Where does my career go from here? [IT]
Discussion
Evening folks,
Looking to sound off and hopefully get some advice.
My history is as follows:
Education:
Middle of the road GCSEs at a good school
Distinction grade in an IT practicioner BTEC
A 1st Class BSc with Honours Computer Security and Digital Forensics
Just took the ITIL Foundation exam- certain I've got it but don't get preliminary result until Monday and certificate a few weeks later.
Work (oldest to newest) :
A year out for work placement during my degree as an IT Technician in a secondary comprehensive - mostly 1st/2nd/3rd line support, desktop/asset procurement and management, AV support and some project work. Left this as it was always going to be a year only (though the headteacher elected to extend my period a further month).
2 years as an IT support engineer at a mid sized charity (the last 9 months of that under the title of senior engineer, not a promotion as such, more differentiated as the department grew). Similar tasks to the previous role but with additional responsibility for client configuration/security, telephony and had more involvement in strategic projects. Biggest achievement in this role was being part of the information security management system implementation group, including delivering information security training to ~600 non-technical staff all over the UK.
6 months and counting working on the service management team at a nationally known fintech company. Bit of a departure and definitely the "next level". Responsibility in this role is for various ITSM processes. I'm primarily responsible for business continuity, asset management, reporting and access management. Also due to the current volume of work and employee absence, I'm heavily involved in incident and problem management. I and others have noticed huge improvement from myself over the last 6 months in my ability to handle incidents and the problem management process.
Unfortunately, I'm getting a tad bored in this role as it seems like 90% of my time is spent following processes and there isn't a whole lot of autonomy right now- I miss being relied on to deliver things, whether that be support or solutions to problems.
However, I'm not sure how to remedy that? My manager has advised that staffing issues should be resolved in the new year and I should regain some of that time lost on getting involved in incidents as well as my other responsibilities in order to get back to delivering continual service improvement and taking ownership of some of those processes. I did quite enjoy the role prior to the staffing issues (they started presenting themselves after my probation ended) and would like to be back in that frame of mind.
However... I'm young, free of commitments and feel I'm capable of working a bit harder (through challenge instead of volume) than I am now as this seems more like a role I'd calm down into. What are my options?
Contracting seems to be a common step on and a way of getting out of roles where I just 'work'. However the majority of roles are based in London (I'm currently in Peterborough) and to make the travel costs work and get a boost financially I'd need to be on 300/day outside of IR35.
There's scope for promotion in my current role prior to becoming a manager but be looking a year or more for that to even become a possibility.
I could potentially look to perform a different role elsewhere in my current organisation (BAs seem to be wanted and have some crossover skills wise) but as I'd be coming in at a more junior level in a different career path, it'd almost certainly be a drop in pay which I'd rather not have right now unless it could be easily demonstrated as an "investment".
Any ideas?
Looking to sound off and hopefully get some advice.
My history is as follows:
Education:
Middle of the road GCSEs at a good school
Distinction grade in an IT practicioner BTEC
A 1st Class BSc with Honours Computer Security and Digital Forensics
Just took the ITIL Foundation exam- certain I've got it but don't get preliminary result until Monday and certificate a few weeks later.
Work (oldest to newest) :
A year out for work placement during my degree as an IT Technician in a secondary comprehensive - mostly 1st/2nd/3rd line support, desktop/asset procurement and management, AV support and some project work. Left this as it was always going to be a year only (though the headteacher elected to extend my period a further month).
2 years as an IT support engineer at a mid sized charity (the last 9 months of that under the title of senior engineer, not a promotion as such, more differentiated as the department grew). Similar tasks to the previous role but with additional responsibility for client configuration/security, telephony and had more involvement in strategic projects. Biggest achievement in this role was being part of the information security management system implementation group, including delivering information security training to ~600 non-technical staff all over the UK.
