Best area in go in IT jobwise

dennynua

High I'm interested in getting a job in IT but it is so broad from web design to software programming what is the best area to get into, I have a business degree from 2009 and i have been working in a factory but was let go

Creamy Goodness

the best?

the one you enjoy doing most. please don't get into IT just cause it's the hot thing!

dennynua

I don't know about enjoying really just something that will get me a job ,like I have worked in a factory which I hated but the money was good so I would stick at if it was a good reliable job but I hear so many things from different people like oracle ,compita A+ ,cobol course are good some say they are useless computer science i saw on springboard but a girl told me her friend did it years ago and works in a care home now? then theres programming , web design etc I really don't know what to do

doolox

If you are not modding, coding, setting up systems for games etc as a hobby then you will be at a disadvantage against people who do in the IT world.

You have a business degree so it should be possible to add post-graduate diplomas in IT to the basic degree to get an edge in the job hunt. It may be neccessary to gain skill abroad and the return to Ireland once you have the right profile. Ireland is itself too small a market to get experience in a wide range of areas, same thing happens with Doctors and Scientists, they have to get the necessary experience abroad before being employed here.

Phoebas

OP, your question is like asking 'I'm interested in getting a job in healthcare, but I don't know if I should become a doctor or a hospital porter or a bed manager'.

Why do you want to work in IT?

ImDave

dennynua wrote: »

I don't know about enjoying really just something that will get me a job

You need to figure out whether you actually have an interest and aptitude in any area of IT.

For example, if you think you may have an interest in some form of programming, watch some free tutorial videos online and try to create a simple programme. Or maybe get yourself some cheap/free web hosting and mess around with PHP/MySQL. On the infrastructure side of things, read up on networking, hardware etc. and see if any of it appeals to you. All of these things are very simple but things that you should be doing if considering finding a career area in the sector.

yawhat!

So broad,

Any interest in databases like oracle or Sql server
Interest in networking or setting up things like servers?
Any interest in PHP or the .net framework?

Maybe with your degree have a look at business systems, querying databases and SAP.

yop

If you don't have an interest and a real interest in IT then I wouldn't go near it.
Our college class, when IT was the hot thing to do, had 56 bodies in 1st year.
In 2nd year we had 28, in 3rd year we had 8.
Of that 8 only 2 of us are working in IT. The rest just had no interest.
My brother has a 1st class honors degree in Computing, went and worked in it for 6 months and realised how much he hated IT.

So you need to experience it and ask yourself an honest question in if you are interested in it because there are jobs or are you interested in it because you have a "love" for it.

Good luck with your choice, make sure its the right one

Mr. Loverman

I agree with all the other replies. But I'm going to give you a recommendation.

Have a look at Business Analysis (BA).

zweton

how does one get into business analysis.

Mr. Loverman

Apply for business analyst jobs on websites like freelancer.com. They will be short term jobs. Do them for very cheap or free. The goal is to get experience on your CV.

yawhat!

zweton wrote: »

how does one get into business analysis.

An oracle or SQL cert in querying databases and a certification in SAP as well. I'm on phone so can't post links.

There are other skills as well. Have a look at irishjobs at the skills needed but I believe there the two main ones

zweton

whats the pay like.

yop

zweton wrote: »

whats the pay like.

If its poor will it put you off?

yawhat!

Why don't you look up Irish jobs and check? Graduate roles usually range around the 22K to 28k mark depending on the role.

dennynua

I am thinking of doing a hdip in applied computing technology now has anybody ever done it ? i heard its good if your starting from scratch and you do a year see how it goes and go on and do a masters its 3-4 grand though, ps is this the right area to post this ?

Sinbad311

Big data... business intelligience. Course starting in march in ncirl called hdip science and data analysis. 1 year course and also available on springboard if u are currently unemployed. U have a business degree so shouldnt be a problem qualifying for a place

Sinbad311

Big data... business intelligience. Course starting in march in ncirl called hdip science and data analysis. 1 year course and also available on springboard if u are currently unemployed. U have a business degree so shouldnt be a problem qualifying for a place

Ray Palmer

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

I agree with all the other replies. But I'm going to give you a recommendation.

Have a look at Business Analysis (BA).

There is no way after doing a few small roles would you be good enough to do BA as a job. It is much more difficult if you have no understanding of how system are put together and interact.

Sure some BAs have no technical knowledge and they are known as the bad ones. Often coming from the business itself so have other knowledge of the working of the company so have useful information. These normally need to be told how to do BA work such story cards, user specs and limitation of changes.

If you are going to try a get a BA job without any technical knowledge, IT experience or business knowledge of that company you aren't going to be much use. Highly improbably to get hired as a BA given that.

