At a crossroads

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#965505 12-Jan-2014 15:25

jpoc: Just a few random observations for you. (Background - I have been working in IT for over 30 years mostly as an indy contractor and I have worked for many of the biggest names in the business. I am a developer and I have been involved in recruiting for dev roles too.)

If you try to get work as a developer, you will find that your age is working against you. Recruiters expect junior programmers to be in their early to mid twenties. That is not to say that it is impossible but I am trying to give you a heads up.

The role in IT that is most suited to folks on the Autism spectrum is testing. In Europe there are test houses that actively seek out aspies for these roles. Testing may not be glamorous but that has its advantages when it comes to applying for - and getting - jobs.

Your current experience may be enough to get you work for a company that needs a junior test engineer.

Employers like qualifications from traditional universities. Qualifications from other bodies are much less likely to be valued.

Recruitment companies are only interested in people who they can place for a large fee and that means people who are hard to find and who will be paid a lot of money when they are employed.

Very few employers will be prepared to pay a recruitment company thousands of dollars for a junior developer with no experience because all they have to do is contact a uni careers office and they will be flooded with applications.

Good luck

So does my incomplete university study really have 'non-committed dropout quitter' written all over it, or have the mists of time buried it? As mentioned earlier, I've looked at cross-crediting to Massey and decided it's not worth it. I should add that my hand was forced when I attempted to cross-credit to other institutions after flunking out of Otago years back, all the options were rejected by Otago because of the offending paper's specialist nature and equipment, which also precluded any possibility of it being offered extra-murally. It might as well have been taught by Mickey Mouse and still be called information science.

My brother-in-law never finished university, and set up his own web hosting business, with the associated experience in Web coding. He was in his early 30s when he landed a plum job as a Web dev at a major bank, and he's never looked back. So there might still be hope. Still, testing looks an option - it could tap into my written communications experience, and I know that I can write better than I can speak.

"I regret to say that we of the F.B.I. are powerless to act in cases of oral-genital intimacy, unless it has in some way obstructed interstate commerce." — J. Edgar Hoover

"Create a society that values material things above all else. Strip it of industry. Raise taxes for the poor and reduce them for the rich and for corporations. Prop up failed financial institutions with public money. Ask for more tax, while vastly reducing public services. Put adverts everywhere, regardless of people's ability to afford the things they advertise. Allow the cost of food and housing to eclipse people's ability to pay for them. Light blue touch paper." — Andrew Maxwell

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#965527 12-Jan-2014 15:50

deepred:

So does my incomplete university study really have 'non-committed dropout quitter' written all over it, or have the mists of time buried it?

It is so far in the past that it is hard to see how it counts as a positive. Most employers will have assumed that what you learned and never used will have gone from your head and will not be so relevant today anyway.

It does not really label you as a quitter. Some employers may assume worse than that.

When I was younger, one of my assigned roles in the interview process was to chum up to the candidates and just chat, see if there are any dark secrets. So, I would be trying to find out why you quit. The potential employer would worry that you had been caught stealing from fellow students to fund a P habit and were quietly shown the door by uni in order to keep things looking good for them. I'd be expected to find out what was behind the drop out and to make a comment as to whether or not I found the story that you gave to be plausible. Think about how you will describe it to employers. Don't lie but tell the truth in a way that shows you as having given it your best shot.

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#965665 12-Jan-2014 19:45

deepred: I still know how to draw up a many-to-many ERD, and a vague idea of how dev projects work and to avoid debacles like INCIS. I've worked in PHP, ASP and Visual C#.NET - the latter of which I had a crash course in my current job, due to the need to smooth out the imperfections of a poorly-written web catalogue system. I can admit to being a bit rusty in those, but I wouldn't mind getting back up to speed as well as picking up new languages.

A friend of mine who is a lot less technical than you are was in a similar position in his early 30's. He chose the Microsoft Certification route and has had a lot of opportunities since then. You have a big head start on the Microsoft Certification track.

It's obvious you have wide experience, that is highly valued by some employers.

On top of that you need advice specific to your region if that region is your focus.

Join the Wellington Computer Society (IITP). They have a mentoring program (http://www.iitp.org.nz/mentoring/) - you want to be paired up with a Microsoft programmer. They also provide short courses on topics of interest to members (http://www.iitp.org.nz/courses/). I'm sure they are very friendly.

Certifications are kind of expensive through a formal training provider but for semi-experienced people they can be a jump ahead.

