experience

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hi guys

ive just started my hnd in IT and i am trying to get some experience on the days that im not at uni

anyone have any ideas on how i can start this, ive emailed a few companies but no reply as of yet

any help would be appreciated

thanks in advance

 

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You've e-mailed a few companies - if I was in your position and had whole days that I could with how I pleased I would be phoning every middle-ish size (50+ users) company up within commutable distance and talking to their HR or IT managers and asking that you want to work for free.

If they see you can show your initative and are keen (emphasis on the phone while talking rather than sounding desperate) I can't see how you can go wrong.

Also - don't give up! Not every place will be able to/willing to take on someone - but the more you try the more likely you are to be successful.

Good luck on your course and welcome to CF (pass via the welcome forums to say hi to everyone!)

 

Yeah what the Hippy said!

 

Or do what I did (and what I'm doing right now).

Go see every IT department in your University, especially IT drop in centres etc and ask if they need helpdesk support. I currently do 4 hours a night between 4:30 - 8:30PM - Monday - Thurs

It's a bit of a come down considering I was a Sys & Network admin Until I started back on my MSc Last week, but it pays the bills, gives you experience, and its very easy money to boot!

I did this job for 3 years during my BSc, and have stepped right back into it now I have returned to finish off my Masters. Like I said, its not as intense as being a Sys/Network admin Like I was, but it's relevant on my CV

Jodsclass

 

I had your same problem, how to get the experience I needed so that I would be considered seriously enough for companies to actually take a look at me.

I'm an old fart, 54, so breaking into IT was pretty difficult. I ended up finally doing an unpaid internship for 6 months and was hired out of that internship because the business owner liked my work and wanted to keep me around, rather than let me go somewhere else.

I would seriously advise the use of internships as a way to get experience. I went and talked to small business owners, who specialized in what I really wanted to learn, and said I wanted to "get my foot in the door" in IT, and would swap 3-6 months of my work for that chance.

Internships have some real advantages to the newbie:

1. You get to do everyday work in your field.
2. You gain knowledge you cannot get any other way.
3. You get to "strut your stuff" every day of the week to someone who may very well hire you at the end of the internship.
4. Because of #3 an internship is much more valuable than volunteering. First hand knowledge of your work ethic and your skills gives you a real leg up with your employer over someone coming around with the same qualifications you do, but with only a piece of paper as a recommendation.
5. A business owner gets something out of this too. He gets some free labor, but it's a win-win situation. You get highly valuable experience, and he gets to cut his training costs for a new employee. This makes this a rather attractive proposition for an employer.

I would also advise going into this with your eyes wide open, and having a signed agreement as to the parameters of your relationship with the employer. My offers to potential employers went like this:

1. We agree on a specified length of contract.
2. We set mutually agreed upon benchmarks of performance and skills to be reached.
3. At the end of the internship if I had reached the all the benchmarks that there would be a standing, permanent job offer at a pre-agreed-upon wage.

Now, to do this you have to know what you want to do in IT. You also have to know enough about the people with whom you are dealing to know that you like them and will want to work for/with them long term after the specified contract.

If I had done this 2 years ago I would have had a full-time job more than a year ago, rather than searching for more than 2 years for a decent job.

 

thanks for all your replies

 

I started out working for the helpdesk at the school I was attending. You can also see if they have a department that will help setup internships or externships. At my school that was the Computer Science department or the Career Center.