The kind of business knowledge I am referring to is how the company process information. Form names, number of checks to comply with regulations and company policy, process numbers etc...

Jim2007

Sinbad311 wrote: »

Big data... business intelligience. Course starting in march in ncirl called hdip science and data analysis. 1 year course and also available on springboard if u are currently unemployed. U have a business degree so shouldnt be a problem qualifying for a place

Imagine for a minute you want to be an apprentice block layer and the first thing the builder asks you is: How many houses have you built so far and can we go and look at one?

That is where we start when we go out to recruit graduates! We expect that you have already worked on projects, have a portfolio of stuff to show us and so on. It is important that you understand that unlike most other occupations getting a degree in IT will not get you a job in IT, unless you have a lot more to show at interview time, you'll get no where.

Even people who work in the less technical side of IT like for instance BAs are passionate about technology, they are thinking of how to apply it to business, coming up with new uses for current technology or scanning the horizon for new possibilities....

If you search you will find a few threads along this line already here, where people who did the degree on the expectation that it would get them a job, discovered that was not the case.

If you are not already into IT, then it will probably be just about the most difficult thing you have ever done, because it requires a lot of work outside class and office (later) to keep up to date with what is going on.

Mr. Loverman

Ray Palmer wrote: »

There is no way after doing a few small roles would you be good enough to do BA as a job. It is much more difficult if you have no understanding of how system are put together and interact.

Sure some BAs have no technical knowledge and they are known as the bad ones. Often coming from the business itself so have other knowledge of the working of the company so have useful information. These normally need to be told how to do BA work such story cards, user specs and limitation of changes.

If you are going to try a get a BA job without any technical knowledge, IT experience or business knowledge of that company you aren't going to be much use. Highly improbably to get hired as a BA given that.

The kind of business knowledge I am referring to is how the company process information. Form names, number of checks to comply with regulations and company policy, process numbers etc...

Ah Ray will you stop disagreeing and arguing with people all the time. Look at your post history. It's all you do.

I know LOADS of competent BAs who started off amateurish but after getting a drilling from QA ("You didn't mention X, you haven't thought about Y, your bit about Z is too vague") they learnt pretty quickly.

Obviously every BA who joins a company has very limited "technical knowledge, IT experience or business knowledge of that company". Why? Because they're never worked there before!

No manager is going to expect a new BA's first spec to be beautiful.

Frankly your post reeks of someone trying to scare people away from becoming BAs.

Ray Palmer

Two JUNIOR BA roles

http://www.irishjobs.ie/Jobs/Junior-Business-Analyst-7249238.aspx

http://www.irishjobs.ie/Jobs/Junior-Business-Analyst-Dublin-7245226.aspx

2-3 years experience required along with technical knowledge and experience. You need that to just apply while competing with people with more. BA is not a role you can just move into on a whim.

Mrs OBumble

Lads - you're both right.

There is no way that doing a few small jobs on e-lancing on whatever would fit someone to work full time as a BA/

OTOH, picking up some analysis tasks like that would quickly prove to the OP whether or not s/he has an aptitude for data-investigation or thinking abstractly about how things could be if something was different. (The latter is the most difficult part of the BA role IMHO: if we do X, then what will happen, what else do we need to think about etc .. all without trying out X first to see). It's a starting place for someone whose previous work expereince doesn't fit with IT at all.


NB I am a BA, have been for 15 years, and came to the role from a "business" background but with some academic comp-sci a few years earlier. The best BAs I've ever worked will all came from business backgrounds, and some did technology quailifications. The worst ones were all (ie failed!) former developers. The vast majority are in between. IMHO professional maturity, relationship management and analytic thinking are far more important than an specifc technical knowledge: any thinker can learn techology, an idiot cannot learn ot think.




MOD NOTE: No personal attachks please, and don't be too harsh on posters who are looking for options.

Aptitude

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

NB I am a BA, have been for 15 years, and came to the role from a "business" background but with some academic comp-sci a few years earlier. The best BAs I've ever worked will all came from business backgrounds, and some did technology quailifications.

Speaking as a Comp Sci Grad, how would one progress to a Business Analyst role? Typically Business Analyst Graduate roles would come from BIS or e-commerce degrees??

Sounds like a very important job as if things can go wrong they`ll go wrong at the start.

dennynua

so what does anybody think of doing a hdip in applied computing technology ? is it a good way to get into IT

dennynua

anybody?

dennynua

Sinbad311 wrote: »

Big data... business intelligience. Course starting in march in ncirl called hdip science and data analysis. 1 year course and also available on springboard if u are currently unemployed. U have a business degree so shouldnt be a problem qualifying for a place

it stays you need a high level of maths for it though which wouldn't be my strong point

ImDave

dennynua wrote: »

it stays you need a high level of maths for it though which wouldn't be my strong point

In my experience, don't go near anything in college/uni which states a high level of mathematics is required if you don't like and have little ability in it. Regardless of how much maths is actually required in the 'real world' when out of college, if there is too much for you in the course, it won't be a good experience.

