How can I get into IT without qualification:(

Amazin

Hi Everyone, I'm 28 this year (getting old I know) running a cleaning business atm. I would like to work in IT dealing with online aspect of things. I'm thinking of become a web/software developer in the long run. I look online and I saw some IT apprenticeships. Usually you get paid £7500-£8400 per year.

Unfortunately I won't be able to afford to live in London with that sort of money!

What other ways can I try to get into the industry?

Someone told me recently that he got into it without qualification. Now he's a software developer. Anyone works in IT here?

Gavin83

If you wish to get into the creative side I'd suggest creating a personal portfolio demonstrating what you are capable of. You could send this off to various companies hoping your work is that good they wish to hire you. Alternatively, know someone.

I also know a number of people who got a role in IT by working in the business they support and then getting headhunted, myself included. This is obviously a much slower route though, depends if your willing to take the time.

Unfortunately it's an industry with a lot of candidates and one that often favours qualifications. It is possible but a hard industry to break into. Good luck.

InsideInsurance

Amazin wrote: »

I would like to work in IT dealing with online aspect of things. I'm thinking of become a web/software developer in the long run.

What are you current programming skills? Do you want to do web or desktop? Are you interested in doing the front end or the backend?

When you get into corporate IT you get into narrower and narrower specialties and so whilst for an SME you would have one chap that does the complete thing in a corporate environment you'd have a graphic designer that designs the front end, a GUI type person doing the front end coding, a database guy, possibly a middleware person and then an infrastructure. Really you could have more if you were hooking into existing systems or wanting BI/MI reporting done etc.

If you want to do online you can teach yourself the basics and get a portfolio under your belt by doing work on a freelancer site then you could get some basics to get into an entry level job. You need to be realistic of what sort of salary you will be getting though. There are some earning big bucks in IT but many employees, particularly in the basic web design space, arent on particularly good money.

Lokolo

Have you ever done any software development?

As above, the only way you would ever get a job as a software developer without qualifications is through work experience, and you would only be able to get that through freelance/self employment.

Flyonthewall

The above post by InsideInsurance really covers things.

Creating a website and creating software are really two different things, although some coding may overlap depending on what you're developing.

Do you have any coding knowledge, however basic? For web, know any HTML? Any CSS? Do you know Flash or Javascript?

There are also two sides to developing both software and websites. The programming side and the design side. If you want to do the design side you need to know how to use programmes such as Photoshop.

Even with some qualifications it's not easy to get into web/software development. A portfolio will certainly help though.

Why is it you want to do into the development side? Have you looked into it properly? It can be really hard frustrating work. Hours programming, testing, re-writing code and reading through the code to find out which tiny little bit is wrong in pages worth of coding. For the design side, hours spent working on graphics, making sure they look professional and they are of high enough quality for what you need.

Even the professionals who have been doing it for years and years generally don't know every single thing about Photoshop even if they use it for hours daily. The programmers are constantly having to learn new coding languages/updates that come out and it can take years to learn how to code in some languages to a point where you can actually create a half decent website how you want it.

National_Careers_Service

Hi Amazin, as your friend mentioned to you, it is possible to get into without qualifications. To get into IT without the usual prerequisites however you would need to have evidence of your skills. This evidence would normally consist of examples of your work. For example if you wanted to get into web design you would need a portfolio of live websites that are up and running to show off your skills. Or if it was software development that you wanted to work in, you would need examples of software that you have designed that employers would be able to try out and use.

With regards to building up the skills, it is entirely possible to learn on your own, via the internet or published course materials. Have you started to teach yourself or do you already feel that you have the skills that are needed?

In your post you mention that you wouldn’t be able to afford to do an apprenticeship because of the low pay. If you haven’t already, have a think about the minimum amount of money that you’d need to earn.

In general it’s probably right to say that you would find it easier to find freelance work based on a portfolio of work than a full time employed role with a company. The IT industry is popular and employers do tend to look for qualifications.