Self study is always an option but like everyone you will need some kind of roadmap or mentoring to make sure you're not wasting too much of your time on parts which are not really critical.

deepred

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#1013425 26-Mar-2014 21:15

gzt:
deepred: I still know how to draw up a many-to-many ERD, and a vague idea of how dev projects work and to avoid debacles like INCIS. I've worked in PHP, ASP and Visual C#.NET - the latter of which I had a crash course in my current job, due to the need to smooth out the imperfections of a poorly-written web catalogue system. I can admit to being a bit rusty in those, but I wouldn't mind getting back up to speed as well as picking up new languages.

A friend of mine who is a lot less technical than you are was in a similar position in his early 30's. He chose the Microsoft Certification route and has had a lot of opportunities since then. You have a big head start on the Microsoft Certification track.

It's obvious you have wide experience, that is highly valued by some employers.

On top of that you need advice specific to your region if that region is your focus.

Join the Wellington Computer Society (IITP). They have a mentoring program (http://www.iitp.org.nz/mentoring/) - you want to be paired up with a Microsoft programmer. They also provide short courses on topics of interest to members (http://www.iitp.org.nz/courses/). I'm sure they are very friendly.

Certifications are kind of expensive through a formal training provider but for semi-experienced people they can be a jump ahead.

Self study is always an option but like everyone you will need some kind of roadmap or mentoring to make sure you're not wasting too much of your time on parts which are not really critical.

Tried self-teaching not too long ago, and ended up crashed and burnt out in a ditch. Just like the $20k wasted effort that was my Info Sci course from years earlier. As mentioned earlier in this thread, I like the idea of DevBootCamp but can't afford the equivalent of a First Class airfare to enrol in it, not to mention the non-eligibility for student loans. And as far as training and study are concerned, I'm wary of throwing away any more good money after bad. Again, my current job looks less an IT job and more a retail Job that happens to have IT in it. As such, I have doubts about how seriously my current experience will be taken by the ICT job market - last time I dealt with recruiting agencies, they certainly didn't. I'm still in my current job for the time being because I'd rather not jump ship only to find the lifeboat has sprung a leak.

The ICT skills shortage continues, and a big part of the problem is that the industry can't find enough senior professionals, while even industry novices who are higher qualified than I am seem to find all the rungs at the bottom missing. Even those senior pros already in the industry were novices once. I recently looked on Geekzone's job listings, and most of them want experienced seniors - I consider myself an experienced junior who's getting old for that stage. Right now, I feel a bit like a factory-hand in 1978 who's antsing over whether he'll still have a job in 1982 because computers and machines are replacing him. And come 1982, the machines have replaced him, his skills are no longer useful, and the know-how needed to operate the machines are beyond his scope.

In summation, I'm keen to get into a proper ICT job, but the barriers to entry look very high. Aside from software testing/quality assurance, what other career paths are there for a high-functioning autistic PC seller/builder/fixit guy with the equivalent experience of an A+ Cert? I may have to look to Workbridge or other agencies who could cater for Aspergians.

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#1014504 28-Mar-2014 11:49

You need to pick at least one action point and strike out in that direction.

Imho if you were in Auckland none of this would be an issue just so many opportunities.

My pick for action is getting a mentor through wellington computer soc. You have a ton of strengths which will not go to waste in a new direction.

Newton's first law:

An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction

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#1015480 30-Mar-2014 17:38

I did the natcoll web dev course and found it more oriented to entry level work as a web master than real IT, but you could get more into the web programming side if you were good at that. Couldn't quite complete the development section of it so its wasted now, but did give me a start to move onto other things.

One of the universities or polytechs mite offer a good IT or comp science diploma so you dont need to go for the whole degree. Hopefully you can study that part time? Agree that software testing sounds promising, and you may find security or similar to be good as well.

Time to find a new industry!

deepred

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#1024062 12-Apr-2014 17:04

gzt: You need to pick at least one action point and strike out in that direction.

Imho if you were in Auckland none of this would be an issue just so many opportunities.

My pick for action is getting a mentor through wellington computer soc. You have a ton of strengths which will not go to waste in a new direction.

Newton's first law:

An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction

Got the following reply from the IITP, and seems a good sign so far...

Thanks for your email and enquiry regarding our Mentoring programme.

I understand your concerns and don't really know the best way to address those other than by saying that we attempt to match mentors to the clients needs, in your case specifically with the Autism it maybe a more complicated to do that, but there is no reason why we couldn't find someone who was willing to mentor you.

