Career Advice (IT Related, but, all advice welcome)

Kerry_2008

Hi All,

It's a bit of a long one so please bear with with me. I qualified with a Msc in Computing in 2007. I worked for a year with dell in limerick as a VB programmer, basically doing bits and pieces.

The started a job in 2007 working for a start up in the financial services sector in cork. Basically it was a small operation ( 2 people including me) working on a single product that was developed in java. There was no frameworks or anything and the entire thing was written in standard java not j2ee. Here i also taught myself php as I inherited a website that was connected up to the application so had to learn how to code it.

With the downturn in the mortgage market etc i was made redundant in 11 and (luckily, not so sure now) got a job with an agency contracting in the public sector. However, its all basic enough, web updates via CMS and setting up video conferences and fixing printers etc. There is a small bit of development the odd time.

My problem is thats is coming up to 5 years and i still am on an agency contract with no hope of getting a permanent contract.

I have been applying for jobs but, i dont have any of the frameworks in php like zend etc or have anything like angular. I can manage js based on my java background.

I'm not even sure if i want to stay in programming or anything. I would go back to college etc but, i have a mortgage and kids etc so cant really take the hit financially. All i want is a job for about 37k plus ( I know says he).

Lately i have completed a train the trainer course, got a prince2 foundation and am studying for CCNA exams. Am i wasting my time with these?

I think i would like something like business analyst or something or even field service engineer or development. Anything really with a career path or progression

I am based in cork and cant really move. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Musicman2000

CCNA is good to have if your looking to get into the Networking side of things. Level 3 support you would be looking at 35 k upwards. BUT one big problem the IT bubble is mainly Dublin based I've been looking to relocate from the UK back home but its near impossible to find anything half decent outside Dublin and anything that is advertised has a massive amount of applications. But go for the CCNA I have one myself and would recommend it.

Cuddlesworth

Just be warned, proper high level networking isn't much different to programming.

Neon_Lights

You clearly seem as if you have the skills, contract roles can be in some cases uncertain. If I were you I'd keep on upskilling, ask yourself what am I the most passionate about when it comes to IT, is it development, data analytics, qa, help desk, it project management, change management etc. Also keep on applying and keep a thick skin 37k is easily achievable. I think you just need to stick on one track as opposed to a little bit of this and that

seablue

I agree with Neon_Lights, I think you need to focus in on one area of IT. You have done training in a wide range of technical and nontechnical subjects. What kind of jobs are you applying for?


Do you want to get back to programming or moving into Networking, or move into project management?

Kerry_2008

I dont know what i want to be honest. I enjoyed the java programming. Im applying for all sort, from junior java dev to field service engineer but not having much luck.

experiMental

Of all the options you have mentioned, business analyst seems to be the best one. It's a highly paid job, but I would say that there's a lot of competition for it.

Many large and medium sized businesses need business analysts, who can also model data, and those businesses are not only located in Dublin.

In general, from my experience of being in job interviews, if I would say that I was looking for career path and progression, people would generally give me an awkward look. They would expect me to define my own career path. But I hope that not every workplace is like that.

scamalert

OP seems you have wast experience in programming-which seems you turn it down as not enough.

You mention of doing CCNA and currently thats is what im studying,and its really hard course for someone who never did programming or network,thus if you have programming under you,you might already know some top basics of ccna as its not much different from programming.

But furthermore,there is huge increase recently for people with ccna experience and also there is added course of linux server management-not sure how well you'd be related to Linux,or command lines there,but if you can get certified on them two options, and given your past experience in IT field,you'd be highly desirable in many companies,since many ISP providers are expanding and the need for people that can manage networks,security is huge-as pointed most jobs are Dublin based,and require at least 3years experience in field.

That said seems you have necessary mind set,and if networking seems something that you would be comfortable with and adding linux management should open you many opportunities.