Out of interest have you looked at the wage scales for any junior web designer or software developer roles? I’d suggest checking out the IT Jobs Watch website to explore what salary junior developer or web design roles pay and the sorts of experience/qualifications that employers are looking for. The site also has information on trends within IT. For example, you can see year on year whether there has been an increase or decrease in a particular type of job; handy information when making a decision about which area of IT to go into.

It might be that if you decide to go down this route and find that freelancing is the way you want to go that a measured approach is needed. You could teach yourself the requisite skills, develop a portfolio and then start to pick up freelance work as you go, building up your business over time whilst maintaining your cleaning business.

If you’d like to chat about any of this in further detail you could give one of our careers advisers a call on 08000 100 900. If you’re calling off a mobile it’s probably best to book a call to avoid mobile charges. You can book a call back from the following link http://goo.gl/mz2LD8

Either way it would be great if you keep in touch and let us know how it’s all going. Hopefully some of other forum posters will get involved and offer some insight and support as well.

Good luck

Leo

Idiophreak

You *can* break into IT without qualifications, it's not the easiest thing to do, as above....but there are ways.

You need to show a body of work, so just start writing stuff...you have a business, make the web site. Add bits in, get stuff to work together. Shake out bugs. There's a million blogs, sites, forums, videos on youtube, plus plenty of online training sites like Pluralsight that will take you from zero to architect if you're willing to invest the time and energy. Experiment with different tech, make some websites, some windows apps, some Android apps...just try stuff out, see what you enjoy.

Look at doing freelance work, or contributing to open source projects. Help people solve their issues on techie forums.

If you do all that stuff, by the time you get an interview you'll be able to show your competence and enthusiasm pretty easily....so it's just about building up that body of work so the recruiters give you a second look.

Do consider, though, that you're going to start in junior roles, and junior roles in small businesses at that, so it's going to be a long road to fame and fortune...

JKSandy

I got into IT (Access & Identity Management) via changing jobs from bar managementwith only School qualifications.

I worked as a Facility Assistant in one of the big four Accounting firms ina temporary role for about 5/6 months then a 1 year contact in another of thebig four as an Archivist. Then led me to a permanent job with a large AmericanBank as a Access Administer, then just under 3 years later the full time job Ihave now IT analyst for American Investment plc.


My advise would be to just "get in" to this field, then look to what IT field you wish to move into, I have had all sorts of in-house training and looking to move into Information Security/Risk team with the assitance of my current Manager.

tomterm8

Amazin wrote: »

Hi Everyone, I'm 28 this year (getting old I know) running a cleaning business atm. I would like to work in IT dealing with online aspect of things. I'm thinking of become a web/software developer in the long run. I look online and I saw some IT apprenticeships. Usually you get paid £7500-£8400 per year.

Unfortunately I won't be able to afford to live in London with that sort of money!

What other ways can I try to get into the industry?

Someone told me recently that he got into it without qualification. Now he's a software developer. Anyone works in IT here?

What do you want to do? You'd have to take a very different route if you wanted to be a website designer compared to a software engineer.

Do you have any qualifications at all? i.e. a degree in another subject?

You've not said enough about what you want to do and who you are for me to give you much help. I'm going to assume you want to be a software developer because that is what you mentioned your friend did.

One of the key ways to get into software developing without formal qualifications is to learn how to program very well and then go onto one of the larger open source projects. They often have work for people who want to do software testing.

As you get better, and if you are working on a large project you often find yourself becoming friends with people who work in the business. That's a key way of getting a job, and once you have the first paid job you are in.

Another way to get into development is to get a low paid job on the help desk of something like a library or university or call centre, then get a better paid job in the same field with the experience. Build up your formal qualifications as you get more experience.

Or, if you go to a small company in another role they will often give you a chance if you say you can program.

The first key is to actually learn to program, and that is hard but to be honest you more or less teach yourself whether you go to university or not.

