Need a New Job

[jrw]

Tbh this is some of the doubts I already have about IT and I think eventually I will do something else instead. My 3 years of it in Uni were indeed soul destroying and the 18mths before getting my 1st "IT" job got me down too. Fixing PC's is pretty pointless as everything is so cheap. I only fix for family and friends now but even that brings up headaches.

Think the best thing to do at the moment is to stick it out where I am and look for better opportunities. As I said before if I had a job involving more of my hobbies, mainly cars and paid well enough I'd be happy. They say you shouldn't have jobs that involve hobbies else they become chores but cars are something I've loved since I was 3 years old.

There is fixing as in hardware and fixing as in software. There is more money in the software side simply due to the fact that people are scared. AV, Backups, defrags, cleanups etc. People want this doing all the time but the problem is they would rather take it to PC World than trust someone like me or you to do a better job for half the price.....the power of advertising. If it wasn't for the likes of PC World i would probably be a rich man!

[hertsnminds]

I have been in IT for over 25 years. I knew I was interested in computers from the age of 14 (when the first Commodore PET was shown to us at school). Went through college worked in the defence, banking and design industry and for the last 10 years have run my own business.

Apart from the do you enjoy what you do aspect of things (and no matter what you do there will be good and bad days) you have to decide what type of environment you like the most. That is working for someone else where you have all sorts of corporate politics to contend with or working for yourself where you have to do everything including keeping yourself motivated.

IT covers such a broad spectrum of things and you can see examples of college kids making a fortune from the industry, FaceBook, Apple etc and those who fell by the wayside, Sinclair, ICL, Digital.

One thing is for sure in IT you will always be out of date, those who knew everything about Unix 10 years ago were just geeks, now they have a highly sought after skill set. You can either support or chase the next big thing or create it.

[gac]

Do yourself a favour and don't get a job in IT! Its soul destroying, especially the support aspect when you are working with thick people in your own team and supporting even thicker people!

I want out but don't know what to do, thinking Photography or Car Detailing....

I feel a bit like this at the moment. I already work with one muppet with more experience than me, more qualifications than me, but ZERO common sense so he gets paid 50% of my salary. Plus with various re-organisations, it's looking like we'll probably get another new person in, who will no doubt have a degree and be another drongo as well. Not to mention the total idiots who I'm responsible for supporting who don't know their arse from their elbow and insist it's my job to find out which is which.

I also want out, but struggling to find other academic jobs that don't require a degree (which I don't have). So looks like if I really do want out, I'm going to have to take my chances with some kind of commercial firm, of which there aren't many in the Midlands and I don't want to relocate :(

[jrw]

I feel a bit like this at the moment. I already work with one muppet with more experience than me, more qualifications than me, but ZERO common sense so he gets paid 50% of my salary. Plus with various re-organisations, it's looking like we'll probably get another new person in, who will no doubt have a degree and be another drongo as well. Not to mention the total idiots who I'm responsible for supporting who don't know their arse from their elbow and insist it's my job to find out which is which.

I also want out, but struggling to find other academic jobs that don't require a degree (which I don't have). So looks like if I really do want out, I'm going to have to take my chances with some kind of commercial firm, of which there aren't many in the Midlands and I don't want to relocate :(

Sounds like our place where they promote you based on how brown your nose is to the management. Someone with no IT quals has been given a job over me as he has 'better personal skills' than me, i mean WTF! Doesn't matter about my MS and Apple qualifications then? The fact i have been in the job twice as long as him? The fact i know all the systems on both networks and not just one? Yet now i am meant to go to him for advice?.....Thats my bitter rant over...sorry!