6 months and counting working on the service management team at a nationally known fintech company. Bit of a departure and definitely the "next level". Responsibility in this role is for various ITSM processes. I'm primarily responsible for business continuity, asset management, reporting and access management. Also due to the current volume of work and employee absence, I'm heavily involved in incident and problem management. I and others have noticed huge improvement from myself over the last 6 months in my ability to handle incidents and the problem management process.
Unfortunately, I'm getting a tad bored in this role as it seems like 90% of my time is spent following processes and there isn't a whole lot of autonomy right now- I miss being relied on to deliver things, whether that be support or solutions to problems.
However, I'm not sure how to remedy that? My manager has advised that staffing issues should be resolved in the new year and I should regain some of that time lost on getting involved in incidents as well as my other responsibilities in order to get back to delivering continual service improvement and taking ownership of some of those processes. I did quite enjoy the role prior to the staffing issues (they started presenting themselves after my probation ended) and would like to be back in that frame of mind.
However... I'm young, free of commitments and feel I'm capable of working a bit harder (through challenge instead of volume) than I am now as this seems more like a role I'd calm down into. What are my options?
Contracting seems to be a common step on and a way of getting out of roles where I just 'work'. However the majority of roles are based in London (I'm currently in Peterborough) and to make the travel costs work and get a boost financially I'd need to be on 300/day outside of IR35.
There's scope for promotion in my current role prior to becoming a manager but be looking a year or more for that to even become a possibility.
I could potentially look to perform a different role elsewhere in my current organisation (BAs seem to be wanted and have some crossover skills wise) but as I'd be coming in at a more junior level in a different career path, it'd almost certainly be a drop in pay which I'd rather not have right now unless it could be easily demonstrated as an "investment".
Any ideas?
rustyuk said:
In 20 plus years of IT the best move I made was to get an IT skill. By that I mean something other than meetings and babysitting geeks in an IT background.
Pick a speciality and focus on that.
I've always found support, incident management etc to be the arse of the IT world.
AI, DevOps and Security seem to be the big growth areas.
Best of luck!
We've got DevOps and Security teams elsewhere within my function. Maybe I can work out some secondment opportunities next year perhaps? The security lead has already said he'd be happy to but the staffing issues are making it impossible for me to make any internal moves at the moment. Pick a speciality and focus on that.
I've always found support, incident management etc to be the arse of the IT world.
AI, DevOps and Security seem to be the big growth areas.
Best of luck!
slow_poke said:
You have "A 1st Class BSc with Honours Computer Security and Digital Forensics"? And you're arsing about on Problem and Incident Management?
I don't think you know your own value.
I think you're right to be honest. I've set a meeting with the security lead to pick up where we left off last time.I don't think you know your own value.
Thanks for the words folks, gonna look into getting back into security.
272BHP said:
Personally I would try and back up your degree with some recent certifications and puff up your CV.
Grab a Security+ first, this should take no longer than a few weeks and the exam can be done at any PearsonVue - self study is the way to go. Then start studying for the CISSP which is a fair bit trickier.
Some people would say all that is a waste of time but if you have security certifications on your CV that are recently dated it tells me that you are a life long learner which is something you certainly have to be in the security field as the sands shift constantly.
Just had a look into this, looks good and certainly food for thought. May well pick up the Udemy course for a tenner and dive in.Grab a Security+ first, this should take no longer than a few weeks and the exam can be done at any PearsonVue - self study is the way to go. Then start studying for the CISSP which is a fair bit trickier.
Some people would say all that is a waste of time but if you have security certifications on your CV that are recently dated it tells me that you are a life long learner which is something you certainly have to be in the security field as the sands shift constantly.
Just to continue my own story:
- I've spoken with the security manager as well as the current analyst (who's been a friend of mine since the start of uni). Due to internal issues (staffing and resources, a couple of vacancies as well as lots of people taking lots of holiday in the run up to the end of the annual leave year) where I work it doesn't look like anything is going to play out there as the security manager is after a bit more than can be given to him at the moment. Crucially, he's after a full on internal transfer (vs say, a secondment or part time work) which in no way would be able to be signed off in the timeframe he's after as we're all under the same department. The work also sounds very hands off which is what I'm trying to get away from if anything. Might be one to circle back to though.
