Work experience in IT (ICT?)

[Jamie]

I assume you have a PC, then you have the correct equipment to do any of the MTA courses. Install VMWare Player or Vbox on your PC, both of which are free, grab an evaluation copy of Windows from their site, also free, and then follow the book that you've bought. Here is a link to a good book on Amazon, it's ?18 for the paperback, ?16 for the Kindle version.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Windows-Operating-System-Essentials-ebook/dp/B006O1OG3G/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=

As i said in the previous post, it will give you a grounding in how IT works, it will enable you to learn the basics, installing operating systems and applications, setting up systems and troubleshooting issues. You say you don't know anything at the moment, so learning these things are a must, whether or not you take the exam, I would though because having a Microsoft accredited qualification on your CV is NEVER A BAD THING. If you're serious about going into IT you need to put a bit of effort in first to at least get yourself to a certain level, no employer is going to employ anyone with no knowledge at all.

You don't have to take my advice if you don't want, but i've been working in the IT industry for nearly 20 years, and have seen alot of people saying they want to get into the field. Once they realise the amount of work and studying you need to do, it's constant as the technology is always changing, they lose interest.

If you want any help or advice give me a shout and i'll try and help the best i can.

[Grapple Convoy]

I've PMed you but honestly, that first paragraph, I have no idea what it means! Way beyond my knowledge, I have to be honest. I've been told that IT is relatively disability-friendly and all I need is work experience and I'm in, that's why I asked about IT, I thought I could get training paid for/provided somehow, it's more the disability-friendly angle that appeals.

[QualityChimp]

Maybe you could look into getting an IT apprenticeship? There's no upper age limit and is a great way to learn in a practical way.
Read the Government site, then search to see if there are any positions open near you:

http://tinyurl.com/kzaksxs

If you're genuinely interested in learning about IT beforehand and money is an issue, there are ways to save money.
You could aquire the Microsoft eBooks through *ahem* "Buccaneer Port"

Then you can practice taking the Microsoft exams.
Download the trial version of either Exam Suite (including question designer to make your own exams) or Exam Manager (just the question viewer) from*http://www.visualcertexam.com/

Then go to the purchase section, click "buy now", and change the currency at the top to Hong Kong Dollar paying with PayPal (I think PayPal's charge*is about 50p for currency exchange). This will make the cost about a third of what it would be paying in ?.

Once you've got the software, go to http://www.examcollection.com/*and download a practice exam for what you're studying.

Keep practicing the exams until you're confident you'll pass, then physically go to a test centre and take the test for around ?100.

[Decider-VT]

If your skills really are at entry-level, it's worth checking places like Udemy or Coursera for free online courses that might lay decent foundations for a course with a proper qualification at the end of it.

[randombs]

Hi,

I read your initial post thinking 'oh, here we go', but I'm glad you're looking into IT. Everyone starts somewhere and there's nothing wrong with being attracted to it for better money and/or treatment.

Can I ask: Is there anything you like about computers right now? Also, what's your non-IT background?

Anyway, here are some possible roles:

• IT Support/helpdesk: You would be answering calls and emails and possibly visiting users to fix their problems. These could be simple things like getting a file from the recycle bin and replacing a mouse or more complicated problems like a virus attack. You don't need to be an expert in the beginning and if you are good with people then this is probably the easiest way to get into IT. You can learn as you go and your company might help with training/certification.
• Server/Network Administration: Usually you'll end up here after doing support for a while. You'd be responsible for the servers and making sure the network is running properly. Any problems can mean many users not being able to work at all so this work can get stressful and carries a lot of responsibility. You must have good experience and/or qualifications for this but people skills aren't important - you may or may not have to deal with end users.
• Programming: You would be writing programs yourself or maybe editing a company's existing software to fix problems or change how what it does. Programming will take the longest time to study before you see any useful results and there is global competition because you don't necessarily need good communication/English/people skills.
• IT Training: This is an interesting one. If you're good at teaching people, explaining concepts in an easy way and learning quickly then you could do this sort of work. If you train people in how to use software like Microsoft Word, you don't need to know about networks or any unrelated IT mumbo-jumbo.

How about applying for work/experience in a company/industry where you'll be exposed to IT in a meaningful way? The job itself might be boring/unrelated but you'll have access to computers and IT staff who you can get friendly with and could possibly jump-start your career that way. For example, my first IT support job came about while interviewing for an HR admin position! Granted, IT has always been my hobby but I had no IT qualifications and still don't. To this day I've not spent a penny on IT training, nor have any of my employers sponsored my training so far. Yes, I'd probably be earning a lot more if I had done but I think I'm doing okay, all things considered.

Jamie and QC's advice is great; not everyone in IT spends thousands of pounds getting certified and you don't have to, either. But please understand that if your attitude towards IT training is "I don't want to spend anything. What's the free/easy option?" you will get nowhere. A career in IT will eventually pay for itself but you must put the effort in.

As they've said, the software to study is mostly free for personal/trial use and you don't need any special equipment other than a PC. Heck, Amazon even gives you a preview of the first chapter of that MTA book for free. Why not start by reading through it and letting us know if it blew your brains out or not

Why not give IT a proper go? It's perfectly possible to get a nice, relaxing position that is challenging but doesn't make you feel out-of-date every morning.

My main advice is: Play to your strengths. The IT market is competitive and it's made up of all sorts so you need to stand out.

Good luck!

[Jamie]

Some really good advice in this thread. My post was about going into support, but as mentioned above there are other paths you can follow.

About you not understanding my first paragraph, that's absolutely fair and sometimes i suppose people who work in IT expect everyone else to understand the terminology as well as us. However, you could alway use Google to find out what i was talking about, working in IT, especially at the start, you will come across things that you won't be familiar with and being able to research something and understand what's put in front of you is a key skill. Heck i still have to do this when problems occur that i haven't encountered before.

[randombs]

I haven't worked before in IT - I am told it is a 'disability friendly' line of work. I know very little about IT in practice, there's so much terminology you're throwing at me that I don't know or understand, please realise that not everyone here works in IT just because it's a games forum.

I purposely removed all IT terminology from my post because you don't have an IT background so I'm not sure what terminology I was throwing at you. I even looked through some of your posts on this forum to get an idea of your vocabulary. But apologies if it was a bit much.

For my question about what you like and your background, the sorts of answers I was expecting were simply "I like using the internet/sending emails" and "I have a degree in Philosophy/I have worked in hospitality". If you go for an interview at a company and they ask you those same two questions will you accuse them of throwing terminology at you?

I've sent out a lot of emails and letters to companies asking for work experience in IT already over the last 4-5 months. None have ever replied.

I guess I wasn't clear enough. I meant applying for other, non-IT work/experience(e.g. office assistant) at a company where you could get friendly with their IT department and perhaps shadow them during your off-hours. I didn't mean actually applying for IT work experience because I seriously doubt you will get any this way.

I HAVE put the effort in. I have no IT qualifications or work experience. I have been applied weekly, continuously, to get work experience in IT. NONE of the organisations have ever replied.

You have done one thing - ONE thing - which is to send emails and letters to companies asking for IT work experience. You have applied and applied and applied, yes. You have asked these companies, maybe even begged, and you've got no responses. Can you guess what plan B is? Hint: It doesn't involve sending emails for another 4-5 months.

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh but sending emails to a bunch of companies is not putting in the effort. If I wanted to become a lawyer because law is Indian-friendly I'm not going to just send emails to law firms asking for work experience and leave it at that. You do realise that the company isn't necessarily getting free work out of you if they take you on? You might be crap. You might trip over a wire and bring a server down. There's paperwork they have to sort out, matters of insurance and various liabilities to take care of. You're not offering to help Mr. Wilson run his hardware shop in exchange for some tips about how to sell screws. You're asking a company to take responsibility for you and train you up on the off-chance that you might make them some money as a result. Now do you see why they haven't replied? It might be because you're too much of a risk. Or it might be because they simply can't/won't deal with people looking for work experience/internships.

I don't know what else to do. I CANNOT afford to take qualifications, I can get no funding to take a degree in IT for example, I don't have thousands of pounds lying around to spend, I have been looking up and down to get some funding for some qualifications, I can't fund what I can't afford with thousands (or tens of thousands) in savings, if you told me to go and buy a Ferrari I couldn't afford that either, that's just facts. I did apply for apprenticeships as well but was told that as I have a degree and have a recognised disability I cannot be allowed onto apprenticeships.

Ok, so apprenticeships are out. But not one single person in this thread has recommended you a route involving thousands of pounds. QC, the cheeky monkey, even went so far as to tell you where to download pirated copies of books from the internet. Please show appreciation for the time these people have taken to do your research for you by seriously reading what they post and replying in kind. No one in this thread wants you to fail. If we didn't care we simply wouldn't post anything. But in spite of that your replies have just been complaints, rebuttals or more sob stories. Not even a single cheers.

Take the advice you've been given so far and have a serious think about what it is you want to do and how you may be able to achieve it.

[charlesr]

I know the thread is locked, but press stuff here: http://www-05.ibm.com/employment/uk/...er/index.shtml
I had no IT training but got a job at a big IT company.

The only thing that needs to change is your attitude. After that you'll find a way. "Attitude determines altitude!"

Thanks to everyone that put time into replying with helpful stuff. You are what makes this forum great.

I don't know the details of your disability and money situation, but here's a guy paralysed from the waist down who does motocross racing at the highest levels in case it inspires you.