IT Job advice?

Anyone in IT whos been in this situation help me out? I get many people saying "yeah i was in your situation" but no-one ever says how they got out

Basically, been working in IT for 7 years, mainly desktop and support. Im the real butt end still and trying to make a career but have realised after 3 years that my current employment isn't going to help me out at all no matter how hard i work/try/show enthusiasm for stuff.

Im wanting to make a career and work on something "specific" but because no-one gives out the chances, im not really sure what i want to do or the path i want to take.

I've got a good "all round" knowledge, support, networks, and i've started trying to use Active Dir and MS Server 03, but I don't use it as a job so its quite hard to really learn it properly without being able to apply the "notes" to a working job.

I've looked into doing ASP .net etc, but the current contractor developers (im on a project currently) kinda say you really need a good 6 months to understand, and learn how to use the stuff. I've now got the resources, but really don't think i can stand this job for another 6 months.

I like doing IE kinda stuff, but only know basic HTML, my macromedia test license finished so I can't even bloody use that.

Basically, if you were in my situation, good all rounder but no specific skills, what would be your next step to try and move up the ladder?

I can't really take a pay drop as i've moved into my 1st house this year, and i currently work in the city, but would like to stay away from here despite the higher wagers. The commute and hassle really isn't worth it (Esp with the A2 currently )

IT people, any advice. Its really getting me down and currently its a serious mission just to wake up and come to work everyday at the moment Im not a stupid bloke, i've got my head screwed on, not the smartest guy in the box, but what i loose in brains i make up for in simple common sense.

I have been, and sill am in your situation, jack of all trades master of none and thats not looking to change anytime soon

Advice I keep getting is to go out and get myself a qualification then get a new, specialised job but I even night schooling it isn't much of an option.

Open University maybe but I don't know what they offer or even what course to look for as I'm still not sure where I want to specialise yet =/

Thats the thing. The kinda idea i get is that im going to have to self fund/self train/go back to college or something in the evenings, and tbh, when i get home from work, the last thing on my mind is packing up my gear and running off to college for my evening.

I want to learn, but how can you learn if you don't know what you want to do?

I was in a similar situation.

Basically, I was a good all rounder, worked as a developer in the past, worked as ICT Technician, worked as network admin but still, nothing specific. Then I went to Uni, and dropped out, and couldn't get back into IT.

At the time, I started working in pubs, because it paid the bills, and I could be abusive to drunk customers

Then I got fed up of it, so drew up a plan to get back into IT. This was only a rough idea though, of how I could transfer the current "skill set" a number of times to get to where I wanted to be.

Basically, from the pubs, customer oriented environment, I went to Retail. Specifically, I got a job in Maplin working as a sales guy. This quickly moved on to a more technical advisory role, and I wasn't getting hassle about sales targets. From here, I used the customers to my advantage, and ended up starting self employment as an IT Contractor/Consultant.

Things went pair shaped with that, mainly because I moved into a new area. So I fell back on to the savings I'd built up, and hunted for IT related work. I got my foot in the door of a company as a Junior Support Engineer. The money was pants, but I was in the door.

From there, I moved to a DBA role, and now I'm back into being a Developer.

Basically, I got lucky in that I drew up a rough plan, and most of that plan was easy to do with the same company, where I am now, but I'd have no problems changing companies to move sideways on the ladder before moving upwards.

It's the opportunity to sidestep that you're looking for mainly, if you see those, it's only a matter of time until you get to the specific position you want.

HTH

Aye, but i've had 7 jobs now (some contracting, some perm), been at my current place 3 years as i was hoping to "move up", but tbh, if anything, i've actually gone backwards a step.

My secondment to my project role is due up soon, and im also seeing 1-2 people who started a long time after me, have less of a skill set etc, getting promoted to deployment managers etc... Very demoralising, and i've got no goals and no aims to work towards...


Rubberduck, thats kinda a point though.. How can you get experience if you self learn etc? In which case, whats the point of learning it.....

I'd try to get into multimedia (Web page/site etc) but theres so many people doing it now...

