At a crossroads

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deepred

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#1104534 8-Aug-2014 00:18

Good news. I got paired up with a mentor and had the first meeting which seems to be off to a fairly good start. With any luck, it'll fill the missing rungs in the middle of the ICT career ladder, before the bottom rung (which I'm currently on) breaks off.

I've also been trying to get a formal ASD diagnosis but it's out of my financial scope, given I've taken a voluntary cut in hours & pay. I now qualify for a Community Services Card, which boosts my chances of getting dentures from the hospital, but it still can't get a subsidy for ASD diagnosis.

"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

deepred

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#1390831 21-Sep-2015 00:37

One year on, nothing much has changed. The mentorship hasn't been the hoped-for ice-breaker.

All the ICT sector jobs I've applied for have been met with the same response: "Thank you for applying. Unfortunately we have found candidates with greater levels of experience." Workwise right now, I'm feeling a bit like a Detroit car worker in the 1980s wondering if his job will soon be done by a robot or in Mexico. I gained an A+ cert to codify the skills and experience I've built up in my current job - and for one of the aforementioned jobs I applied for - but it's as if I've gained a certificate in buggy whip repair. Workbridge and Emerge, who I've approached for support, seem to have had too much staff turnover and insufficient resources to be of much use. ICT seminars I've been to have been largely met with the same old survivorship bias bull**** ("just believe in yourself!").

Given past grief with tertiary institutions in the past, I've firmly concluded that Aspies like myself are best suited to a trade apprenticeship approach - if one can even be found. Proposals for 'digital apprenticeships', which would have filled the missing bottom rungs on the ladder, have been fobbed off by the current Tertiary Education Minister as a solution looking for a problem. Instead he's setting up an ICT Graduate School system which only reinforces the rungs at the top of the ladder.

If there's only one thing I've gained from the mentorship, it's being informed of a trades-style pilot programme being hosted by the mentor's company. I'm on the mailing list, but there's no ETA on when the next one is going to be held, only "sometime next year".

So I'm increasingly thinking that DevAcademy is Sydney-or-the-bush as far as job prospects are concerned. Since NZQA approval is slower than a snail - and hence no student loan available - I might try and ask a friendly question to my KiwiSaver provider.

gzt

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#1393152 23-Sep-2015 22:39

DevAcademy: Our confidence in our selection process and our confidence in our program mean we have full confidence in our ability to either place you or fully support you until you land that first job. We work with you to understand your goals, help source work opportunities and provide professional support for the practical stuff like preparing for interviews, resume writing and salary negotiations.

DevAcademy sounds like a nice way to do it. My guess is you will burn through the initial stages and have good time left to face some other challenges. If they can work with you to understand competencies in some other things you have done already then thats looking like a pretty good CV.

Maybe make an appointment and meet with them if you have not done so already?

(Sending PM related to the finance part of the topic)

Edit: oops just realised your pm option is off currently

deepred

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#1393181 24-Sep-2015 02:42

gzt:
DevAcademy: Our confidence in our selection process and our confidence in our program mean we have full confidence in our ability to either place you or fully support you until you land that first job. We work with you to understand your goals, help source work opportunities and provide professional support for the practical stuff like preparing for interviews, resume writing and salary negotiations.

DevAcademy sounds like a nice way to do it. My guess is you will burn through the initial stages and have good time left to face some other challenges. If they can work with you to understand competencies in some other things you have done already then thats looking like a pretty good CV.

Maybe make an appointment and meet with them if you have not done so already?

(Sending PM related to the finance part of the topic)

Edit: oops just realised your pm option is off currently

It's back on now.

gzt

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#1393449 24-Sep-2015 12:49

I since found the DevAcademy fees page which covers more or less the same ground I was going to cover in the PM.

http://devacademy.co.nz/fees/

Just one additional minor thing to add which I will PM.

deepred

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#1532701 13-Apr-2016 19:16

The story so far:

Still in my existing job, for as long as the Internet of Things hasn't eaten it yet. Fixing PCs seems to be becoming the Rust Belt of the ICT sector.
Lack of avenues to finance DevAcademy enrolment due to pre-existing debts.
Having had a big fat zero return on investment on student loans in the past, full-time tertiary study is out of the question unless I win Lotto Powerball.
Looked at part-time courses while still working, but EFTS requirements would mean I'd have to quit my job, which I can't afford to do right now.
My IITP membership has been money down the drain, and the mentorship I was recommended turned out to be just another pep talk. It seems to cater overwhelmingly for those who are already in ICT.
My mentor's company finally took in applications for its on-the-job training programme, only to miss out on selection.
In summation, I'm very much a visual thinker with the attention span of a goldfish, so some kind of old-fashioned vocational apprenticeship approach would easily be best for me. The catch is, it's not easy to find if at all in ICT, despite calls for the industry to take it up, and it's a colossal ask in a relatively deregulated labour market.
Things are now largely in the hands of my supported employment consultant, who's doing his best to come in to bat on my behalf.

