Looking For Entry Level Job In IT

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I just recently got my A+ and I am now looking for an entry level job in IT. It has been 2 months since I recieved my A+ certification and I havent found a job yet. Someone told me that I should take any job even if it is not IT related until I am able to get something entry level in IT, what do you think? I have enough money to hold out and wait for an entry level IT job but is that wise?
Also at night when I am not looking for a job I am studying for my Network + should I be studying or fixing some old computers I have laying around. Should I be making business cards and passing them out what do you think. Should I be going over my A+ information so that it is fresh. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks

Professor Falken

 

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my advise Prof is too keep plugging away.. give http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/ a go.. use the keywords 1st line, Helpdesk, Support and the location you in and see what comes up. I dont have much exeperience but an A+ alone wont bring the offers in - have you considered getting unpaid exeperience and some more certs?

 

No I havent considered unpaid experience I need a paying job.
What do you think about that?

 

Im sorry to say it to you but its going to be uphill! i know thats harsh but its reality the way i see the UK IT market - A+ with no experience doesnt mean job straight away! Finish your network+ quickly then move on the MCDST and i feel it will seriously improve your chances and unpaid experience is better than no experience!

 

What is MCDST ? What if I just want to be a computer technician.
That is possible right. Even though what I really want is to be a computer programmer.

 

If you want to be a computer technician, then the A+ will have been a good start... but if you want to be a computer programmer, then the A+ will have been a waste of time. Programming has absolutely nothing to do with being a computer tech.

If you want to be a programmer, learn to program. There are plenty of books out there to get you started.

 

Professor Falken,

Try using the "CompTIA Authorized Service Center Program" webpage to use the "Find a CompTIA Authorized Service Center" tool to help find potential employers.

Source:

1. CompTIA Authorized Service Center Program - http://asc.comptia.org/

 

I agree with whats been said here. I started as a tech on the phone and, through a couple of timely events with my last employer managed to get my hand into vbscripting and, from there, into some more programming experience with the team through the house.

When I finally decided I wanted to go down the programming route properly, I found it very difficult to get my foot in the door. Most companies want experience (and you cant temp, because you HAVE to have experience or they wont even look at you. they dont want to spend months or weeks training you to do something. The whole point of a temp is that they can come in, do the work, and leave). I eventually struck gold with this employer, who was willing to recognise potential and take someone on to train up - but its less common than you might think.

If you want to be a programmer, then program. Decide on a program you think would be useful, and make it. If its good, you can give it to other people and possibly sell it (or at least perhaps take a few donations from satisfied customers if you set yourself up for it). It also gives you programming experience to place on your CV.

Getting a job in IT (any job) is a good start for getting into the industry, as a lot of jobs wont look at you without any IT experience, but you need to focus on what you want. Its utterly pointless taking certs for A+, etc, if its nothing like what you want to do. All it is is a complete waste of your time and money.

 

Zimbo - the Professor is based in the US, Florida I believe.

 

I agree with the "working for free bit". Seems like madness, but if you can do it, i would recommend it. This allowed me to make the break i wanted. Although I wasn't employed by the company, i gained valueble experience which was the foor in the door i needed.

Good luck.

Boyce

 

get any job and then start looking for an entry level job straight away. i don't think it looks good to an employer that you currently have no job, as they've got to wonder why that is.

grim

 

I concur. Gaps in employment history longer than 4 weeks are suspicious to an employer and, at best, they are going to grill you about why you were unemployed. at worst they wont even look at you.

 

Professor-Falken if your still looking for an entry level IT Job have a look at the link below.
http://www.badenochandclark.com/content_static/home.asp

I got my first IT job through them, so it may be worth seeing what they could offer.

Good luck.

 

The same is true for the US job market - getting your first IT job is incredibly difficult unless you have some way you can make yourself stand out from the competition.

 

going from my experience i found the jobcentre plus website was far better for possible jobs.

i posted my cv on all the normal sites. reed, gizajob etc and got a few people calling me asking me questions taht they could see on my cv. they could have saved their own time and my time if they just read it instead of calling me and then realising i don't have any worke xperience.

so i went to the jobcentre site. found two potential junior programmer roles.
applied for both. got invited for an interview for both. got offered both.

and that was about a month after passing my microsoft exam.

 

I just been told by a mod that my job advert has been approved. Hopefully it will show up shortly. Look out for it.