My job hunting as a junior has finally come to an end!

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by jvanassen, May 1, 2012.

  1. jvanassen

    jvanassen Kilobyte Poster

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    Hi

    Thought I would share my experience with other users in a hope to help other people who are struggling to find that first junior role job within IT.

    I have been working in retail since i left school 8 years ago, im now going to be 24 on Monday. Last year I came to the decision that i was going to head down the IT route as it was just ridiculous that i wasn't already working within the industry as i had such an interest init and spent much of my childhood playing around with computers.

    Last year i started off my self study certification route after much guidance from friends and people on this forum. I started studying for my CompTIA A+ and passed both exams towards the end of last year. I then started applying for jobs in the hope that my 8 years of customer service experience and the A+ would land me a 1st line support job. After applying for hundreds of jobs over the space of a few months i was hearing nothing back what so ever.

    I decided to build myself a basic website, get some leaflets and business cards done and basically start my own business not necessarily to earn money but to be able to put some more experience down on my CV. It went really well and i started earning a good amount of extra money through this. Aswell as this in the meantime i had been cracking on with my CompTIA Network+ and i passed it at the beginning of March.

    Once i had passed this Network+ exam i was certain that i would now finally get some replys from all these jobs i was applying for. I was thinking "yea im A+ and Network+ certified and have my buisness as experience on my CV aswell as lots of customer service experience. I will finally get a job"

    Anyway 2 months passed and i was still not getting any replys from what felt like hundreds and hundreds of applications i was filling out and applying for. For the last 2 months i have really started to lose motivation and had bought my 70-860 book but not got round to starting it because i was starting to think is there any point in this no one seems to want to give in-experienced people a chance.

    Until last week i saw yet another random application and thought yea il apply for this, didnt really take much notice of what it said i just applied. Anyway i got a phone call basically asking me to come in for an interview which obviously i was shocking at and quickly agreed that i would be there. I got off the phone and quickly rushed through my e-mails trying to work out which job this was. I found the application and noticed onit that they were looking for someone with two years experience and experience of many protocols and server applications etc that i had never covered in my current certifications but at the very bottom of the application it said they would also consider people that have any microsoft certifications or the A+.

    So i spent the next week worrying about whether they had relised from my CV that i dont have two years experience and whether i should ring them and tell them lol. Anyway i got the train to London and had my first ever IT interview and it was unlike no other interview i had before obviously coming from a retail background. The guy absolutely grilled me on my technical knowledge from advanced questions to scenario based questions. I left feeling the interview had gone really well and got told that they would be in contact next week if i had made it through to the second interviews. Anyway to cut the story short i then got a phone call later that day asking me to come straight back in the next day for my second interview, i went for the second interview on Friday and once again got absolutely grilled but again felt that it couldn't have gone better....I got a phone call today and turns out ive got the job.

    Im so overjoyed that finally all my hard work of sitting in and studying has now paid off and ive finally "got my foot in the door" Ive just got to wait for the confirmation letter to come through my door then i will be handing in my notice at work :)

    My advice to anyone is although its disheartening never getting a reply from your job applications, do not give up....your break will come! Hope this has been a helpful read and not to boring lol
     
    Certifications: CompTIA A+, Network+, CCENT
    WIP: ICND2 200-101
    SiFor, Trogdor, Notes_Bloke and 8 others like this.
  2. Notes_Bloke

    Notes_Bloke Terabyte Poster

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    Major congratulations!!

    An excellent success story to prove that it's worth pursuing those Certs to get on the IT ladder.

    Keep us posted on how it goes.

    NB
     
    Certifications: 70-210, 70-215, A+,N+, Security+
    WIP: MCSA
    jvanassen likes this.
  3. andylad9

    andylad9 Byte Poster

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    Massive congratulations!! Just goes to show that hard does pay off!!

    What kind of company is it and what will your role involve? :kngt
     
    Certifications: A+ | Network+ | 70-680 | 70-685 | MTA Server
    WIP: deciding now...
  4. exonje

    exonje Byte Poster

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    congrats dude, definitely was not a boring read. very interesting, thanks for sharing!
     
  5. ade1982

    ade1982 Megabyte Poster

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    Cool beans. Well done!
     
  6. Taire2011

    Taire2011 Bit Poster

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    Congratulations matey
     
  7. Cunningfox

    Cunningfox Byte Poster

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    Congrats, good luck with it.
     
    Certifications: CCNP, CCNA, MCP
    WIP: ??
  8. Theprof

    Theprof Petabyte Poster

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    Congrats! I know it wasn't easy!
     
    Certifications: A+ | CCA | CCAA | Network+ | MCDST | MCSA | MCP (270, 271, 272, 290, 291) | MCTS (70-662, 70-663) | MCITP:EMA | VCA-DCV/Cloud/WM | VTSP | VCP5-DT | VCP5-DCV
    WIP: VCAP5-DCA/DCD | EMCCA
  9. alexdc12

    alexdc12 Kilobyte Poster

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    well done mate!" its a greate feeling isnt it! how many times did you punch the air!? lol
     
    Certifications: GNVQ Advanced IT, CompTIA A+, CompTIA N+, 70-680
    WIP: 70-685, ITIL v3 Foundation
  10. jvanassen

    jvanassen Kilobyte Poster

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    Cheers guys, so happy. It was a great feeling telling my dead end retail job today that i was going to be leaving. So happy to finally have my foot in the door as they say, but im going to make sure i crack on with more certs and work my way up the IT ladder.