Amazin

National_Careers_Service_representative wrote: »

Hi Amazin, as your friend mentioned to you, it is possible to get into without qualifications. To get into IT without the usual prerequisites however you would need to have evidence of your skills. This evidence would normally consist of examples of your work. For example if you wanted to get into web design you would need a portfolio of live websites that are up and running to show off your skills. Or if it was software development that you wanted to work in, you would need examples of software that you have designed that employers would be able to try out and use.

With regards to building up the skills, it is entirely possible to learn on your own, via the internet or published course materials. Have you started to teach yourself or do you already feel that you have the skills that are needed?

In your post you mention that you wouldn’t be able to afford to do an apprenticeship because of the low pay. If you haven’t already, have a think about the minimum amount of money that you’d need to earn.

In general it’s probably right to say that you would find it easier to find freelance work based on a portfolio of work than a full time employed role with a company. The IT industry is popular and employers do tend to look for qualifications.

Out of interest have you looked at the wage scales for any junior web designer or software developer roles? I’d suggest checking out the website to explore what salary junior developer or web design roles pay and the sorts of experience/qualifications that employers are looking for. The site also has information on trends within IT. For example, you can see year on year whether there has been an increase or decrease in a particular type of job; handy information when making a decision about which area of IT to go into.

It might be that if you decide to go down this route and find that freelancing is the way you want to go that a measured approach is needed. You could teach yourself the requisite skills, develop a portfolio and then start to pick up freelance work as you go, building up your business over time whilst maintaining your cleaning business.

If you’d like to chat about any of this in further detail you could give one of our careers advisers a call on 08000 100 900[IMG]resource://skype_ff_extension-at-jetpack/skype_ff_extension/data/call_skype_logo.png[/IMG]08000 100 900[IMG]resource://skype_ff_extension-at-jetpack/skype_ff_extension/data/call_skype_logo.png[/IMG]08000 100 900[IMG]resource://skype_ff_extension-at-jetpack/skype_ff_extension/data/call_skype_logo.png[/IMG]08000 100 900[IMG]resource://skype_ff_extension-at-jetpack/skype_ff_extension/data/call_skype_logo.png[/IMG]08000 100 900[IMG]resource://skype_ff_extension-at-jetpack/skype_ff_extension/data/call_skype_logo.png[/IMG]08000 100 900[IMG]resource://skype_ff_extension-at-jetpack/skype_ff_extension/data/call_skype_logo.png[/IMG]08000 100 900. If you’re calling off a mobile it’s probably best to book a call to avoid mobile charges. You can book a call back from the following link

Either way it would be great if you keep in touch and let us know how it’s all going. Hopefully some of other forum posters will get involved and offer some insight and support as well.

Good luck

Leo

Thank you so much Leo, very kind of you for helping me. As others aready pointed out, I think the most realistic route would be to study hard and start to build up a profolio of work to show potential employers what I'm capable of. Work as a freelancer would be ideal for me but it will be hard for me to get my first job. I don't have much knowledge to offer at the moment and only started to learn the basics recently.

I have a degree in business and management if that would help things alittle. I want to be able to land in jobs like these:

Junior Front End Developer - HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery

• Hammersmith, London
• £27,000 per annum, OTE
• 49 applications

• Job type: Permanent, full-time
• Date: 12 March
• Reference: 24511168

Java Developer (J2EE, Tomcat, Spring)

• central, London
• £30,000 - £50,000 per annum
• 12 applications

• Job type: Permanent, full-time
• Date: 6 days ago
• Reference: 24570911

I also asked in another forum and I got this response:

And why a web developer? That isn't where the future skills shortage will be. If you want to command a good salary, then either network security or system administration is the place to be. In particular the automatic provisioning systems. Take a look at Puppet, Chef, Saltstack, Docker.

is that true about network security/system adminstration?
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tomterm8

No one knows what the future holds, Amazin.

With a degree, and if you want a job like that, your fastest and least risky route is going back to university and getting a masters.