Moving in to IT as a drop out?

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timmmay

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#1462204 6-Jan-2016 11:07

solaybro:
Inphinity: are you also opposed to doing industry certification?

I'm fine doing another sort of certification, I just don't want to do uni because the computer science degrees all require a high level of maths.

I did BTech at Massey, quite a while back, and you had first year calculus and statistics, plus electronics. Totally pointless for IT. Is there no degree that just does computer science without maths?

kiwifidget

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#1462214 6-Jan-2016 11:20

I am super bad at maths, but even I managed to pass 2 Year1 maths papers to satisfy my BA requirements for Operations Research.
I got help.
Strangely enough I ended up in IT as a career, starting out on the Helpdesk after transferring from the Accounts department.
Work hard, don't quit, and you'll have more options in life later on.

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lxsw20

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#1462215 6-Jan-2016 11:22

Look into a polytech option. Something like the Bach Info Tech that Otago Poly do.

rphenix

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#1462253 6-Jan-2016 12:33

timmmay:
solaybro:
Inphinity: are you also opposed to doing industry certification?

I'm fine doing another sort of certification, I just don't want to do uni because the computer science degrees all require a high level of maths.

I did BTech at Massey, quite a while back, and you had first year calculus and statistics, plus electronics. Totally pointless for IT. Is there no degree that just does computer science without maths?

Tell me about it. For my degree had to do Ethics, Communication Studies (basically 7th form english all over again), Maths and several other pointless subjects that I felt were just filler when I wanted to be doing more programming papers etc..

dpw

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#1462344 6-Jan-2016 14:18

timmmay: If you decide to switch you could do an IT degree or qualification - much easier to get a foot into the door you want than starting in helpdesk.

I have to agree with this, assuming you want to make a career in IT beyond support roles. If you are hoping to get a foot in the door I strongly suggest you find an institution that has a good relationship with the industry. A lot of Polytechs have this. Degrees such as Bachelor of Information Technology generally require a final year project. If the institute has a good relationship with the industry you may end up doing a project with an external company. Excelling in this (and doing well in the rest of the degree) may give you a starting role in that company or, at the very least, stand you in good stead.

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solaybro

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#1567414 7-Jun-2016 19:37

I was looking into telecommunications technicians on the careers.govt.nz website and it seems like the sort of thing I might be into. Apparently the job opportunities are high but I'm having difficulties finding out how you get into this career. Anyone have any tips?

gehenna

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#1567424 7-Jun-2016 19:53

I was a school and polytech drop out. Found my way into a helpdesk role, then engineering, then architecture, now management. It can be done - but be prepared for a long road and a lot of potential frustration along the way.

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DravidDavid

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#1567451 7-Jun-2016 20:20

solaybro:

I was looking into telecommunications technicians on the careers.govt.nz website and it seems like the sort of thing I might be into. Apparently the job opportunities are high but I'm having difficulties finding out how you get into this career. Anyone have any tips?

Hello friend! I also suck terribly at mathematics and did pretty much what you did, except I finished college with no idea as to where to put myself and studied 3D animation for sh*ts and giggles as a two year "what the hell am I going to do with my life" buffer instead.

I can almost guarantee the best way to make your way in to that industry and be paid to do it, is through starting with helpdesk at a company where you can establish that as a viable career path. I originally wanted to work network operations for an ISP and the best way was certainly working through the ranks as a help desk operator. Plenty of NOC techs are hired internally in various companies without fancy degrees from universities.

I was given the opportunity to work for a small printing firm as the IT manager and I'd only had about a year and six months in helpdesk before in a technical position. I have no formal IT qualifications at all, but I do have knowledge of computer systems as I've been working with them since I was a grasshopper.

In my personal opinion (and it's just that) qualifications short of specific qualifications for working on particular hardware or software are pretty useless unless you want to ultimately start a business and use that knowledge to more securely base yourself in the industry. I'd say that opinion translates to a lot of industries. My experience has been that employers want actual experience.

I had a small IT startup on the side which I've run out of time to maintain, but that was a huge help also.

If you really don't like where you are you should definitely move yourself elsewhere as soon as possible. But don't move so quickly that you drop out and leave yourself 20K in debt to the government with no tertiary education to show for it

solaybro

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#1568193 8-Jun-2016 20:15

gehenna:

I was a school and polytech drop out. Found my way into a helpdesk role, then engineering, then architecture, now management. It can be done - but be prepared for a long road and a lot of potential frustration along the way.

How did you get into a help desk role? I have no experience and no training in IT, it seems like it would be a hard sell to get someone to hire me.

gehenna

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#1568211 8-Jun-2016 20:17

solaybro:

gehenna:

I was a school and polytech drop out. Found my way into a helpdesk role, then engineering, then architecture, now management. It can be done - but be prepared for a long road and a lot of potential frustration along the way.

How did you get into a help desk role? I have no experience and no training in IT, it seems like it would be a hard sell to get someone to hire me.

Well this was back in 1998/99 and I had quite a lot of knowledge albeit not a lot of experience. I just applied, interviewed, and got it.

blackjack17

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#1568216 8-Jun-2016 20:21

solaybro:
Inphinity: are you also opposed to doing industry certification?

I'm fine doing another sort of certification, I just don't want to do uni because the computer science degrees all require a high level of maths.

what about looking at the business side of ag/hort?

Your economics background would be a huge advantage, it is in demand, number of scholarships available, and to be honest the competition isn't that great.

Worth thinking about

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