Career change (IT)

TensePlatypus

Good morning all,

Im currently working in the armed forces as a electrician however for a variety if reasons I am planning to leave and I have zero interest in working as a electrician. What I would like to do is work in IT, this however would be a complete career change and a field I have zero experience or qualifications in. I appreciate that IT covers a variety of roles but for now I am purely looking for a way in, my main issue is that I have responsibilites that will not allow me to study full time or partake in any sort of internships. I have looked into doing a Computing and IT degree via open Uni but a) it will take me 6 years to do it part time and b) depending on who I talk to they don't seem to think its worth it (which always seems weird to me). I've been pointed to various websites that offer short courses such as CompTia, Cisco and Khan Academy (for general learning). My main issue is that lots of roles that don't asked for degrees ask for experience, how am I supposed to gain such experience without any qualifications?

Basically has anyone hear made a career change into IT and if so would you be willing to spare some of your time to explain how you went about, I'm not expecting any miracles just curious.

Thanks for reading this

Kind Regards

Jordan

Neil_Jones

Working in IT (particularly on the customer side of things) is over-saturated as it is. Every man and his dog can claim to fix a computer particularly when all the solutions to all the issues are on the internet in front of you and the only real "skill" is being able to Google properly and hoping what you've done fixes the issue. which it may not do.

Realistically if you can turn a computer on, type at anything above hen pecking speed and be able to manipulate three tabs/programs at once then most people will decree that you already know more than them. The Microsoft qualification series might be useful here. These used to be seen as so-called Mickey Mouse courses as they basically boiled down to something like "I got a certificate because I can turn a computer on", but they were relaunched a while back and carry a bit more weight now.

However nothing will beat good old fashioned hands on experience. Use a computer, multitask on it, break it, fix it, break it again, fix it again, research all the Blue Screen of Death codes, what their probable causes are, how to stop them...

So-called "Business IT" (ie where you get into the realms of really technical equipment like rackmount servers, managed switches, domains, Windows Server) is probably where its at these days, seeing as modern day businesses are dependent on hardware to get stuff done. Things like Cisco qualifications for network engineers, CompTIA etc are good here.

Then there is the other side of IT - programming. This if you're determined enough you can teach yourself. No end of languages, no end of skill levels and can be done for free. Again this is over-saturated for employment purposes but at least if you find a need for a program to do a specific job and you can't find anything already online you can write it yourself

This might be of interest:
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors/information-technology/it-courses

jonnygee2

Before anything you need to figure out what it is you want to do in IT. Given your background ot seems that some kind of infrastructure engineer would suit you better than, say, programming. But who knows? Be aware these are completely separate career paths, one doesn't lead to the other.

It might help of you explain why you have chosen 'IT' and what you are looking for in the new career.

cauldron

Can you not get any experience in the Army? Are there any options to be retrained? Would be the easiest option.

username901

Out in the sticks here in Derbyshire we're crying out for decent .net stack developers. Offering £45k if you have a good few years experience, £25-£30k if only a couple. Takes us 4 months on average to fill a position as all we get are Turks and Iranians trying to get a visa or employment agencies whom I despise.

Get yourself in to MVC, c#, perhaps agile development (i dislike it but I'm a dinosaur in this industry now) and you'll have a well paid job for life. You never see an unemployed programmer with skills in C#, SQL, MVC framework, database design and front end. And if you are, I'll give you a job right now.

Network engineer jobs aren't as available as they used to be given how AWS and azure seem to be powering the web between them, although we still do everything in house using xenserver for now. Before configuring servers, firewalls, network rules, intrusion detection was an artform, now it can all be done by a few clicks.

Dakta

I have a relative who was in the armed forces, and he got on with a company that did some training for ex forces people and allowed him to move into the IT world. I think he had to pay something towards it but worked out for him in the end. I'm not in the armed forces but have an IT oriented background and I've gone a similar route though I couldn't use these routes as im neither graduate or ex forces so went for certs which I funded myself.

I think, you have some options here as ex forces into IT seems to be quite the rage atm

There are still good opportunities to be had in IT. Not all of them are at the extreme technical end of the spectrum but do focus on skilling up good luck

Gavin83

username901 wrote: »

Get yourself in to MVC, c#, perhaps agile development (i dislike it but I'm a dinosaur in this industry now) and you'll have a well paid job for life. You never see an unemployed programmer with skills in C#, SQL, MVC framework, database design and front end. And if you are, I'll give you a job right now.

In my experience it's extremely rare to find someone who is truly skilled in all those areas. I'm a DBA and spend a lot of my time correcting bad SQL code and poorly constructed database schemas from people who are very proficient C# developers. I know it's the way it is now but I honestly think companies would be better off separating the roles.

A little off topic though.

Yuls

I have recently started working in IT, after 10+ years of admin experience, so a career change is definitely possible.
You don’t really need a degree to get into IT, HNC/HND should be enough for entry-level jobs. Also, have a look at Graduate Apprenticeships (I think it’s a Scottish programme but there might be something similar in the rest of the UK too) - this is what I am doing at the moment and I absolutely love it. Basically, it’s a self-study programme where for 4 years you work 4 days a week and study towards a degree in IT one day a week, learning a lot on the job.

directdebiter

No need for a degree - so many online courses and online learning videos for IT. As well as apprenticeships. Decide what you want to focus on e.g. developer or IT security etc There are so many opportunities out there but you need to invest your time to get a basic understanding and starting point to see if it is of interest to you.

johndewinton0604

If you want to learn IT skills such as coding maybe, there are plenty of coding intensive boot camps out there that you can try. I did one last year in London at a place called Le Wagon which are based all over the world!

AndyPix

Definitely don't go for a degree - completely pointless (citation : I have worked in IT for the last 25 years - now a network/security consultant)


I think the best thing you can do here is start with the CompTIA A+ course - you should be able to get that for a couple of hundred quid .


Next you will have to settle for a 1st line support job for at least 6 months, prove your aptitude and worth and then move up from there. You will have 'experience' then and exposure to 'business IT' - which is what you need.


Companies want experience with the MS environment - Active directory, group policy etc - and although you can get quals for this on paper (MCSE , MCP etc that would allow you to walk into a higher paid job) that will be very hard going if you have never had your hands on a live environment.


Good luck