The hunt for that entry level IT job, my progress so far.

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Ok, one month after passing my A+ I have applied for a few entry level jobs. I was interviewed for a position at a school a few weeks back, I didn’t get the job but the IT manager phoned me up and chatted to me for about 20 mins and told me to keep trying, I asked him if there was anything I could have done better in the interview he replied “no, the only reason you did not get the job is that another candidate had applied from another college who was working in a similar role. This guy ticked every box, we would have trained you but this guy could hit the ground running so to speak” one piece of advice he gave me was to not lose my enthusiasm and “you will be employed”

Ok, so the interview yesterday was for a trainee IT tech with a company not far from my house, the company designs and builds networks for companies and also provides training and support for the products it installs. it’s a Microsoft gold partner and Cisco a Cisco Systems Gold Certified Partner.

I was on time for the interview (phew) and was met by the IT manager who suggested we grab a drink in the canteen first before we got started, this was a cool move on his part because my mouth was dry with nerves.

We went to a spare room where he quickly explained that he was interviewing me face to face because If employed I would be on his team so he gets a first look at the candidate. He asked about why I wanted to work in IT and appeared impressed that I had studied the A+ in my spare time. I told him about how keen I was to work with computers , and how interested I am in computers, networks, Operating systems …the whole shebang!
He was a really laid back guy, 30 years in the industry you could tell he loved his job and obviously knew his stuff. After a few a bit more of a chat he took me on a tour of the building, showed me some test labs, A few build rooms and a massive space age server room. He even took time to point out the various routers, switches and cabling after I admitted I had never seen a server room before. All I was thinking was I’d love to work with all this technology, a million miles away from dirty noisy workshops and endless posters of rules and regulations and T+A calendars I am used to!


If employed I would start by providing it support in the building (loads of offices and laptops everywhere!!) and move on from there. He said it would be like an apprenticeship and the successful candidate would be trained to MCP, he also added all his team were MCP and one member was away attending a week long cisco course, he explained that they hate to lose staff and invest in them so that they are happy and productive.

WHAT A JOB!!!

And guess what, I received a phone call today informing me that HR will be contacting me within the next week for the Final interview.

Also I have another interview for another IT trainee assistant role on Tuesday.

I’ll keep you lot posted.

 

Good luck

 

Sounds great! Keep us posted!

 

Sounds great. Good luck on the interviews.

 

Very encouraging. Good luck.

 

I hope you get it. Gooooood luck!!!

 

cheers, the fingers are well and truley crossed

 

my fingers and toes are crossed for you mate! Sounds like your getting some good interview experience!!! Think positive as you'll be employed in no time!!!

Good luck and KEEP US POSTED!!!!

 

Good Luck with it mate hope it turns out good for ya

 

Mate, I wish you the very best of luck. Your enthusiasm and determination will ensure that you get that lucky break; lets just hope that that break comes now!

 

Sorry to butt in on your topic, but I'm finding it increasingly frustrating trying to find an entry-level job.

I'm currently studying for the A+ and also looking for entry-level work alongside of this.

I'm having trouble even finding where these jobs are advertised, I've checked newspapers and online and all the jobs require experience, which means that they are not entry-level jobs. In the UK, are entry-level jobs generally advertised much, or am I missing something?

Am I being rejected based on the fact that I don't have the A+ yet?

 

You're likely being rejected because more qualified applicants are getting the interviews and the jobs. Realize that *everyone* uses the newspaper and online search engines to find IT jobs, so the competition is likely to be fierce.

So how do you get around this problem? There are a LOT of "hidden" jobs out there that aren't advertised in the papers or online. How do you find those hidden jobs? It's all in who you know - networking with people is an often-overlooked art in IT. People who are already in the IT industry can often tell you about a potential job opportunity before the IT manager has even decided whether to hire for a position or not!

If you don't know anyone in the IT field, now's the time to meet them. In fact... you're doing so right now, though the people may not be as local as you might like.

 

Keep trying, I check everyday on the Jobcentre online, reed, kelly and fire the odd IT Trainee, ICT Assistant, Junior IT Technician and my location (west sussex) into google.

I also check the local paper and the free ad papers that are posted through the door every week. I have been looking for almost 2 months now and in that time i have only found 8 jobs that I can apply for (and I did). I have had replies from only 3 so far!!

Keep looking, do not give up. One thing is for sure, its hard to get on the bottom rung of the ladder but not impossible!

good luck and keep trying mate.

 

oh yeah, update: interview today. its in front of a panel. Yikes, gonna give it my best shot, thats all I can do.

 

Phew, that was hard. This was a job as an ICT assistant for a charity. It was in front of panel of 3 people, a HR manager, ICT manager and ICT engineer. The HR lady was very nice a smiley the other two looked bored and uncomfortable, all three had clipboards and were reading questions from them. I was clearly nervous and stumbled over my words a few times. As I was answering one interviewers question I could feel the eyes of the other two gauging my body language. Every time I finished a speaking there was an awkward silence and all three would look at each other, I did use the ‘does that answer your question?’ Line a few times they would all look at each other and nod. I think I did well I was asked similar questions a few times which puzzled me a bit but I just re explained what I had said earlier. More nods.

Hardest question was: “what has been your greatest achievement in IT” when I have never worked in IT before, and If someone who know you could sum you up in three words what would they be, I stumbled and my mind went blank I just said they would probably say I was. Honest and contentious and erm…… erm……… sorry I can’t think of anything.


I was told I was in a shortlist of 5 (for one position) they would let me know the outcome by the weekend.

 

Thanks for your kind words Arroryn, yeah, like you said its great interview experience.
I have my Final interview for that really cool communications company (see first post in this thread) on thursday, I'm not expecting this to be a breeze, but I'm told I'm down to the final 3 for this one.

 

Hello all,

I am new here. Just wanted to say I went for an interview two weeks back for an ICT support engineer role with the council and got the job. My background is mainly Av although over the years AV and IT have tended to blend together.

I have Taught myself years ago how to build PCs and also worked on basic networks. However, one piece of advice I can give is to always prepare for the interview!

I spent one week studying everybook you can imagine about computers and networking as I knew if asked specific questions I might not be able to answer them although I might be able to do the task practically.

I am neither A+ certified or network+ although I am now studying for it and plan to pass both within two to three months after I start the new job. You have to have the confidence and approach the interview with a positive attitude. Do not be scared to ask questions and if you are asked something you do not understand do not hesitate to politely challenge the question asked.

I feel very lucky indeed and feel it is a step within the IT industry. As for a previous post discussing the starting salary, this job is paying £23K to start with and mileage and car allowance is also given.

regards

Kaborex