A complete change of industry

phildamb

Has anyone got any experience of completely changing industry? I presently work in IT but really wouldnt mind changing was considering electrical. Reason being is IT is incredibly unrewarding, no matter how well educated you are unless you can get into a very privilidged position I feel Im always going to be looking for a better paid job. I have numerous qualifications on top of my degree but it never seems to be enough and the extra qualifications are expensive so unless you are already earning well its dificult to do. So has anyone experienced this sort of change? Was it worth the risk? Easy enough to do?

catmiaow

Yes I have changed my career a few times as still do not know what I want to do. The thing is office work pays better than most other jobs and most of the time you get weekends and evenings off.

I would say it was worth the risk otherwise I would have constantly been wanting to do it and felt a bit fed up.

Easy to do if you find the right industry for you. Speak to the right agencies and read up on direct.gov as they advise you what qualifications/exp you need for a role and you can see if its for you. Good luck!

phildamb

Jetame wrote: »

i have the same situation with you i'm working in IT but my salary is low i want to know how can i get a high pay?

To be honest Im really thinking that IT is one of the worst industries for being underpaid for your qualifications. Ive done everything I can to ensure Im kept upto date on what I need to know but companies still dont understand IT enough to know what people are worth and I cant see that changing in the next 10 years. Im the lowest paid in my group despite having the most qualifications and experience! Whence why Im thinking about a change of industry!

DKLS

What area of IT are you in?

tgon

I've been in IT most of my working life and progressed up the ranks well. Unfortunately, I was made redundant in October last year and not been able to secure another position since. So, yes, I've thought of changing tracks a few times and have opened more potential opportunities simply by looking at industries that my primary skills sets (management, business analysis, project management) might be transferred.

It's still not easy as many advertised vacancies filter on specific experience rather than skills but at least my chances are raised. As regards academic qualifications, I've only a fist full of A levels and a few vocational courses to support me. It's not usually been a problem although I am finding formal qualifications being used more as a filter because the available work market is over-stocked.

phildamb

DKLS wrote: »

What area of IT are you in?

At the moment its server and desktop support local and international remote.

bookduck

Lets Hijack phildam's thread

I've been in IT for about 25+ years and I am on around £29000 and over 10 years in the nhs. My take on IT:

Degree well all the young people have them. to be honest I have had to train a few who were obtaining their Masters. A degree (to me) means you are able to study and have the possibility to be management. This type of education gives no value to many companies, or the real world.

Certs are great providing you reach to top level AND you have the relevant experience. MCSE and CCNA are introductory levels. We hire CCIE's or people that have failed part of the exam for general network support. All design goes to an outside company this has more to do with blame, trust, hatred of lower level colleagues/not training them, and liability.

There often is lots of blame. We have had table slapping and screaming managers and directors. One of my colleague's around 40 years only was left sobbing with his head on his desk in the middle of the open plan office. We have had contractors throw things at a manager and walk out. I have seen people being physically being held back so stop a person beating someone up - this was so the person did not loose their job, rather than empathise with the a***-hole. The focus is always on someone, but not necessary the same person.

We employ both outside contractors and companies as project managers, technical consultants and normal workforce.

There are two type of people contractors or employees. My comments below is about IT, not office politics, pensions, holidays, stability, pay etc.

An employee gains less experience in a small set of subject. A contractor gains a much wider and varied grasp. Due to the nature of contracting, the contractor will normally get experience on the latest and greatest items, so end up with a vast amount of experience and knowledge.

All knowledge is saleable. You get more for controlling something that (a)effects the masses (b) you take responsibility for, but if your knowledge only influences one person then you will probably be on the bottom of the pay range i.e: helpdesk pays £, support pays ££, network/server engineer pays £££, network manager pays ££££. Oracle DBA £££££

Here is the bookduck guide to IT wealth: firstly you must be a good communicator and being personable helps! There are two money money paths to go down (1) management (2) technical. Techinical, then you are in a never ending battle chasing technology and hopefully you have great experience in the current favourite. The problem is that the experience becomes worthless as newer and alternate products hit the market. Also it it often harder to keep up as one gets older.

Management is the easier way. All experience counts and never ages. Also management skills are transferable across different products or industries. Management usually pays more than technical. Smallish management failures can often be covered up, or re-addressed. Everyone knows when a technical failure has happeded!

So to gain big bucks: loyalty does not pay as a perm, move jobs every 1 year if you are starting, 2 years if you are at an intermediate level. 3-4 years as management. You have to prove you have achieved goals and challenges and seen them through. Don't move to a similar job, but go for a more 'complex' one that pays more £. Try not to stay at the same company as they will often look upon you still as the same person as when you joined.

To be honest we have had some crud and good contractors and perms. If i got fired tomorrow, I'd go contracting!. I feel as a perm you become a one trick pony in a large circus and in the times of hardship often doing away with that act may become unnoticed. Also if you want to join another circus, then may not want your act as it is just not valuable enough for the crowds. Our best paid staff have always been Managers and were contractors, our next best were contractors and technical whom had a niche skill. All have large company/blue chip experience. At least one of our current network contractors want to leave as it will look bad on his cv - he has a lot of design work, but now doing network support for too long (5 months) and may blemish his 'designer' status and make him less emplyable, less current and/or cheapen his fee.

The next bit is where the future lies: What will you be doing in 5 years time? - as the popular job interview question goes. Well here are a few intersting? reads:
http://www.intelligententerprise.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211600139
http://quotes.freerealtime.com/dl/frt/N?symbol=T&art=C2009030200061p6168&SA=Latest%20News
http://www.networksasia.net/article.php?id_article=5223

I feel the bold like above will be fairly accurate as where i work already in some form using prediction 1,2,3,4. So what is left that is obvious? Well rollouts - windows 7, and cisco. In 10 years time there will be lots of Chinese speaking English and they will be the new India.

IMHO a plumber/barber are jobs for life, both are needed. I'm looking but need to up my skill level to some paper certs, but still have no direction of which IT niche I want to go down

phildamb

@bookduck

Definately sums up the UK IT market. Im lucky enough that were I am they dont use contractors for anything local and now they have put a ban on international hiring of contractors so are offering out the work to the local IT Teams only problem is they wont pay for training so its only going to people who have done it before. I cant afford to get accredited to every standard I want. Im already sitting my Network+ then onto my CCNA (I had paid for the course ages ago). At the moment Im applying for any job where I meet even just a few of the criteria just to see what happens. I got this job based on my previous customers service experience and my computer skills were a big benefit that have made me stand out. But as you say I dont want to become a one trick pony in an area that doesnt pay for it! I wouldnt mind doing one trick if it paid very well but it doesnt. As for MCSEs and MCPs I have no respect for them as most of the worst IT workers I have ever known have had streams of them but no practicality or ability to troubleshoot or fix.