Job Hunting in IT sector

[John F]

I know it is not hobby related but this is posted under chit-chat for everything else for IT employed aircraft fliers.

Ah well, time is coming to leave the RAF after 26 years. It will either be a med discharge this year, I have to wait another 4 weeks to find out, or I will be out of the RAF anyway by 1 Aug 2016.

So, being so close to the end, I am looking at another career to get into and am leaning towards IT. The resettlement folks are great and the bumpf available is nice and shiny with promises of employment etc but what I need to know is:

How realistic is it to go from not qualified to pursue Comptia A+ then Networks, Security etc?

Are there other pathways I can follow?

How useful are these qualifications?

Am I missing something?

Any ideas or advice would be very gratefully received.

Edited By John F on 27/08/2014 12:41:58

[Phil 9]

You say not qualified but do you have any experience? It is fairly straight forward to get the qualifications (assuming you have the aptitude) but employers put a great deal of value on experience. If you have no experience in that field then you are of no more value to a company than a newly qualified college leaver. In this case employers tend to go for the younger person as they see them as a better investment and normally demand lower salaries.

I don?t know what job you do in the RAF but my advice would be to try to stick to a similar line of work if you can.

It is not impossible to start a fresh carrier after the services but it can be hard to convince an employer of your capabilities if you have not done that job before.

Having said that IT is an area that seems to be in demand and can be the exception to the rule and is constantly changing so fresh qualifications means you will be up to date.

Good luck

[Olly P]

John, PM Sent.

[Dane Crosby]

Hi John F,

I retired from the RAF in 2005. The resettlement team did a great job in fully training me as a qualified electrician (including Pt P, Inspection and Testing and PAT). Finding work in commercial locations was possible but not easy to get. Working on houses was a catch 22. I could pay to get every part of my work tested or join a company as an apprentice and become credited that way. Without accreditation one cannot easily be self employed. Without an apprenticeship, accreditation costs a huge amount. No company would take me on on apprenticeship terms.So I did commercial and then returned to vehicle electrics. I was fully practically and theoretically trained and qualified when I finished resettlement but the world sees things a little differently. What I suggest is either carry on doing what you did in the service or choose something you really would like to do. Use the resettlement facilities to chase out jobs and tell companies what you are studying for and what you could offer. I left this till the end of training which was a mistake. I eventually worked as a service adviser in a big brand garage. Not fun but the pay wasn't bad.

Good luck with retirement - you'll find it busy!

[Phil 9]

olly can you send me the same info please

[Olly P]

Done

[John Goodwin 2]

Hi I own a computer shop in Tenby (South West Wales) the shop is 150 mtrs from the harbour and next door to the local Police Station. I am retiring as soon as I can sell the business as a going concern with two excellent staff. The walk in price would be In the order of £20,000 including 10K of new stock.

Regarding flying we have a very good club in the area of which I am secretary so plenty of flying.

Regarding experience, good management id the skill required covering customer service etc. the rest is easy to pick up.

John

[John F]

As a Royal Air Force Medic I am not directly qualified to do anything in civvie street and whilst the resettlement adviser does state many employers favour ex forces I just need to get my head focused and start thinking of a line of work.

Other than say I am a generic " people manager" I don't have anything direct to use as a qualification but to say we are fluid and can adapt to changing situations is not untrue; it is what we do every day!

Tenby is a lovley area but I live in Bedfordshire.  Nice sales pitch though.

Edited By John F on 27/08/2014 14:14:41

[Olly P]

Follow on sent John.

As 'generic advice' for those leaving or looking to leave the forces in the next few years (plan 5 years out).

1) Pick a career early

2) Do any courses which support that choice from a good time out, including those 'on the edge' of the role, things like First Aid at Work and H&S qualifications always look good on a CV

3) Get experience, either in unit or outside (with CoC permission) of the type of work you want to do - it will either stand you in good stead in interview, or help you decide to do or not that job in real life.

4) PLAN PLAN PLAN.

Olly

[Stevo]

If you after Comptia+ etc, then you will have to start at the bottom to get those qualifications. Many school or college leavers go into an apprenticeship that delivers Level 2 (Intermediate) or Level 3 (advanced) qualifications. Compita etc, Networking, Security, web design etc and are fully qualified by the time they are 19/20.

