Applying for my first (proper) job.

[adameye]

Ok so i am leaving college soon were i started in september of 2009 to achieve my CompTIA A+ Certificate, CompTIA Network + (Training Only), and my MCDST and MCP also whilst studying I have achieved an NVQ For IT Professionals and Practitioners and an Advanced Diploma for IT Professionals (ADITP)... Quite a lot for five months of work!

 

Now has come the time for me to find a job (as the academy say thier job isnt finnished until they have found me a job:rolleyes:), I have worked as an ICT Technician apprentice for a year prior to attending college, this was a role based in primary schools within lancashire, I really enjoyed it! and i really want to work in education again!

 

What I really want to know is what's it like working in high schools? as this is the area i'm looking into and have already made applications into a few high schools surrounding me. What's the work like? and has anybody taken on anybody straight from college before? How did they find it?

 

Also, if you know of any good ICT Technician jobs going i would LOVE to know about them too! Generally in the Preston, Leyland, Chorley area..

 

Thanks,

Adam

Edited January 16, 2010 by adameye

[srochford]

My previous job was as IT Manager in an FE College; we took on several people more or less as soon as they finished their studies (vacancies rarely appear at exactly the right time) and it worked well (less than 10 years on one of them is now IT Support Manager)

 

I think it's hard to answer the question "what's it like working in high schools" because they can be very different. That will depend on lots of things. If the head and senior managers see IT as important then it will be very different from a school where IT is just something that has to be done; if you read some of the "behind the red door" stuff here you'll see the kind of nightmares that sometimes happen ...

 

If you can't immediately get a job, see if you can volunteer to help out in a local school - this gives you a chance to find out what it's like and also gives experience (which always looks good on a CV). Not all schools will take volunteers (there are problems both with child protection and also with people doing a job which ought to be paid) but some will so persevere.

 

Good luck!

[IanT]

Hi Adam,

 

There are a lot of jobs going around at the moment, I recommend you have a good search for your area.

 

Working in a high school at a young age or while doing college is great experience and you can have a lot of fun, but working in a high school differs from school to school really, but the ones I've worked you the staff are normally very nice and easy to get on with (most of the time!) really push your self with work and support in a school. working school life is very different though to working in a normal it department in London lets say.

[Guest Htech]

Did you goto Zenos By any chance?

[adameye]

Did you goto Zenos By any chance?

 

i did yes! why, do you know of it?

[Guest Htech]

Yeah, i had a friend who went to the manchester Zenos.

 

He came out with the same exams as you in that short time. He passed the exams but, He actually has very little knowledge of I.T at all.

 

The course is just a little rushed if you ask me, leaving the students with bits of paper not knowledge.

 

Sorry if it seems negative i just dont understand how a 2-3 year course can be done in 5 months.

 

I hope its not the same for you.

 

 

 

 

Oo and they didnt find him a job either

Edited January 19, 2010 by Htech

[adameye]

Yeah, i had a friend who went to the manchester Zenos.

 

He came out with the same exams as you in that short time. He passed the exams but, He actually has very little knowledge of I.T at all.

 

The course is just a little rushed if you ask me, leaving the students with bits of paper not knowledge.

 

Sorry if it seems negative i just dont understand how a 2-3 year course can be done in 5 months.

 

I hope its not the same for you.

 

 

 

 

Oo and they didnt find him a job either

 

I have already got a great deal of knowledge and experience although i have only worked in IT for a year. I have always been able to pick things up really quick and adapt into them.

 

I am aware that i am one of the highest achievers in my college and having only just past my first MCDST exam today with a mark of 862.

 

I do believe some of it is rushed but it depends upon how much knowledge you walked in with and how easy you find it to follow along, although I know a lot of people have dropped the course because they just found it too intense!

 

The CompTIA A+ is concentrated on more than any of the exams which i studied for three months before taking the exam whereas the MCDST only got a 5 weeks for study.

 

I find what they have created is very benificial for people like me and i'm happy i found it. because without it i would be having to pay £1,000's to gain these qualifications elsewere. But here it is all free as its part of a goverment innititive to get more qualified I.T people into work.