Got an IT job with my MCDST

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I have been interviewing hard this week, and got an offer yesterday, it's a Network Support Assistant at an accountancy firm in Canary Wharf.

I'm over the moon! Finally got into the IT industry after years of being an enthusiast.
Once I have completed a year of good quality work they will fully fund my MCSE certification.

They were very interested in the MCDST, and that I did it myself.

They gave me an exam before even speaking to me, it was MCDST type questions, but on Server 2003 (which I have never used) rather than XP. I got 12 out of 15. They later told me that the questions were ones they normally use for interviewing Network Administrators, and that they expected me to get 4 or 5 out of 15!

Just getting ready to hand in my notice now!!!

this will be me tonight

 

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Nice one steve.

 

congrats

 

Great result well done mate..the hard work does pay off in the end

 

Brilliant! And hard work pays off!

Harry.

 

Congrats.

 

Congratulations

 

Well done

 

Major congrats! That's what it's all about, man!

Do you have any advice for those who are looking for their first foothold in IT? Obviously, it seems that self study to achieve an entry-level cert like the MCDST worked out well for you! How did you find the job? How did you approach the interview and handle their questions? I'm sure that people starting out want to hear your advice, especially coming from someone who has JUST gotten their start in IT... not from a guy like me who got started years ago. Now's your chance to "pay it forward"!

 

Major congrats on the job. Well done.

 

I'm afraid i didn't do anything special.

I looked on www.reed.co.uk for desktop support first line support jobs. Applied for about 20 over 2 weeks. Got 2 callbacks, met 2 agencies, got put foward for 2 jobs, and got one of them. Haven't heard back about the other one yet.

I also searched reed and jobserve for the terms MCP and MCDST. This led to a few jobs, but I didn't get a call back from any of them. Still it's worth a try.

I worked out lots of answers to common interview questions ("Tell me about yourself" was the first question at both interviews)

I also spent time working out anecdotes about teamwork, times I improved a process, times I needed a creative solution to solve a problem etc etc. Basically those "Tell me about a time when....." questions. It's called competency based interviewing and it's quite common in the UK. Here's a link for examples:
http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/competencyinterviews.htm
I think this preparation was the key to my successful interviews.

Another thing was to be very eager to learn about network infrastructure in a corporate environment. no point pretending you want to be on a helpdesk for the rest of your life. I expressed interest in network design, and in working towards an MCSE after getting some real-life experience.

Then you have to be prepared for the insightful interviewer who will be wary of you leaving in a year with experience in the industry and a load or training, all at their cost. The solution to this for me was to ask "Are you saying there is no room for career progress at this company, and that other companies pay better?" They will say there is loads of room for career advancement and their pay is excellent, and you can say, "Well you don't have to worry about me leaving then"

Hope this helps some, if I think of anything else I'll mention it.

 

Thanks Steve, for the helpful feedback that aided you in landing this role. I wish you well in your new role

 

Well done.....

Sounds like you put a lot effort in and reaped the reward.

Nice one!

 

i passed 70-271 last week and assuming to get the MCDST cert so about the jobs any references , new on IT

 

I'm struggling to find a network support role and you land one for your first IT job. Congrats you jammy git!

Kraven

 

Congrats man!!!

 

Congratulations mate! Well done!

It can be done.