- I've also spoken with a senior manager who has a good grip on the roles where I work. They have suggested Business Analysis as it builds on a lot of the transferable skills I have (stakeholder management, problem solving) and having spoken to one of the BAs it does certainly seem like something I'd be interested in. The functional lead for BA is also a bit more realistic when it comes to availability for me to pursue that so there's potentially something there. A development plan is currently being worked out for that.
Been quite a while since I posted here so figured I'd put in an update:
- Since I last posted my ITSM team has gained a new manager and another two analysts so we're very much in a position of strength now. I've also now been at the organisation a little over a year now and am familiar with all our teams/functions as are they with me.
- The "development plan" around Business Analysis still has yet to materialise, I've been to a few induction sessions with the latest crop of BAs and whilst it seems pretty interesting, it does also seem as hands off as my current role which isn't what I'm after. A BA role came up in one of our teams, I spoke with the hiring manager about it a couple of weeks ago and he said he'd feed back my thoughts as no applications had yet to be received. Curiously enough, the listing disappeared the following week and I've heard back from nobody about it so it's not worth the hassle in my opinion if it's like this before I've even got a goal to aim for.
- The security function is changing massively where I work (the previous person in charge has left and it's bringing about a massive reshuffle) and as part of that there's going to be a lot of expansion in the local team where I am. It's looking likely that as part of that they'll be recruiting for a junior analyst once a senior manager has been appointed (I believe they're at selection stage) and I'm very much intending on applying for it as soon as it's posted on our Intranet so fingers crossed.
- I've started on the learning towards CompTIA Security+ and am enjoying re-familiarising myself with everything! Will likely either self-certify or wait and see if it's something I can be put more or less straight into the exam for if I do break into the 'new' security team. It's also made me realise that my degree has done precisely nothing for my career thus far aside from ticking the 'Degree remotely related' box - my first job out of university was gained off the back of my work placement year and not my degree. My second job was gained off the back of my first job!
Thanks to everyone who's provided thoughts/advice, it's much appreciated!
I'll get another update in in a few months then I reckon
- Since I last posted my ITSM team has gained a new manager and another two analysts so we're very much in a position of strength now. I've also now been at the organisation a little over a year now and am familiar with all our teams/functions as are they with me.
- The "development plan" around Business Analysis still has yet to materialise, I've been to a few induction sessions with the latest crop of BAs and whilst it seems pretty interesting, it does also seem as hands off as my current role which isn't what I'm after. A BA role came up in one of our teams, I spoke with the hiring manager about it a couple of weeks ago and he said he'd feed back my thoughts as no applications had yet to be received. Curiously enough, the listing disappeared the following week and I've heard back from nobody about it so it's not worth the hassle in my opinion if it's like this before I've even got a goal to aim for.
- The security function is changing massively where I work (the previous person in charge has left and it's bringing about a massive reshuffle) and as part of that there's going to be a lot of expansion in the local team where I am. It's looking likely that as part of that they'll be recruiting for a junior analyst once a senior manager has been appointed (I believe they're at selection stage) and I'm very much intending on applying for it as soon as it's posted on our Intranet so fingers crossed.
- I've started on the learning towards CompTIA Security+ and am enjoying re-familiarising myself with everything! Will likely either self-certify or wait and see if it's something I can be put more or less straight into the exam for if I do break into the 'new' security team. It's also made me realise that my degree has done precisely nothing for my career thus far aside from ticking the 'Degree remotely related' box - my first job out of university was gained off the back of my work placement year and not my degree. My second job was gained off the back of my first job!
Thanks to everyone who's provided thoughts/advice, it's much appreciated!
I'll get another update in in a few months then I reckon
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