Popular Post dry Posted November 13, 2015 Popular Post Posted November 13, 2015 Might be of interest for some of you lot! Just got sent this by a fellow public-sector worker... https://www.publictechnology.net/articles/news/professional-standard-ict-technicians-launched 7
rich_tech Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 (edited) I was about to make a post about this as I have completed it and I am now a RITTech and also an AMBCS apparently, I urge anyone else working as a technician to do so for the certification and accreditation, especially as it comes with a years free associate membership of BCS (£84) and also at the moment their waiving the £45 registration fee for the accreditation. It takes about 30 minutes to fill out a simple questionnaire and three small paragraphs and you just have to wait on a supporter(thanks to @garethedmondson there) to ok the work and then the BCS to sign it off Register for IT Technicians | Business solutions | BCS - The Chartered Institute for IT Link is there Edited November 13, 2015 by rich_tech 3
timbo343 Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 So i've just signed up for https://www.publictechnology.net/articles/news/professional-standard-ict-technicians-launched, is there anything else i need to do? Just going through the RITTECH site and im torn between which area to choose. I guess IT Support (generalist) is about right but Systems engineering, Systems Intergration, Infrastructure support, a bit of cyber intrusion analysis and network engineering too. Infact i do a bit of everything .
MartinRouterKing Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 So i've just signed up for https://www.publictechnology.net/articles/news/professional-standard-ict-technicians-launched, is there anything else i need to do? Just going through the RITTECH site and im torn between which area to choose. I guess IT Support (generalist) is about right but Systems engineering, Systems Intergration, Infrastructure support, a bit of cyber intrusion analysis and network engineering too. Infact i do a bit of everything . I was confused which one to choose. I have left it for now but as the only tech at the school I do everything!
timbo343 Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 I was confused which one to choose. I have left it for now but as the only tech at the school I do everything! I have tried to revisit the application but cannot seem to find it on the site anymore. Everything seems to be locked out or don't have the permissions to access areas. There is nothing to say finish completing application.
MartinRouterKing Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 I have tried to revisit the application but cannot seem to find it on the site anymore. Everything seems to be locked out or don't have the permissions to access areas. There is nothing to say finish completing application. https://signin.bcs.org/?login_onLoginUrl=https://rittech.bcs.org/rittech I have just logged into that link and it came up continue application. 1
rich_tech Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 (edited) So i've just signed up for https://www.publictechnology.net/articles/news/professional-standard-ict-technicians-launched, is there anything else i need to do? Just going through the RITTECH site and im torn between which area to choose. I guess IT Support (generalist) is about right but Systems engineering, Systems Intergration, Infrastructure support, a bit of cyber intrusion analysis and network engineering too. Infact i do a bit of everything . To be honest there were lots of options available to me on there too, as school IT means your a bit of a specialist on lots of fields and products, I went for Infrastructure Support though, based on its the field I am aiming for with hardware and networking (I already admin a nice sized campus and a few specialised platforms with our mobile devices and virtualisation and I am slowly going towards my Cisco CCENT) Edited November 13, 2015 by rich_tech
Chuckster Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 It's saying the application and registration fee is £45. I guess the free offer must have ended..?
Nixon77 Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 It says you must "prove" you are good, how do you do that? From what I can see, you pay £45, get your manger to confirm, and then you get approved for it. I suppose its a nice logo to put on the email signature.
Chuckster Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 I don't know anybody who is a member of BCS. I remember when they visited the university where I was a student at to get all those on any of the computer courses to enlist. When asked about the benefits of joining the rep glossed over it quickly without answering the question. I recall the emphasis on how the organisation is globally recognised - sure, but I doubt you have that many members to gloat about. Having said that, I can't see my school wanting/willing to pay the £45 fee and nor can I. I guess I ought to delete my account (if I can, that is).
featured_spectre Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 (edited) It's free if you're already BCS website registered. Otherwise yes, it's £45 (as far as I can tell). I was BCS registered at one point, and it made no difference to my employment prospects at all. The most it got in an interview was "oh I see you're a member of the BCS, do you think that money was well spent?" Edited November 14, 2015 by featured_spectre
SpuffMonkey Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 I don't know anybody who is a member of BCS. I am! And I know a few others on here are too. Not that I found it much use - but I quite like all the postnominal letters - it can shut up the teachers who insist on putting B.A. after their names on emails! Regards Spuffmonkey B.Sc. (Hons) MBCS CITP 1
Arreks Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 I do wonder how many employers etc would actually look at an accreditation that is simply granted based on someone saying "yeah this bloke knows his stuff!".. I'll do it anyway, I like letters after my name How long does the entire process take? 1
DJ-1701 Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 I'll do it anyway, I like letters after my name Just reminded me of Red Dwarf... Arnold J. Rimmer BSc SSc (Bronze Swimming Certificate, Silver Swimming Certificate).
