Hi Ho Hi Ho (It's off to Job Hunting we go)

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I am going to hit the job market running tomorrow, with my newly acquired CCNA, hoping it should not be that difficult. I am applying for Network Engineer or Network security roles. I am looking to earn anything from £21000 upwards so will be applying for jobs in that range.

I may consider applying for Network admin roles but not sure about that yet.

I'm going to start by applying to online jobs that match my preferred choices; I will also write directly to companies I would wish to work for.

I reckon I may get allot of interviews so think I may need suit!!!

 

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I think you might have an unrealistic view of the IT Job Market. You have a CCNA, but no experience. You are looking for roles that are not entry level, and you are entering the sector at a time for competition for all jobs (even entry level ones) is very high.

Let me know how you get on with that...

 

I agree with Fergal, if you dont have any experience a company are not going to let you work on their network/security. Experience plus the right certs is key.

I would say your ccna and mcts w7 are not enough on their own and that you would be best starting at a lower level and working your way up. The job market is still very competitive and that you are unlikely to just walk in to a job at this level.

Best of luck with your job searching.

 

I admire your confidence, but as the others have said, if you don't have any experience then you are going nowhere fast. Plus, you live one of the only places in the United Kingdom that LOSES money every year to the sum of a few hundred million because more leaves that comes in.

 

Hi

Thank you for your comments, I understand where you are all coming from and I appreciate your opinions.
I do not have any experience in I.T but I never let that stop me. I do live in a somewhat remote area for I.T but I am able to move at short notice. I know from reading this forum that most people seem to do the A+ etc to get in to I.T but that path is not for me. I do not want to do help desk work at all.
If we all followed the same path then there would be a very long queue at the sales counter, so I am skipping the normal route and going straight to the till.

 

It is only the suggested route as others have been successful in the past. There is nothing stopping your from trying your way however you may find that you are waiting a very long time to find your ideal job. You need to remember that you are fighting with other applicants who are going to have more experience and certs than yourself. Saying that you may get a very lucky break but that is the risk you take.

You learn the vital basics starting at the bottom. On the job learning is so much more different than what you get from books and study.

I started off at the helpdesk level after finishing uni several years ago. It wasnt my ideal job but you have to start somewhere. I have recently finished my MSc and have got a contract job working 2nd line which is a stepping stone to moving into forensics. I dont have any experience in this area so finding my ideal job is hard. I am currently working, getting money, experience and certs whilst still job hunting. This will put me in a better situation and make me more appealing to potential employers.

 

This guy is living in cloud cuckoo land, I admire your confident and arrogant but get real with you.

Sorry mate you are not in the real world.

 

It's the fault of the training providers with their oh so realistic marketing spin "Gain the CCNA and earn 35000 per year" "John from Wigan used to mop toilets, now he's earning 80K a year as a Network manager thanks to his CCNA" The vendors are no better using the uninformed as cash cows.

With no experience of delivering what these certificates say you can do, within a professional capacity, makes them pretty damn useless for anything other than entry roles where you have displayed an understanding of concepts.

If we take an extract from the MCTS 70-680 audience profile: "Candidates for this exam operate in computing environments that use Microsoft Windows 7 as a desktop operating system in an enterprise environment. Candidates should have at least one year of experience in the IT field, as well as experience implementing and administering any Windows client operating system in a networked environment."

An employer offering £21k is going to want you to deliver this and demonstrate that you have. You'll simply be overlooked for the next guy who has no certs but experience. Network Admin? are you being serious?

 

Too which you'll be told "get to the back of the queue" just like you would if you tried that in real life!

However, good luck and keep us all posted on your progress!

 

I'll say it. You are unlikely to EVER get an interview for anything you seem to be applying for

Explain to me what makes you so special, let's just say, we are in an interview now. You tell me, who the hell are you? why would I choose you over the guy with experience? what can you offer me that he can't?

 

Ok so the OP does have the disadvantage of lack of experience, and rightly or wrongly he/she has got a bucket full of ambition. Most people who work in ICT did start of on some form of helpdesk, gained valuable experience and slowly progressed. But there are some people who did not gain the experience or real-world knowledge, and who do earn quite a bit of money (I guess most of us have one of these as a team leader or line manager).