Sam91

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#1532706 13-Apr-2016 19:35

deepred:

Having had a big fat zero return on investment on student loans in the past, full-time tertiary study is out of the question unless I win Lotto Powerball.
Looked at part-time courses while still working, but EFTS requirements would mean I'd have to quit my job, which I can't afford to do right now

If you get a formal ASD diagnosis, and you can prove that it's in your best interests to study part time, you may be eligible for a student allowance despite not meeting the EFTS requirements.

http://www.studylink.govt.nz/student-loan/who-can-get-it/full-time-and-limited-full-time-study.html

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deepred

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#1532761 13-Apr-2016 21:20

Sam91:

deepred:

Having had a big fat zero return on investment on student loans in the past, full-time tertiary study is out of the question unless I win Lotto Powerball.
Looked at part-time courses while still working, but EFTS requirements would mean I'd have to quit my job, which I can't afford to do right now

If you get a formal ASD diagnosis, and you can prove that it's in your best interests to study part time, you may be eligible for a student allowance despite not meeting the EFTS requirements.

http://www.studylink.govt.nz/student-loan/who-can-get-it/full-time-and-limited-full-time-study.html

Looking on Studylink's page, I just realised another factor that's forcing my hand is that I've used up most of my lifetime student loan limit. So if I were to take out another student loan, it truly would be Sydney or the bush. And I've previously ended up in the bush most of the time.

deepred

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#1532818 14-Apr-2016 02:37

And in context, my industry mentor is quite sympathetic with my current situation:

"I was chatting to our recruitment manager last week, after seeing Xero had launched their grad programme and saying to him I though the next big opportunity is the retraining direction, which he's onboard with and really keen to grow our fresh start program, and given the registrations of interest seems there certainly is the market demand.

We also talked about working with the public sector to formalise channels into retraining. He explained to me his frustration of dealing with Work & Income and the litany of unreturned calls and unanswered emails to senior management there, I shared the frustrations experienced by someone dealing with the frontline of those services, without mentioning your name, but telling him about the constant churn of case officers at Workbridge, and Workbridge not knowing about the employment initiatives at MSD.

Vast opportunity for improvement of the delivery of services in the public sector in training and employment by the looks of it.

Good luck!"

dman

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#1560399 27-May-2016 02:43

Have you looked more into relevant MOOCs? As they'll be free! (or nearly free) And you can fit them into your free time as you go along. Good way to upskill.

https://www.youtube.com/c/SoundSpeeding

deepred

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#1560566 27-May-2016 11:17

dman:

Have you looked more into relevant MOOCs? As they'll be free! (or nearly free) And you can fit them into your free time as you go along. Good way to upskill.

They're not necessarily all they're cracked up to be, given the sky-high dropout rates. Those with ADHD and other related conditions need not apply; for such people including myself, I still think the immersiveness of a vocational approach is best by a long margin. The catch is that it needs the kind of investment that's too often dismissed as an expense, in this day and age of Wild West labour markets.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/mooc-completion-rates-below-7/2003710.article

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20140708163413797

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/08/researchers-explore-who-taking-moocs-and-why-so-many-drop-out

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/10/new-study-low-mooc-completion-rates

JayADee

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#1560675 27-May-2016 13:17

I took a Mooc on Python programming from Rice University (interactive programming in Python part 1 and 2) and thoroughly enjoyed it. I really like how Python works. You should try a Mooc that seems to suit you (they vary a lot) and gives you a skill you want. I'm debating doing another one of some kind.

deepred

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#1561342 28-May-2016 17:47

JayADee: I took a Mooc on Python programming from Rice University (interactive programming in Python part 1 and 2) and thoroughly enjoyed it. I really like how Python works. You should try a Mooc that seems to suit you (they vary a lot) and gives you a skill you want. I'm debating doing another one of some kind.

