IT career direction - advice please!!

MissFitz

I have been working for over 4 years now in IT support - 1 year in a call centre, 2.5 years in a Helpdesk role (level 1) and now almost a year in a deskside support (level 2/3) role.

While I enjoy what I am doing at the moment, I can't see myself wanting to be dealing with end users and their (mostly stupid :pac:) problems for the rest of my life.

I eventually want to be either in a Sys Admin (3rd level, technical, mostly away from the users)-type role or else IT management / Project Management.

I have a (pass) degree in Computer Science, an A+ and an MCP in Windows XP at the moment. I desperately want to start some further study but I'm a bit stumped as to which direction to take

Originally, my plan was to get my MCSE in Windows 2003 Server, but now I'm not sure if it's worth the effort of 6 more exams in a technology that will become out of date in a few years, should I go the Server 2008 and MCTS Exchange route?

I would love to look at a postgrad/masters but feel I will be fairly limited in my options due to having a pass degree. With Project Management, I feel that I would need more of a development background. For IT management, I cannot see any opportunity in my current company to be able to move into that area and from what I can see, the first stepping-stone is usually a team lead / supervisor role.

Would love to hear some advice / opinions please

dlofnep

Great question, I'm in the same boat. It's really hard to get a break.

di2772

Most companies nowadays are promoting internally.
ie they'll take someone from support and put them on the development team and then restock support from outside.

But if they havent got the time or money to train a person from support in they'll hire experienced people from outside instead.

If you dont have the experience better staying where you are and trying to get promoted out of there. If there is no way forward there, then move to somewhere where there is a way forward.

MissFitz

di2772 wrote: »

If you dont have the experience better staying where you are and trying to get promoted out of there. If there is no way forward there, then move to somewhere where there is a way forward.

In an ideal world, this is what I would do. However after a couple of disastrous work environments in my past (various issues - bad management / uncooperative colleagues / bad treatment of employees etc.), I am finally happy in my place of work and would be reluctant to leave at the moment. I have good colleagues, a nice work environment, decent pay, no unrealistic overtime, good HR, it's permanent, pension and health insurance, etc. The company do hire from within, but considering the conditions I have mentioned, internal IT vacancies don't arise very often. Plus, I am outranked (all of my team have more experience than me and have been with the company for years). Also, even if I went to another company, I would still need to put in some time there before I would be considered for promotion.

I can hopefully see myself staying with my current job for another year / 2 years before I leave. I suppose what I am getting at really is - what course / education can I undertake now to put myself in a better position for the roles I want, whenever I do decide to leave?

the_syco

MissFitz wrote: »

I eventually want to be either in a Sys Admin (3rd level, technical, mostly away from the users)-type role or else IT management / Project Management.

I have a (pass) degree in Computer Science, an A+ and an MCP in Windows XP at the moment. I desperately want to start some further study but I'm a bit stumped as to which direction to take

Ask the people at http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=882 on what qualification you'd need for this. Maybe Active Directory, or something?

tja

I wouldn't let your lack of a development background put you off project management. I'm a software developer and I've worked with countless PM's and only one of them had actual software development experience. Infrastructural projects need project management too!

Most of our PM's would have either ITIL, Prince2 or PMI certifications:

ITIL -> http://www.itiltraining.com/
Prince2 -> http://www.prince2.com/prince2-foundation.asp
PMI Ireland -> http://www.pmi-ireland.org

And if IT management is your ultimate goal, a PM certification will certainly help.

DublinWriter

What tja said.

IT as a profession is choc-a-bloc with drifters and bullsh*ters.

Get a five year plan together. Stuff like ITIL and PRINCE2 will have more long term benefit for you than industry/vendor specific qualification.

As an aside, it really grinds my gears that colleges and the industry come out with the same old guff every year about the lack of qualified graduates.

Most big consultancy companies prefare to hire graduates with a glowing first in Zoology/Seismology and then induct them into the company way then hire them out to the public sector as IT consultants at a grand a day.

fret_wimp

Dont put too much faith in those Microsoft exams. They dont really prove that you know anything about the subject in question. Dont get me wrong, I have done them , and will be doing more, but I use them to keep up to date with technologies. i answer the questions on the test sites, research areas that i am weak in or new areas that i have never looked at. but i know you can pass these exams without being any way capiable in the area you studied.

Regards getting promoted internally, if the option is there, go for it, but if you cant get promoted or wont get a role you want due to no available positions, bad managment or whatever then moving is the only option. Im in a good job, but im sick of it, and managment suck so I know il be in the same job in 2 years time if i stay so im outa there as soon as i can.

Way up your particular situation and judge what works best for you.

Eoin

ITIL would be a great idea - the manager course is supposed to be quite tough, but there is a foundation cert which is easy enough and would be a good start. As tja says, infrastructure / deployment type projects need your type of experience as well, so software dev experience isn't a must for project management.

If you'd like to get into IT support management, then you might need more exposure to the financial side of IT.

How organised is your team at the moment - is there a good issue tracking system in place? If so, can the process be improved? Do you conduct meetings with representatives to see how your service levels are doing? Do you have SLAs in place?

These might be areas where you could get some good experience for yourself, and help your profile in your current company.

MissFitz

tja wrote: »

I wouldn't let your lack of a development background put you off project management. I'm a software developer and I've worked with countless PM's and only one of them had actual software development experience. Infrastructural projects need project management too!

Even though I did a lot of programming at college, I haven't done much since then apart from a few scripts and I suppose I just hate the thought of being one of those managers that has no clue what they are talking about I thought it might be harder to break into the infrastructure side of things.

DublinWriter wrote: »

Most big consultancy companies prefare to hire graduates with a glowing first in Zoology/Seismology and then induct them into the company way then hire them out to the public sector as IT consultants at a grand a day.

Haha! I have worked with those types in the past - they spent more time designing their Microsoft Word template, than actually documenting a procedure and after 6 months, a whole team of them (!) came back with something that was technically impossible :rolleyes:

fret_wimp wrote: »

Dont put too much faith in those Microsoft exams.

Personally I wouldn't, it's just that they are a foot in the door sometimes, often listed as requirements in job specs, and with HR people screening CVs, sometimes they mean the difference between an interview and no interview. But I do take your point. My company will refund fees for exams that I pass, so I'm thinking it might be no harm to do a few of them?

eoin wrote: »

ITIL would be a great idea - the manager course is supposed to be quite tough, but there is a foundation cert which is easy enough and would be a good start. As tja says, infrastructure / deployment type projects need your type of experience as well, so software dev experience isn't a must for project management.

If you'd like to get into IT support management, then you might need more exposure to the financial side of IT.

How organised is your team at the moment - is there a good issue tracking system in place? If so, can the process be improved? Do you conduct meetings with representatives to see how your service levels are doing? Do you have SLAs in place?

These might be areas where you could get some good experience for yourself, and help your profile in your current company.

I know there is some scope there for my company to send me on the ITIL foundation course as some of my colleagues have done it. Although there's cutbacks on the IT budget at the moment, I'll try to push for it at reviews.

My team is very well organised, it's a large multinational with distributed operations, so the processes are pretty good already. Although, in saying that, there is some space for contributing to local processes, so I do try to do that where possible.

I am being asked to get involved in some small Dublin-based rollouts and projects though, which is good experience.

Are there any PM courses that anyone would recommend in particular? I would probably prefer to do an evening diploma course leading to PMI certification but there are a lot of different places offering courses, has anyone any recommendations?

MysticalRain

I am being asked to get involved in some small Dublin-based rollouts and projects though, which is good experience.

I had a former work colleague who got into project management through that route. The key is to get noticed by the Higher Ups and prove that you're up to the task. You have to be careful though, she was paid the same wages she was on when she worked in IT support. In effect, they saved money on their yearly budget by promoting someone to do the work of a project manager but not actually paying the wages that should have gone with it.

My gut feeling about qualifications is that even if you can somehow persuade your employer to pay for courses in the middle of a recession, it's not actually going to be taken seriously by other employers without experience to go with it. It's more beneficial obtain the qualification after you get the experience.

Leadership

I guess you need to look at your self with a critical view and decide what path to take which will bring the result you really want. However its no use heading into IT management if you are not a good manager/leader. Same for 3rd level sys admin from a technical perspective.

I can tell you now that if you have good management skills then that is by far the easiest route to take. However if you do not have the basic skills then its a hard path. Also if pain in the ass users get on your nerves then you wait and see what pain in the ass employees are like!

I had the same choice a few years ago and I decided on management but I am now back to semi technical so my path went something like this:

Helpdesk
On Site Engineer
Team Leader - On Site services
Regional Manager On Site Services
Manager - Remote Support Centre
Solution Architect

I can also tell you that On Site roles (deskside) are the hardest roles to break out of and into management due to the isolation of the sites from the remote support centres where most the managers/3 rd level support are based.

How you get there depends on your current situation, if you are in a small organisation with zero opertunity then you need to move to a company that has opertunities (IBM, HP, WIPRO, Siemens etc). Once settled in then these tips may help:

• Continuous Improvement ideas - for your imediate team and the local/regional/global business units. You need good solid ideas for improving quality, productivity etc and you will soon be noticed.
• Study Leadership!!!! _ A good read is the leadership challenge (google it)
• Dont worry to much about "management" at this stage, that can be taught and most companies will train you in interveiw techniques etc

Obviously this is more management focused, I do not have a degree so my point of view is that it is waste of time so look at:
ITIL - Look at completing the Service Manager qualification, hard work but worth it!
Prince
6 Sigma (limited in IT but looks good on a CV)

Good luck

cantona_deux

The only way to move out of the support area to another area is to get trained up in a system/hardware that is company wide.

By this I mean - SAN technology or Virtualisation technologies such as VMware or similar can lead to a change of scene and job direction. Emerging technolgies can also lead to a new job direction. But it all depends on the company you are with.

I would also think doing a Masters would be a help or if that proved too much doing a project management course. To be an admin or indeed a manager you need to be able to cross the divide between the users and the accountants. Explaining all of the pro's and cons to both groups and most importantly - explain the return on an investment no matter how big or small. Also do you want to be in charge of people ? Some do some don't! think about it because the grass is not always greener on the other side.

MissFitz

Thanks Leadership, great to hear a point of view from someone who has been there and done it

cantona_deux wrote: »

Also do you want to be in charge of people ? Some do some don't! think about it because the grass is not always greener on the other side.

Good point, I suppose that's what I need to make a decision on before I know what route to take.

alexn wrote: »

I can suggest you look at a project administrator role to start with. While it is mainly clerical, it does expose you to project management and provides inside opportunities to start managing small projects. Also look at roles within a program or project office. These can also put you in the right place to get into project management.

Thanks, hadn't considered that, it would definitely be a good stepping stone to transition between support and project management.


Thanks everyone, you've given me some good pointers, I have a lot of thinking to do!!

eth0_

Alexn banned for spamming.