IT Career

FionaC

Hi,
I'm looking for some IT career advice.
I would like some suggestions on advancing my career and education. I have a degree in Computer Science
unfortunetly its a pass degree I was thinking of doing an evening course to further advance
my eductaion in IT. Can anyone suggest a course which might be benefical?
I'll give you some background. I worked doing technical support for 8 months now i'm doing software support for a small company with their own software. I like various parts of IT but hate programming can anyone suggest what direction to take my career? I think i need to try focus in one a specific area and i'm not sure which area would have good job prospects.
Thank you in advance,

Skittle

Ok so you don't like programming. There are several other areas in IT which are open to you. You could try your had as a Business Analyst if you have a business head on you, or you could go down the Tech Support or System Maintenance route.

If you are going down the Tech Support route, Microsoft have several Administration and Maintenance type courses, naturally that'll only school you in the MS gear. If you want to go down LAMP route, then all the main training providers do courses on Linux etc. I'm not sure though if any of these are night classes.

Ishmael

It Depends on what part of IT you want to go into. There are loads of different training courses out there but which ones to do depends on what kind of job you actually want to work in.

Check out the FAS website, there are loads of courses available and most are cheap enough.

http://jobbank.fas.ie/servlet/Watis?SESS=4616_12&REQUEST=WWW_JS_TRAIN_SHOWCOURSES&BACK=TEMPLATE%3DWWW_JS_TRAIN_CRITERIUM_SELECT.HTM

FionaC

Hey

Thanks for the advice. Anyone else got any?

Moonbeam

I think first you need to decide what section of the IT industry you would like to work in and what interests you,and then get courses and training relevant to you.

Databases?
System Administration?
Networking?
etc

irishpartyboy

I think Moonbeam has hit the nail on the head there. It's a bit of a catch 22 situation, if you have no practical experience or exposure to the area's mentioned, it's difficult to make a decision on which route to take.

Programmers think a certain way, your either cut out for it or your not. You've mentioned that's not your preference so it does live with with the key areas mentioned by Moonbeam:

Databases
System Administration
Networking
Unix flavours / scripting

Each area is interesting in its own right, however I believe to really get ahead in IT you need to exposure / experience to more than just one.

If your interested in the likes of networking, the only course for you is the CCNA. It's a brilliant course but you need a certain level or understanding before taking it on.

Other courses and skills that are in high demand, Citrix (CCA & CCEA) and VMWare is very hot at the moment. There's plenty of courses in that area also.

Again, to be a Unix/Linux guru, you need to think a certain way. I'm more a Windows merchant but just getting exposure to Unix command line and it's powerful stuff indeed.

You really need to try and decide what you've got a genuine interest in, and then try something along those lines.

AARRRGH

Why don't you like programming? Once you get your head around the basics (and the basics are quite simple - it's just a mindset) you might find programming is very creative and satisfying.

There are many different programming languages. Some of them are fun (PHP), and some of them are serious (C).

Would you be willing to give programming another shot?

FionaC

Hi,

Thanks again for the advice, i really didn't enjoy programming and i never seemed to be able to get my head around it tbh. I don't think my head works that way some programmers i believe are just gifted.

I was thinking along the line of networks or databases because in college they were the two subjects i had the most interest in.

Would i anyone suggest an evening course i could take?
Or do you think i would be able to get a position where they train me in?

ntlbell

FionaC wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks again for the advice, i really didn't enjoy programming and i never seemed to be able to get my head around it tbh. I don't think my head works that way some programmers i believe are just gifted.

I was thinking along the line of networks or databases because in college they were the two subjects i had the most interest in.

I'll try my best to be pleasant, throwing things around like programmers are just gifted it absolute tosh to be fair, and it's just an excuse people use to not try and work harder.

I'm not trying to rub you up the wrong way they're are a few rare very gifted programmers but don't think for a minute they didn't have to work hard.

There is very few people that are natural programmers it takes like anything else long hours, hard work and dedication now if that's not your bag there's plenty of other area's can get into but don't knock programing because "i don't have the brain for it" at least be honest and say "i'm not willing to put in the work"

if you're intrested in networks and DB

take a CCNA course or do MDCBA course or an oracle course

find out what you like and find out what it takes to get there and do it....

FionaC

Jaysus relax i know programmers work hard i never said they didn't. I just wanted peoples help. I never meant to insult anyone.

ntlbell

FionaC wrote: »

Jaysus relax i know programmers work hard i never said they didn't. I just wanted peoples help. I never meant to insult anyone.

I guess what I was trying to say was..

If you want to program you can, you will just have to put in a lot of effort to learn, no one finds it easy.

