apprenticeship after 30 - is it still possible?

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by Mariusz, Dec 29, 2010.

  1. Mariusz

    Mariusz Byte Poster

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    Hi, is it still possible at age of 31 to get into IT apprenticeship?
     
    Certifications: ECDL Extra, ITQ Lvl2, CompTIA A+, N+, S+
    WIP: MCTS 70-680 Win7
  2. Asterix

    Asterix Megabyte Poster

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    Not too sure TBH but @ the age of 31 you should have at least some customer service experience you can refer to and with a few recent IT certifications you should be able to land a helpdesk role that would offer you the same experience as an apprentiship would but with the additional benefit of a greater salary! If you having problems finding a role then why not try doing some IT voluntary work to get additional experience Linky

    Hope this helps!
     
  3. Mariusz

    Mariusz Byte Poster

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    I was Export Manager for 3 years and IT Technician for 2 years so I have experience, but it was in Poland, and here in UK nobody bothers what was my experience in PL, what matters for recruiters is that last 3 years I spent in hospitality and that as foreigner I probably can't speak English - that's what I was told by one, try working behind bar every weekend and you will learn English well :-) and you'll be able to understand the hardest accents :-)



    I checked it for my area some time ago, but there was no IT jobs.

    Why I think about IT apprentice is because even If I will be working for 10 Grands I will be gaining practise and after some time I will be able to earn more than I earn now.
     
    Certifications: ECDL Extra, ITQ Lvl2, CompTIA A+, N+, S+
    WIP: MCTS 70-680 Win7
  4. j1mgg

    j1mgg Kilobyte Poster

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    I dont think you will get an apprenticeship but I would just keep on plugging away at applying for jobs and I would probably take what the guy at the agency said with a pinch of salt. It does depend on what your speech is like but I am guessing he doesnt have any IT jobs for you but would still like to make money from you by putting you into bar work.

    It is hard for everyone at the moment trying to job at job in IT at the lower end.

    As said, try and get some voluntary work.
     
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2010
    Certifications: Comptia A+, ITIL V3 Foundation, MCDST, 70-270, 70-290
    WIP: 70-291, security+ and SSCP
  5. Mariusz

    Mariusz Byte Poster

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    I am registering on this website and will try to volunteer
    the lass I wrote about before had an export job, that's why I went to her.
    as about bar work, I work in same bar for over 3 years as barman (part time), and I like it, but wouldn't like it as full time, as money are lower than my needs

    thanks for help guys :-)
     
    Certifications: ECDL Extra, ITQ Lvl2, CompTIA A+, N+, S+
    WIP: MCTS 70-680 Win7
  6. Kitkatninja
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Kitkatninja aka me, myself & I Moderator

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    Yes it is possible, however... You and/or the prospective employer may have to fund most if not all the apprenticeship program yourselves, see here. However with the minimum wage for an apprentice at £2.50 p/hr - it's not out of the realms of impossible.

    -Ken
     
    Certifications: MSc, PGDip, PGCert, BSc, HNC, LCGI, MBCS CITP, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCE, A+, N+, S+, Server+
    WIP: MSc Cyber Security
  7. Sparky
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    apprenticeship surely not needed then? 8)
     
    Certifications: MSc MCSE MCSA:M MCSA:S MCITP:EA MCTS(x5) MS-900 AZ-900 Security+ Network+ A+
    WIP: Microsoft Certs
  8. Mariusz

    Mariusz Byte Poster

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    the point is that this experience gives me nothing in UK, and the fact that it was over 3 years ago makes it obsolete, just nobody wants to give me chance, as competition on the market is high

    Now I'd like to get into certain job: IT, Logistics or Export, or CNC Miller (good salary and technical environment that allows you to learn a lot, but never done it before) but times are hard to get it (hardly find any adverts), so I can even get on my knees and earn crap money for a while to stand up after some time and earn more than I do now :-)
    thanks for advices guys :)
     
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2010
    Certifications: ECDL Extra, ITQ Lvl2, CompTIA A+, N+, S+
    WIP: MCTS 70-680 Win7
  9. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    I know a few people who have made excellent careers out of doing exactly this... :twisted:

    I agree, I don't think the apprenticeship is the way to go personally. It's primarily aimed at school leavers and, whilst its open to everyone (and discrimination laws say otherwise), I think you will find it difficult to find a place on it.

    The £2.50 minimum wage does only apply for the first year of course. After a year in the apprenticeship, anyone over 19 is entitled to full NMW (Linky).

    It can be tough finding a job in this climate, and some areas are worse than others. Have you considered looking further afield?
     
    Certifications: ITIL Foundation; MCTS: Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010, Administration
    WIP: None at present
  10. Mariusz

    Mariusz Byte Poster

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    I was looking in my town's area and in City which is around 15-20 miles away, in about 1,5 year of looking I was invited for maybe 3 interviews, my cv is good and has been checked by HR people, I think it is market that affects it.
     
    Certifications: ECDL Extra, ITQ Lvl2, CompTIA A+, N+, S+
    WIP: MCTS 70-680 Win7
  11. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    HR People arent necessarily the best at advising on a technical CV. Why dont you put it on here (minus personal details) for review?
     
