Getting over that 2 years barrier!

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Hi,

I'm new to these forums, so please forgive me in advance to any gaffs that I make! I've been looking at the possibility of training to do something in IT as I've always wanted to - it isn't the money so much as that I love fiddling around with puters and having recently been made redundant I would like to try and get paid for doing it.

I'm considering paying a fair bit of my redundancy money for a course with a well-known commercial trainer and have been told by them of a site where I should look at all the jobs advertised to see what the job prospects are. So I had a look and remembered why I had not bothered before... ALL of the vacancies I looked at, just like ALL of the IT vacancies I've ever seen ever, were insisting on AT LEAST 2 years' experience.

Well, however good the course may be, is this a case perhaps of a fool and their money being easily parted? So, you guys, how DO you get into it in the first place? Seems like a catch 22 to me...

LBM

 

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Hi Laurabluemoon. Welcome to CF. I know what you mean but one thing to remember about these job notices is that they are describing the *ideal* candidate for the job. Employers rarely find the ideal respondent so requesting two-years experience doesn't mean that they'll actually hire someone with two-years experience.

There are entry-level jobs in IT. If there weren't, the lot of us here working in IT would never have been able to enter the field. The term "experience" can include volunteer work, any freelance consulting or troubleshooting work, to some degree, even lab work you do as part of your studies is "experience".

I don't know of this helps, but at least it's something to think about. If you haven't already, take a moment to pop up to the New Members Introduction forum and tell us a little about yourself and how you found us.

 

Hi Laurabluemoon,

If I can agree with Trip, I think it's safe to say that employers always ask for more than they expect to get. DON'T be put off - get your CV shining, take a deep breathe, and go for it !

What will you lose ? Nothing, and you'll pick up useful interview experience at the same time.

Choose a course, or self-cert path, and go for it. We're here to help.

 

Thanks for the moral support! I think I will go for it - but this will put you off, for sure? I'm 46. I've a good degree in a physical sciences subject and have been a safety scientist for a blue chip company for some time - this will help I hope, but my age I would think is a problem. How much of a problem is it, do you think? I would really love to give it a go because I find it absorbing, I'm hoping to go for programmer type thing. I don't know what there is. The trainers want to start me on VB, but said could do C# if I insist. I've done a 30 point OU course in C++ so I don't know which one to start on, which is more in demand, which could I cope with?

But really, want to know is my age going to be a real problem? I am so hoping not because I know I can really do this. Obviously I don't look or feel or anything like 46 (!) , but if I don't get to interview I can't prove that!

One other thing is - where do I find these "starter" jobs? I'll take anything except data entry, anything where I can prove myself - and once again, thanks for the moral supp! xx

LBM

 

Your age wont disadvantage you, LBM - but maybe your typeface may ?

Seriously, do not fret about your age - many of us here have seen the 21st come and go (some more than once) .... Concentrate on what you want to achieve, and go for it

 

I always use that type-face, except on business of course! No-one's ever complained before. Ah well, I suppose there's a first time for everything - and... it could have been worse!

P.S. What was it? The font, the size, the colour, the italics?

 

Don't let age get you down. I turn 51 in 2 days and I just got my first full-time IT related job last year. It happens. BTW, thank you for changing your type-face. I was a little embarrassed to ask before, but it was kind of hard to read...especially blue on blue. Enlargng it helps (remember, I'm a geezer).

 

Hi Laura,

Welcome to Cert forums.
I am sorry to hear about you loosing your job. I am sure you will find your chosen career soon.
Wishing you all the best.
What do you think you will do Visual Basic or C?

 

There does seem to be a two year limit on most jobs these days but as everyone has pointed out employers ask a ridiculous amount from an employee. I think you will have a much better chance of gaining employment in programming than say support. IT is getting harder and harder to get your foot in the door but if you enjoy this type of work then go for it and don't let your age get in the way.

 

LOL - I'm sorry Laura - I was just kidding. It's' just about the first time in 2 years here that someone's used other than the default appearance. As Trip, says, it's probably a guy thang !

 

If you're looking for inspiration and motivation every time you see "2 years experience" take a look at this thread.

http://www.certforums.com/forums/thread5312.html

With regards to your age, don't put it on your CV!!!

Like you I have very little experience and I am embarking on a MCSE: Security course with Computeach.

 

I think most employers will expect some experience....I took a junior position within a IT department paying 12k , worked my ass off and due to other IT staff being absent basically ended up supporting up to 300 users on my own sometimes, in reconition I have got promoted and now earn a respectable wage....all within three months of starting.

I am 23 but i'm sure the same applies for those in their 40s, you may have to accept a junior position but once your foots in the door things start happening.

 

I agree with most of what has been said here, including the type face However, I do believe that age could be a problem. I am 50 now and realise through reading lots of posts on various forums that ageism does exist. It is hard to prove but I am sure it is there nonetheless. It is a known fact that people like to employ attractive young people, especially if the rest of the workforce are in that category. This doesn't mean that you wont get a job, it just means you might have to put a bit more effort into selling yourself than a younger person would with the same experience and qualifications.

Good luck,

Pete

 

Hi

Just about the ageism thing. I'm also 46 m8 and starting a course on sept 05 with a reputable training/placement company. I have no fears about not getting a job because of age because enthuisiasm, reponsibility, positive thinking and ability are not an age thing, infact I'm relishing the challenge ahead. I think that will come across to any possible future employer also looking forward to doing something I want to do instead of something I have to do even if I'll be taking a 50% cut in salary for a while ;)

Steve

 

I'd have to agree with Pete to a degree and say that ageism is a real thing. Problem is, if you don't get a job based on your age, you'd still have to prove that's *why* you didn't get the job. I'd say it does limit options to a point but it doesn't knock you out of the ball park. Some employers (even in IT) happen to like older workers. We tend to be more mature, well-rounded (no, not necessarily in the waist line) , loyal, reliable, and we're old enough to have made our really stupid mistakes already. I'm not slamming younger people but I will say that I've held several jobs in the past 5+ years in different fields where I managed to outwork many of my younger partners, basically because I gave a d*mn about having a good work ethic.

 

I hope you keep the enthusiasm. I'm 52 and restarting because I have to for physical reasons. I am not in a position where I have 0 experience, but I haven't broken the 2 year barrier either, and I'm having a very difficult time finding a job. I've sent out a lot of resume's, gotten a few interviews, but every time I get beaten out by experience.

When an employer has several choices in front of him, and you're the one with the lack of experience, the other candidates will have to have some major flaws before you'll get the job, because there a ton of unemployed, experienced IT people out there. The combination of the .com bubble bursting and outsourcing has created a job market in which the newbie's jobs are being taken by experienced people just about every time. Why? Because if you're an employer and you have a choice between hiring someone you are going to have to spend a fair amount of money training, and you can hire someone who doesn't require the training for the same amount of money, who you gonna hire? The one who costs you the least.....