Looking for Entry/junior network Job, need Advice

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ylin169

11 posts

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#180804 22-Sep-2015 14:24

Hi, i am a graduated student from UoA with Bachelor degree of Cs, and also have CCNA,CCNP, and CCIE
currently iam looking for a entry level network or IT/help desk job, because i dont have any job experience so i just keep getting rejected by an email after so many Cv i have sent XD...

so i dont know where or how to get it start in this area, i am so confused right now, any advice for a graduated student ?

Thanks
Adam

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#1392013 22-Sep-2015 15:49

Try and get a foot in the door as Helpdesk or similar at either an ISP, or a service provider like Datacom, Di-Data, Unisys, Fujitsu, etc.

Some of them offer graduate programs such as:

http://datacom.co.nz/Careers/Graduate-Programme.aspx
http://www.alliedtelesis.co.nz/jobs/graduates.html
http://www.dimensiondata.com/en-NZ/AboutUs/Careers/Opportunities-For-Graduates
http://www-07.ibm.com/employment/nz/graduates/whatwedo.html

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Lias

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#1392014 22-Sep-2015 15:51

Also thou it may sound counter intuitive you may want to NOT disclose all your qualifications.

My personal thought is that it's better to get a basic qualification, then a job, and build up your qualifications over time as you build experience. Lots of qualifications and no experience won't get you a job, and having high level qualifications like CCIE when applying for an entry level job may actually hinder your chances.

ben28

190 posts

Master Geek

#1392048 22-Sep-2015 16:22

You may not to hear this but most people get jobs through networking.
So , keep applying for jobs online, but also
- call the company before sending, ask who to address the cover letter to, and once you get that name ask if you can talk to them about the job. A few things will happen a) you can amend your cv and cover letter to match what they are after, the person should remember your name when they are sorting through the pile of applications. Sound enthusiastic
- build up your network of contacts, eg from your classmates who may already have a job. Never ask directly for a job, ask them for referals to people you can talk to to discover more about the industry or employment options or may be your chosen career. Everyone likes to talk . Ask them how they got into their job, what do they recommend you do.
- Always get another referral from a person.
- Have you spoken to the careers people at University or your high school. What about employment agencies, get a name from job adds that you may apply for in 2-3 years time.
- Make a list of the top 50 companies you'd like to work for and actively call them eg Banks, isp's , insurance companies, vector, utilities , govt departments .....
- offer to work for free for a bit. You arent being paid anything now , so whats there to lose. But dont let them take advantage of you.
- if you dont have any work history, then may be you need to get a job just to build some evidence that you can get to work on time and deliver results. Even part time in a shop of some sort. Or a non IT contact centre.
- dress well for every face to face meeting, and treat them all as a job interview.
- ensure your cv reflects back words from the advertisement. Tailor it for each job, dont just create one and use the same one for every job .

Never give up. Asking on geekzone shows you are prepared to ask for help. You may get rejected for 30 jobs, but the 31st you'll get , and you'll realise the dispair of 30 rejections wasnt the end of the world.
Believe in yourself

ylin169

11 posts

Geek

#1392049 22-Sep-2015 16:25

Lias: Try and get a foot in the door as Helpdesk or similar at either an ISP, or a service provider like Datacom, Di-Data, Unisys, Fujitsu, etc.

Some of them offer graduate programs such as:

http://datacom.co.nz/Careers/Graduate-Programme.aspx
http://www.alliedtelesis.co.nz/jobs/graduates.html
http://www.dimensiondata.com/en-NZ/AboutUs/Careers/Opportunities-For-Graduates
http://www-07.ibm.com/employment/nz/graduates/whatwedo.html

Thanks for the reply, but most of the gradute programme need academic transcript,,tbh ... my grade are pretty bad XD

ylin169

11 posts

Geek

#1392056 22-Sep-2015 16:29

Lias: Also thou it may sound counter intuitive you may want to NOT disclose all your qualifications.

My personal thought is that it's better to get a basic qualification, then a job, and build up your qualifications over time as you build experience. Lots of qualifications and no experience won't get you a job, and having high level qualifications like CCIE when applying for an entry level job may actually hinder your chances.

So you mean . hide my CCIE qualifications on Cv right ? but if i am lucky . i get a interview, should i mention about it?

Thanks
Adam

timmmay

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#1392057 22-Sep-2015 16:30

Start contributing to open source. Learn AWS, aim to get certified as an AWS Developer.

ylin169

11 posts

Geek

#1392058 22-Sep-2015 16:36

ben28: You may not to hear this but most people get jobs through networking.
So , keep applying for jobs online, but also
- call the company before sending, ask who to address the cover letter to, and once you get that name ask if you can talk to them about the job. A few things will happen a) you can amend your cv and cover letter to match what they are after, the person should remember your name when they are sorting through the pile of applications. Sound enthusiastic
- build up your network of contacts, eg from your classmates who may already have a job. Never ask directly for a job, ask them for referals to people you can talk to to discover more about the industry or employment options or may be your chosen career. Everyone likes to talk . Ask them how they got into their job, what do they recommend you do.
- Always get another referral from a person.
- Have you spoken to the careers people at University or your high school. What about employment agencies, get a name from job adds that you may apply for in 2-3 years time.
- Make a list of the top 50 companies you'd like to work for and actively call them eg Banks, isp's , insurance companies, vector, utilities , govt departments .....
- offer to work for free for a bit. You arent being paid anything now , so whats there to lose. But dont let them take advantage of you.
- if you dont have any work history, then may be you need to get a job just to build some evidence that you can get to work on time and deliver results. Even part time in a shop of some sort. Or a non IT contact centre.
- dress well for every face to face meeting, and treat them all as a job interview.
- ensure your cv reflects back words from the advertisement. Tailor it for each job, dont just create one and use the same one for every job .

