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

Frankie231

Whatever subject you decide to take your degree in, it'll take at least 4 - 5 years to complete with the OU. When writing your CV though the OU actually give students skills that look great (time managment, self motivation etc), but the most important thing I could tell you to do, is try and get some experience to put alongside it. I'm doing my Psychology Degree with the OU and it's great, but it's important to remember that when you're doing a 'normal' degree, whichever University you go through offers industry related placments to up your working experience. You don't get that with the OU (barring Residential Schools but these don't class as working experience).

HappyMJ

@dispossesed This one... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/8100755/Graduates-going-from-degree-to-dole-hits-8.9pc.html

That explains why pay rates have dropped so much.

iloveowls

I was in similar position to you about 10 years ago (eeek, is it really that long!?). I had been working as a marketing assistant and as part of this I did a few websites for the company and became more interested in IT. I started the IT & Computing degree with OU (don't think it's called that now).

It took me 5 years and it was very hard work alongside a full time job. Don't underestimate the time and effort you need to put into it if you want a good result and I suggest that, at your age (I was 35 when I graduated) you need to be going for a first class hons. That time does fly by though. I had already decided I wanted to get my degree as quickly as I could manage it and I also really wanted that first class hons. It is hard doing more than one course a year. I did 2 courses every year except the year I did the project course. In my 4th year I did 1 60pt course and 1 30pt course - I must have been crazy (120pts is equivalent to full time study). Anyway - I didn't have much of a life for the 5 years but I did get a first class hons so I think it was worth it.

In the 2nd year I was lucky enough to get a temp job as web development assistant (but I would say it was easier to get into this 8/9 years ago). The salary wasn't great - about £13k. I think the fact that I was studying for my OU degree helped a lot (and I was quite enthusiastic back then!). After about 3 months I was offered a permanent position. I think about 18 months later a position came up within the same dept. for a junior programmer so I applied and got the job. My OU studies up to that point definitely helped me get the job but of course I had the advantage of knowing the manager etc. I went on to become a senior and was earning around £35k for the last 3 years.

I think OU is definitely worthwhile and well regarded. However, it is only the start! You will still have a lot to learn 'on the job'. I wrote both back-end databases (MS SQL, some Oracle) and front-ends (Java). I think I actually prefer the database side of things. Of course, there are loads of certifications you can do but I have to say a number of my more senior colleagues were rarely impressed by these alone. Get a good degree first and if you know you want to work in a particular area (i.e. databases) then it might be worth taking some certification courses as well.

I have to say that the reality of working in IT can be very different to the picture painted by all the adverts you see about retraining and earning loads of money. Yes, you can earn lots of money if you are really good. I actually gave up my job earlier this year as I just had enough of it. Not the work itself but other stuff surrounding it which I won't bore you with! But - don't let me put you off as I did have some great times and it can be a very satisfying career.

Good luck!

lpt64

I got into IT at your age and gradually worked my way up to be earning a decent wage by last year - until I was made redundant. Now, in my late 40's, I can't get an IT job of any description - I'm told I'm too old or over qualified - and am having to work as a postman.
Shows it can be done though - just don't get made redundant!! Good luck...

cskay

Its not just about computing degree, more important these days is the domain knowledge of the subject your employer is doing business in. Pure computing graduates are coming out in tonnes in India and China. What you need is differentiate yourself by gaining knowledge in an additional domain. For example investment banking is still one of the highest paid domains. Problem is domain knowledge you will mostly get through work experience. Hence chose your first job very careful. Don't necessarily go for higher pay for your first job but take a good look what you will be learning in your first job.
Good luck for a bright future.

[Deleted User]

cskay wrote: »

Its not just about computing degree, more important these days is the domain knowledge of the subject your employer is doing business in. Pure computing graduates are coming out in tonnes in India and China. What you need is differentiate yourself by gaining knowledge in an additional domain. For example investment banking is still one of the highest paid domains. Problem is domain knowledge you will mostly get through work experience. Hence chose your first job very careful. Don't necessarily go for higher pay for your first job but take a good look what you will be learning in your first job.
Good luck for a bright future.

Very true.. i'd love to move from my reasonably paid job in Healthcare IT, to something in finance - but i just don't know about the field. Pure IT knowledge isn't enough unless i want an entry level job

maninthestreet

When I graduated form university in 1985, my starting salary in my first job was £8.500 p.a - that equates to just over 20K in today's money.

axomoxia

cskay wrote: »

Its not just about computing degree, more important these days is the domain knowledge of the subject your employer is doing business in. Pure computing graduates are coming out in tonnes in India and China. What you need is differentiate yourself by gaining knowledge in an additional domain. For example investment banking is still one of the highest paid domains. Problem is domain knowledge you will mostly get through work experience. Hence chose your first job very careful. Don't necessarily go for higher pay for your first job but take a good look what you will be learning in your first job.
Good luck for a bright future.

Not quite. A lot of financial companies will take on IT personnel from another industry area - bear in mind there there is very little conceptually from a stock market price data ticker, to a battle field command and control system to a real time engine telemetry control.
The skill set and problem solving ability is more important that business knowledge.

As to the threat from cheap labour abroad, in terms of front office mission critical systems, the chance of outsourcing that part is pretty low. The profitability of the capital market sides of investment banking as so tightly coupled to IT that any bank or brokerage would be very foolish to let control of IT slip outside the same building, let alone the same organisation.

axomoxia

lpt64 wrote: »

I got into IT at your age and gradually worked my way up to be earning a decent wage by last year - until I was made redundant. Now, in my late 40's, I can't get an IT job of any description - I'm told I'm too old or over qualified - and am having to work as a postman.
Shows it can be done though - just don't get made redundant!! Good luck...

Whats your skill set and location? While things are bad, they are a lot better than '93 or '02.....

cskay

axomoxia wrote: »

Not quite. A lot of financial companies will take on IT personnel from another industry area - bear in mind there there is very little conceptually from a stock market price data ticker, to a battle field command and control system to a real time engine telemetry control.
The skill set and problem solving ability is more important that business knowledge.

As to the threat from cheap labour abroad, in terms of front office mission critical systems, the chance of outsourcing that part is pretty low. The profitability of the capital market sides of investment banking as so tightly coupled to IT that any bank or brokerage would be very foolish to let control of IT slip outside the same building, let alone the same organisation.

What you are saying may be right in good job market conditions when employer is willing to train a prospective employee to his needs. But in a down economy when every employer is looking for means to reduce cost and also right talent is readily available that's usually not the case.
Even if the candidate has a good problem solving ability, it takes time to actually understand the problem. A process engineering company will prefer to employ a chemical engineer with programming knowledge than train a good programmer into chemical engineering.