Maths and subjects involving maths is one of the most significant contributors to drop outs from courses, as people underestimate the volume required in certain subjects and career areas. Having said that, if you are really interested in the area as a whole and can dedicate yourself, most universities have dedicated maths learning/support centres, available for extra tuition in small group/one-to-one settings which can be of great help.

dennynua

I have applied to two courses computing with security and forenstics level 7 and business systems analysis level 8 which is the best course

x43r0

dennynua wrote: »

I have applied to two courses computing with security and forenstics level 7 and business systems analysis level 8 which is the best course

I would say the second one as it would require less technical knowledge and is a bit more general/transferable when it comes to job hunting

dennynua

x43r0 wrote: »

I would say the second one as it would require less technical knowledge and is a bit more general/transferable when it comes to job hunting

yeah the guy at the open day advised it too as I had a business degree but I wanted to get away from business but there seems to be alot IT in this, the other course I think you have to go on to do an another course to specialize in an area

also there seems to be alot of areas with business systems analysis, systems analysis,data analysis, database administration, systems admin and crm admin has anybody jobs in those areas what are they like ??

x43r0

dennynua wrote: »

yeah the guy at the open day advised it too as I had a business degree but I wanted to get away from business but there seems to be alot IT in this, the other course I think you have to go on to do an another course to specialize in an area

also there seems to be alot of areas with business systems analysis, systems analysis,data analysis, database administration, systems admin and crm admin has anybody jobs in those areas what are they like ??

I do business analysis in a digital marketing agency. It's not overly technical apart from a lot of SQL and lots of time spent in databases but the meat of the job is in data analysis and data planning.

I previously did a BA role in an investment bank for 3 years which again, wasn't overly technical. Similar stuff, SQL, data analysis, process design/analysis, requirements gathering/definition.

The reason I talk about my own experience is to show you how transferable BA skills can be once you can get a solid foundation and set of skills to apply to whatever context you happen to find yourself working in.

I did a computer science degree and a masters in business information systems. I didn't know the first thing about investment banking but kind of fell into the job. The same with my current role, in that I didn't know a tap about marketing. The two companies couldn't be further apart but I can apply a certain set of skills to both and pick up the rest on the job.

Getting a good foundation and some technical knowledge is essential though. After that then it's finding an employer to take a chance on you and help you start building those skills

dennynua

x43r0 wrote: »

I do business analysis in a digital marketing agency. It's not overly technical apart from a lot of SQL and lots of time spent in databases but the meat of the job is in data analysis and data planning.

I previously did a BA role in an investment bank for 3 years which again, wasn't overly technical. Similar stuff, SQL, data analysis, process design/analysis, requirements gathering/definition.

The reason I talk about my own experience is to show you how transferable BA skills can be once you can get a solid foundation and set of skills to apply to whatever context you happen to find yourself working in.

I did a computer science degree and a masters in business information systems. I didn't know the first thing about investment banking but kind of fell into the job. The same with my current role, in that I didn't know a tap about marketing. The two companies couldn't be further apart but I can apply a certain set of skills to both and pick up the rest on the job.

Getting a good foundation and some technical knowledge is essential though. After that then it's finding an employer to take a chance on you and help you start building those skills

I completed a business degree back in 2009 but I never used it I ended up in a factory job because my father knew someone I actually really liked it well the social aspect and the shift money was great but it was a braindead job , so now i'm trying to get on to sometime else so many areas in IT but this systems business analysis seems the most practical way to go I guess so you really are just doing databases all day ?

dennynua

x43r0 wrote: »

I do business analysis in a digital marketing agency. It's not overly technical apart from a lot of SQL and lots of time spent in databases but the meat of the job is in data analysis and data planning.

I previously did a BA role in an investment bank for 3 years which again, wasn't overly technical. Similar stuff, SQL, data analysis, process design/analysis, requirements gathering/definition.

The reason I talk about my own experience is to show you how transferable BA skills can be once you can get a solid foundation and set of skills to apply to whatever context you happen to find yourself working in.

I did a computer science degree and a masters in business information systems. I didn't know the first thing about investment banking but kind of fell into the job. The same with my current role, in that I didn't know a tap about marketing. The two companies couldn't be further apart but I can apply a certain set of skills to both and pick up the rest on the job.