MOOC's are overwhelmingly best for those with the attention span of a saint, as pointed out in the links above. I've said it before, but I still strongly believe an on-the-job training approach - such as an apprenticeship - is the best one for people in my shoes. To be more specific, the on-the-job training programme I previously mentioned was Assurity's Fresh Start programme, only to not make the cut due to there being dozens more applicants than available places. It's a bit like when a new supermarket opens and there are long queues of job applicants.

And again, I'd be the ideal sort of candidate for the Digital Apprenticeships policy proposal, but it's been rejected out of hand by the Tertiary Ed Minister. The ICT Graduate School that's been set up instead is no use to me - I've enquired to them and they've confirmed that a bachelor's degree is required. And I've explicitly ruled out going back to tertiary study unless I manage to win 1st division Lotto.

I've had further feedback from my mentor, and it seems getting into the sector is still heavily based on social connecting, which is inherently a stair-climb in a wheelchair for neuro-deviants like myself. All I've gotten out of networking events is the same old motivation porn. I've already successfully registered with uTest & UberTesters, and so far there haven't been many projects available to NZ yet.

"Sorry to hear you weren't successful with Fresh Start, as I know you where placing a lot of hope in that as a door opening into the industry.

I spoke to our recruiter, and his feedback was pretty much aligned with the email feedback, in that there will have been other candidates that better articulated why a move into testing was appropriate for them and why their skills and experience meant they were a good fit for Assurity.

He did suggest Uber Testers as something that might be of help to get more software testing experience, I remember you mentioning you were doing some sort of crowd source testing previously, and this might be something similar http://ubertesters.com/become-tester/ As you suggest you think you may be better suited for visual-thinking type of work, perhaps the emerging discipline of User Experience or Client/Digital Design might be a field to explore, which a lot of the innovative tech start ups in town place a lot of focus on.

I remember you mentioned you felt you weren't getting much out of the networking events and meetups and such, perhaps look up to find out if there are any industry online events. Such as twitter chat events, I know of a group of NZ HR professionals that have a chat session on twitter about industry on Thursday nights, using #NZLEAD, there's similar chat group discussing technology in the education sector. Once you find a discussion you might be interested in you could contribute to or ask questions. Or perhaps look at specifically what you want to get out of attending a meetup - ie User Experience Design http://www.meetup.com/uxwellington/ perhaps with the specific objective finding out how people got into the industry, and what experience they had might help making going to the meetups and connecting to people a more fulfilling experience, just a simple "Hi I'm (insert name here), I'm interesting in getting into the industry - can you tell me about how you got into it" as an introduction will give you the confidence to reach out. A suggestion anyway. As I've said before - given the nature of Wellington, and probably even NZ, any industry, Law, Finance, IT, Telco, Graphic design etc - it's who you know is almost more important than what you know, and why building a network of contacts is so important, the reality is the opportunity isn't looking for you, so you need to go look for the opportunity!

Hopefully that helps!"

deepred

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#1701761 12-Jan-2017 00:13

Since I first posted on this topic, I've done paid crowd-testing with at least 3 different outlets for the past several months. It's genuine telecommuting that's perfectly suited for a clinically asocial type like myself, but like Uber and Airbnb, it's gig-economy work that's not intended to be a full-on replacement for regular day jobs, much as I'd like it to.

I suspect it's not a matter of if, but when jobs like mine will eventually be Internet-of-Thinged into oblivion. The Future of Work debate is probably one of the most important debates in this day and age, and our very own Bill Bennett has covered it right here on Geekzone. I remain very strongly in favour of importing elements of the German Model, where vocational and other on-the-job training is treated as a vital public good rather than just another commodity or a "loser's option" - and not just because Germany remains an industrial powerhouse, but also because it's an important safety valve against extremists seizing power ever again.

The single biggest stumbling block here in NZ is that investing in such training is somehow a relic of the Bretton Woods Consensus or "Old Labour tax, spend and hope". Yet the cost of doing nothing has been made all too clear by the ascendancy of President-Elect Trump and the Brexit vote. Such short-term thinking stokes credential inflation, as people who aren't university material attend university out of a lack of proper alternatives. The result is that instead of being a place where people go to broaden their minds, university is basically reduced to a jobs ticket factory.

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2016/11/08/the-us-failure-to-provide-vocational-training-is-a-massive-policy-failure-which-supports-donald-trump/
http://www.marketplace.org/2016/06/24/world/brexit/yes-about-immigration

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