Hi Guys,
Long story short. I have been a stay at home dad for the last couple of years. Trying to get back into the game and are struggling for get any traction in interviews and landing a job. I didn't think it would be this hard but the job market is very tough at the moment. I was a desktop support technician in my previous employment.
I've been contemplating quitting IT altogether and but don't know what else to do. Any suggestion??
Thanks Mate, i realized that will be the case, everything is about visualization and if every company are doing Vmware and Hyper V etc, support analyst will be less needed and of course these jobs can now be off-shored very easily..Thanks, will look into how to target smaller companies..
virtualization? :D
I think you're confusing desktop support and server virtualisation. Managing servers is more of a sysadmin role.
One thing to keep in mind about smaller companies is that most IT staff are expected to be skilled in multiple areas - not just desktop. Please spend some time learning about basic support for networks, system admin, virtualisation, programming, etc.
Any wild ideas what an out of work IT worker should do?
Any wild and crazy will be appreciated!!
I'd cast my net wider than IT. Although I understand that you were working as an IT person a couple of years ago, that was a couple of years ago, and if I were an employer I couldn't be satisfied that your skills are current (on the information provided).
If you are desperate to find a job, just apply for literally everything. Getting a job is often a numbers game (or who you know). There are adult appenticeship programs around if you were keen to learn a trade.
Thanks for the head up for the adult apprenticeship program, will check it out. Also I should broaden my search any IT Job I guess.
try logistics/purchasing sector
if you come from IT background you have most of the traits required for this sector
which basically comes down
can follow logic
can use excel (or some other sort of inventory/accounting software)
pretty much everything else you learn as you go…so fast learner doesnt hurt
i would recommend you avoid FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) jobs though as it does more background and usually more custom IT software which needs to be learnt and is time critical…the pressure straight away
thanks, will look into it..
Is there any trade i can do without experience. or How to get experience. I'm a bit shy of 40yrs young :D
My brother, 33, started a new mechanic trade apprenticeship on Monday for a career change. Life experience, and the perceived reliability of a family man made him more employable than the kids fresh out of school.
Is there any money to be make from eBay - too many ppl selling $8.35 mini disport port to hdmi cable already..
No.Should i advertised on the local paper for "Geek 4 hire"
Sure, this might be good especially for evenings when people come home to their broken computers. Community noticeboards, local paper, tasker, etc will all be good advertising mediums. Do think about how you're going to base your charging though…
Should i start applying for retail job such as officework etc maybe my IT knowledge are of some use. :)
A retail assistant that knows what they are selling? That will be a change.
Depending on how well serviced your local area is, a basic hire a geek type service could work well and fit in with looking after kids too. A friend who lives in a rural area does quite well at this. Plenty of people have problems with windows, local networks, malware, faulty HDD's etc. Most solutions are a google search or trip to Umart/MSY/Officeworks. It might help get you connected to a local business in either an IT support role or something else that interests you.
Cool, thx of the suggestion. Shouldn't give up..
Agree this is a great suggestion. My brother was made redundant, and he could have retired but actually became very busy supporting small businesses in his area. His was all by word of mouth, but you could drum up initial business by the old school sheet of paper with tear off strips on the noticeboard. Maybe some proactive letter drops at local small businesses. Possibly with an offer of a free review and 30 mins of no charge support. It is scarey how many of those places have really REALLY bad set-ups….
You can also help them setup Web sites and have their own domain name so no more @Gmail.com or whatever.
Later in job interviews you can rightly claim you ran your own IT support business.
A Geeky stripper
A crimping tool comes to mind when I read that
this guy is overqualified as a geek
"Is there any trade i can do without experience."
You would think so given the amount of amateurs with trade qualifications taking money these days.
(I have a trade background and I am forced to use various other trades on a regular basis so feel I can comment on the lack of quality and skills out there at present)
depending on ur interest you do do a real estate agent course and try to seek an employment in that industry.. investment is only around $600 for an online course… don't think they pay u much unless u sell alot of bring alot of clients thru ur contacts..
I've been contemplating quitting IT altogether and but don't know what else to do. Any suggestion??
My best advice is to read the book "What color is your Parachute". It was a best seller job hunting / career planning book.
Since your IT skills are related to specific software versions it will be harder to convince employers that you're up to date.
You are definitely not alone as there are heaps of IT professionals in exactly the same position. I.T. is very cyclic, from super bad to super good.
My guess is that demand for IT support people/industry will occur again after:
1) companies are growing their employee numbers thus requiring more internal support staff.
2) companies have just upgraded or expended heaps on new IT development which requires ongoing post-sales support.
3) new technologies have hit the market.
I'm from the development side and I don't see any of the above happening in my city.
My advice would be to go get a trade. Once you get through the apprenticeship, Tradies make way more money than experienced IT people in this country for some crazy reason.
Agree. Its crazy here. With the benefit of hindsight - should have done an electrician or carpenter apprenticeship. Instead of going to Uni for an IT Degree. At least with a trade. I guess it can't be outsourced. And bloody hell :D, with every version of new software, OS. You need to re-certify to keep up the knowledge.
Not to mention that you pay through the nose for a Uni degree while tradies get paid while doing an apprenticeship.
I've had no issue getting IT work in Australia (based in Melbourne), in fact I regularly get head hunted through LinkedIn. My advice is to get your CV/Resume looked over by a professional so that it stands out and get your LinkedIn profile up to date or make one of you don't already.
Consider sales support in IT if you think an alternative path is customer facing sales
This can leverage your tech skills and build a different path
Dammit, you're in Sydney. Might have something for you if you were in Melb.
thanks
Contractor
There are several ways you could advertise and a lot of them are free or very little cost/effort.
I would make up a flyer and drop them off at reception (not in the post) of local businesses. Better yet speak with HR, a manager or IT. Wear office attire.
Clearly state what you can do, maybe include a base hourly rate and ability to assist existing IT teams with large or small projects, short term fill in for staff on leave, etc.
I dont know how oversaturated your job is, but a friend worked for MS and went about it differently, he had jobs on the side for friends etc and built from there. Technically he was borderline breaking MS stupidly long and detailed employment agreement but still transitioned easily.
Thanks for the great idea. Will give this approach a go..
Op hope your job hunting has turned out well. I can appreciate your position. I am a stay at home parent who now wants to get back into the field after about 14 years! Although I have an IT degree as well as software development and QA experience, on paper they are not good enough without recent exp. I have almost given up on software dev roles and am now considering entry level BA type roles (a lot are advertised as PA now). Will see how it goes.
It's a hard market for support analysts/technicians at the moment. There are more people wanting jobs than there are jobs available as a lot of the work is being off-shored. Unfortunately the outlook for that sector of IT isn't really that great in Australia.
You could always stay within IT and move to another area - possibly QA/testing work? It requires a similar methodical thinking mindset and endless patience that support needs but there are lots more jobs available.
Or if you want to stay in support you may be better targeting smaller companies who are more likely to hire on personality and experience than to offshore for cost reasons.
Do you have any other IT skills? Or other skills in general?