    In simple terms they are employed by companys to scan all there documents and paperwork and then place in onto the said companys network so its then available on the network in digital form.

    From what i can make out this is not a junior role although they will take into account that i have technical knowledge but no experience in this sort of environment because it sounds like im literally going to be chucked into the deep end to a certain extent lol. The idea is that i will come in and completely take control and manage the helpdesk and logging of queries so that the other two guys can disappear off and deal with other things that now acquire more attention.

    I guess one good thing about being chucked in the deep end is that i will learn lots of new stuff quicky lol.

    Several times mate!!! Very good feeling!! :)
     
    Certifications: CompTIA A+, Network+, CCENT
    WIP: ICND2 200-101
  11. Xorallius

    Xorallius Bit Poster

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    Congrats dude, quite inspirational.

    Great piece of advice too :)
     
    Certifications: BSc: ICT | A+ | MCP (271, 272) | MCDST |
    WIP: MCTS (70-680)
  12. Wireless_Snake

    Wireless_Snake Nibble Poster

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    Congrats mate your story is definitely inspirational to new starters in IT. Good luck with the job.
     
    Certifications: BSc (Hons) Computer Network Tech, CCNA, CCAI
    WIP: CCNP, VCP 5, SCP
    jvanassen likes this.
  13. jvanassen

    jvanassen Kilobyte Poster

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    This feels like the longest month ever working my notice at my current job....cant wait to get started at my new place... 1 week down....3 to go lol
     
    Certifications: CompTIA A+, Network+, CCENT
    WIP: ICND2 200-101
  14. BB88

    BB88 Kilobyte Poster Gold Member

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    Congratulations and Good Luck with the new job fella!
     
    Certifications: CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, MCSA: Office 365,, 70-410, 70-680
    WIP: CompTIA: Security+
  15. Beerbaron

    Beerbaron Megabyte Poster

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    Congratulations. Got that motivation back to hit the Cert trail hard again
     
    Certifications: BSc (Hons), MSc, ITIL v3F, MCP, MCDST, MCITP: edst7, MCTS, MCSA: Server 2003, MCSA: Windows 7, N+, NVQ IT lvl 3, MCSA Windows 7, VCP5, CCENT, CEH
    WIP: CISSP
  16. Ddan

    Ddan Nibble Poster

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    Well done mate
     
  17. jvanassen

    jvanassen Kilobyte Poster

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    My last day at work tomorrow and i start the new job after the queens jubilee on Wednesday, glad this month is finally over. Ive really struggled this month to get cracking on with my 70-680 tho as ive had in the back of my mind the whole time that it will be alot easier to study it when im at the new job and working on a Windows 7 enterprise network full time. Whether thats correct or not i duna lol
     
    Certifications: CompTIA A+, Network+, CCENT
    WIP: ICND2 200-101
  18. jvanassen

    jvanassen Kilobyte Poster

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    Hi All

    Just thought id give an update on how things have gone for me with my first IT role. Been here 2 and a half months now and its been brilliant. Its a small IT department and im the 3rd person which has been brilliant for me as its meant theyve shown me loads and got me really involved which the more advanced stuff which i guess i would of never got a chance to do had i got a job as part of a 1st line support team.

    Theyve had me installing servers, setting up VM's, setting up SFTP accounts on linux boxes. Really enjoying it and everything there showing me im picking up really quick. Have familarised myself with Active Directory, Group Policy Editor & Exchange management console already which i had never used before or knew what they did. Ive even been able to show them some new features in Windows 7 which they didnt know about but i did because ive been studying the 70-680.

    Both of the guys who i work alongside have given me nothing but praise saying there really happy they took me on because im picking everything up quickly and doing everything how it should be done etc. Apparently they had a guy before me who was here a year who they sacked because he was useless and would cut corners and had poor communication. So im just making sure i stay on top of things and always keep them up to date on where im at with things etc which they seem to be happy with.

    Theyve already given me complete control of the internal helpdesk so its now up to me to deal with any support tickets that are sent in from staff at any of the sites we have. Im just hoping that after my 6 month probation is over they either offer or i can ask for a bit more money since theyve said things are going so well.

    Things got even better this morning i got pulled into one of the meeting rooms by my boss and he said there is an issue which they are looking to solve. Where there is a guy in another department who does all our inhouse programming and whenever theres a problem with any of his programmes they always have to refer back to him and get him involved. They said there looking to take someone on who not only works on the helpdesk but can also deal with any programming problems & SQL database problems in liase with the guy who creates it all aswell.

    He basically asked me what i knew of SQL database, i was honest and said nothing what so ever and he said he knows from the two and half months his been working with me that i would have no problems picking it up and working with it and he wants me to take on this role of SQL & programming support aswell as running the helpdesk. He said he would lend me some books and to install SQL express and start having a play with it.

    If anyone can recommend any good articles etc for learning this stuff then that would be great.
     
    Certifications: CompTIA A+, Network+, CCENT
    WIP: ICND2 200-101
  19. ThatLondonFella

    ThatLondonFella Bit Poster

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    Awesome stuff dude! Really inspirational to someone like me who is looking for their first role in IT!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 16, 2012
    Certifications: BSc
    WIP: A+ and Network+
  20. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    Well done and congratulations:), hard work coupled with determination and enthusiasm would take you places.
     
    Certifications: MCSE: 2003, MCSA: 2003 Messaging, MCP, HNC BIT, ITIL Fdn V3, SDI Fdn, VCP 4 & VCP 5
    WIP: MCTS:70-236, PowerShell

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