synaesthesia Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 And all of Rimmer's secrets are hidden away in the dot of the "i" in Certificate It's a shame I can't type that in Timothy Spall's Brummy accent. 2
matt40k Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 Mmm... not sure how well this will work. I mean if your line manager is the deputy head, he's prob going to sign you off on everything, but if its the network manager, they are more likely be in a position to correctly grade you. Can't really see how this would be any better then LinkedIn with the skills, other then your paying for it and its something you can add to your CV. Suppose it'll make job descriptions a bit more standard and non-vendor specific... maybe.
simonw Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 Will having this accreditation have any positive effect on pay grade?
unixman_again Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 I quite like all the postnominal letters - it can shut up the teachers who insist on putting B.A. after their names on emails! Regards Spuffmonkey B.Sc. (Hons) MBCS CITP I too have letters BAppSc (CS) although I never use them - far too pretentious. That's a Bachelor Applied Science - Computer Studies. I not sure what I can claim for my AIX certification; I don't even know if it's still valid. My friend will write sometimes FRSA after his name, which he says is Former Reader of the Scientific America. I guess if he ever subscribes again he could be a Friendly Reader
SpuffMonkey Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 I too have letters BAppSc (CS) although I never use them - far too pretentious. That's a Bachelor Applied Science - Computer Studies. No me neither except for comic effect, for a short time the other members of the team had a MSc plus BCS and another post grad qual which slips my mind - we had a plate made up for the door in reprographics, but got told to take it down - can't imagine why ;-)
GrumbleDook Posted November 17, 2015 Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) I tend to think that being a technician is a state of mind, not a qualification. I can remember a friend at Becta came down to talk through some of the Technical and Function Specification stuff and one of the local NMs /IT Techs said afterwards that he was a good bloke and they were surprised that Becta let technicians out ... said Becta bod has a PhD and a tonne of published papers, including a lot of work for JISC ... I'm telling you folks ... it is a state of mind! On a slightly different note, it surprised me to see this come out when I have been chasing with BCS for a bit about the position of IT Professionals in Education. I am working with a number of others about a Position Statement for BCS on it and this feeds in very nicely. To some extent it compares to ICTTech at IET and gives a good career path from apprentice, to IT Tech, to Manager, to Chartered status, to C-level ... where it needs work is to ensure that National Occupational Standards tie in correctly (a problem raised at the BCS Learning and Development Special Interest Group already, acknowledged by City & Guilds and everyone needs The Tech Company and relevant folk at BCS to sit down and get it sorted). It should be an interesting 18 months for anyone in the BCS, as there are a lot of changes happening, and some good folk have come in to help make changes. I would recommend folk join and, where possible, not only go for RITTech but to make sure they are full members and working towards Chartered Status. the RITTech is a good start, but for many member here you are beyond that and should be recognised as such. Those with the old CITP are in the lucky place of not having to renew it ... those of us working on it now will have to follow the example of other Chartered Institutes ... and prove that we have still got what it takes. Edited November 17, 2015 by GrumbleDook missing words 1
Ephelyon Posted November 17, 2015 Posted November 17, 2015 I'm telling you folks ... it is a state of mind! Comes with its own DSM-5 code too! In terms of the application process itself, I really think they should extend the 1,000-character limit in some areas, especially the one where you need to enter three things "that made you proud and demonstrate your skills". In one of mine I had to miss off the bit I was actually proud of (the idea of creating a symlink and changing symlink evaluation behaviour to get ColorVeil to work for all users from a single location)... 1
Arreks Posted November 17, 2015 Posted November 17, 2015 Comes with its own DSM-5 code too! In terms of the application process itself, I really think they should extend the 1,000-character limit in some areas, especially the one where you need to enter three things "that made you proud and demonstrate your skills". In one of mine I had to miss off the bit I was actually proud of (the idea of creating a symlink and changing symlink evaluation behaviour to get ColorVeil to work for all users from a single location)... Yup I agree, the other 2 fields are fine and I can manage the 1000 limit but that first field required me to go back and delete some parts.. not good!
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