Leaving education...

[thewlis]

Hello, long time lurker here,

 

I wish to leave my job in education to find something more challenging in the private sector. However after applying to about 15 jobs (2nd/3rd line support, sysadmin, IT engineer, that sort of thing - all through recruiters) and not hearing anything back, I was wondering if any of you had advice on how to get my foot in the door.

 

I'm a senior IT technician at a large secondary school, where I've worked for three years since graduating with a computer science degree. I have a CCNA but no MS qualifications (just started the ball rolling on those). I'm currently in Leeds but am looking for work in London as I'd like to move down there.

 

I consider myself to be very knowledgeable in all aspects of Windows networking, and have a genuine passion for the field. I'm especially interested in the SBC, virtualisation and mobile spaces. However I'm concerned that the fact I work in school is preventing recruiters from putting me forward. Is working in a school still considered 'tin-pot' compared with private sector IT? I hope I'm wrong.

 

I'd like to land a job in the banking/finance/massive conglomerate sector, but I realise that may be a little ambitious as they all seem to require experience, so any company with a larger-scale IT setup would do me. I'd love some datacenter experience.

 

I've read that quite a few of you have successfully moved away from education, so I'd like to ask: where do you work now? How did you get into it?

 

Thanks for your time

[eejit]

Have you considered working for one of the companies that do ICT support in education? It would be a stepping stone at least and your experience would come in useful to them (I'm thinking of people like RM etc.)

[rad]

What do you like about your job? What dont you like?

 

I started ICT work for forktruck company working from an industrial unit. Most of my day was spent at my desk. What I like about education and site work was getting away from my desk, talking to people and helping them that way.

[IanT]

@thewlis

 

I've been applying for IT Managers, IT System Managers etc in the private sector and I've heard NOTHING

[russdev]

Biggest thing at moment is current climate last place you want to be is in private and if you are then in an education supplier as they offer better protection from being laid off..

 

Russ

[mossj]

As russ said going into the private sector is very much a gamble in this climate. The only 'stable' industries revolve around education or health, or (at a push) goverment agencies anything else can drop like a lead brick tied to a bankers foot.

 

I made the move from education to Higher Education (which is technically private) and I beleive in the interviews or applications you have to show them that your job isn't 'tin hat' so to speak. Also I made it clear in my interview that I understood that a university is a business and has to be profitable, I talked about the differences in the way I currently work and the way I would work there.

Edited September 2, 2009 by mossj

[dhicks]

I've worked for three years since graduating with a computer science degree. I have a CCNA but no MS qualifications (just started the ball rolling on those). I'm currently in Leeds but am looking for work in London as I'd like to move down there.

 

So you're under 25, have experience and expertise, and are unattached enough to be able to move accross the country? Go work for some startup company somewhere consisting of two chaps in a garage looking for a good all-rounder to sysadmin as they expand. Pick up experience (and any certifications you want) while you do that, then move on in a couple of years to a larger organisation. Something like the ServerFault jobs board might be a place to start:

 

jobs.serverfault.com

 

--

David Hicks