Depress for not getting a job related to my degree?

FrankC21

I feel depressed because i studied IT for three years at blanchardstown and graduated in 2013 up until now i did not land a career in IT, i am working as a healthcare assistant just to pay my bills, i feel down when I see my college mates on social media having careers in IT, i had a couple of interviews and all failed to get anywhere I tried job bridge to get an experience and got taken advantage by an employer who paid me through social welfare. I wasted way too much money and time, my father isn't even proud of me because i did not get a professional job in IT.

Sinus pain

FrankC21 wrote: »

I feel depressed because i studied IT for three years at blanchardstown and graduated in 2013 up until now i did not land a career in IT, i am working as a healthcare assistant just to pay my bills, i feel down when I see my college mates on social media having careers in IT, i had a couple of interviews and all failed to get anywhere I tried job bridge to get an experience and got taken advantage by an employer who paid me through social welfare. I wasted way too much money and time, my father isn't even proud of me because i did not get a professional job in IT.

Would u become an IT contractor?

FrankC21

How? I have barely any Commercial IT experience

lawred2

Sinus pain wrote: »

Would u become an IT contractor?

You don't just become an IT contractor.. you need skills and experience that someone is willing to contract you for.

OP... The only thing stopping you having a career in IT is yourself.

What have you done in the last six years re CPD or self learning? Have you tried to involve yourself in an open source community projects?

banie01

What have you done to keep your qualifications relevant?
What area of IT do you wish to work in?

Test, Automation? Service Desk? Programming? Front End? Back End?

As a 2013 graduate, what can you show an interviewer to outline your skillset is still current?
What personal projects have on GitHub or elsewhere to show you are still engaged in meaningful IT related work, even if unpaid?

FrankC21

Last year I did a post graduate diploma for java development and an online java courses on udemy. But i tried applying and I always get rejected because i dont have commercial experience

Snow Garden

The phrase 'commercial experience' comes across as weird to me. I wouldn't use it in interviews anyway. Very money oriented. You don't have 'work experience', simple as that.

Good advice here on open source projects. In many ways that would be work experience even if the software is freely available. It shows you can organise yourself, work in a team and produce code that is of good quality (if accepted).

What qualification did you get after 3 years in Blanchardstown? A diploma? If so, try and make it into a degree somewhere.

Did you ask for feedback on the interviews? They are obliged to provide it now.

Do you have a person in the college that could mentor you?

You have a 6 year gap in your CV now. You need to be able to explain that.

What exactly is a healthcare assistant?

Key question: Do you like IT? Do you have a passion for it?
If you do, keep learning, get some certifications (e.g. AWS) and if you really want an IT job you will get one and it will get easier after that. Don't give up.

Also keep networking and go to IT related events.

Good luck.

my father isn't even proud of me

Irrelevant. Take no notice of him.

GalwayGrrrrrl

To put a more positive spin on your situation - you have knowledge of programming and hands on experience of Irish healthcare systems. Have you made friends with the IT department where you are working (if it’s a hospital)? Are there projects you can help them with? If you’re in a nursing home is there any process that could be improved where you could design a solution?
As others have said, network with other IT people, gets some projects under your belt in your spare time and keep your ear to the ground for opportunities. Get someone to check your CV and application forms for capital letters and punctuation as there were a few errors in your original post (if I was employing a programmer I’d be looking at that attention to detail). Good luck.

yosser hughes

GalwayGrrrrrl wrote: »

Get someone to check your CV and application forms for capital letters and punctuation as there were a few errors in your original post (if I was employing a programmer I’d be looking at that attention to detail). Good luck.

I agree with this. Your CV will not get anywhere, as in it will be thrown in the bin, if you have got basic errors in it. Your posts suggest that you may have an issue there.Also, tailor your C.V. for each application.

Muppet Man

If you are in development, make a small App that is related to your healthcare work. It can completely useless or pointless but it is something you can sell the crap out of in an interview. "I created an application to make my current job easier"... They won't know that you are not using it, but will appreciate you had the insight to create something to make your job life easier.

Best of luck

OMM 0000

Go to freelancer.com and upwork.com and complete some development roles for people.

You can then put these on your CV as short contract roles for offshore employers.

OMM 0000

Would you consider a software testing role? It's a decent career and people with development skills are valued.

colm_c

OP, you need to apply for graduate/intern roles, everything else requires commerical experience.

There are plenty of companies looking for interns/graduates. Get your CV prepared, talk to a recruiter and see what's available, they might even suggest areas that you should brush up on.

The IT sector is booming and they can't get enough people.

Saying that, don't expect to walk into a job without preparing and doing legwork.

Rubberchikken

im all for telling someone to keep trying. but when you have recruiters and companies advertising graduate places but then tag on that applicants need experience sometimes 1 to 3 years, i despair.

yes there seems to be plenty of jobs in I T but the time these companies take to make any decisions, the sometimes impractical conditions they put in ads, the level of unprofessionalism displayed at times by companies is disappointing.

sorry op for going on.
i hope you find the job you're looking for. good luck

Dawido

OP I feel you, 4 years ago I had the same issue, graduated college (level 8) with Software Development degree, was unable to find job in Software Development and got a job in Software Testing for peanuts (32,000 euro per year...). But 3 years later after creating my own apps in free time I've managed to secure a job in Software Development for 80,000 per year... You have to keep improving your cv and skills and an opportunity will come your way...

Jim2007

FrankC21 wrote: »

I feel depressed because i studied IT for three years at blanchardstown and graduated in 2013 up until now i did not land a career in IT, i am working as a healthcare assistant just to pay my bills, i feel down when I see my college mates on social media having careers in IT, i had a couple of interviews and all failed to get anywhere I tried job bridge to get an experience and got taken advantage by an employer who paid me through social welfare. I wasted way too much money and time, my father isn't even proud of me because i did not get a professional job in IT.

So how many open source projects have you contributed to? How about your GitHub account - how many projects have you go up there?

Your cv is only half of the application package... if you don't have commercial experience then you definitely need to show activity on open source and Github projects.... otherwise you will find it almost important.