to be part of the decision making structure whilst also getting stuck in on actually making something work.
Find a niche, do it well in it and you'll receive a good salary, good terms and have no fears of being made redundant as you'll be in demand. Keeping on top of the next big thing is a must to stay that way though.
Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff