My Experience Working with a IT School Tech Support Company in QLD

A couple of years ago.

I was offer a job from one of a Tech manager that is from a MSP company to provide tech support for schools.
The manager says this is a career program that can offer you skills that can succeed in the industry such as "interview skills, AI training, guiding you in the industry, paid certification, and most importantly reference". If you work for me for 2 years you can either choose to stay with us or we will help you find a high paying job and give you a good reference. After that I have told the manager that I have already got a qualification in IT specifically from Tafe and CCNA. However, he says that's good we can help you to add more qualifications and pay for the famous certification such as Microsoft Azure, AWS, ITIL and other well known qualifications for the first attempt. However, will not pay for the national recognized Qualifications from Uni or Tafe.

After getting the job, the manager promised a lot of things such as if you work for me you get to travel around the world, you are invited into our X'mas party, and additional pay once every semester during training day. However, what is written on the contract is way beyond what we call the word fair and here are one of the notable ones. The Employee is listed as a IT trainee, The Employee is hired for a permeant part time, The employee will not be paid unless they got there orange card, The employee will only be paid on the amount of hours they worked. The employee hours will not exceed more than 7 hours and 30mins each day. The employee will only be paid the national minimum amount and at last but not least. They excluded the holiday entitlements in the contract therefore, I was not even paid during school holidays.

This job is anything, but fair truth be told since it may look like its just a "Part time job", but they hired me from Monday to Friday with 7 hours everyday which that may as well be counted as a full-time job and I've been listed as a IT trainee, but the problem is what qualification am I getting trained for when I already have the highest IT national qualification from a government education institution? And not to say with the payment exclusion until I get my orange card and the annual salary that is not even enough to be counted as low since the hourly earnings is the lowest of the low with holiday entitlements that is excluded.

This company has just too much red flags especially after the 2 years career program they offered. They get more than what they give since the only benefit they give is either a cheap as qualifications that is not from a Australian education institution, a unguaranteed future position for another job and a reference that is probably not even that useful (which later on it is not). I even heard from other employees that the salary varies between each employees. One employee had to spend all his earnings from this job on the petrol and tolls just to get to that school and another had the benefit for holiday entitlement. After working there for almost 1 year, I negotiated with my manager to reduced my working days to 2 or 3 days because on how low the salary is which he indeed agreed, but had to find me another school. Eventually, I got replaced in my old school and the new school that I was meant to go got taken by other employees because the previous school they were working from decided to cancel the subscription with out company which this left me semi-employed for 4 months until the manager eventually couldn't find me a school and terminated the contract and never reach out to me since then. And all those vague promised he mentioned before almost all of them were never fully fulfilled.

Comments

  • +8

    tldr pls

    • +2

      It's not that long, just difficult to read.

      • +4

        Could benefit from some on the job communication training!

      • +2

        dtrdr then

    • +2

      I took an IT support job at an MSP for schools after being promised career growth, paid certs, and a future high-paying job. Despite my existing qualifications (TAFE, CCNA), I was hired as a trainee on minimum wage, only paid for hours worked (no holiday pay), and not paid at all until I got an “orange card.” The contract excluded standard entitlements, and the promised perks (travel, pay bumps, events) never materialized. Salary was barely enough to cover costs, and benefits varied unfairly between staff. After nearly a year, I cut my hours due to low pay, got replaced, and was left with months of no work before my contract was quietly ended. In the end, almost none of the manager’s promises were delivered. Red flags everywhere.

    • +1

      TL;DR (by ChatGPT):

      The user worked for a Queensland-based MSP offering IT support to schools, lured by promises of career growth, certifications, and a high-paying job after 2 years. Despite already having IT qualifications (Tafe and CCNA), they accepted the role. The job turned out to be underpaid (minimum wage), lacked holiday pay, and was labeled as a "trainee" role without real training or qualifications. Most of the manager’s promises—like global travel, paid certifications, and career advancement—were either misleading or never delivered. The user ended up semi-employed for 4 months before being quietly let go, feeling exploited and disillusioned.

      • Lol, I used ChatGPT (4.1) as well and interesting how it gave different results.

        • +1

          This was from GPT-4-turbo (I assume this is the one everyone gets when they're not signed in).

  • +1

    In a Cannonball Run type movie, there is a scene were the guy rips off the rear-view mirror from his Ferrari.
    His reason for doing that was - What is behind you, is behind you.

