Career Advice IT/Computing

ShaneU

At a bit of a crossroads. Got a pass Arts degree (English & Sociology) in 2008 and I'm still in the same retail job since 2006 on 22k a year. Despite completing a 12 month developmental management course last year, I'm told I can't be promoted as all the current managers were recently offered redundancy and there's been a recruitment embargo for 2 years now.

For example, two of the managers in my store are on the same pay as me, one stepped down and is basically doing the same job for less pay, the other recently arrived from another store and did the same course I did.

I've applied for retail management roles elsewhere but getting no response because of my lack of experience, even for supervisor and assistant manager roles.

I would have applied for a computing degree in 2004 but the lack of honours maths held me back, however new courses have been introduced sine then without this requirement. I'm considering doing Computer Applications or Enterprise Management as a mature student in DCU but it'll cost 6700k a year as I already have a degree and aren't entitled to free fees. Or is it possible to get a good programming or IT role with a 2 year level 6 diploma? most ads on jobs.ie seem to ask for a B.Sc....any advice welcome.

Stheno

Why do you want to do a degree in IT?

ShaneU

I've always been interested in computers and the people I know who have done it have enjoyed the course and have well paid jobs now.

Jim2007

So what have you done in computing so far? Programming protect, built a computer, set up a network?

ShaneU

I've built a computer alright but haven't any programming or networking skills. Should I apply for these I plan on learning basic Java beforehand and do a refresher maths course

fret_wimp2

To get anywhere in IT nowdays its "almost" necessary to have a degree. You can be lucky, but in my experience as both interviewer and interviewee, a degree is generally the minimum for all IT jobs that are anything more than 1st line on a helpdesk, and even then some qualifications are necessary as you need to be able to understand the problems and escalate accordingly.

That said, I do value experience over a degree anyday. Personally I learned more in my first 6 months at work than in the 4 years in college, and if i had two candidates, one with a degree and no experience, one with a year experience, all other things equal i'd probably chose the chap with experience.


Note that just like your good self, everyone and his/her dog are now doing IT as its dependable in the current climate. That means a few things that are important to realize:

-There are a huge amount of graduates with degrees, but have little or no actual experience. In such a competitive market simply having a piece of paper does not make you particularly employable.

-With such a competitive market, its an employers market so wages are lower at entry level when you have little experience.

-IT is dependable and pays well, but for the most part this only applies to people who have a few years experience, i'd guestimate a min of 5 years, below that It may not be a whole lot better than any other industry.

If you are at a lose end with no sign of a job then getting a degree is well advised, but you need experience to go with that to be truly competitive you need to explore all options for getting real world IT experience also. that could be jobs bridge, volunteer work, calling in a favor from a friend who owns a company or whatever.

beauf

ShaneU wrote: »

At a bit of a crossroads. Got a pass Arts degree (English & Sociology) in 2008 and I'm still in the same retail job since 2006 on 22k a year. Despite completing a 12 month developmental management course last year, I'm told I can't be promoted as all the current managers were recently offered redundancy and there's been a recruitment embargo for 2 years now.....

This has nothing to do with IT. If there's no prospects where you are you need to change job to another company. Move laterally until you can move up. There's always a risk it won't work and you'll be worse off, but that's life. The question is why have you stayed where you are.

IT requires you to seek out information and technologies. It doesn't come to you, you have to go get it. So ask yourself is that you. To get a good salary you need experience and good qualifications. If you don't have those you'll find yourself stuck again.

Jim2007

ShaneU wrote: »

I've built a computer alright but haven't any programming or networking skills. Should I apply for these I plan on learning basic Java beforehand and do a refresher maths course

IT is in many ways a strange place! Imagine if you will a young lad going for an apprenticeship as a block layer and being asked by a potential employer if he could see a couple of houses the young lad has built! That is the perspective in IT, we expect you to have a degree and some experience to show even if you are looking for your first job - open source stuff, applications you've built yourself, possibly phone apps you've released, a home network or whatever.

The point is that if you are not really into IT, then doing a degree and expecting to land a really good job is going to be very hard and might not be worth the money and time invested in it. Geeks tend to employ geeks, not 9-to-5ers.

MillField

I recently got my first job in software development. I graduated with a degree in Computer Science from DIT. The degree was simply a requirement to get the job, but everything after that is new. We're being trained from the ground up. Try a few online courses and see if its for you. If you like it go ahead and try get a degree if you can. You should be fine if you just work hard at it.