Former 6th former trying to get IT technician post in East Devon

[Aizen-sama]

Hey

After having a terrible time at uni and leaving I have decided I wish to pursue a job as an IT technician. I volunteered at my old college to learn the ropes of what it was like to be a technician for a school, unfortunately they weren't able to hire me as well as look for a senior technician post. Now I am going to take the MSDST exam in 3 weeks and then following that look to doing the A+ and eventually the cisco systems exam. I also have experience in working in a pc repair shop and alot of home based experience.

 

Is this an adequate way of getting into the industry or is here another approach I should be taking?

 

Cheers

[dhicks]

Is this an adequate way of getting into the industry

 

Sounds like a pretty good plan. Do you have a job at the moment to tide you over - are you still working at that computer repair shop?

 

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David Hicks

[Aizen-sama]

Thanks, finally a vot of confidence No atm unfortunately I am not working in the shop, A friend of mine who owns a small website design business has offered me some paid work to help me along and if not theres job seeker's.

[apoth0r]

The A+ is always a good move for technician positions, it shows you have a sound understanding of the workings of a PC.

Will put you in good stead for a base level technician role. Just keep learning mate, it's all you can do until the chance comes along. (They will come, just have to be patient!)

 

Good luck in your studies and the future mate, we've all been there!

[dhicks]

Thanks, finally a vot of confidence No atm unfortunately I am not working in the shop, A friend of mine who owns a small website design business has offered me some paid work to help me along and if not theres job seeker's.

 

Do you have much experience/expertise in "web design" - can you make web pages that look decent in all browsers and do interesting stuff? If so, you might do better to develop your own web-based application / service / content of some kind. The qualifications you are aiming for are more on the hardware and networking end of things, and making web pages and whatnot isn't really the same thing.

 

Did you just dislike university in general, or did you find the course hard going? You could always consider doing an Open University degree instead, if you dislike a traditional University environment, but if it was the work that was the issue then the stuff you're planning on sounds just fine.

 

Don't feel you have to work in a computing-related environment, anything that pays a regular wage is better than nothing. Actually, you'll probably feel more like concentrating on some fun computing stuff after a day doing something else.

 

There's always the possibility of running your own computer repair / upgrade service of some kind, especially if you have a car or whatever to get your around. "Fixing" home computers is generally a case of wipe-and-reinstall Windows, and people are going to be more willing to get their home PC fixed and upgraded rather than shell out for a new one right now.

 

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David Hicks

[EduTech]

Yh have confidence my friend, something will come along for you.

 

A+ is a great start, and what your planning to go and do afterwards will give you loads of potential and knowledge.... make sure you keep checking your local council website and also speak to Special Agent "edugeeks sponsor" and maybe they will be able to give you a help in hand.

 

Oh and keep an eye on here, theres always job's popping up

 

I worked voluntary for 8 months at the school i work at now, got loads of expeirience and had a great teacher so even though voluntary work is not always the best option for people if you can do it then go ahead.. it gets you some expeirience and a foot in the door.

 

good luck!.

 

James.

[Crispin]

Just to boost your confidence even more, what you have said in your post is basically my story aswell.

Couldn't deal with going to Uni, did a bit of retail management before deciding to go into IT after enjoying fiddling around with software/hardware at home.

Went and passed my A+ and started on MCP.

Managed to get an interview at my local school and with a bit of smooth talking managed to get the technician job.

Experience doesn't seem to be the most important thing. If you can show you are enthusiastic and really willing to learn and grow with the school then they'll be more likely to hire you than someone who has been in the job too long and has that far away vacant stare that we all have now!

A+ is a really good way to start. I bit the bullet really hard and did a couple of courses in london at the LSCE. Cost me a bomb and to be honest A+ can be learnt from a book with ease.

Also, get an evaluation copy of server 2008, get vmware, and experiment with setting up and maintaining a network with a couple of clients. This will give you a little glimpse into what you'll be expected to know.

Good luck!