I fancy a change of career and am thinking I.T and am interested in some tips from the I.T hive as to how someone like me with non-I.T background would go about starting out?

Advice very much appreciated…

Turn it off and back on again.

really depends on your background. what’s your work history

I am also curious. 1991 Maths BSc, various work -> 2000 then LLB & lawyer.

Blag your way in.

The route taken by most contractors!!

😉

Try posting in the right forum

unless you want to be a tech geek which is not a great place to be unless you’re very good at it then the business side of IT is a good place and you can transfers management or project skills.

http://www.codecademy.com/#!/exercises/0

M1llh0use – Member
Blag your way in.

The route taken by most contractors!!

So i’ve heard 😉

– Can the usual wannabe mods please report the thread for being in the wrong category?

First buy an Audi A4.

Then buy an Orange 5…

Make sure you refer to your bike as your “steed”, and that you yell “Strava” at anyone riding even a fraction of a mph slower than you as you struggle past them on the trails.

Only then will you be qualified for a career in said profession dear sir! 😉

dammit. I’m clearly no good at IT as I fail on all counts 😉

The majority of people i know in IT are looking to get out of it.

RBS seem to have a large number of jobs listed at the moment in IT stuff but i suspect you would be employed to sack people so you may feel bad about that.

odd. I don’t know anyone in IT trying to get out. different sectors maybe?

The thing is, “in IT” covers a massive range of activities. You need to decide what it is you want to do – where do your talents lie?

IT is a broad range of things really, which areas would you be interested in?

I’m guessing the ‘driving an Audi, posting “what tyres for my £50,000 bean to cup coffee machine” on STW’ sector…

😉

thebikechain – Member
The majority of people i know in IT are looking to get out of it.

Majority of people I know are looking to do something else.

You see that keyboard and screen in front of you? That’s where you start…

Sorry, I know it’s not helpful, but it made me smile

clubber, you’re clearly not trying hard enough! I suggest you re-assess your situation in the morning, and either take a career break to sort things out, or go out and buy the Orange 5 and the Audi you need to make your life complete! 😉

Move to Delhi….

🙂 @ breatheeasy

mboy – Mrs clubber says no. she’s clearly.holding me back /)

don’t… been doing it for 20 year and i hate every aspect of it… i’d love to start again but can’t take the wage hit to be an apprentice at 36 with a mortgage, wife and child…. fml (i realise this is a 1st world problem)

druidh – Member
The thing is, “in IT” covers a massive range of activities. You need to decide what it is you want to do – where do your talents lie?

Exactly what I was going to say.

Support
sys admin
dba
development
sales
project management.

The list goes on. The only area I know about it development and that in its self is a huge field.

A personal opinion on development is that it is better to have knowledge of an area and then apply some development skills than just develop, this is unless you are reallly realllly good at devel work. E.g engineering know how about a system then get involved with a company that writes software for that industry.

chvck – Member
IT is a broad range of things really, which areas would you be interested in?

Not help-desk.

I don’t really know which particular field at the moment. I am good at problem solving, organising events and people and am not afraid to take a risk and make decisions.

I have a background in finance but that has bored me to the point of submission.

ERP finance pays well…

Don’t fancy sales. What is ‘dba’?

that’s not sales 🙂

Applying finance and accountancy knowledge to business systems

FWIW, I was in IT for 33 years in a number of roles and pretty much always enjoyed my job. Some of the office politics were challenging though (but that can be true anywhere). I was eventually glad to get out due to uncertainty over the companies future rather than a dislike for the job.

cheers clubber, i posted the “don’t fancy sales” comment after your ERP finance comment 😆

Are you looking for a 9-5 office job with your own desk or do you like to be out and about?
Project work or something a little more predictable?
Do you mind travel?
Why do you want to leave your current job? What do you dislike about your current job?
Why not sales?
How much does money motivate you?

jonke –

I like to be out and about, working independently ideally.

Not shy of a challenge so project work although wouldn’t turn my nose up to more predictable roles as a stepping stone.

I don’t mind travel although I wouldn’t want to be away for weeks (have other half and 2 young girls at home).

I want to leave my current job as it won’t take me to where I want to be financially (or not least without years and years of studying anyway). I’ve ended up doing what I do now (credit management) through circumstances, rather than deliberate choice. It’s very predictable.

I’m personally quite to difficult to sell to and wouldn’t want to try to sell to someone like myself – I think that puts me off sales. I may have the totally wrong view here as don’t have any experience of selling…

Money motivates me 😉

RBS seem to have a large number of jobs listed at the moment in IT stuff but i suspect you would be employed to sack people so you may feel bad about that.

Where do I sign !

I’m in IT – Oracle Apps tech; got to keep learning stuff, SOA next 🙁

Have you thought about taking the business analyst route, using your existing credit skills and then sidestepping into the systems aspect that way? Plenty of work for people who can apply business knowledge into systems, especially on the new banks spun out of Lloyds and nearly spun out of RBS.

I’ve gone a similar route, but with loans. I’m now a BA on a system migration project and using Business Objects development to move into other DB roles.

My dad was a purchasing manager for Astra Zeneca, had been there 30 years. He got made redundant, got bored, applied for a job doing IT for a couple of local doctors surgeries 3 days a week and got it. Although admittedly he’s good with computers, no real experience in IT though. So as above, just apply for the jobs and see what happens. Maybe do an OU course?

I did a similar thing, had a background in science and changed to IT. I did a programming course which included 12 weeks work experience. The course organiser sorted out the placement, so I made sure I was #1 candidate by putting the effort in, might of helped that I was the oldest person of the course, so I took it seriously. Got taken on by someone who appreciated attitude over experience, that was 13 years ago and don’t regret the decision. My boss had a policy of hiring people who had made the effort to get into the industry via this sort of route, rather than a classic IT degree route, we ended up with a good team of people with the right motivation.

I did “IT” for 20 years – got a bit fed up sitting in a cubicle and moved on. Starting with the 2 worst aspects –

1- I’d say dealing with managers who are clueless about IT / problem solving and for some stupid reason get paid more for knowing less and generally bogging everything down. The worse companies have 2x managers to anyone who knows how things work.
2- Its now spagetti junction. Even a simple change / development gets 10000x more complicated because everthing has to integrate so testing is by far and away the most important thing. In fact – that’s a good foot in the door. Good testers are well paid and worth their weight in coffee / gold.

The best aspects are working on stuff that real customers see / use. So in a typical banking case – good for your moral is customer facing (online creditials , encryption, security, ATMs, Chip and PIN, telephony, ….), bad is MI, securitisation, balance sheet, batch, ….
Similar will be true in other industries.

odd. I don’t know anyone in IT trying to get out.

I’d love to get out. It pays well though. Would rather be outdoors now than doing the tedious office life. Got to the point of going contracting though to at least get some independence, control, and get out of the politics. Plus even more money. Got the expensive bike (Cruz not Orange) but no Audi. I do ride the Surrey Hills though 😉

I just need to make my work involve bikes, or photography perhaps, or both.

As a hardware Geek, my advice would be to stay out of the hardware side. Relatively low wages with limited paths for advancement. I couldn’t get a mortgage on a house within 100 miles of where I live on what I earn. however I do get to work on some really interesting stuff.
HTH
SM

I did a fine art degree then a masters 1 year conversion computing degree. Now working in Sweden enjoying both work and home. Now specialising in oracle development. Plsql and database work.