ITIL is like TOGAF, good to have on your CV but almost completely useless for most people. 

xpd:

 

I've worked for a couple of multinational corporates, they all talk the talk but that's it ;) Funny thing was, both advertised as "ITIL experience preferred" yet was never bought up in interviews ;)

 

 

 

Unfortunately for many corporates it has become a box ticking exercise. Certified engineers? Check. Certified helpdesk staff? Check. A happy CIO at the head office makes for a happy divisional IT Manager. Been there, done that.

The HR teams also have a tendency to discover industry buzzwords and salivate at the through of incorporating these into every position description.

LarryFisherman:

 

I've decided that I don't enjoy the current industry I'm in and I'm wanting to start a career into IT.

 

Having started my working career teaching the A+ certification alongside various NZQA levels, and having moved up (?) the ranks to senior management, the key piece of advice I would give you at this juncture is to leverage your existing contacts in IT.

Who do you know, at any level, that can open a door for you? The door might require some sort of certification (A+ for helpdesk for example), so be willing to attain that qualification if necessary. Obtaining some sort of qualification now, without an offer on the table, shows you're serious about changing career paths, and is something that I'd look favourably upon if your CV was submitted for a job opportunity. Try to align the industry certification with the perceived entry point, so for example, A+ & Network+ for a helpdesk job. Make sure that you articulate your ultimate goal on your CV, as this shows me you're serious about the industry and focused.

wsnz:

 

Obtaining some sort of qualification now, without an offer on the table, shows you're serious about changing career paths, and is something that I'd look favourably upon if your CV was submitted for a job opportunity.

 

Totally agree here. If someone wants to get into a new field it's up to them to retrain themselves, and getting a certification or range of certifications is pretty much necessary. If someone has experience in a field but hasn't bothered to get certified I wonder if they're too lazy or not driven and wonder if we should hire them.

My son is in his second year (three to complete the Diploma in Cloud Management (Level 7)) here - https://techtorium.ac.nz/it-courses/ and these guys really do seem pretty good to me. All though in his case he does not have to it would be quite possible to work a job to support yourself while doing this studying. They have early and late classes, the early class finishes at 12:30pm (lunch) so people can work after that if needed. First year is covered by the government contribution, subsequent years are 10k which can be done via student loan if needed. They also have quite a few commercial contacts which assist with students gaining industry jobs after completing the qualifications.

timmmay:

ITIL is like TOGAF, good to have on your CV but almost completely useless for most people. 

Who uses ITIL? BAs, PMs, architects, etc? As an architect, lately a cloud architect, it's not ever come up. I suspect it's more operation types.

Cloud people are in high demand right now. People who are experienced with general IT, cloud, and have cloud certifications are like hens teeth.

timmmay:

Who uses ITIL? BAs, PMs, architects, etc? As an architect, lately a cloud architect, it's not ever come up. I suspect it's more operation types.

gehenna: ITIL is a service management framework. An architect should know that.

Architects don't tend to manage services. I suspect operations staff might know about it, but I've been an architect for a decade or more and have never had it mentioned.

gehenna: That's really weird. I was an architect, all the architects I know and worked with would have known about ITIL. I'm not suggesting an architect would use the framework or incorporate it into their work, but not knowing of it seems strange.

What is ITIL: "ITIL is a framework of best practices for delivering IT services. ITIL’s systematic approach to IT service management can help businesses manage risk, strengthen customer relations, establish cost-effective practices, and build a stable IT environment that allows for growth, scale and change."

That's not really in the scope of what I do. I'm more at the "what does the customer want and how are we going to deliver it" side, architecture, design, leading teams, etc. ITIL from my brief google sounds like it's more useful for people who run and maintain services.

timmmay:

gehenna: ITIL is a service management framework. An architect should know that.

 

Architects don't tend to manage services. I suspect operations staff might know about it, but I've been an architect for a decade or more and have never had it mentioned.