3 years ago I graduated with a 2:1 in Computing from Manchester Metropolitan University. I’m aware that it’s not the most prestigious institution, nevertheless I was still otimistic of getting a decent job.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get anything related to my degree so I got a temp job in a call centre. I don’t quite know how this has happened but I’ve been here for 3 years – in the same position – and it’s going nowhere. I realise my stagnation will have decreased my chances of an IT related job even further, especially considering the current state of affairs.

I’d consider doing a postgrad but don’t want to waste money and be back at square one. My missus is a teacher and seeing how stressed and overworked she is, I don’t fancy that. I’ve been looking at Surveying conversion course but I don’t have any background in this area and committing to a course without knowing if it’s suitable is really difficult. I know this is something I should probably be speaking to a careers advisor about but any help or advice is appreciated (even if you are all complete strangers).

I know this is something I should probably be speaking to a careers advisor about

Carers advisors are usually people who havent or are unable to do a proper job.

It sems as if half the population are now looking for change of employment jobs, sadly theres very few jobs out there, preferably stick to what you got trained to do, and work up the slippery ladder.

If you were to stay at the call centre, where would be your next step?

And if you didn’t stay, what would you ideally do next?

Devise a pyramid scheme.

What do you really want to do?

The call centre is a dead end and just not an option. It’s a local authority call centre and they’ve just frozen external recruitment, so hopefully somehthing more suitable will come up in a different department. I just don’t want to waste any more time.

End of the day I suppose I should be grateful I’ve got a job at all.

I don’t mean to seem harsh but you say you’ve been stuck in the same role for three years. Have there genuinely been no opportunities to expand your existing role or take on additional responsibilities within the organisation in all that time?

I ask this because I was in exactly the same position after a period of about a year of unemployment post graduation – on the phones in a call centre. It is soul destroying, but for that reason I started volunteering for bits and pieces of offline stuff… just simple stuff like helping out with reporting to start off with. That got me off the phones permanently and eventually led to leading a reporting / data analysis team …. that in turn got me enough experience to jump ship after a few years into a “proper” IT role. From there I went into development, application support, business analysis etc. I’m now managing IT for a small company.

None of it was neccessarily planned, I’ve got no formal IT qualifications to speak of, and my technical knowledge in some areas isn’t all that great to be honest but I’ve generally found that just being enthusiastic and proactive about trying new things and being known as someone who is keen to help out and likes to learn new stuff goes a long way in terms of career development.

Again, I don’t mean to sound rude, but is it possible that your disillusionment with your current role is evident to those around you and may be holding you back from possible opportunities in your current company?

It doesn’t sound like retraining for a complete career change is the answer, particularly as it doesn’t sound like you really know what you want to do – you’ll more than likely end up in the same boat in a few years time, and in the meantime you’ll have lost out on a few years of work experience.

It sounds like you really need to try and get out of the rut you’ve got yourself into and start looking for opportunities to gain wider work experience (either in your current role or elsewhere) and start developing your own career rather than waiting for things to land in your lap.

Maybe not much use, but if you’ve got a job, don’t leave it until you have another sorted out.

Might not be the best but I imagine it pays the bills.

Carers advisors are usually people who havent or are unable to do a proper job.

looks at jobs he has done prior looks at qualifications and just laughs at project*- I will give you it is not a proper job as obviously I only help people and i dont contribute anything to the economy.

Mail in profile not doing this on here

* care worker, family support worker, social worker, youth worker, teacher, Labourer, mechanic. Surely one of them was proper?

Nah, not one of them.

You want some proper careers advice… e-mail me.

I’d take some time out to think more about what you really want to do, rather than what’s out there. Think about a business you’d like to start or perhaps the ultimate job you’d love to do. What do you love to do that you can make a career or business out of? If the answer is “dunno” then stay where you are. Otherwise formulate a plan that looks at your strengths and the opportunities. Then go for it while you are still in his job. If you’ve got the passion, you’ll make it work.

How can you combine bikes with computers? Make a decent map/tracker app for iPhone perhaps. All those that I’ve tried don’t do what I want. Sure the forum would say the same.

I know this all sounds good, but believe me, it can work.