  • +23

    Another confusing ozbargain with their reflection journal.

    • +1

      Myspace is sorely missed for this type of thing

      • Tom will forever be my first friend.

  • +3

    Where have you migrated from Mason?

    • Mason posted the famous "Why Are Chinese Businesses Always So Stingy and Exploitative?" thread.

      • Makes sense. He's clearly got a 'leaning'.

  • +6

    Are you looking for advise

    • +3

      Or advice?

      • definitely advize

    • +3

      Are you looking for advise

      Here's some…

      "Don't skip English classes…"

      • But there's a bird in the tree outside…

  • +4

    As a first job i don't think you can ask for too much.

    You get paid the hours you work - that's fair.

    You are probably listed as part time because you work around the school hours - that's fair.

    It even says in your contract you are not allowed to work more than 7.5 hours (who wouldn't love that in their clause!) - that's more than fair.

    You get real world experience. No one cares about the qualifications you have after your first few jobs, its all about the real world experience.

    Your colleague spending all their money on petrol and road tolls to travel to and from work is your colleagues problem, not the employer.

  • +3

    Will make you graduate the school of life

  • +5

    Your previous posts asked about getting an entry level IT job.
    Glad to see you got one.
    You seem to think you were fully trained at TAFE, but it is very likely you need some real world experience before you will be adding much value to a business.
    You seem unhappy about your income, which is certainly understandable in an entry level role.

    Perhaps you should ask your boss for the promised help with certifications and for other opportunities to grow your skills so you can qualify for higher pay work?

    I'm not sure what else to suggest - there isn't much future is complaining that an entry level job isn't high flying and high paying from day one. You need to gain the skills and experience.

  • +1

    It's school, get your orange crayon out and make an orange card! Problem fixed and you get paid the big bucks!

    • +1

      I don't think anyone else got your joke!

  • hired for a permeant part time

    You penetrate membranes?

    • +1

      was meant to be pet meat

  • +1

    Some ppl are shit at a job even after TAFE training. Even after uni.Even after doing the job for years.
    Why? Because they were never meant to do that job.Or they can't focus.
    Someone has to fail. It's why they pay the big bucks. Maybe your income is linked to performance and you are yet to impress on their expectations in that regard?

  • +4

    TAFE certificates and CCNA are fairly entry level and what I'd expect from a trainee. Sounds like the usual run of the mill MSP that exploits trainees for cheap labour. Use the experience and move on.

    • hold on…

      I already have the highest IT national qualification from a government education institution

      • government education institution

        That would be TAFE and not a university.

        • Year, but TAFE gives a

          national qualification from a government education institution

          so clearly trumps any uni

  • +1

    The government awards private contracts based on the companies that bid the lowest.

    From what I understand, these roles typically involve entry-level IT tasks, such as password resets and ensuring the rollout of software updates for schools.

    Given the nature of the work, it is understandable that the compensation may reflect the skill level required. Additionally, during periods of low activity, there may be an opportunity to use the downtime for upskilling.

  • +1

    When you have a bad job that you need, usually you keep applying for good jobs and then quit when you get offered one. And in the meantime you just do the job, don't overthink it.

  • +2

    what is written on the contract is way beyond what we call the word fair

    Didn't you read the contract before signing?

    • He got AI to read it. AI also wrote it. This is the new IT way.

  • +2

    What was the question again?

  • +2

    What is an orange card? Google suggests that it's either to do with high power electrical work, or veteran affairs. Neither of which seem relevant to an entry level IT position.

    • I think OP needs to recognise red flags, before they chase unicorns under the rainbow, looking for an orange card.

      • +1

        It is a Department of Education (Qld) certification.

        Orange Card School Administrator

        • +3

          Somehow I prefer the idea that it's the licence required to ride unicorns.

  • +6

    MSPs are leeches. They suck funds out of their clients and the life from their employees. Find a new job and move on.

  • -5

    OzPileOn lives another day for people whose first language is not English. It didn't need a TLDR, unless your brain is TikTok riddled. It just needed an empathetic half brain to follow and understand.

  • You need to be a sponge to succeed in this industry.
    Never stop learning. Never give up.

    But remember, this industry is not for everyone.

  • -1

    Why would you expect anything else being a contractor in a business/school where everyone else are actual employees?

    They bring in contractors when they want to pay the bottom dollar and to treat you how they want.

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