What would be a good course to take to get into I.T.?

Bob Dole

Not sure where the best place is to ask this, will post here for now.

I am interested in taking up a role in the IT sector. I don't really know what specific area yet- web design, software development etc.

I have 3 years experience in Analytics, and studied Science in college. However, I don't have a huge amount of programming experience. Excel; some SAS; a little R; currently learning Python. So right now I'd be happy to take up an entry-level role, rather than overreach and go for something I'm not capable of.

I have a grant from my previous employer that can go towards upskilling. I'm trying to choose a course to do before September but am finding it difficult. Could anybody recommend any good course that would build my skills in this area?

Stheno

First you need to figure out what area you want to work in, then find an appropriate course.

E.g. if you want to get into Project Management that's specific courses, software development it would depend on the languages etc

Kinet1c

How much is the grant and are there any limitations on what you can use it for?

Bob Dole

Hiya, grant is €5k, no limitations except that it can't be used against materials, membership fees, software etc. Only covers tuition fees.

InReality

If you can decide what you want to do you can narrow the courses down.Do you want to do programming ? and I'd try for a course with a work placement whatever area you decide.

Bob Dole

Yeah I definitely want to do more programming, huge room for improvement there. Have done some data analytics in previous role and it sounds like a good one for the future. Don't know enough about what software development is like.

I hear you on the placement thing. I know all the Springboard courses have that; though as they're all free I'd have no need for the grant.

mightyreds

Have you already got a degree? how about a H. dip in computer science i believe touches on the basics of a few programming languages or maybe a H.dip in software development

Mr. Loverman

I would also agree with a general computer science course. It basically makes you available for all areas of IT.

IT is basically a huge area. Let's just look at a basic software development process for a moment -

A business analyst writes a functional spec. It is analysed by a quality assurance engineer and developers and the technical architect. A developer and technical architect then write a technical spec. It will be analysed by a quality assurance engineer. A developer writes code. It is tested by a manual quality assurance engineer and an automation quality assurance engineer. A technical writer starts writing a manual. The product is then released and it is supported by technical support.

And then there are all the levels of management. And the network guys and system administrators who maintain the infrastructure so people can do their jobs.

There's loads of other roles too. I've mentioned the main ones though.

These jobs are all fairly different and require different skills.