How old where you when you first got into IT?

21 after uni, now officially old balls

 

21. I got in via the door labeled 'nepotism' by grabbing a job at the company my mum worked at, stayed there for just shy of 5 years before moving on into MSPs. Never went to Uni, didn't even passed the course I did at college and was handed the keys to the server room and let loose.

 

I was nearly 27 when I first started in commercial IT, however I had been playing with computers since I was about 12 (bearing in mind I am now 45). I was using Prestel and CompuServe before the Internet was the Internet (half of you will hit Google for Prestel now I reckon ).

 

Well I was pretty good at troubleshooting as a kid but can't say I was thinking of it as a career, so I reckon about 2-3 years lol, first exam tomorrow...

 

First "IT" job, I was 31. I worked for a Video Games firms before that in numerous roles like QA Manager, Associate Producer etc.

Got made redundant after 3.5 years in 2010 for the 3rd time and thought what do I want to do with my life. Went to Vegas for New Years Eve, came back and looked at a few things and decided to go the IT route.

Love what I do and only wished I had done it sooner.

 

If we're talking full time then 21 post uni. If we're including part time then I worked for the company I went to post-uni from 17. This was tier one domestic/corporate and some website design. I'm currently back at the same company short term and as of yesterday now General Manager (which is one of the many hats including tier 3 support and internal systems development).

 

I got my first IT job at 25 years old moving from a sales assistant role in retail. I am 27 years old now. I am very happy I made the move!

 

Started toying with PC's about the age of 25, Uni 30, voluntary work in between, but my first proper IT job is the one I am in now.

Well happy with the choice I have made. Though I would do things a lot differently, I mean uni, would be a no no, I would just get industry and exams behind me. The amount I have learnt in 18 months is awesome, imagine if id of been in from the age of 30, world domination no doubt ha ha. I will say though now i have the degree,it got me the job i have now and think having it will give me the edge in some circumstances

Ed

 

Well full time IT started when I was 19 (1st/2nd like service desk), but was involved in a large scale SAP migration when i was 17, been playing with tech in general since I was 8 and the joys of Windows 3.11 and dial up at 15 (Demon Turnpike for the oldies) and now the joys of fibre, now I am coming up to 35 and in a hybrid role of Infrastructure and Support.

 

I thought I was 23 but just worked it out and I was actually 22 when I got my first actual job working in IT, I got a job as a trainee IT tutor teaching basic computer skills. After about 6 months working for that company I was the go to man when something didn't work and it was around that time I realised I had a bit of a natural ability for problem solving. I really loved that job, the company not so much but working with people was much more rewarding than working with machines.

 

To be honest @jk2447 as someone who still plays a lot of games (When not studying etc) it was brilliant. Playing GTA, Football Manager etc was great.
However, there was also a lot of Crap involved. Things like Chicken run and crap like that so it evened itself out. It kinda of depended on what you was working on at the time.

I LOVED Football Manager and played it for 8 Months solid, even to the point where we would stay behind after work just to finish a season. But we were all BIG FM fans. There were other people working on it who had no real interest in Football and they hated it, so swings and roundabouts.

The only two serious downpoints I found was that everyone looks DOWN on a QA / Test Department. No respect, no real gratitude from other departments. They all saw it as a bunch of lads (or Ladies) who couldnt do anything else but play games when in fact its a lot more than that. Need excellent written skills, (Try explaining to a developer where the Glitch in at X Spot of a MMOG), excellent ATD, Concetration for the Sony, SEGA and Nintendo Standards as well as the ability to spend at least 6 months playing the same thing over and over again.

I was one of the lucky ones in that I managed to catch a break and move from QA into Production. Its not very common unless your lucky. In my case, one of the Assistant Producers Visa's had expired and he hadnt realised so had to go home, they asked me if I would step into the role on a temp basis to see the title out and it went from there.

And the second serious downpoint was as I mentioned earlier. Getting stuck on a god awful title that you (And the Company) know isnt going to make any money due to it being so utterly crap, no-one in their right mind would buy was very disheartening.