FionaC

Ok i never said i wanted to program.

eth0_

ntlbell - lay off the girl, she never said she wanted to be a programmer.

Barty

ntlbell wrote: »

take a CCNA course or do MDCBA course or an oracle course

What's an MDCBA course?
I am in a similar situation to FionaC, looking to get into the area of networking, but I have no relevant experience. Having spoken to a couple of people working in the area I have been told that the CCNA courses are not the best courses to do to get your foot in the door (I would have thought they were) - so I have been looking for alternative options.

AARRRGH

A lot of programmers are absolutely terrible, yet still make a career out of it. I recommend PHP & MySQL Web Development if you'd like a nice, gentle programming book.

If you like databases you could go the Oracle DBA route.

I'm 30, and I spent most of my 20's wondering what area of IT I really want to work in. What I discovered, weirdly, was that working for a nice company is nearly as important as what area of IT you do. I now do automation testing (kind of senior software testing) which I used to hate, but now quite enjoy...

irishpartyboy

Give the girl a break, she doesn't want to program - end of. Some people are cut out for it, other's aren't. That's IT, life.

As mentioned, CCNA is best networking course in the business. There are pre-requisites however.

I've heard other people talk about CompTIA Networking, looks like a decent way into networking - a little easier than the CCNA.

http://www.cmit.ie/courses-it-computers-distance-learning/comptia_network+_distance_learning.html

If your interested in DBA, any approved courses from Oracle Corporation is a good avenue. A good Oracle DBA can go a long way. Exposure / proficiency to Unix flavors would be required I feel. You can also go down the Microsoft route, SQL Server.

ntlbell

Barty wrote: »

What's an MDCBA course?
I am in a similar situation to FionaC, looking to get into the area of networking, but I have no relevant experience. Having spoken to a couple of people working in the area I have been told that the CCNA courses are not the best courses to do to get your foot in the door (I would have thought they were) - so I have been looking for alternative options.

typo sorry

MCDBA

fret_wimp

You really need to specify an area of interest.there are thousands of different IT roles each with their pros and cons.

I understand your reluctancy to become a dev. ive done a little dev work, and although i can do it( as most folks can), i just dont like it. there is so much trial and error and research before you get anything simple working ( at least until you become more expirienced). if you can push through this period, dev is fine, but I didnt want to push through so went on towards other IT area's.

So to get anywhere, pick something you want to do. you say your interested in networks. Id apply for a junior position in a support role in a large organization if i were you. not desktop support but network support. you might not make much at first but you will gain hands on expirience. you will first be given simple jobs the other guys are sick of doing, but thats ok, as they will be new to you and you will learn.

This will also give you a steppingstone to learn other things in this field. thats all i can advise.

ntlbell

eth0_ wrote: »

ntlbell - lay off the girl, she never said she wanted to be a programmer.

Yeah sorry

was jumping the gun from a different one of her post's

magooly

Hi OP, how about focusing on IT Management...
Most programmers steer well clear of this so it might suit you.
Im thinking project management, requirements gathering etc.
Configuration management is a niche always in demand where you take responsibility for the nightly build and release of the teams code. Minimimal programming skills required in these roles just an aptitiude for seeing the project from both the client and your developers point of view.

tk123

I went comp sci degree -> tech support -> sys admin. I lost interest in programming after bashing away for 4 years in college, took the support job and basically advanced up the ranks. I did the MCSE and found some of it interesting and other parts boring but i learnt loads from it. I found as I studied and learned more I could see ways to use the knowlege in work and got more interested in what I was doing. As I upskilled I got more responsibility and this gave me incentive to learn more. Maybe head into easons etc and take a look at some of the books from different areas and see if they interest you before spending money on a course? Also you need to figure out what it is you don't like about programming becuse this will probably influence the area you move into - eg if you hate typing code you're probably going to hate configuring cisco kit?

Explosive_Cornflake

How is the industry at the minute?
I graduated last year and took a job that was supposed to be sys admin stuff, but it's more telecoms and I haven't learned any sys admin stuff there. I'd like to move back to some real sys admin [*nix flavoured] but everyone is like, don't move now, recession, etc. The smart thing to do would be to get another job, give notice, move. The problem with that is I'm away too much with work so I won't be around for interviews etc.
So are companies still employing, or has the down turn got into IT yet?

shoegirl

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

I'd like to move back to some real sys admin [*nix flavoured] but everyone is like, don't move now, recession, etc.

Hmm. Nonsense, you are just as vulnerable in a permanent role as you would be moving jobs. The market is good for anybody with solid experience, a good work history, a positive attitude and qualifications might sometimes help. Ring a couple of reputable agencies and they will give you an idea.