Life decisions...

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by hugorilho, Jul 1, 2009.

  1. hugorilho

    hugorilho Byte Poster

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    I would like to share with you guys a decision that i want to make but I'm still not sure... I guess I need some advice on life decisions...

    After six months of unsuccessfully trying to get a job in Newcastle and in the Northeast area I'm starting to think I will not get a job this year and so i will do my masters in full-time, as opposed to my initial decision which was to work and study.

    Like everywhere else in the world the north east of England has become a fiercely competitive job market where everyone is applying for the same jobs. So basicaly I don't stand a chance because I only have portuguese academic and professional credentials, which up until now have proven to worth s**t in the UK.

    So since January I've been applying for all sorts of jobs, retailers, admin assistan, shops, McDonalds, B&Q, call centers, you name it. Couldn't even get a single interview. I got some CV building advice and I was also told that I should upskill myself.

    Because of this i decided to try to have some IT certs and basicaly make a career a change from journalism to IT, which will, obviously, take it's time to get some results, given the fact that most job offers ask for experience. I'm already an MCP and if I pass the 272 in the end of this month I will be MCDST.

    Now I'm pretty sure that I would be able to work and study at the same time (if given the oportunity, of course) cause I'm a multitask dude but this has been the worst six months of my life and I'm not even the worst case of unemployment given the fact that I still have family support.

    So I decided to do my masters in public relations in one full year and in the meantime I'll be persuing the N+, A+ and the Vista upgrade of the MCDST which, by the way, I cant remember which one is it.

    So basicaly what I'm doing is engaging myself in some hard-core upskilling for a full year in hope that this god awfull recession will be a little bit more at ease.

    What do you guys think of this?
     
    Certifications: MCDST
  2. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    well heres my take on it, of course this is my subjective opinion.

    Theres 'need' based jobs like IT, here you stand a reasonable chance of getting a job providing you have the right skills.

    I'm not sure what roles a public relations masters would qualify you for, I would say they are unlikely to be the same 'needs' based positions.

    For example if you wanted to work in an embassy language skills would probably do you more good than public relations, if you want to work in media or PR again I'd have thought journalism/language skills were more important.

    Printed media is largely dead, so if you want to continue with journalism you will need to look at other media.

    Maybe New Media would be a good fit if you're interested in IT.

    I'd try and get some focus, splitting your focus between different areas will likely only weaken your CV.
     
  3. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    I agree with Mr Marsh. Doing a mixture of different subjects makes it look like you haven't got a clue what to do. This may actually be the case but you don't want it to look that way on your CV. Sit down and think about what would make you happy, research if the reality of such a role is what you think it is, then specialise your qualifications in this area. I'm doing just that myself, specialising in IT Security.

    Best of luck, Jim
     
    Certifications: VCP4, 5, 6, 6.5, 6.7, 7, 8, VCAP DCV Design, VMConAWS Skill, Google Cloud Digital Leader, BSc (Hons), HND IT, HND Computing, ITIL-F, MBCS CITP, MCP (270,290,291,293,294,298,299,410,411,412) MCTS (401,620,624,652) MCSA:Security, MCSE: Security, Security+, CPTS, CCA (XenApp6.5), MCSA 2012, VSP, VTSP
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  4. hugorilho

    hugorilho Byte Poster

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    Thank you so much for the usefull tips.
     
    Certifications: MCDST
  5. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    Any time mate
     
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  6. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    what he said.

    I work for a newspaper and the Newspaper industry is dying on its arse.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  7. hugorilho

    hugorilho Byte Poster

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    That's why I'm a bit confused. When I chose to be a journalist and took an undergraduate course in that area I was already aware of the difficulties of the newspaper industry. Still, I was able to work in some regional newspapers but as soon as I started I knew right away that it was not for me. I do enjoyed having to be constantly updated and feeling that rush of the breaking news and so I did that for two years.

    But I still did not feel that I wanted to do that for the rest of my life. Everyone has to have its own dramas even if their not worth it. Well mine is never having felt some sort of vocation to do a particular thing.

