Jobs...

[dave87]

Hey guys,

As some of you may/may not know I'm currently studying History & Politics at UEA. Thing is, the time has come for me to really get off my backside and find a job for the 4 months I've got off over the summer (nice long uni holidays). However, as much as I would love to do the normal retail staffing experience (it pays reasonably well, limited responsibility), I kinda would like something a little more interesting.

Now, this is where you guys come in. I'm not sure what skills I actually have. Bear with me, this should explain itself shortly.

I worked in IT for just under 2 years whilst studying for my A-Levels. In this time I dealt with Windows XP (Home & Pro varieties), Office, Windows Server 2000/2003/Exchange, and very briefly, (before the server kicked the bucket) ISA. Also spent time building/developing/implementing networks, from wiring up new PCs/switches/servers, to the rollout of a wireless network accross the building.

Problem was, being the junior kid (and being part time) I never really spent time starting a project and seeing it through (apart from the wireless, where I had input into the hardware used, to the locations of access points). I have reasonably good skills in the Desktop arena, as hopefully my posts on here have shown, but perhaps in the server area they are a bit limited, (hardware would be my speciality, rather than software). Generally I'm computer literate and quick to learn, but in such a short time frame, I don't think they'd care about that. I would also be prepared to say I have good interpersonal skills, having worked in the support aspect of the role (deskside visits, troubleshooting, software issues), so would they be of use?

The other problem is the rather short period I'd be able to work, but that would be full time (40+ hours/wk). So the question is, do I have any valuable skills (and any realistic chance of getting a job), or would I be best off forgetting the idea and getting a job at Currys/Dixons/M&S etc?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Merlin4458]

If your loking for something IT related which it looks like you are, why not go down the "work experience route". I know its obv not what u wanna do in the future going by ur degree, but worth a look. In July im about to start work for davis langdon in London for 3 months over the summer and inbetween simesters. Im only on 6.50 and hour but in terms of expereince and something to put on my CV its better than wokring at waitrsoe(current)
Maybe going through that route instead of "i need a part time job, then im going to f off" Not that you would say that ofc. But if you show an interest in IT which you obv do then, maybe look at it as work experience and approach them that way.

[finlay666]

argh 10 minutes too slow!

I was going to suggest work exp too, I'm off to chat to some people in the video game industry (already got one informal meet planned) about getting some work placements over the summer as soon as my exams finish so I can try to not get lazy and to also work on my portfolio

[SiM]

Well if you are 1st year uni, then work experience is a good thing to go for as the guys above have mentioned. For your 2nd year then you can try to get a summer internship in IT at an investment bank or a big 4 audit company... If you are in 2nd year now, you should have applied for internships 6 months ago!

[dave87]

Cheers guys, something definitely worth considering.

Any of the guys who currently work in the IT Sector have anything to add? Hex, Moby, Trig?

[GrahamGarside]

Go into an agency like addecco etc.. they'll start you in a call centre or general admin role and pay more than a retail job, the first one I did paid £6.50ph and thats with no prevoius experience.

It's also perfect if you only want to work over the summer.

[this_is_gav]

So the question is, do I have any valuable skills (and any realistic chance of getting a job), or would I be best off forgetting the idea and getting a job at Currys/Dixons/M&S etc?

No idea how things are 'doon sooth', but you'd certainly be quite close to getting a very decent job up here, never mind work experience. I had no experience with servers when I went and got myself an NVQ placement in my current work place (a middle school - Northumberland will still be 3-tier for another couple of years), and must have impressed (relatively effortlessly I must say) sufficiently to be retained full-time. I'd say you're a good bit higher qualified than I was at the time (from a hands-on perspective rather than paper-based, of which I didn't have anything more than typing qualifications) .

Don't aim too high. Scout around for something - schools revamping over the holidays are always good, and you will almost inevitably get kept on if they can at all.

[mcmiller]

get as much work experience while your at college and uni it really will pay off when you graduate as you basically have a huge advantage over other graduates that dont have any and decided to work at currys, even if you have to work for free it really is worth in the long run, i found this out the hard

[Moby-Dick]

It sounds like the kind of thing that would suit you would be some form of operations role.

You'd be covering everything from cabling ,tape runs, physical set up of servers and builds ( usually just to OS level ) before a specialist application team did the final config. ( this is in a large enterprise , often its just part of the server guy role )

Its a good position to get to grips with technologies on a larger scale. Its alsoe where you can impress people with troubleshooting & problem resolution skills.

I'd say its a better starting role than helpdesk , but possibly harder to get into.

as for a summer job though its not going to be easy although never say die , you could possibly talk your way into something