Leaving School

[Badzeye]

Hey guys,

 

handed in my notice today and moving on from working in school for 5 years to work at a small IT company in the big scary real world. Just like to thank you all for the help over the years I may not post that actively but I end up getting a lot of useful information from the site. I'm sure ill still lurk here once I go! Thanks again.

 

Has anyone got any useful tips from anyone else that's made the change?

 

 

Also im sure my boss will post the Job in the correct section once its advertised if anyone is after an IT job in Birmingham let them know.

[Novalee]

Good luck!!

[unixman_again]

It's much tougher in the real world, depending on what you do. It really isn't the end of the world if all of the IT systems were down in a school. Teaching could go on the old fashioned was (although teachers might disagree). When I worked in facilities management, if the systems weren't there after the overnight processing had completed, the shops may not open, the manufacturing process doesn't happen, and somebody starts loosing money. You won't half know about it if this happens.

 

I used to support a credit card authorisation system, which handled all of the shops at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stanstead, as well as HMV, Adlers and many others. Our maintenance window was 00:30 to 1:00 Monday mornings. Again if the system wasn't back at 1:00, there was big trub! Also, you might find yourself on call - it's great going in at 3:00am trying to sort something out, when your brain is still tucked up in bed.

 

On the other hand, the pay is better (usually), lunches are better (generally), and you might get put up in posh hotels. I once had to go to London for a 9:30am meeting. It was all done and dusted by 10:00am. I phoned the boss in Birmingham to see what I should do. Since there was nothing I could do at head office, he said "Have a day in London." I said, "Ooo nice, I can go to the ballet." He said, "Sure - and do charge it to the company", so I did. I can't see that happening in education.

[elsiegee40]

Tougher in the real world? Maybe. Maybe not. The users are less hell bent on bypassing things put in for their safety and there will be little or no vandalism.

 

Systems are business critical though, so losing them is a major stress and updates often can only be done at scheduled times when signed off by God.

 

Enjoy your new venture. Don't be stranger

[Nixon77]

"It's much tougher in the real world"

 

No way, as long as you work for a decent place.

[witch]

I think there are pros and cons to both worlds. There might be more requirement for systems to be up and running 24/7 but often you have a specific task or responsibility, beyond which it is someone else's problem, whereas in education everything tends to be your job!

Massive generalisation, of course

[twin--turbo]

I made the switch just over 2 years ago.

 

Yes we have a number of systems that are mission critical and can't be down & systems that have quirks that can take them off line. We do lots of heavily regulated transactions and operations every second of the day, and a f..k up a 6AM can put the whole day into disarray affecting staff and customers. But we have a good team, good procedures, good systems and change control. So generally we have a happy stress free life..

 

Very busy though and expected to constantly deliver new services and improvements.

 

Good luck.

[Badzeye]

Thanks all. Its not really dawned on me yet leaving. Ive been in touch with my new boss a lot and he thinks from his impression after a couple of phone calls and interviews that I will be able to adjust. If anything it will be a change. Ive found I have got too comfortable in school.

[pantscat]

I did the same thing about 18-ish months ago. Felt too comfortable working in the same place and decided to do something different.

Certainly not any harder in the "real world" - just different, as long as it's a decent company and you enjoy the work, then that's fine!

Personally, the job I moved into didn't quite fulfil my expectations, so did it for three months and then did some contracting for a while, and setup my own company doing consultancy and support - and I've not been this happy in years (career-wise). So all-in-all, a very positive experience.

 

Good luck!