God it's hard to get a job with no hands on!!!!!!

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well i know that i will get a lucky break one day but i just hope it's sooner rather than later

 

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the way it works at my current job is they train you in the basics to do the job, expect you to know more, pay crap wages and offer sod all chance of progression unless you do all the extra training/learning yourself. Even then its dead mans shoes to move up

yet they bring in people from outside, pay them quite a bit extra and half of em dont even know as much as half the existing staff!!! talk about infuriating.

I have had a few job interviews recently and each one I was either not qualified or not experienced enough.. fair do's as I know I only have 12 months experience and no actual technical quals as of yet but they were only just above entry level technically and why the hell even interview if you already know i aint experienced or qualified enough!!!!!!!

keep plugging away is what i say, I will and eventually my determination and ambition will win through as will yours ;)

 

I suppose the reason it's difficult to get in to IT is due to the nature of the job. One wrong click here and there and an unexperienced IT worker could bring a system to it's knees. I think that's a big reason for employers asking soo much off people breaking into IT. From their point of view they probably think that if the person has certs then they know what they are doing, when in reality this isn't always the case.

 

I defo have no issues starting at the bottom rung of the ladder to get the hands on. The problem is the old catch 22 they want hands on but no - one will give you a chance

 

That's why companies don't hire entry-level people for non-entry-level jobs... they put them in situations that WON'T bring a network to it's knees. Unfortunately, that means a lot of workstation and printer repair before you're allowed to touch the network, servers, or network devices.

 

If they require hands-on experience for a position, then it's not an entry-level position.

 

I don't know what it's like in the US but in my opinion most companies don't invest in IT as they should and that includes their staff. This usually leads to less staff to do more jobs and as such everyone is expected to know everything from the off. When I started to look for IT most of the entry level jobs still demanded that you knew a lot about networking as well as desktop support and some even asked for coding/web designing experience and these jobs were very low paid.

 

You guys keep saying that these "entry-level jobs" require "experience". Dudes, the two terms cannot coexist in a job position! How can one enter the field in an entry-level position if experience is required? One cannot! Thus, a job that requires experience, by definition, CANNOT be an entry-level job, no matter how you slice it, and no matter how it's advertised.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not disagreeing with the fact that employers often expect experience from the get-go... but those jobs cannot then be considered entry-level, and you can inform potential employers as much. It's unrealistic to require it of folks applying for an entry-level position. Now, if they say that experience is preferred, that's a whole different story... it's not required.

In the US, there are plenty of positions that you can get without experience. I got one, my friends got one, my co-workers got one. I started out as an operations analyst, and occasionally I'd be called upon to fix PCs as well as maintain the telecom equipment. My first "real" IT job was as a field service tech, fixing malfunctioning printers, PCs, and applications. After a couple months, when they figured they could trust me, I was sent out to work on the occasional server or two, while learning how to administer the in-house Exchange Server. One of our customers liked my work so much that they made a deal with my employer and hired me outright for a $10K/yr raise. And it all started without real-world experience.

 

Personally I don't think there really is such a thing in IT now as an entry level job. I've never seen a job advertised asking for no experience or certs.

 

I have, quite often. In fact, if our workload increases at my "day job", we'll be hiring an entry-level tech. You might not be looking in the right places.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't have certifications at entry-level... after all, the A+ is geared towards entry-level techs. The MCDST might be helpful as well. Even Network+, which CompTIA recommends after 9 months of experience, is not out of the realm of possibility for an entry-level tech to achieve.

 

Michael, thats good that the company you work for do. In my experience in the UK unless a company is fortunate to have the budget and willing to ivest in IT (which is rare in some cases) then they don't tend to recruite entry level techs. Even for a crap wage they want someone on their feet from the off. I personally think it's a bad idea and think more needs to be done to get people into IT and train them up.

 

That is a rough situation. However, the scenario you're proposing is difficult for this reason: once you train up an entry-level tech, they're worth much more than you're paying them. So what if you're a company who NEEDS someone to just do printer installs? The person you've just trained is now overqualified to do that job... and if you don't have a position to advance them into, what do you do? You'll end up losing that employee.

Now, don't get me wrong - I don't think employers should simply not offer training. In fact, I'm an advocate of training. I'm just trying to explain the situation on "the other side of the fence".

Getting people into IT is very important, I agree. That's why I take the time I do to make sure that entry-level folks understand their options and what they're getting into, and to suggest ways of improving their chances... while simultaneously advising them how to avoid unrealistic expectations of themselves ("Getting certified will guarantee me a [higher-level] job") and of employers ("I'm certified, so I should automatically be paid more).

 

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGHHHHHH

got another rejection in the post today , it was the usual other candidates had experience that matches our requirements. so aaaaaargggghhhhh i'm getting the right hump

anyhow i see what the previous post was saying about other experience that is relevant, I'm ex police which always helps in an interview and now work in CCTV. I think the police was actually much easier to get into due to the fact that you could help things like your fitness levels and such and you new what they wanted.

This is by far the hardest thing i have ever had to do!!!!!!!!!

 

It was interesting to read your plight mate, just passed A+ today and want to do N+ aswell with the hope of changing my job. Just keep at it! what else can we do!

 

like you said mate, what else can we do????

 

how are u finding the network+ course? detailed and hard going?

i have done networks and communications module at uni and a 3 days communications course whilst on placement that dealt with the OSI 7 layers and stuff but it was a good 5/6 years ago so ive forgotten it all! What books/course material do u recommend.

 

I believe that learning IT is very subjective to each person, I signed up to a company called skills train to become certified in A+, N+ then MCSA/MCSE they have their own course material.

I found the material very dry to read, so since i have brought 2 books both by the same auther MIKE MEYERS the book is called the A+ passport he also does a book on the Network + cert. He is very good at putting the stuff in easy to understand english .

through personnal experience i would say the mike meyers books, do a search on mike meyers A+/N+ on ebay to find em (PS be aware u will also get swamped with AUStin powers stuff lol)

 

Yea I used the all-in-one meyers book for the A+, had it for 2 years! kept starting it then something would come up! then a few weeks ago I decided to just go and book the exams and force myself to do it, now its done! Ill defo stick with Meyers for N+.

 

Aloha guys,

Interesting subject. It fascinates me, the broad expectations of different people.

I've been researching getting 'into' IT for the last seven months, that's when i decided it was what i wanted to do.

In that time i've got my A+ and MCP, then on Tuesday (if i pass) i should have my MCDST - this is what i reckon is a good place to start looking for an entry level IT job. I agree comletely with Brainbeacon Michael when it comes to the 'entry level' pre-requisites - it's the 'first step' on a long road.

I'm hoping that with these three qualifications i should be able to get myself something, i'm not going to aim too high as i only have 'classroom experience' and i'm most probably not going to land the role that i really want at first, but you have to start somewhere.

I'm on the MCSE track. After the MCDST then i am aiming at the MSCA before full MCSE, i'm hoping to have a job whilst i'm doing this to give me the 1/2 year experience required by most - then hopefully if all goes to plan, in two years time i should be MCSE with two years 'hands on' experience and i should be in a much stronger position. After that, i'm planning on gaining every qualification under the sun..

Mind you, as the saying goes : 'if you want to make god laugh - tell him your plans' - lol

Carl