Once we find a mentor the two of you would meet and if you are a good fit for each other you enter into the mentoring relationship, if you feel that the mentor isn't the type of person you are looking for or it doesn't feel like a good fit, then we will find someone else for you. If we are unable to find someone we would of course refund you.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any further queries about the mentoring programme
Warm Regards

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

gzt

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#1050764 21-May-2014 23:06

How is that new direction of motion going? Good results with the mentor?

deepred

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#1068183 18-Jun-2014 09:46

Membership was approved, so far been waiting nearly 2 weeks for a suitable mentor to be found. Especially given my needs are unique, and that I'm starting from a lower base than others trying to get into ICT.

deepred

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#1072675 23-Jun-2014 15:11

Still haven't heard back from the mentoring team yet. And I just hope software testers aren't going the way of PC repairers and TV & radio repairers...

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#1072695 23-Jun-2014 15:49

If you attend the presentation I'm guessing you will find the title is there to add a bit of drama. The testing role(s) are changing rather than dying. Also, I would not mind betting there are more people working in electronic repair now than a decade ago.

Edit: Changed role to role(s) more accurate.

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#1072885 23-Jun-2014 19:51

I read the other three now: Dr Dobbs: The Shrinking Role of QA - written by a guy who is selling unit testing consulting services. Pfft. LinkedIn: The Hard Truth About Software Testing - Microsoft manager engaging in obvious classic chair throwing leadership to no effect. Some of the comments are insightful.

Testing: An Obvious Career Choice - This is really good. It surprised me. That graphic is really good. Also the problems of career progression he is discussing only in the first couple of paragraphs is the effort to keep talented people within his own company and within the testing field. What that really says is there are a lot of opportunities for people to change track, but he would like to retain them by better understanding the field.

I'd guess Tracie Stapp's talk will be about how testing is being more closely integrated into the development function ie; embedded into development teams and less a standalone function. Go along, it should be interesting.

I got the impression from your earlier comment that you were not really interested in a testing career.

deepred: Aside from software testing/quality assurance, what other career paths are there for a high-functioning autistic PC seller/builder/fixit guy with the equivalent experience of an A+ Cert?

I think I may have got the wrong impression. Looks like you are considering all options.

I'd also suggest you formalise your existing experience by getting the a+ just for the hell of it, if it will not distract you from more important things. The exam is less than NZ$300.

deepred

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#1082367 7-Jul-2014 12:50

How long does it usually take for a mentor to be found? It's been exactly a month with no response, and they claim to get back within 1-2 weeks. In fairness, my needs are bigger than the average 'entrant member', but if no one suitable can be found, a refund would be in order. And I might have no other choice but to sign on as a 'disabled' jobseeker with Workbridge et al. All the more so because psychologists I've recently seen are starting to put 2 + 2 together. More importantly, my folks finally believe I might be on the spectrum, after years of denying it. Long story short, all those years of 'tiger mothering' have proven worthless - the hikikomori in Japan are living proof of that.

deepred

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#1084351 8-Jul-2014 20:18

Just got an auto-generated response, and judging by the date it sounds like the contact person might be on maternity leave. Annual leave can't be quite that long.

"I am out of the office untill the 10th June and will be largely away from emails for the majority of the time. If your query is urgent please call our team on XX XX-XXXX or text me on XXX XXX XXX and I will respond as soon as I can."

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#1086066 9-Jul-2014 21:52

deepred: How long does it usually take for a mentor to be found? It's been exactly a month with no response, and they claim to get back within 1-2 weeks.

That's slack communication.

deepred: In fairness, my needs are bigger than the average 'entrant member',

Maybe, maybe not. I'd say pretty much everyone in IT has worked with people somewhere on the spectrum.

All you really want is a new direction into a better career path and then getting to work with the right people. Problem solved. : )

but if no one suitable can be found, a refund would be in order.

If the first one doesn't work out get another one. I suspect you may have been a bit too specific but that's just a guess.

And I might have no other choice but to sign on as a 'disabled' jobseeker with Workbridge et al.

well that's a long way down the track if ever hopefully.

All the more so because psychologists I've recently seen are starting to put 2 + 2 together. More importantly, my folks finally believe I might be on the spectrum, after years of denying it. Long story short, all those years of 'tiger mothering' have proven worthless - the hikikomori in Japan are living proof of that.

It's probably a good idea to go and see a profesional who actually specialises in autism/aspergers spectrum. From there you can get some idea where you fit and what similar people are doing. All these questionaires and things are diagnostic aids and not any kind of solution or assesment in themselves.

Maybe try meet some similar high functioning people who have solved similar problems to yours. I don't know where you would start with that but maybe opening a channel with these people:

http://www.autismnz.org.nz/local_branches/wellington/autism_nz_wellington_supportsocial_groups

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