Degree in Software but no job!!!!

coolio_64

Whats the best thing to do could anyone recommen?

Definitely not doing a masters. graduatetd this year.

How would i go about doing contract work and i have no experience?

bringitdown

This is probably the de-facto for many IT grads at the mo, unless they have an excellent track record or have a friend in high places...

Some ideas:
1: Get a job doing tech support for a crappy wage and slowly work your way up whilst maintaining some interest in programming via open source
2: Exhaust all your contacts, you must have someone who knows someone...
3: Change career path - go back a do a post grad dip in science / accounting or whatever else takes your fancy and is bouyant w.r.t. jobs.

There are jobs in tech support and they are generally horrible but I know many who have done it for a year or so and joined another company at a more senior level gone from there.

examples:
a friend went from eircom tech support to SAP tech support and is now interviewing for SAP consultant jobs
a friend went from eircom tech support to HP tech support back to college to do a PDA (accounting) and is now trainee accountant for IBM.
a friend went from eircom tech support to HP tech support to being hired as a grad by Ericsson

coolio_64

can i go back and do accounting
tell me more please


3: Change career path - go back a do a post grad dip in science / accounting or whatever else takes your fancy and is bouyant w.r.t. jobs.

seamus

There are plenty of tech support contracts out there. Whatever about tech support being horrible, 3-6 months of it is ample experience for a lot of employers to take you in on an entry-level position, so it gives you the leg up you need. It's also a barely bareable length of time

bringitdown

There are several routes but a respected one is the PDA (professional diploma in accounting) available from DCU. (Note it may be too late to apply for it this year)

Best of my knowledge: This involves an intensive one year course enabling you (on passing exams) to join a firm as a trainee. They then generally pay for your professional exam fees and allow you study time for the ACCA professional exams. When you pass these you are the a qualified chartered accountant and will be bumped up in salary.

Be aware that trainee accountant salaries are quite low in many circumstances and it can take 2-3 years (including course time) to fully qualify. Also some contracts stipulate that if you leave before a certain timeframe you have to re-imburse the company that paid for your ACCA exams.

See: http://www.dcu.ie/prospective/deginfo.php?classname=PDA&mode=full

Don't take this verbatim, contact someone about it, it is from memory of a converstion I had with my Da (an accountant) when I found myself in a similar situation to you some time ago.

BTW: my solution was to piss off to Oz for a year - I got an IT job when I came back via some good to know contacts!

NOTE: This is a big decision to make, make sure you want to make it!
If you want to stick with IT, try the tech support route, it may be a pain but it will hopefully be short-term...

timeout

I'm in the same position.

I'm currently studying on my own time for various certs(SJC,A+) and working parttime to get me by in the mean time. Its another route, although there are still people i know that i've not squezzed about possible jobs

coolio_64

where are you doing the certs can i no

IronMan

Yip do tech support for a few months, I have been doing it for 4 months now, pretty morale sapping, but some companies are better to work for than others, eg would you rather take 60 calls a day, or 20! But its easier to move from a job to another job than to be looking for a developer/engineer position straight out of college.

timeout

You can either sign-up at a trainig center where you sit trought the course for a week, sit a test and get a cert but pay big money(1500). I'm just picking an exam on stuff i know (Sun Java Programmer Cert) getting a book and revising. Call a test center to book a date for an exam and pay the fee(150).Sit the test, get a cert

Just do things you done in college, VB, Dreamweaver ect....
Timeout

coolio_64

have you got a number for the call centre

WhiteWashMan

hey coolio_64, you managed to get your pants on the right way round yet?


this is your second warning from me. dont waste peoples time here with stupid questions.
strike three from me and your permanently banned form this forum.
hey, is that ok with you?
start a thread on after hours to make sure that you can make that sort of decision will you?