Did I make the wrong career choice?

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rayonline

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#432300 28-Jan-2011 17:01

gzt:
Do you think at IT roles are harder to get into?

I don't think so. Also, for those general 'outside IT roles' you are talking about, there are usually lots more applicants (therefore competition) than there would be for many IT positions.

- Exactly what was the technical|math|process nature of the forecasting and benchmarking?
- Which hardware certs do you have?
- What was your degree or course trajectory at uni?

None of the answers will have any kind of ranking value, but they will identify a particular set of skills you have which will be somewhat unique, and which will identify a unique entry point.

Most likely this is the exact set of experience and knowledge that someone somewhere is looking for and cannot find.

There is every chance this position will not be advertised (or not advertised very clearly) so you might have to put some effort in to find it.

I agree with all ETL's comments above except (sorry ETL ; ) that "You might be no better off" if you do all this. You will definitely be better off for doing this.

Defining all this clearly, deciding what sector and position that fits to, and then making contact with people will expand the opportunities available to you dramatically.

I find that at least in entry roles outside of IT; there are a range of jobs like CSR, retail, office admin, while for IT it's just helpdesk for grads. One could do a lot of photocopying, collating of docs, minute taking, admin etc .. and there are temping opportunitity available ..

Forecasting and benchmarking is about database and spreadsheet, report writing and being signed off by the General Manager and CEO on submission to Pariliamant or overseas with a no. of different countries when we are benchmarked in where NZ stands. Nothing too complex. I mean no SQL and stuff .... MS Accesa and MS Excel stuff ...

I have worked in various jobs. Writing Annual Reports all the numbers but not the financial accounting part. Writing other reports like quarterly reports (similar to the Annual Report), monthly reports, procedural manuals, project management reports. Government Ministerials.

I have A+, Network+, MCP (Windows XP).

I have a Arts degree in Economics, a Commerce degree in Management with a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Management. More recently, I have a levels 5 IT Diploma.

geekiegeek

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#432351 28-Jan-2011 18:27

It's pretty much how it works. You start in the help desk and then look for other areas to move into. Keep studying and passing industry certs ie Microsoft, cisco etc, show you are keen and if you have the smarts to back it up, it won't take long to move out of help desk.

This is from experience to by the way. I was a telecom tech until age 29 when I quit work and did a 6 month IT course. Started work on a level 1 help desk. Level 2 within 1 year and then just up and up from there. I now look after a large datacentre, multiple networks and firewalls, 100s of servers and also do projects involving rollouts of all sorts of cool technology to large corporates. Have also picked up a CCNP and MCSE along the way, about to do my Checkpoint cert.

If you want to make this a career then listen to what the others have said around the fact that you have to really love this line of work. If you treat it like a 9 to 5 you might as well quit now or get used to answering those phones cos that all you will ever do. Show passion and a will to put your own time into learning and bettering yourself, the sky's the limit.

rayonline

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#432378 28-Jan-2011 19:29

Issue is that I just cannot do telephone support.

Did work as a CSR for 3 months some years ago, hated it. Anything, call it psychology tests etc .. personality type; telephone support with me is just not a mix.

A career coach even said to me I shouldn't apply to helpdesk.

Granted, I am willing to take longer to get a job and if need be maybe I might branch aside a bit if it takes that. Like maybe get involved with IT project management or maybe IT Audit etc..

Jaxson

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#433078 31-Jan-2011 10:36

rayonline: I am in the 30s

Yeah sorry but age doesn't allow you to jump bottom rungs of the ladder if you've no previous experience in the field.

If the entry positions require talking on the phone then that's what they require. Depending on what you want to actually end up doing in IT there may be alternative entry positions to head down that road. Personally getting a feel for the issues that users of a system experience is never a bad thing either.

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