Getting a good foundation and some technical knowledge is essential though. After that then it's finding an employer to take a chance on you and help you start building those skills

also with the computers science degree and the business analysis job you can compare the two

x43r0

dennynua wrote: »

I completed a business degree back in 2009 but I never used it I ended up in a factory job because my father knew someone I actually really liked it well the social aspect and the shift money was great but it was a braindead job , so now i'm trying to get on to sometime else so many areas in IT but this systems business analysis seems the most practical way to go I guess so you really are just doing databases all day ?

No not as such - It's constant people interaction. The database stuff is just the driver behind the work. We manage various company's customer data.

I'll sit with them and we go through whatever marketing campaigns they're planning and give my input/recommendations from the data perspective of how we would go about running said campaigns. Its end to end from these initial discussions to defining solutions and then testing/implementing and troubleshooting

dennynua

x43r0 wrote: »

No not as such - It's constant people interaction. The database stuff is just the driver behind the work. We manage various company's customer data.

I'll sit with them and we go through whatever marketing campaigns they're planning and give my input/recommendations from the data perspective of how we would go about running said campaigns. Its end to end from these initial discussions to defining solutions and then testing/implementing and troubleshooting

I wouldn't be the greatest people person the odd interaction not constantly though but you are in a marketing area would other areas be different

hmmm

I doubt you'll get a job in security - most jobs there require a strong aptitude and technical skills in IT, and tend to get very specialised very quickly. Business analysis requires a decent mix of business, IT and people skills. Project management might also be an option, although project managers are a dime a dozen these days and only the good ones are in demand.

dennynua

hmmm wrote: »

I doubt you'll get a job in security - most jobs there require a strong aptitude and technical skills in IT, and tend to get very specialised very quickly. Business analysis requires a decent mix of business, IT and people skills. Project management might also be an option, although project managers are a dime a dozen these days and only the good ones are in demand.

but it sounds like if I go the computing route I will struggle against better guys say with degrees or masters in computing or other specialized areas whereas in business analysis its more general and less specialized but if your people skills weren't great would you hack the job ???

x43r0

dennynua wrote: »

but it sounds like if I go the computing route I will struggle against better guys say with degrees or masters in computing or other specialized areas whereas in business analysis its more general and less specialized but if your people skills weren't great would you hack the job ???

People skills are crucial for a BA role

dennynua

x43r0 wrote: »

People skills are crucial for a BA role

I wonder should I go the computing route then ???

x43r0

dennynua wrote: »

I wonder should I go the computing route then ???

Like you said yourself above - You'll probably struggle against more qualified candidates who truly love what they do.

It doesn't sound like you have any great interest in IT. You're just looking at it as a solid way to make money - which is fine but you'll really struggle to become a success in IT if you don't enjoy it for what it is

dennynua

x43r0 wrote: »

Like you said yourself above - You'll probably struggle against more qualified candidates who truly love what they do.

It doesn't sound like you have any great interest in IT. You're just looking at it as a solid way to make money - which is fine but you'll really struggle to become a success in IT if you don't enjoy it for what it is

I am interested in getting into IT but your right some guy comes along with a degree or masters and I only do a year and maybe follow of another year compared to a guy who has a degree and experience I would be completely from stratch hmmmmm I have to decide by 5 tomorrow I am a bit introvert suppose I may force myself with the people skills and go a surer route

Mr. Loverman

IT is full of people who want to get out.

Are you sure this is what you want to do?

There are lots of other types of jobs which also come with a salary...

dennynua

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

IT is full of people who want to get out.

Are you sure this is what you want to do?

There are lots of other types of jobs which also come with a salary...

I haven't a clue what to do thats the problem

dennynua

went with the business analysis see how it goes fingers crossed

Stheno

dennynua wrote: »

but it sounds like if I go the computing route I will struggle against better guys say with degrees or masters in computing or other specialized areas whereas in business analysis its more general and less specialized but if your people skills weren't great would you hack the job ???

dennynua wrote: »

I am a bit introvert suppose I may force myself with the people skills and go a surer route

dennynua wrote: »

went with the business analysis see how it goes fingers crossed

As a business analyst you will spend a huge amount of time interacting with lots of different people tbh, if your people skills aren't great then you might struggle.

Mr. Loverman

BA has a sales aspect too. Meeting "customers" and getting their requirements.

dennynua

Bit late now I'm signed up

dennynua

Bit late now I'm signed up

Mr. Loverman

dennynua wrote: »

Bit late now I'm signed up

It's never too late... especially when you haven't even started yet...

dennynua

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

It's never too late... especially when you haven't even started yet...

If I go computing I won't get a job ??? One year compared to a guy who's done a master's ?