    Certifications: ITIL Foundation; MCTS: Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010, Administration
    WIP: None at present
  12. Mariusz

    Mariusz Byte Poster

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    it is the one I use for IT, others for Export and admin roles look different,
    I admit that for this one I copied one sentence from somebody's else's cv from this forum
    this sentence: Self taught over last ten years by building, fixing and troubleshooting hardware and software issues, along with gaining IT qualifications.
     

    Attached Files:

    • cv.doc
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    Certifications: ECDL Extra, ITQ Lvl2, CompTIA A+, N+, S+
    WIP: MCTS 70-680 Win7
  13. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    Possibly better to create a dedicted CV advice forum for it to be honest, but some things I noticed off the bat:

    1) Your Profile section seems to start in third person, then switches to first person about half-way through.

    2)The Sec+ and MCTS are not qualifications - you havent got them yet, so you cant really put them in as qualifications yet.

    3) It's only my opinion really, but I despise First person on CV's. I would remove all first person references and amend to third person. Especially in the Employment section.

    4) Employers dont want to read a story about what you did in the role, use a bulleted list of responsibilities.

    5) You need to spend a lot more time detailing your responsibilities on your IT roles. The Non-IT roles can be less detailed, as they arent as important, but you want to detail the things you have done in those roles. Forget obsolete, forget "In Poland" - what matters is detailing the environment you supported, the technologies, the common tasks you performed (and any that are noteworthy).

    6) Remove your DOB and Nationality (unless your nationality impacts on your ability to work - which I dont believe it does in EU countries). Both are potential sources of discrimination. They may be able to discern it from other information on the CV, but theres no reason to hand it to them.

    7) Remove References - it is implicit in any application, and serves no real purpose.

    8) There has been some debate around about it, but I would suggest removing hobbies. Unless your hobby has a direct impact on your suitability for the role you are putting it forward for, its irrelevant (in fact, most agencies will just strip it out anyway, so why bother maintaining it). If the employer wants to know what you are like as a person, what you like to do, thats a question for the interview - not (in my view) the CV.

    9) You need a proper education section, detailing qualifications, dates attended, which establishment, etc.
     
    Certifications: ITIL Foundation; MCTS: Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010, Administration
    WIP: None at present
  14. Mariusz

    Mariusz Byte Poster

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    thanks, I will try to do the cv from the beggining :-)
     
    Certifications: ECDL Extra, ITQ Lvl2, CompTIA A+, N+, S+
    WIP: MCTS 70-680 Win7
  15. Mariusz

    Mariusz Byte Poster

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    is it better now?
     

    Attached Files:

    • cv.doc
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    Certifications: ECDL Extra, ITQ Lvl2, CompTIA A+, N+, S+
    WIP: MCTS 70-680 Win7
  16. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    Getting there.

    This still needs some work - it starts out in third person then switches to first for the final sentence. Also the first sentence is too long and fragmented - consider revising it (I feel like MS Word saying that :biggrin) into multiple sentences.

    Qualifications still need to be revised as I noted before.

    I would include months on your employment dates, not just years - so you worked from 2007 - 2008 - that could easily be dec 2007 - Jan 2008. It doesnt give anything to work with.

    If your IT Tech role is the only IT role you have, then you need to devote a lot more time to it, fleshing out your experiences. Even if you are keeping to a 2 page limit (something I dont necessarily agree with personally), you still have half a page left that you could be using to detail what you have done in IT. You want to hype up the IT work much more than you currently are.
     
    Certifications: ITIL Foundation; MCTS: Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010, Administration
    WIP: None at present
  17. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    Ah sorry, I thought I had covered Quali's more than I had:

    You should make it more clear and easy to read your entire qualifications section. It doesn't make it clear where you studied, or what years you attained the qualifications.

    For education establishments (such as Uni), I would use a similar layout to your employment - detail the establishment and the year, then underneath detail the qualification(s) obtained. If you look around, I have my CV posted up (as do others) take a look at them and see the examples of how people lay out these sections.
     
    Certifications: ITIL Foundation; MCTS: Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010, Administration
    WIP: None at present
  18. Mariusz

    Mariusz Byte Poster

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    Experienced IT Technician, reliable and hard working, with customer service focused skills, working well on its own and as a part of a team. Self taught over last ten years by building, fixing and troubleshooting hardware and software issues, along with gaining IT qualifications. Now seeks to enhance professional and personal development in IT industry by securing a suitable position within a pro-active, forward-thinking organisation.


    you mean I should not write about certs I am learning towards?

    I will then

    I'll do it

    I'll change it
    what about listing of IT qualifications, should it stay as it is?


    I'll find you cv, thanks
     
    Certifications: ECDL Extra, ITQ Lvl2, CompTIA A+, N+, S+
    WIP: MCTS 70-680 Win7
  19. L1ONE

    L1ONE Bit Poster

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    If you think that you are getting discriminated at because of being Polish then try editing things.

    e.g. instead of Polish - Mother Tongue, why not Fluent Polish. Fluent English, Basic German.

    also University in Polish City, law faculty, master studies of Administration, change to Degree in Law Faculty and Master Studies of Administration.


    also 2006 - to date, change to 2006 - present. Just sounds more professional.

    I also noticed that the formatting is inconsistent, you have some written in 12pt and some written in 12px. I'd also change the font to a sans-serif and take of the Underlines on the headings, you could leave the heading in a serif font but make them slightly larger then the body text.
     
    Certifications: CompTIA A+, MCDST, MCP
    WIP: N+ maybe.

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