Calling All IT Professionals.......................

diable

Frozenace wrote: »

I'm just about to go on 30k after 4 years in the IT industry after Uni, I'm a .net Developer in London.

It's quite fun, but I'd probably like to do some business or accounting intro course for the future.

Some contract roles are paying £300 per day for .Net programmers.

DKLS

How about SAP, I regularly see SAP contract roles from £500 -1k a day.

Idiophreak

It depends what your aspirations are both short and long term, really.

If you aim for a development position, you can probably expect between 20 and 30 as a starting sallary depending on your location. You can work at getting around 10% increase per year, so in 5 years should be earning 35-40 without too many problems.

If you aim for, say, a MS-SQL DBA, you'll probably start around 20 (although the junior DBA jobs are few and far between), but if you get on well and work on the architecture side of things, you could make 70-100k as an architect.

If you're willing to take some management/finance/trading courses through OU alongside the techie stuff and work in London as a consultant/BA, you can expect to start around 30-35 and can build the cash up pretty rapidly - but won't end up with skills that are much use outside of the city. (and you have the volatility of the industry to deal with)

Idiophreak

Oh...and, of course, you need to decide whether you'd be happy contracting - better money, but harder to get into as a grad...

OUStudent

jbreckmckye wrote: »

A talented programmer might be able to enter the market at around the £32k range. You would be better studying mathematics first, though. Truly capable engineers who can devise elegant and efficient algorithms are always sought-after. Whilst boilerplate, generic 'How do I shot pointers?' might be outsourced to India, real programming - the business of thinking up beautiful solutions to mathematical problems - is something quite different.

Hello thanks for taking the time to reply, yeah one of the things I have figured out quickly is that there is quite a bit of mathematics behind the more specialised areas, which did not come as too much of a shock as I know most of the first people involved in IT were in fact mathematicians, lucky for me I am reasonably good at maths and it was always a subject I enjoyed at school, I am going to incorporate a few of the maths modules into my studies. Love the "how do I shot pointers" lol seems about right to me

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Stay away from programming - it's too easily outsourced to India.

What is needed is people with solid computing and business credentials for Project Management and Analysis. That prepares you for working in consultancy eg with the big accountancy firms, or in management, which is where the money is. Those skills won't date, unlike programming which comes and goes in fashion.

The good news is that the OU has a good reputation for and makes it easy to combine business and computing units. And there is a difference between IT and computing science, and you need some good solid comp sci to underpin the business and IT sides.

As inmypocketnottheirs says, skills system administrators can earn good money, but it's very vulnerable to outsourcing (I don't know if that's why the work is unavailable, but it may be). It also involves starting at the bottom as system operators working long shifts, unsocial hours, being paid a pittance and often being on call as well.

First line helpdesk ops in call centres sometimes have very little IT skills, and use flowcharts and scripts to resolve basic faults. It's not usually well paid or satisfying work.

You might also look at some of the BCS accredited training for suggestions of what is likely to be in demand, for example there are new developments in 'green IT' certification.

Hello thanks for replying After a bit of reflection I dont think I would like to be a support worker, I realise that the "money" is in the more specialist areas so think these may be a better long term prospect.

I do fancy programming but again it has to be more of a specialist area to demand the best money, I know I keep waffling on about money but for me at this stage of my life it is the main thing I want to achieve from this, more importantly money also brings security thats the biggy for me

I dont mind starting at the bottom so much as long as it isn't 15k a year bottom, this degree is going to take at least 4 years and maybe even longer if I get an opportunity to go on for a masters then more like 5-6 years but this should put me head and shoulders above other candidates from an education point of view, hopefully in this time I can also gain some experience as well its just so hard trying to decide what area I want to work in and without knowing this it is a bit of difficult call to figure out which degree to go for..........

Thanks again for responding

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

In order to carve a lucrative career you need skills that are hard to acquire. Have a look at C/C+/C++ programming jobs. Just google or look on indeed

Hello thanks for taking the time t respond and a BIG thank you for that website link, WOWEEE some of the jobs on there hopefully one day hopefully

OUStudent

Jowo wrote: »

A 35k starting salary? Type in the word 'Trainee', 'graduate' and 'junior' into Jobserve for their permanent roles (it's usually hard to gain a contract roles without experience) and see what companies are offering as starting salaries for inexperienced IT staff. They may offer a sliding scale but typically won't budge much from the lower end and it's worth you reading the adverts to understand if these junior roles mean at least a year or two of professional experience.

Some high profile consultancy companies offer large starting salaries to new graduates but have the reputation for ignoring mature students who are less likely to sign away their life and put the company first instead of their own life for a pot of money...