    That's why my current decision to study both PR and IT shows lack of career focus. I'm trying really hard to get one but i feel like a blind man trying to learn his way by touching the walls...

    Sorry for this soap opera drama post...but that's life and we all have to deal with it dont we?
     
    Certifications: MCDST
  8. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    You have a degree in journalism? Okay, good, it proves that you can study and learn.

    You now tell us that you want a career in IT.

    So, why the heck do you want to do a masters in public relations? (unless you want to be the pr guy for ms)

    Sorry but if you want a career in IT then a masters in PR isn't going to help you and will only set you back a year. You'd be better off putting the effort into the 272 to start with and if possible looking for jobs a little further out than you have been so far.
     
    Certifications: A+ | Network+ | Security+ | MCP (270,271,272,290,620) | MCDST | MCTS:Vista
    WIP: MCSA, 70-622,680,685
  9. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    agreed

    what do you like best? talking alot or fiddling with computers?

    If you do like both you could hava a look at going into systems analasys and design. You get to promote your work and design systems:D but the only people I know who are in this field did computer science degrees.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  10. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Agreed.
     
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  11. hugorilho

    hugorilho Byte Poster

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    Once again thanks to all of you for your help. I will continue to study to get some IT certs under my belt. That's for sure!
     
    Certifications: MCDST
  12. hugorilho

    hugorilho Byte Poster

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    Hey guys. This has been some very introspective few months here in Newcastle. The kind of time where you come up with...well...life decisions, Lol! here's what I feel I have to share with someone because I have no one to talk about these things over here.

    So the thing is, I finally came to my senses and realized I don't have what it takes to build a career in IT. I'm 27 and i still don't know what to do with my life but at some point I have to focus on one career option.

    And the fact that I'm doing this Masters in Public Relations will be my chance to start doing it. As I said before I will carry on studying to get certified, as my 272 is on the 28th of this month, and I'm the kind of dude of goes to the finish line no matter what.

    I only started to go through the IT certification path because I was hopeless and jobless and got enrolled with Computrain without actually doing the proper research. I eventually left them and sent them an email explaining my disappointment (I've posted this e-mail in thread about frazer mckenzie) and never got a word from them again, but by then I already had covered most of the 271 objectives and just needed to know if I could do it.

    I passed the exam and that gave me some hope but as you guys said, I must focus on a single career option. So i decided to finish what i started and have an MCDST certification on my CV just to show to future employers that at least I'm not ignorant IT-wise and that I can learn technical stuff.

    I would also like to thanks this forum cause it has been a most useful tool to discover this very interesting new world of IT.

    I wish you all happy and healthy lives. It was a pleasure to talk with some of the most wise and patient people in this industry. If I ever succeed in the PR business you will only have good publicity from me.
     
    Certifications: MCDST
  13. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    Hi hugo, I'm glad you have decided upon your career path. Public relations is an interesting path if you ask me cos god knows all big businesses need good PR people. I agree completely that your MCDST is not a waste. It shows you have a level of competency that far exceeds your average user. I wish you every success in your chosen career. Jim
     
    Certifications: VCP4, 5, 6, 6.5, 6.7, 7, 8, VCAP DCV Design, VMConAWS Skill, Google Cloud Digital Leader, BSc (Hons), HND IT, HND Computing, ITIL-F, MBCS CITP, MCP (270,290,291,293,294,298,299,410,411,412) MCTS (401,620,624,652) MCSA:Security, MCSE: Security, Security+, CPTS, CCA (XenApp6.5), MCSA 2012, VSP, VTSP
    WIP: Google Cloud Certs
  14. m3lt

    m3lt Byte Poster

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    Vivas! :D

    Dont know about you bro, but as soon as I get the rest of my certifications I will be volunteering and/or even applying for jobs outside the UK and Europe.
    Africa or East Asia or any remote part of the world where I feel I am needed.
    It's not always about the money, and if I can be of use to any small community and live in a virtually stress free environment, I damn sure I will!

    Workind here has been proving that you work to pay bills and tax, period. :dry
     
    Certifications: A+
    WIP: N+, MCDST/MCSE

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