Pongo555

I am looking to change my job and i am looking to get into something with computers what i need to know is what qualifications am i looking for and what course ?

I work Thurs-Sun so i can attend night school there are a couple at my local college but what course ?

As i said above i work EVERY weekend and it pays not to bad for manual labour £18,500 with a little overtime £22,000 so i am looking at that kinda money but with my weekends back as i now have a young family.

So what i need to know is what course am i looking for and what kinda of earnings can i expect after its all said and done ?



Pongo555

scoobyjimbo

Hiya good choice of career....

Firstly IMHO you will find it hard to get the the salary levels you currently have without a decent qualification. If you want to exceed your current salary etc then you will either need a HND/Degree - i think you can do a HND in computing part time and also a degree.
If you dont do these you will struggle to get taken seriously when you apply for a job. I am an IT manager and i see hundreds of CV's and so many people have these computeact type courses but to be honest they are fine, but most companies will want the HND/Degree level of qualiifcation.
If you decide to not do the HND/Degree then one of these shorter courses are fine but you will have to lower your salary expectations quite a bit and start at the bottom, you will then have to rely on getting into an organsiation and doing well to progress which could take some time, where as if you had a HND/Degree then you would come in at a higher level and be able to progress a bit quicker.
It does depend on what you specialise in as to salary levels.
If you are a hardware techy - i.e. desktop / PC support then pay can range from 14k - 25k on average. if you go the software route i.e. programmer then expect a starting salary of around 18-20k and then depending on your skills you could goto anything upto 40k depending on the region where you work/skils you have.
Good luck anyway and if you want anymore info then PM me.
cheers
J

Hanslow

As Jimbo says, you could really do with deciding what field of computing you would like to do first. There are quite a few options and 'doing something with computers' could mean absolutely anything.

Pongo555

I know i left my self opne for the 'doing something with computers' thing but to be honnest have really like using my computer and i really hate my job so it comes hand in hand that i should be looking for a change in job but thanks for all your help i am in the Livingston (Scotland LOL) area and have a College about 2 minute drive away from front door so no reason i should not use it .

So what is the best route HND/Degree looks to be the one i am ONLY lol 33 so time is on my side but i want to better myself for my family AND my sake so is it to be Desktop


The only problem was i did not want to goto night school and come out after so many weeks to find exactly what you said Scoobyjimbo that what i have just done is NO good to anyone .

That is why i was kinda leaving my options open as to what part of computing to go into. Software is looking the best but if it pays the best i guess EVERYBODY will be going for that ? All i am really looking for is a job i can enjoy(Computers) and for the same money if not a little better BUT Monday-Friday !!!


Thanks for your input guys any jobs going Scooobyjimbo lol


Pongo555

scoobyjimbo

There are actually a shortage of good software developers (but i guess this could be regionalised), and we never have issues recruiting desktop/hardware guys - but obviosuly this might be different north of the border. I would suggest doing some research and asking some IT agencies in your area whteher they struggle to find people in both hardware and software and see what they say that might help you decide, some of the choice has to be down alo to what you prefer, you tend to find hardware guys have tried and hate programming and vice versa.
As for jobs, not at the moment, be a bit of a comute to south wales/south west for you..LOL
Good luck.
J

mike1210

i did my degree in electronics, a lot of it was IT based including computer systems architecture and the like. Left uni and worked at my local council in IT support, ace job, the money was terrible but it was great to get some experience under my belt, I realised that that was what i wanted to do but on the money i was on i was never going to be able to live on it. 8 months later got a job on decent money because of the experience i now had. Employers will defo prefer a HND or Degree qualification wise, where i am in south wales competition for IT jobs in support seems high at the moment as when support jobs come up at my place loads of people apply for them.

R1916v

Almost the same for me. Same type of degree, left and got a job for the water company, desktop systems support and development. Been there 2.5 years and liking it. Money could be better, but for down here where there is no IT industry it's pretty good.

Yeah I could move away and get a lot more cash but I like it here