Never give up. Asking on geekzone shows you are prepared to ask for help. You may get rejected for 30 jobs, but the 31st you'll get , and you'll realise the dispair of 30 rejections wasnt the end of the world.
Believe in yourself

I think i should try to speak the careers people at University, and yea,,i dont really care about paid or not, for now , i just want to get experience, i can work for free if someone willing to take me .
and definitely i need to fix my cover letter.

Thanks for the help

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Coil

6614 posts

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#1392060 22-Sep-2015 16:38

Sometimes low balling yourself into a helpdesk role can be counter productive.
I saw many people get stuck there at Vodafone with qualifications from here to Africa and are still doing it today.
Id suggest start at a medium business and maybe a large corporate if you have to. Some people just get another number slapped on their head and not noticed.
Some small businesses can be good others can be bad. So do your research first.

Andib

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#1392061 22-Sep-2015 16:38

Keep an eye out on http://datacom.co.nz/Careers/Hiring-Now/ there are always Service desk jobs coming up.
I know quite a few of the guys in the networks team who worked their way up from services desks.

I've sent you a PM/

<#
.DISCLAIMER
Anything I post is my own and not the views of my past/present/future employer.
#>

ylin169

11 posts

Geek

#1392062 22-Sep-2015 16:38

timmmay: Start contributing to open source. Learn AWS, aim to get certified as an AWS Developer.

but you still need experience if you wanna find a job .. XD

wasabi2k

2096 posts

Uber Geek

#1392066 22-Sep-2015 16:49

Jesus you have a CCIE and zero work experience?

My only advise is no-one cares about your transcript or what grades you received. If you graduated with a Bachelors, put that on your CV.

Get your CV checked by someone who knows what they are doing (careers office at uni?). Bad spelling, grammar and/or presentation will get you turfed immediately in a lot of cases, regardless of your other attributes.

lxsw20

3552 posts

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#1392068 22-Sep-2015 16:53

wasabi2k: Jesus you have a CCIE and zero work experience?.

Lol, sort of shows the value of getting loaded up with certs with no experience really. No disrespect to the OP intended.

ylin169

11 posts

Geek

#1392072 22-Sep-2015 16:59

wasabi2k: Jesus you have a CCIE and zero work experience?

My only advise is no-one cares about your transcript or what grades you received. If you graduated with a Bachelors, put that on your CV.

Get your CV checked by someone who knows what they are doing (careers office at uni?). Bad spelling, grammar and/or presentation will get you turfed immediately in a lot of cases, regardless of your other attributes.

To Be honest,, i have 2 CCIE, Rs and SP, nowadays everything can be virtualized, so Gns3 + webiou + pt + study smart, you can handle it
and btw ,,, CCIE sp is quite easy , 8hrs exam, i finished within 4hrs . and 1hr to check. but RS, this is Hard, i almost dead at first part which is troubleshooting lol...

Oh also .. they dont care about transcript?? XD...

jmh

458 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1392074 22-Sep-2015 17:04

ylin169: Hi, i am a graduated student from UoA with Bachelor degree of Cs, and also have CCNA,CCNP, and CCIE
currently iam looking for a entry level network or IT/help desk job, because i dont have any job experience so i just keep getting rejected by an email after so many Cv i have sent XD...

so i dont know where or how to get it start in this area, i am so confused right now, any advice for a graduated student ?

Thanks
Adam

I'm guessing there are hundreds of you out there right now. What is it that sets you apart from everyone else? My own experience is that those who do well have very clear interpersonal and communication skills. Those of us on the business end get sick of techies who can't hold down a conversation or look the girls in the eye. Someone who can communicate clearly and impart technical info to non-techie people without upsetting them is a god send. So, have you got those skills or can you demonstrate them? Maybe you can get a temporary people-focused job that shows how great you are at communicating with people (e.g. sales or customer service). That would shine out to me, above all the other techs who only know how to do face-time with a computer screen. No offense to anyone here!

Other skills you might have are creative/artistic, sector knowledge or interest (e.g love dogs/cat/forex), language skills (e.g. English, French, Hindi etc), office experience. How can you make the most of these to stand out from the crowd?

timmmay

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#1392083 22-Sep-2015 17:14

ylin169:
timmmay: Start contributing to open source. Learn AWS, aim to get certified as an AWS Developer.

but you still need experience if you wanna find a job .. XD

I do a bit of hiring where I work. If I found a grad who had a degree, three industry qualifications in areas I was interested in, was obviously keen, intelligent, and willing to work for a grad salary, I'd give them a shot so long as I didn't need a senior Right Now.

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