After School Job

Forums › Off topic › After School Job

Decal

222 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#65993 10-Aug-2010 21:09

I was approached last week by a Systems Engineer who offered me a job for after school and in the holiday's.
But he wants me to do training work after school a couple days a week unpaid until the holidays.

I wanted to get some people opinions on if i should get paid to this work?
He also wants me to stay on with him next year and not go to poly tech (Otago Poly- Bachelor of Information Technology). What is worth more now work experience or a qualification?

His business specializes is installing and maintaining corporate networks.

Thanks for any relies

1 | 2

4705 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#366021 10-Aug-2010 21:18

you can go to poly tech any time you want but you certainly will not get job offers that are good. considering it's maintaining and installing hardware/software in corporate networks, I'd say take the offer.

sure it's free work till the holiday's but you also get to learn a lot and gain some work experience which counts a LOT when you are looking for a job.

my 2 cents..

Do whatever you want to do man.

alasta

6706 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#366025 10-Aug-2010 21:22

From my experience fresh IT graduates seem to have an immense amount of difficulty finding jobs because there are just too many graduates and too few entry level jobs in the industry. I would say that work experience should be your number one priority, even if it means that you miss out on income for a short period.

Decal

222 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#366028 10-Aug-2010 21:27

So it would be more benefiting to get more work experience and do something like the compITa or something via distance learning? as i live in a small rural town

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#366045 10-Aug-2010 21:58

Get the work experience!
When employing people - experience is number one, qualifications second.
There's roughly 1,789,024,001,667* people graduating with IT qualifications every year.
You NEED to have an advantage in the market place, and this is what you're being offered.
Take it. Take it now.

*figure may be exaggerated... slightly

lxsw20

3555 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#366062 10-Aug-2010 22:38

Do both....no you shouldn't get paid, the work experience is payment enough.

pageweon

393 posts

Ultimate Geek

#366106 11-Aug-2010 08:46

the work experience will prove the most valuable commodity you will get out of this job

this is where a signature goes

cgrew

860 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#366122 11-Aug-2010 09:58

pageweon: the work experience will prove the most valuable commodity you will get out of this job

Took the words right out of my mouth page. This would definitely be worth acquiring the skills that are on offer for you.

Sharesies

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

Jaxson

8044 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#366133 11-Aug-2010 10:15

lxsw20: Do both....no you shouldn't get paid, the work experience is payment enough.

Having the work experience, and then later some formal qualifications to go with it, will get you a job. In that sense you will be paid for the work, just not at the time you are doing it.

If you can rock up to a new job interview and say what you actually can do/have done then you may get a job where they subsidise your formal qualification training as well, just something to think about down the line.

Geese

1028 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#366135 11-Aug-2010 10:16

I have 12 years of tertiary education behind me, and I cannot get a non menial job.

I always am in work, and have had many different jobs, but have never had a single decent non labour intensive one.

When I finished school, my plan was to do apprenticeship and buy a house. If I had done this I would own a freehold house and could have studied any time at my leasure.

Instead I was pressured to go to uni, as [edit] I removed what I was going to say in case it offends some people. Now I have lived a thrifty lifestyle, and owe IRD over $100,000, wasting money every week paying rent, and nobody is interested in hiring me as I have nil experience where it counts.

The only up side was my 1st year at uni rated as the best year of my life, and I have a collage of certificates filling one wall in my room.

On the subject of after school jobs, do youth wages still exist? If they do, what age do they stop?

When I was working after school, I got $5 an hour, the adults got $8. When I turned 18 I thought it would increase but it never did, so was I ripped off for the following 3 months I worked there, or was it 19 that adult rates applied then (1997/98)?

revolushn

128 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

#366161 11-Aug-2010 11:43

Do the training with your future employer. Do it free. And don't grumble about it.

Go to polytech/uni after a few years - and when you can afford to do it, boy i wish i had. Having a [insert astronomical figure here] loan and not being able to get a job is not fun.

Decal

222 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#366298 11-Aug-2010 16:06

Thanks for all the replies guys. you have helped with my decision

plas

455 posts

Ultimate Geek

#366713 12-Aug-2010 11:43

I couldn't get a job anywhere with a IT degree listed on my CV. So I removed it, got a very low wage job for a small IT company for a year or so to get some experience and contacts.
Left that place and got a decent job through a mate I met at the first place.

For me that 2 years work experience and meeting people in the industry was worth more than the 3 years I spent on the degree.

Ragnor

8223 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#366776 12-Aug-2010 13:25

I would do the work experience, you can always do a degree or certs later if needed.

I doubt there would be any harm if you asked if they consider paying you a few $$ an hour too, nothing to lose really.

Wob

310 posts

Ultimate Geek

NBN Co

#366814 12-Aug-2010 15:04

Perspective from the other side of the desk, whenever I'm hiring experience is king!!

I was recruiting for some techs in the UK and had a raft of candidates some having done their CCNA (and even CCNP) at college but with no real-world on-the-job experience.
My senior techs and supervisors went for the experienced guys every time.

These days when no-one is training anyone (no Post Office any more) grab what you can and run with it!!

Now based in Perth WA.

TQ13

14 posts

Geek

#366850 12-Aug-2010 16:27

Cat amongst the pigeons time I fear...........IMHO the ability to show determination and commitment to stick something out especially during those first years after leaving school (IE completing a college/ Poly course, etc) is just as important as the knowledge being gathered along the way.

If you can get some relevant experience (maybe p/t), then even better !

I am sure that I have read somewhere that on average, a person can expect at least 4 significant career shifts during their working lifetime...thats major changes of direction as opposed to "new jobs"...that would mean that it's highly likely that you'll be doing something very different after a few years anyway...

"Stickability" is something that shouldn't be undervalued

....would others agree ?

I have to say that I have no experience of the IT Systems Engineer job market...maybe I just showing my age :)

1 | 2