Just phoned reed.co.uk

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They said that they wont even consider me for any job vacancy's or even help me because they are only looking for people with 12 to 18 months + related work experience.

 

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my understanding was that asking for any specific period of experience is age discrimination (since younger candidates cant possibly have x years experience). All they are permitted to ask for it "experience in y".

Point that out to them, see how quickly they change their mind. Reed arent any good anyway really, not for IT vacancies.

 

This.

Use jobsite instead.

Qs

 

This

 

That's because the entry-level IT job market is flooded with career changers. You can't shake a stick these days without hitting someone who wants to enter the IT field. Since those folks are easy to find, companies aren't going to employ a job placement firm to help them find people to fill entry-level job vacancies.

 

I signed up with Reed before I got my current job, they contacted me about one job which required me ending up with a detailed knowledge of different types of tarmac. Not really what I was looking for. Haven't heard a peep out of them since.

 

Yeah - my CV was registered with them for a while when I was contracting - I remember once having a job sent to me by them that was a vacancy for a Credit Controller - preumably on the basis that their word matching software had come up with 'Microsoft' on my CV...

 

Reed suck anyway just as most recruitment agencies do because their recruitment peoples knowledge of IT is the same as my knowledge of quantum physics absolutley none at all.

 

Do unpaid/volunteer work then? I'm sure theres someone who wouldnt mind free labour.

Finding any job at the moment is difficult..

As for the reed thing... All recruitment agencies are given certain criteria applicants must meet by whoevers looking for workers.. if a recruitment agency pass on names of those who don't even meet the criteria, they are just wasting their clients time.

 

sorry forgot to mention I was speaking to the Manager of the bureau, the senior staff at that place.
I cant be bothered to be honest(not that im a big head), but she was only interested in using me in any way or shape.!!! rather than trying to help.

 

I happen to know all there is to know about quantum physics

 

Unpaid working for a local school is how I started. Bit of a rocky road when I started I found.

 

Please allow me tell a worse story of my experience with an agency.

I had left university with a degree in I.T and had been volunteering in IT Support at a charity for a year, and one day decided to visit local agencies and ask for admin work. This would be easy I thought, since I have a degree in I.T and have supported people on Microsoft Office, I'll easily get in.

One agency said I needed 12 months experience in an administration role, because they needed people with experience of office software like excel. I replied that no, I don't have 12 months administration experience, but I have been supporting people using this software for 12 months in a voluntary role. She replied that she couldn't help me since I didn't have experience, I was a bit shocked and thought maybe she didn't hear me "I SUPPORTED people using office software"...she just said the same thing.

Now maybe she either doesn't know what support means or hasn't got a brain and only sticks to rigid key words, anything else you say is just not heard. I could have gone in there and say that I wrote all office applications, and she'd still reject me for not having experience.

The worst thing is, I went to another agency and asked for an IT Support job, they sent me to an interview that was IT Support. So I got the job and started a few days later. I quickly realised that it was not IT Support, it was an admin job. Since I've now had an admin job, I can tell you that you don't need any experience at all, a school leaver could do it fine.

What annoys me the most are vacancies advertised as entry level, which any human would take as meaning the starting point of a career, that require 2 or more years experience in the role being advertised. It's like going to a cinema, walking through "enter here", but then being told to enter 2 other doors first. Either let me enter or change the sign on your door.

Entry level should mean no experience required in that role, and I think that the entry level in IT Support is the helpdesk, which anyone with no experience should be capable of, providing they have a qualification in I.T

 

I too found it hard getting into IT........and after countless rejections, I finally opted for a new tactic, I applied for a non IT specific role within an IT area, in my case PA to a senior IT manager........then performed as well as I could in that role, in tandem showing mega interest in anything binary.......

This might not work for you, but something to think about........when starting out, you just need to keep plugging away and in time you'll get that opportunity.....tenacity is the key....