God it's hard to get a job with no hands on!!!!!!

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I live in the south east of england i recently passed my A+ and am going to take (And pass) my N+ in the next month. I know that IT employers want hands on experience and do not want to give anyone a chance. As when i go on the local job boards all of them state they want at least two years b4 you get anywhere near and interview,

I have had advice to do voluntary work but as with most people this is not a viable option as i have a morgage which has to come first and i work for a job where i do shift work and they will not understand that i am not available on certain days.

I'm sure there are others in my position also!!!!!!!

 

It isnt easy to get into IT work on the whole, as you say, everyone wants experience even though you have A+ and soon to have N+.

I got into my current role by working for the company in a normal administrator role, then the IT position came up and I guess you could say I got lucky and impressed. I think the key is being open to work for a small company to begin with, and working for a lower salery then you may expect for an IT role. Each job is a stepping stone to better things in my opinion, and like most jobs, you have to start from the bottom!

Dont give up mate, once you land that first IT job, you'll never look back

 

You say that you work shifts.

This is how I managed to work for one day a week (for free) at a company that had 70 employees in the local office and 2 other offices linked via VPN and gained good experience from it.

Because I was working for free they were grateful and were not bothered what day of the week I came in so it didn't effect my paid job.

Sometimes, shifts has advantages!

Good luck

Si

 

there is no way i will give up until i have a job even though it gets vey disheartening, u need to be realistic and know that you will not walk into a 25k a year job (Ignore what skills train tell you)

I get the feeling that when u do get 12 months expereince allthe doors will open!!!

 

Thats the spirit mate.

Best of luck

Si

 

Have you tried contacting your local college or hospital?

The college usually have computer courses whereby they send their students on a work placement. If you could find out where they send them or even find how if they have any jobs there!

Like Boyce I started off doing part Voluntary work while holding down two paid jobs to pay the rent. It's not easy, juggling the time management thing.

Here's how I got into my IT job

One thing to remember is certification is a long journey and will not necessary get you a job at the end of it!

Yes it's difficult and yes you can lose sight of your goals, but even if you do one day a week at small company you will be surprised at what you learn and by the gratitude of that company. Also it show's on you CV to future employers you are committed, keen, resourceful in IT field and not just doing it for the money.

You have to stand out of the crowd, remember there are 100's of IT people out there all wanting jobs. You might have the Certs but so as someone else, why should the employer chose you over someone else???

You've got to be different get work experience or specialise in a certain field - stand out from the crowd!!

 

Have you tried voluntary work in IT as a lot employers see this as hands on experience and is a good way to get a full time job.

 

*cough* read his first post....

 

..................................DOH, should really read the post all the way through .

 

Still, the point is valid - if you're having trouble breaking into IT due to a lack of experience, you've got to make sacrifices to get that experience. OK, so you work shift work... on the days that you're off (which doesn't have to be the same days every week), volunteer at a church... a youth organization... as an intern for a company who needs an entry-level IT person for a couple days a week, whenever they're available. There *are* solutions out there... you just have to get off your butt and look for them.

Another thing you might be doing is applying for jobs that require experience. By definition, entry-level jobs require no experience. You are applying for those sort of jobs, aren't you? For example, I might allow someone without experience to work the help desk or repair PCs and printers... but there's no way I'd put someone without experience in charge of managing my network infrastructure.

Best of luck in your job search!

 

Valid points, I think that if you did get some voluntary work they would be very flexible as your doing it for free. I would disagree with the no experience bit because I think the IT market has become that saturated that I've seen entry level jobs asking for MCSE certified people for £13-15k...

 

Then, by definition, they aren't entry-level jobs. Entry-level jobs are jobs where one enters the field for the first time, right? Besides, someone without experience has no business getting the MCSE.

 

I think the issue is that employers know that for some bizarre reason, people are willing to PAY and SPEND THEIR TIME training off their own bat to enter IT. Does it happen for mechanics, or other trades ? hell now. So, employers want it all from new entrants as they know it saves them paying for it down the line.

combine that with unrealistic expectation from employers over the skills required for entry level jobs and its damn hard for some to break into the market. Especially when so many entry level jobs have been outsourced abroad.

Of course, wage pressures don't help either.

It's not an easy industry to work in, that's for sure.

If you're in the south east, you ought to find a reasonable amount of It. Try contacting the local chamber of commerce, see what employers are in your vicinity.

 

I agree completely. Unrealistic expectations, like requiring entry-level folks to hold mid-to-high-level certifications like the MCSA or MCSE, hurt folks breaking into IT, as well as the company itself... they'll potentially end up with a braindumper who will be much worse than a newbie with a solid work ethic.

 

what evryone is saying here is true, the market is saturated at the mo people are willing to pay 1000's into people like skills train to get qualified and now it's got to a point where most emploters expect it!!! I will go on to MCSA + MCSE afterwards but i feel that i want to get into an entry level job first with A+ and N+ there is no point getting MCSE with no hands on ,

I know in the end it will all be worth it though, what i don't want to happen is that i get P***** off with not landing a job and push through with the MCSE to just get the job i want to do this the right way!!

 

Have you tried mentioning what you just said in your applications / interviews?

It could just help to sway opinion your way.

 

lol yeah i almost got a job at a school 3 days ago it all went well and they picked the guy with no certs who had some hands on but could make web pages as well lol

it's really hard to not get wound up sometimes lol

 

See? Every little bit of extra value you can provide an employer can and will make the difference when being considered for a position. In this case, it was knowledge of HTML. What we must always ask ourselves is, "What can I do to increase my value?"

 

It's very difficult for people breaking into IT due to this fact that employers demand a lot as they know that they can get a lot more for a lot less. Years ago helpdesk and web designing/maintenance was two very different jobs but speration of tasks like these are starting to fade. At my work we are going to have to start to look after the intranet and update it so that means learning a totally different aspect to IT for myself...