Selling your skills is of course difficult to any employer, and of course would they pay for you to get through those exams? Or would you pay for them yourself and you would not be eligable for funding. But, many of these qualifications are delivered and assessed in the workplace so a double edged sword. Coupled with those would be Functional Skills Maths, English and ICT - and a GCSE over 5 years old does not count unfortunately.

I deliver and assess the qualifications you are after, but there does not seem any pathway here for a more 'older' learner, short of self- funding.

[Wingman]

I would think that a step change in your work line once you're over 40 would not be very successful - employers reading your CV would wonder what it was about and just dump your CV rather than find out. Would it not be better to get into the NHS or work for a nursing agency? There is always the industry I work in although I'm not a medic - offshore oil - where ex services personnel often settle in very well although you do refer to 'med' problems and you may not want to work away from home - every offshore installation with more than 25 personnel legally requires a medic. I believe the offshore medics course is 2 weeks refreshed every 2 or 3 years I think and then there is the offshore survival and MIST course requirements as well as the offshore medical (not much - for my last one I didn't have to take any clothes off and I'm 61!). In any case it must be worth a phone call to Petrofac, Abermed or Capita in Aberdeen. As for travelling offshore - well my back-to-back lives in Ipswich and if you get work abroad - Azerbijan etc. then you would fly out of London airports. Anyway, just a thought, excuse my ramblings if you've already rejected that idea - any way whatever I wish you the very best of luck in your endeavours

[John F]

Stevo. Funding isn't an issue for the courses it is just about exploring what to do next.

offshore medics are sought after but after 26 years working away from home either week days or in foreign climes I know it takes its toll. I can't put my new wife of 15 months under that.

[Robin Kearney]

Hi John, I've worked in IT since leaving Uni in the nineties. I would certainly consider a good computer science degree, perhaps via the OU or similar. I've met hundreds of people over the last 15 years and you can normally spot the comp sci grads a mile off, they have a deeper, broader understanding of the fundamentals of computing and seem to take to new technologies far quicker than those taught a specific technology. it is a fantastic grounding in the subject. And no, it's because they have long hair and sandals

I'm not familiar with CompTIA so won't comment on that.

Networking is a funny area, sure we will always need them but there are less network bods in the average IT shop than most other roles, unless you are in a company like AT&T or BT of course. Their day rates/salaries are not as high as they once were. The allure of big bucks drove a lot of people coming into IT to follow the Cisco qualification route, which flooded the market. On the one hand I can get a guy with a string of Cisco certs as long as your arm with no trouble, but finding one that /really/ understands networks and the applications which use them and how they can effect the network and the network effects the apps is really hard, and again they seem to commonly have a comp sci or similar background.

Security is a massive growth area, compliance and security requirements are getting stricter and stricter every year, most companies also have a shortage of decent It security people. Although having said that don't underestimate the time taken to keep abreast of new standards etc. it's a constant battle and it's all acronym heavy stuff! I work with a lot of guys from a well known consultancy, the firm trains the security guys up, and they leave almost instantly, we've lost 3 security architects this year, which is careless at best. But they all jump for better offers elsewhere, there is that much of a shortage.

I'd also not be afraid of contracting. Probably 20% of the people I work with are life long contractors. You can certainly gain experience of different systems and environments quickly as a contractor, but then you do have the upheaval of finding a new gig every so often. Having said that I'm currently working with a guy who is still in the same contract after 7 years!

pm me if you want to chat.

jump on jobserve.com or cwjobs and have a few searches. You'll see what the market wants pretty quickly. But a good grounding in the fundamentals will mean you can pick most things with ease. Also you can teach yourself a lot with a good book and google. A lot of people I meet were taught a specific subject and seem to never want to broaden their knowledge, the ones who hit google and start learning how to solve any problem are rare and stand out. Don't be afraid to google

[Rob Jones 2]

I have been advised to get into java for job security. But apparently it is very expensive. Would the raf sponsor you before you make sounds to leave?

[John F]

I can get most courses paid for as part of my resettlement.

One chap in March got a bee insemination course paid for. We thought is was a wind up but Googling afterwards was very interesting! Most things are considered apart from pole dancing. That was my third option but found they don't fund that anymore!