[gac]

Yeah, it is a bit like that. It's public sector (university) though, so rather than just generic brown nosing, it has to be the right kind of brown nosing and fit in with the latest buzzwords. I can't get any more payrises, ever, unless I start managing people (I'm an IT guy, I manage systems, that's the whole point in my role!) or become a specialist. But where we used to have systems I could specialise in (our department had Exchange about 4 years before the rest of the campus had groupware, we have some vendor-bespoke "cluster" systems, we had a VPN for remote working before anyone else, etc) we're slowly having to centralise everything to meet various efficiency and carbon emission targets (which is a fair point and would work out well if I was central IT staff, but I'm stuck out in one department where my job at the moment is to OSD deploy Windows 7 onto everything in sight as we're supposed to have our whole department's fleet finished by March...). So I'm stuck in a dead end job at the moment. On the one hand, I'm doing the same work as the other guy for twice his salary, so ker-ching. But on the other hand, I'm doing the same crap work that someone with half my "worth" gets given, so it's boring. Depending on whether it's a positive or negative day defines which way around I look at it

[jrw]

Yeah, it is a bit like that. It's public sector (university) though, so rather than just generic brown nosing, it has to be the right kind of brown nosing and fit in with the latest buzzwords. I can't get any more payrises, ever, unless I start managing people (I'm an IT guy, I manage systems, that's the whole point in my role!) or become a specialist. But where we used to have systems I could specialise in (our department had Exchange about 4 years before the rest of the campus had groupware, we have some vendor-bespoke "cluster" systems, we had a VPN for remote working before anyone else, etc) we're slowly having to centralise everything to meet various efficiency and carbon emission targets (which is a fair point and would work out well if I was central IT staff, but I'm stuck out in one department where my job at the moment is to OSD deploy Windows 7 onto everything in sight as we're supposed to have our whole department's fleet finished by March...). So I'm stuck in a dead end job at the moment. On the one hand, I'm doing the same work as the other guy for twice his salary, so ker-ching. But on the other hand, I'm doing the same crap work that someone with half my "worth" gets given, so it's boring. Depending on whether it's a positive or negative day defines which way around I look at it

I work for a council - enough said. Pussyfoot around the management with yes sirs and no sirs and you will get places. Make suggestions and question practices, procedures and new ideas and get nowhere....

[gac]

Ah, you're public sector too. I dare say everything I've said is quite close to home then...

[gadgetman]

I work for a council - enough said. Pussyfoot around the management with yes sirs and no sirs and you will get places. Make suggestions and question practices, procedures and new ideas and get nowhere....

Not IT, but didn't realise you worked at my place as well!

Small world :lol:

[jrw]

Not IT, but didn't realise you worked at my place as well!

Small world :lol:

Glad its not just me! At least we're safe in the fact out noses are clean!

[H Bomb]

I've been working in IT since I was 19 (9 years) and only the last 3 or 4 years have I made progress. Started off at the bottom - PC World technician - what a DUMP! Learned more about the Dixons Group returns policy than anything, since then I've worked for 3 local IT companies and only really started to progress at the last 2. Its difficult to push on in this kind of industry, a few times I've thought about chucking it in, but I got a lucky break at my present company as a network engineer and am now working towards a Microsoft MCSE (not bad for a Mac worshipper lol).

Hope things work out for u, at times IT can be the most soul destroying and stressful job on the planet, but mostly the good times outweigh the bad. Helluva lot of us techies on here aren't there?!

[gac]

Started off at the bottom - PC World technician - what a DUMP!

I applied there straight from college......they wouldn't even have me! The shame nearly ended my IT career there and then!

[TriggerFish]

This thread is quite depressing. :(

I'm at uni currently doing 'network computing' - communications/networing basically, but on my placement year at another university's IT dept. As they're undergoing centralisation of IT there's only 2 of us left to look after the faculty, and as such I get to do a large range of things. Currently we're migrating a domain over to a pre-existing university one, along with the file system etc. I'm also in the process of setting up new imaging systems as well, after RIS finally died.

To think I'm likely going to end up doing 1st line stuff again (not a huge fan - hate the users!) after graduating is a bit gutting to say the least!