Some of my pals, with a degree, AND professional software testing qualifications AND years of experience earned good money as contractors in software testing (daily rates of up to £300) but this is another area of IT which is routinely outsourced to India for a fraction of the money. Some of them now experience long voids between contracts (sometimes a year plus) and have started to take permanent roles at salaries they earned when they first graduated. For example, last year my friend went for a contract role and didn't reach interview (which is the first time it's ever happened) and found out that there were 80 applicants for it.

Others worked as project managers or programme managers from £300 to £500 per day and again have been hit by the recession which have lowered the vacancies and depressed rates. Some roles I see advertised on Jobserve for PMs is the sort of money they used to pay to the project support staff (i.e. the administrators!).

Hello thanks for taking the time to reply

Looking around the real bucks as said seem to be in contract work, I quite like the idea of getting out of bed in a morning and earning £500 a day sounds pretty cool to me I do realise I am going to need a few years experience before I can earn such money but again that is fine the way I see it once qualified I have at worst 30 years working life left maybe more if the government carry on the way they are!

Thanks for the heads up on Jobserve there are some great jobs on there and as with indeed it gives me an idea of what each job entails so I can then choose the degree that is most relevant to that area, project management seems like a great area of IT but again I am easy I want to be wherever the money is going to be long term........

Thanks again

PasturesNew wrote: »

I worked in IT since 1986, started at £15k then and ended up at £50k in 2000/2001. Then the dot com bubble burst and I've not really managed to get much in it since. But I'm geographically challenged - and female - and as old as some recruiters' nans now

I've no advice to give except live near a big city.....

I too am geographically challenged (love that phrase ) but am completely open minded so far as commuting and even staying in a cheap b&b during the working week if need be in London as longas the wage is good enough I really dont mind.

Thanks again

jbreckmckye wrote: »

Broadcom offer at around the £30k mark for new engineers. Metaswitch are marginally higher. The work is out there if you have talent, but it's easier to prove that with a mathematician's background, rather than studying ComSci to begin with.



Software testing is being outsourced, yes, but finding decent work in the area was always hard.

I suppose it all depends what the OP has in mind by 'IT'. It's a broad sector. He could be doing anything from designing new processor architectures at ARM Cambridge to crafting XHTML pages to working as a project manager! It's a big field!

Hello thanks for taking the time to reply As said I am easy I have no preference workwise my only target is where the money is with career progression that is it, I am completely open minded, as said in another reply the one thing I have figured out quickly is that maths plays a big part so this will definately be incorporated into my studies, the OU actually offer a degree that incorporates a lot of maths still dont know how relevant it would be though, really need to speak to them I think...............

Thanks again

qurious

The Open University has career's advisers to help while doing the courses and to advise you on which courses to take for the particular career you want and to advise on other aspects of the course. There is a website online called Career's Advisory Service that is open to everyone. There are also career's advisers that can be contacted through the main phoneline. They can advise on the types of course needed at each stage of your studies.

[Deleted User]

Well, it took me about 3 years to go from 'graduate' to earning >35K. Now i've been doing it for 5 years and just got asked by a firm out of the blue if i'd like to apply for a "6 figure" permanent job (thank you linkedin!). IT isn't bad, but don't get into IT support or testing (it'll eat your soul and pay you little for it)

I've learned that in IT you've got to be specialised.. why would anyone pay good money for someone when you could hire anyone? Simple economics.

As DKLS mentioned before, learning SAP is a pretty sure-fire way to earn lots of money. Especially doing contracting work.

I've still not figured out how you learn SAP though without getting a job doing it.. and i don't know how you'd get a job doing it without knowing SAP.

ihatebt_2

OUStudent wrote: »

I think say 35k+ as a starting point then on to infinity and beyond

If you have a cv that stands out - i.e. CCNP, Juniper, Checkpoint, 5 years+ experience, come across well at interviews, etc, then you can earn £35k+. A bit of luck, location, and a bit of bs can help too.

I've seen this thing so many times before where non-IT people think a nicely paid computer job will be handed to them on a plate after completing a "computer course".

Rodney Trotter, Diploma In Computing.

dispossessed

You may be interested in an article in the Daily Telegraph today regarding graduate unemployment. According to their figures 8.9% of all graduates are going straight onto the dole.

"IT graduates struggled the most, with unemployment rising from 13.7pc to 16.3pc last year"

I cannot post links so if you want to read the article I would suggest Googling - "Graduates going from degree to the dole hits 8.9 pc"

I hope this is of interest.

Trevor