After university, I basically couldn't get back into IT because I didn't have the paperwork to prove I could do what I said in my CV. I still don't have that paperwork.

I think you need to do what I did, rough outline of where you want to be, and how you'll get there. Keep looking out for the side steps, and if you feel like you're standing still too long, MOVE.

A recently ex-collegue of mine left this company purely because he's been here 2 years, and thinks it's bad to stay with an IT company longer than 2 years. I sort of agree, to a point.

So you've had 7 jobs pretty recently. If in your next interview, someone questions you on it, explain it as the fact that you keep moving because you're trying to get to an end goal, and feel that in any given role, that if the opporunity to progress isn't there, you go & find the opportunity. Drive like that speaks more to potential managers than anything you want to put on your CV.

I've not even been here a year, my job title has changed twice, and I've threatened to leave once. I'm now in a better office, on better money.

It's all about knowing what you want, and picking your fights wisely. Unfortunately, you said you don't have any goals. Without these, you won't move forwards.

Originally Posted by PsychoCannon

Advice I keep getting is to go out and get myself a qualification then get a new, specialised job but I even night schooling it isn't much of an option.

Sometimes you can get too specialised. Right now, I'm trying to de-specialise a bit as the work that I've been doing for the last few years is far too niche to make moving jobs easy. I'm lucky that I've got myself onto a high-profile project that requires a slightly general (though still specialised) skillset.

Doh, sorry, meant i've been at this job 3 years. My previous 4 years were spent roaming between jobs.

I've got some very prestigious names on my C.V which helps. I've got my stories why (moved around trying to gain skills and experience, joined to stay and make a career but no opportunities etc..).

Rubber.. Yeah i know what you mean. Im currently in work so have time, but the longer im here, the more depressed im going to get I know.

Recently there was a asp and .net job going at Brands Hatch, motorsport and IT, and close to home, a dream job, not much experience needed (still more than i've got ).

I've been here before. I think you need to do two things:

1. decide what you want to do

easier said than done I know, but you're not going to get very far until you chose a direction

2. bite the bullet & make an investment in your future

it's going to cost you time and/or money

this might be to drop wages to move to a job that you want to be doing & that will give you better prospects mid- to long-term. it might be to invest in some hardware/software so that you can practice with your chosen technology in your own time. it might be to pay to send yourself on a training course. it might be on books so you can teach yourself something at home. maybe you could get a certification in your desired field

for the record, I work for an ISP doing network geekery & some *nix. I'm pretty much self-taught, I have a pile of routers & servers at home to play/learn with, I've paid for training courses for myself & got certs

[fizzwheel]

Sit down and work out what you want to do and why you want to do it. Then sit down and write down a plan of how you are going to make it happen.

If you want to stay at your current company, then sit down with your line manager and go through all this with him. Nothing happens for you and in order to get anywhere you and you alone are going to have to drive it.

I worked on a helpdesk and we wer constantly fire fighting so one day I decided that I was going to fix the things that were broken, by not bodging them up, but actually by working out the root cause of the problem and then designing something to sort it out so it didnt keep breaking.

My manager at the time noticed what I was doing and that I was doing something positive to fix the issues we had. So I got taken off the helpdesk and put into a 2nd line support role. Got given some projects to manage and delivered them on time and within budget. I'm at the point now 5 years later where I'm on the verge of becoming a Technical Architect where I get to use all sorts of new technology and other fun stuff. What I do makes a big difference to how our company works, which in turn means I get paid better and also when bonus time comes I get a better bonus. If you can do what I did then you'll have shown initiative and flair and your boss will start noticing you and you'll probably find you'll get given training opportunities and the opportunity to work on more interesting work.

I also took to acquiring old servers etc and would often stay behind after work or at weekends tinkering in the setup lab and teaching myself about new versions of windows and networking and that kind of stuff.

I'm completely sell taught. I have no Microsoft qualifications whatsoever. I never went to Uni I bailed out when I left college at 19. I've got 9 reasonable GSCE's and 2 A levels and thats it. IMHO qualifications don't mean jack, all they mean is that you can learn from a book.

You dont get anything for nothing and nothing will fall into your lap. You've got to go and grab it.