What to do.........??

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I've got this rash.............just kidding

I'm working as an accountant at the moment but studying CompTIA A+. I've scouted around for entry level jobs but like most am finding it difficult. The salaries offered are poor for entry level jobs so I was thinking of continuing in accounts until I have at least got the A+ and Network + under my belt. The problem is this way I would have no practical experience, so this would pose another problem.

At the moment I am frustrated and thinking of not bothering.

Just wondered what other people have done?


Mark.

 

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I am also thinking along your lines but because I am in a lot of debt which will be clear by next march so hopefully I will have a+ and N+ and then be able to get a job whilst debt free.

 

Mark,

Welcome to the forum.

You will find lots of stories here - lot's of members have made "the change".

I was 24 when I decided i wanted to work in IT. By the time i was 26 i had left a well paid job with company car, laptop, mobile and pension.
People told me i was bonkers and that it was too late and this that and the other. You need a strategy. Plan exactly what you want to achieve and above all make sure it is what you want and leave on good terms. The good thing about having a skill, trade, profession is no-one can take it away from you - something to fall back on.

Despite the "nice jobs" advertised, starting off is going to hurt (not sure if you are training to be an accountant or qualified). You need to plan for this in your strategy.

If you really want to make a go, then stay here ask for help and pointers and be prepared for a steep learning curve.

Good luck.

Boyce

 

Okay thanks,

Boyce:

Sounds like the same situation as me, except for the company car!!

People say I'm mad for giving accountancy up as im nearly qualified but I know IT is what I want. I want to do something Im passionate about. I just don't know whether to look for entry level role now and take the sting of a low salary or get some certs under my belt. Im having real difficulty in doing my CV as its accountancy orientated and I have no work based IT experience or finished certs.

Btw Boyce: What was your previous job, and what is your IT role now?

Mark

 

Unfortunately, even if you get some certs under your belt, you'll *still* have to get an entry-level job and take the sting of a low salary. Certification isn't the magic key to getting you a job with a higher salary. Without experience, a certification does not make you qualified to get anything more than an entry-level job. Certification merely makes you more attractive to employers when you are compared against others who also have no experience but are not certified. Only after you have built some real-world experience will you be able to qualify for the more lucrative jobs.

I wish you the best of luck!

 

Mark,

My advice is to finish off your accounting certifications and then start on the IT ones. When you have made your plan and perhaps on your way with the IT certs start applying - that's how i'd do it.

When I left school i trained to be an auto-electrician. I did my apprenticeship and stayed with the same (French) motor manufacturer for seven years and then got a field based job with a PLC for mobile diagnostics supporting a well known German brand. My job was to prevent the cars from going in to the dealers.
Armed with an A4 All road and laptop I was all over the place trying to see if faults were *genuine* and could be rectified by firmware updates or resetting values etc.

Boyce

 

There's just too much work involved for me to finish off my accounting qualifications and I can't do it if my hearts not in it. It would take another year and a half and I'm just not prepared to put the time in. I could always come back and finish them in future.

 

I was working a slave job at the postal service (temp) when I was going to school and earning my A+ and N+. The tech contract I worked was "on the side" pretty much just for the experience (each job gets added to the CV).

It took years to work my up to a halfway decent income (and it's still only "halfway" in my opinion) and find my niche career in technology. Unfortunately, there's no substitute for paying your dues.

 

Theres many crossover roles available where an accountancy background could be very useful. I'd look into business analyst, functional consultant, SAP, business inteligence, etc.

If you want to go the analyst / developer route that is.

If you want to get into IS/Support then indeed you will have a long hard slog ahead of you i expect.

 

Hi There

Sometimes in life you've gotta take 1 step backwards to eventually take 2 steps forward. Many were in the position you are now including myself, after 2 years of hard slog I'm almost at the same salary level I was at before I chnged career into IT.

Bite the bullit it'll work for you, the sooner you take the plunge the better, certs aren't everything believe me. Also try the contracting route if you dont want to take to big a drop in salary the only thing then is you must be prepared for some weeks were you arent doing anything.

Steve

 

I was looking into support and networking and wanted to get into the nuts and bolts of it, ie technician. To be honest I haven't really given much thought about the future too much and these roles you mentioned sound a bit more high fence and need some good experience?

 

Can you afford to live on a wage of 12k - 15k? This would be a starting salary for a tech. You maybe able to get a temp contract on a helpdesk for 10 quid an hour (19k)...however you may land the RIGHT job on 24k!!! Who knows??? If it's what you want then go for it!!!

 

business analyst, functional consultant, SAP, business inteligence

Thats the point chances are you would not be considered totally unqualified for these positions. You still need to find and entry level position and do some training.

Yes these positions can be high fence, SAP consultants are some of the highest paid people around. The point is everyone has to start somewhere right ? At one point they would have known little too. A lot of business analysts come from a business degree backround and therefore again would on average be no more qualified than you when they started. I would have thought that a good accountancy training should give you at least 20% of the skills in these areas. I used to have an old AAT systems book and it was 95% IT in content.

 

This maybe a useful avenue to enable you to get down the I.T. track.

Plently of poeple support accounting software installations like Sage & Iris.

You could become a Sage authorised agent or similar.

 

If you want my 2€ worth, get qualified. Then you have some professional qualifications to fall back on.