Getting started

Deano1971

Thanks for the replies peeps

I really need to find out how to find an "entry level" position.....Whenever I look on the net "Experience is king" even for entry level/junior positions.

Am I looking in the wrong areas...ie agencies :

I basically have bugger all experience.........

I used to be a casino manager on cruise ships in the far east.....Whilst there I learnt about computers...how to switch one on and so forth....after a year I was helping other people with MS applications....another year on helping with hardware problems and minor network problems (at a client level) all self taught.....( well maybe the it officer did teach me a thing or 3)

After a couple of more years I was doing drydocks (ship out of water for a couple of weeks, refurb as much as possible inside and out). Well guys come in and start laying cables all over the place, "ere, mate what's that funny looking thing with flashing lights at the end of the wire" I would ask.
"urdy gurdy wire tester, urdy gurdy" (dodgy scandinavian accent).

IT types running around and setting up my casino tables with terminals, linking a few of these terminals together and directing to a black box at my Pit Managers computer desk....."oye, what ya doing Mr. IT person?" "Well these are TDU terminals which are linked to this little iddy box called a node, you can only have three of these linked and the end one must be terminated. Then that wire must go to the hub....."

I believe you guys can see that I harassed these guys wanting to know absolutely everything going on.......I loved it....sad but true

That is my basic knowledge, I have helped lay the cabling and crimp wires and stuff but never been asked...."So Mr. Maskell, we are looking at implementing.........what do you suggest we do?"

SO WHERE SHOULD I BE LOOKING FOR A JOB..........

I have already paid for my MCSA with a couple of professional courses which will hopefully lead on to an MCSE........

But I need the experience, that seems to be what matters.....employers want it all....but it seems to be a catch22 situation.

I have a lot of passion and enthusiasm for the industry I want to get into but I am finding it hard to get the proverbial foot in the door

Hopefully some of you guys can tell me your stories of how you started....

desperately seeking help and guidance

Deano

Zumpel

If you've got an IT department or person in you work place, ask them if you could help out. Just make sure they understand that you;re really into that stuff and won't be after their job. If you're lucky you get a good guy or gal that likes teaching/sharing, as in my opinion it can be personally rewarding.

The other, prolly more common route would be to get a junior position. That however will prolly bring a major cutback salary wise. Once you paid your dues in the field you might be able to bring your managment experience to bear. Heck, if you;re lucky you might even get a position as teamlead/supervisor. (..like my old boss.. became Teamleader and knew erm.. little... very little.. but they dug his "people managment" skills and "managment experience") A position like that however you will have to search for. Tech Support Call Centres might be a good bet. You still won't be jumping straight into the 1s and 0s and will have to deal with the usual staffing issues (which are .. interesting.. in a call centre environment.. ) but at least you've got the foot in the door and can continue to learn more stuff and continue from there.

...er... yes.... a lot of "ifs" and "maybes" and "luck" in it.. but it might food for thought....

good luck

Deano1971

Thanks for that Zumpel.....

Unfortuneately I have left the last job......

The wife and I decided that it was enough of the ship life.....Therefore coming back to England to live and a complete career change was what we decided.......Thus I am studying full time to get the certs.....But I need to start working and basically where to start is the problem...I have seen the tech support jobs but again all have asked for experience....

Oh well cannot get despondent , there is a job someplace, somewhere with my name on it.....Oh yes it will me mine

Thanks again for you reply......

Deano

nethersdenizen

Apply to jobs that ask for more experiance than what you have if you can't find anything else. Companies always try to get to get the most for their money and that includes people with all the certs and experiance in the world. They do not get what they want and will settle for someone less than ideal when a position needs to be filled(trust me, I've worked with some real IT helpless people). Try to get an interview and you should be able to land an interview with your A+ and Network+ certs plus the experiance that you do have. Try to fit that experiance from the ship into your resume. Once at the interview you can show them you are a proffessional and that you are still working towards increasing your skills on your own. You might get less pay than you'd like but as you better yourself with more certs and experiance you can look for better jobs and get offers. Once you get some offers from other places you can go to your boss and demand better compensation or you will have to turn in your two weeks notice. Of course the boss wont want you to leave, unless it's a real basic job and it's cheaper to hire someone else. In either case you win so go out there and apply to everything, who knows what might happen.

Best of luck to you in the hunt.

Zumpel

No worries.
Have you checked for state sponsored programs ? A lady I know in N-Ireland got into an IT course, which included Networking and seemed to be really good, with proper Labs and the works. Don't know how long she was unemployed before the got into the program though. (Entitlement and so on)
Other than that, the jobsites on the sticker in one of the forums can be quite helpful. monster.co.uk seems to be quite ok.

Good luck

Deano1971

I walked into a computer shop today and basically said to the owner that I am A+ certified and if he would mind me helping out. I said that I do not want any money as I am after experience. His eyes lit up about me offering services for no money but asked me what A+ was.......? It was only when I said that I can strip and assemble computers he took any notice....So on a trial basis I will be doing a Saturday job starting tomorrow........Will let you know how it goes......??

Deano

Ghent

I've known a couple of people that started off getting their expierience working at the local CompUSA. Just out of curiousity, despite the "USA" in the name, do they have those in other countries? I know from expierience that getting a job at Radio Shack isn't to easy, and a lot of people have better luck with CompUSA.

Zumpel

Excellent approach Deano !
/me lifts his hat

Best of luck !