I was helping out at my old school (years 3-6) last year while studying, 1-2 days a week. They've only got around 30 computers, and a laptop in each classroom, but being there I found was really good fun. A lot of time was spent working with the children and teaching them and generally being taught stuff by the chap who worked there, as well as doing all the server-y stuff, as well as working with the users. If something like that came up, I'd happily take it. A wide range of activities, and very open choice over what software/hardware etc is used, as well as managing all the systems.

[H Bomb]

I applied there straight from college......they wouldn't even have me! The shame nearly ended my IT career there and then!

Lol!!! Lucky escape hehehe!

I like the job when I'm out and about at different sites, meeting customers and seeing different setups. The boring bit is usually being stuck in the office trying to remote onto customer's kit, and sometimes even THAT is too challenging for customers to comprehend! I often thought it would be nice to be doing IT on one site, as you could have almost full control of everything that went on day in day out, but I think I'd miss getting out on the roads - the perks for me are that I get to travel all over the Lake District, Yorkshire and South West Scotland - and theres almost always a nice view to pull up at for your lunch hehehehe!

[hertsnminds]

It is such a broad area as this web page indicates

http://www.it-pathways.com/it-career-pathways.html

Then you add to that all the different industry sectors which require each of the job roles outlined and if you are still not happy then you maybe need to look again at your career path.

Let's face it you could say Alan Sugar ran an IT company (Amstrad) but he knew diddly squat about technology, does that mean he had a job in IT?

[TissMe]

Tbh this is some of the doubts I already have about IT and I think eventually I will do something else instead. My 3 years of it in Uni were indeed soul destroying and the 18mths before getting my 1st "IT" job got me down too. Fixing PC's is pretty pointless as everything is so cheap. I only fix for family and friends now but even that brings up headaches.

Think the best thing to do at the moment is to stick it out where I am and look for better opportunities. As I said before if I had a job involving more of my hobbies, mainly cars and paid well enough I'd be happy. They say you shouldn't have jobs that involve hobbies else they become chores but cars are something I've loved since I was 3 years old.

Did you get my PM and did it go well?

Sarah

[MartynVRS]

Did you get my PM and did it go well?

Sarah

Sorry what PM and what went well?

[TissMe]

Sorry what PM and what went well?

Doh......Wrong one , sorry , that is me getting old!!!!!!

Sarah

[MartynVRS]

Bumping this just to see if anyone knows of more places to look for jobs. Got several people looking in local papers in Swansea, Llanelli, Abersytwyth, is there anywhere else I could look? Where I am currently I can't progress. I am tempted to get a job that more fun rather than just IT based. As has been said at times IT is soul destroying.

[Evil Miyagi]

Dixons Group

They made me redundant in Feb... Just really need a new job now :/

[Irvtheswerv]

How qualified are you? Know any Linux?

http://www.cardifpinnacle.com/content/job-details.php?id=1205

[Aspman]

I get a daily email from totaljobs.com might be worth looking at.

[Nerfbat]

I find www.cwjobs website is one of the better sites for IT jobs, and is where I found my first job after graduating a couple of years ago.

[djswivel]

For a service desk job, you can't go wrong with this qualification:

http://www.itil-officialsite.com/Qualifications/ITILQualificationLevels/ITILFoundation.aspx

Most companies want some form of ITIL qualification now as it's the latest government standard.

For the job, find a company you like and try to find out what software they use (my company for example has 4 very specific waste management softwares) and study up on it. Then go to them and tell them that you can do x with this software.

That's basically how I got my current job (although I had been with the company in an admin role for the previous 3 years).

[MartynVRS]

Some good ideas thanks

[Irvtheswerv]

For a service desk job, you can't go wrong with this qualification:

http://www.itil-offi...Foundation.aspx

Most companies want some form of ITIL qualification now as it's the latest government standard.

For the job, find a company you like and try to find out what software they use (my company for example has 4 very specific waste management softwares) and study up on it. Then go to them and tell them that you can do x with this software.

That's basically how I got my current job (although I had been with the company in an admin role for the previous 3 years).

I've got this, and a few others besides. I always question the value of a qualification that can be obtained on a 2 or 3 day course. But hey ho.