The helpdesk > 2nd Line > Network Engineer > Specialist route may be the tried and tested route, that most of us can identify with, but if the OP wants to chance his/her arm and find their own way then we should wish them luck.

You are all assuming that the person who will be interviewing the OP will know anything about IT, or business management. This is not always the case (think back in your career, you must have worked for someone so stupid that you know they would go hungry if left in a room with a tin of beans and a tin opener, but no instructions), and an in-experienced person who can talk him/herself into a job, and out of the mess that is guaranteed to follow, may stand a chance if this person is interviewing on the day (that sort of company would probably also pay for him/her to take a BSc, MSc or as many certs as they like, they may even get a bunch of highly experienced and competent yet unqualified engineers working for him/her, who can clear up his/her mess), and when the proverbial sh1t does hit the fan, then I guess they company can always get a 3rd party in to straighten it all out.

So good luck to the OP, the world is not a fair place and experience doesn’t always get you the job.

But the OP should also take note of the advice offered, and if after a few months/years in the job market he/she has still not found the job they were looking for then, maybe he/she should start looking for an entry level position.

 

you have confidence and nothing else mate
it is important to follow your dreams, but be realistic. With no experience your certs give you nothing.
Good luck anyway

PS: I always put a suit on when I go for an interview

 

Hello
Ok, I get the general impression that most may think I’m slightly arrogant and maybe a touch on the insane side. Well if I was looking in from the outside at first I may agree however:
Any interviewer can be blagged into believing that if he lets you walk away he/she may regret it.
I believe that no matter what trade you are in 90% is customer relations; you make the customer happy, your boss is happy. At the end of the day that’s what matters. You may make some major errors along the way but as long as you learn from it and blag all concerned then you will go far.
To put it into context:
I have been a Hotel manager. Bar manager, F & B manager, No1 Farmhand, Parachutist in the army, Grounds man on a golf course, butcher and a chef. I had no experience or qualifications but I managed to blag my way into the various industries. I left them all when I was at the top of my game (apart from army) because I fancied a change.
I then chose to work as a part time barman in a pub that I fancied working in; I did this so I could study Networks and windows 7.
I have always found getting interviews fairly easy, I don’t see why the I.T industry should be any different.
Research, Research and research before submitting an application form, know who you are dealing with before they open your letter and you will always off to a flying start.

 

no offence but don't compare butcher, animal breeder or a chef to Network Administrator

did you become a Hotel Manager just like that? or by promotion? if by promotion then write what level you started, same with other jobs.
how old are you anyway?

 

WoW - the reality juice is back left in the fridge, just passed the jug of dreamy looks and the bowl of discarded applications.

Reality: 90% of people who will interview you and work with you will be your peers in technical understanding, they'll notice a blagger ten fields and three farms away. [note, best guess made up statistic, just like 85% of all others]

Perpective: We're advertising for a vacanacy at the moment (yes I know I'm in a different country) for a Senior Systems Engineer, out of the 150+ applications so far in two weeks the boss has interviewed one possibility, and he didn't make it passed the technical test. The rest didn't make it passed the CV/cover letter stage for various reasons, lack of knowledge, knowledge in the wrong areas etc etc, one thing was similar across all applications though, they all had commercial experience in IT of some sort (except a couple of odd foreign hopefuls).

The IT field, and other technical related fields, are vastly different to the previous jobs you listed - peers notice when you can't do you job due to lack of knowledge / experience, they'll notice when they're bugged all the time when you keep asking how to do things, they'll notice when 75% of your time is spent on google looking up the basics. And when your "blagging" causes network downtime, when it costs the company due to your lack of experience, the bosses will notice.

With a CCNA I don't honestly know where your starting point should be, but blagging in the IT area will end up with you most likely not making it passed your trial period, iff you manage to get an interview / selected out of the gathering hordes who are also applying who do have experience.

I notice that you're not using any personally identifible naming on this site, that's probably for the best as if any prospective employeers saw the above then you're nailing your own coffin.

 

I know how he will do it he will research companies he claim to work for, claiming he has network experience with an CCNA so therefore taylor made the CV for the role he applied for.

Therefore a fake CV and blagged his way by getting the call from the agencies or employers therefore getting him the interview.