Jobs, I need a new one.

[SilentDeath]

Currently working for royal mail, part time.. getting just under 9k after tax :/
I'd like to do something in IT, so Im aiming for a first line support job. What other IT positions could I try with only basic network/server/software knowlegde?

I have done a lot of stuff that is not really relevant like programming in delphi,asm c, etc.. I only have a basic knowlege of each. Electronics, overclocking, microcontrolers too...


My brother was made redundant 2 months ago and is now looking for a decent IT job at around 40k. He put his cv on a few sites and has got about 50 phonecalls back in 2 days, and has 7 interviews already for the next week! I can't belive how effortless his search *seems* to be.

[sleepyhead]

Regarding the situation with your brother, I would say that part of his "luck" (as I would call it) is down to presentation of the CV, the other aspect is he probably was quite proactive in searching for another job.

From what I know (with only know people who do work in IT) is that you'd get a foot in the door if you have some certificates. Even simple MS ones (I have no idea which, as I said, I'm not IT just know people in IT) that you can do over the net (at least I think you can) will help you get abit further than "home brew" knowledge.

I'm pretty sure you no longer need to put gender or D.O.B. on your CV either...

[Lucio]

From my own experiences, I'd say entry level jobs require you to go out and find them, they almost never come to you. From posting my CV on Monster, I've had a few hits but they've all been from people looking for someone with a decent bit of experience under their belt.

[zulander]

out of interest how old is the op?
Colleges and school are usually good places to look for basc IT jobs I work at one and while i hate it it could be a good building block for someone, competition is pretty fierce tho but the apprentice at our place has a really good thing going he only gets about £600 a month but he gets the chance to get an MCP in XP and possibly server 2003 which are well worth having.
A lot of 1st line support stuff doesnt always need loads of technical knowledge just the ability to manage your time and deal well with people on the phone.
I must admit ive been an IT Analyst/Technician for a good while have a fair bit of on the job experience but i havent gone very far - infact ive gone backwards - im trying to study for an mcp to see if i can get a better job because at the moment i am well and truley stuck in a dead end job

[SilentDeath]

Regarding the situation with your brother, I would say that part of his "luck" (as I would call it) is down to presentation of the CV, the other aspect is he probably was quite proactive in searching for another job.

Forgot to mention he has a degree and a good 3 years of experience.. but in no other industry would you get phone calls every 5 minutes trying to recruit you... without going to a LOT of effort. The only thing he has done is uploaded his cv with a few questions to 4 or 5 websites... + awnsering the phone of course.

Lucio I would agree, Ive been looking at the entry level jobs but there doesnt seem too be many although when I was last looking over a year ago I had a few good interviews.
Im 22.

[zulander]

Then it may not be too late to get an apprentice post somewhere ok the money may not be any better than what you have but at the end u could have an NVQ level 3 possibly an MCP or 2 and have 2 years work experience - to me thats worth the low money because it gives you such a solid foundation

[TheAnimus]

Forgot to mention he has a degree and a good 3 years of experience.. but in no other industry would you get phone calls every 5 minutes trying to recruit you... without going to a LOT of effort. The only thing he has done is uploaded his cv with a few questions to 4 or 5 websites... + awnsering the phone of course.

Its quite bizzare the difference even 12 months of the right kind of experiance makes, from when i first started as a graduate developer out of uni, despite having all kinds of awards (ranging from team managementie type things, to just acalades for my programing/software design) i got about 5 interviews total.

14 months later, i felt like a verritable keri nightly posting on match .com. All the agencies ask to take you out to lunch/dinner and drinks. The problem is they just want to get you the job with the biggest back hander, which often isn't the best job for you by a long shot.

Getting the experiance is the hard thing, the foot in the door. A lot of searching is the easyest way (and i'd already decided to be willing to move), its worth the effort, i've had a wage increase by 2.5x since i graduated 18 months ago now.