getting work experience on weekends or evenings

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been working for a year in desktop support but have been trying to get another job in server/network admin without success.

(experience within the company is a no go because of recent down-size of staff and internal politics)

anyway, recruitment agencies are not helping in that they are putting me forward for desktop posts (against my request) or are not prepared to put me forward for server/network admin positions.

i'm thinking of writing to other companies to offer to work for free on weekends or evenings (obviously would like to keep my existing paid position).

i know this is unorthodox and out of normal office hours, but has someone managed to get experience this way? is this unrealistic or unfeasible?

thanks in advance.

 

unfortunately, we don;t do any server support in our team so i have purely desktop experience.

i can do basic stuff with users (create, modify, use AD to add remove security groups etc).

it;s that catch 22 where no experience won;t get you that job to get the experience.

i do have a good understanding of networks as we have over 4000 workstations here.

i will pretty much try and get my mcdst and 290 soon and if that gets me nowhere then i think i will lose hope all together ;-(

 

As you suspect, the reason you're not getting placed in network/server admin roles is because you don't have network/server admin experience. You can keep getting certifications and keep getting certifications but they won't get you a network/server admin job. You're going to need to get that experience.

You say it's a catch-22, but you can get that experience as a desktop admin if you're in a good company. When I was a systems admin, the network admin was great - he invited me to help him out with server, network, Exchange, RAS, router, and firewall administration. Thus, I was able to build experience.

Therefore... if you're with a company that has too many political battles going on where you can't build that next-level experience, it's time to take a lateral move out of that company to a similar position elsewhere.

The problem with working nights and weekends is that smaller locations aren't typically 24/7 sites that need people on nights and weekends... and larger locations don't typically have a great need for an "extra tech", especially one who isn't supervised by the daytime staff. That said, if you CAN find an opportunity like that, it'd be great for you.

The MCDST is a desktop administration certification. If you don't want to work in desktop administration... why would you spend time pursuing this certification? It will certainly help you get another desktop admin job (more on that, below)... but it's not as useful for a network admin job unless the employer wants a well-rounded network admin who CAN support desktops as well (which is usually a plus).

Hope this helps. Best of luck!

 

you were lucky mike to have such a nice colleague to give you that experience in network admin.

the people who were in the server team here have been here since the dawn of time and it's unfeasible to be able to gain experience wih them from internal politics.

anyway you are right, without the experience, it's near impossible to get an entry level role in a network admin capacity...

well, the mcdst was a course i;ve just recently been on as part of work training so am expected to do these. also since they are part of the mcsa electives and my 1st MS exams, i don;t think it'll do any harm to have them.

you're right about a lateral move to another company. it;s going to be difficult to get a similar role that's not a short contract since there aren;t many large companies around the south coast and prob not even guaranteed to be able to gain experience on the network side even if i am able to get another desktop role....

i can see the long tough road ahead but hopefully something will come up. i think i will have to be patient and keep studying in the meanwhile.

thanks for your helpful comments mike.

 

Well, if you've taken a course, combined with your experience, the MCDST shouldn't be that hard. And you're right, it certainly can't hurt, and as I stated above, it just might help!

Just remember, even on a short contract, people will see how you perform. Those people who you meet while working there will remember you if you're good, and either hire you on full time, or tell you about job opportunities they hear about. The majority of IT job postings aren't listed - they're passed by word-of-mouth. Good techs are ALWAYS in high demand.

Keep us posted on your progress, and let us know if we can help out in the future.