IT - Only in it for the Money?

[SpontaneousOrder]

As it seems that everyone thinks that it's hard to get a foot in the door (there was another thread too), I feel obliged to point out at this juncture, that if there were no minimum wage laws then perhaps this wouldn't be a problem

[SueEllen]

As it seems that everyone thinks that it's hard to get a foot in the door (there was another thread too), I feel obliged to point out at this juncture, that if there were no minimum wage laws then perhaps this wouldn't be a problem

Now they call them "internships" or "work experience".

[vwdan]

I made the mistake of doing an arty one but the aforementioned "actual interest in IT" meant I could switch sides once I'd got my foot in the door of the first place... bloody hard getting that first bit of 'experience' though!

Urgh, I'd almost forgotten those months of applying for IT jobs before I finally landed my first ever "career" job. £11k a year at a school....

[SpontaneousOrder]

Now they call them "internships" or "work experience".

I don't know about internships, but I know from my father that apprenticeships are a real pain in the arse. His boss took a couple on (sheet metal fabrication) thinking it's be cheap labour, and my dad was one of the kid's mentors - or whatever you call them. Anyway - there seems to be ALOT of regulatory oversight and messing about to be done.

[MyUserName]

I am in IT because it has the best amount of money to work ratio. Other careers I toyed with were becoming an actuary or an accountant and an army officer (although when I was younger in Wales a friend offered to pay me money to visit people who had not paid on time for his product and explain the error of their ways with a claw hammer, I politely declined and explained they might have misjudged me slightly!).

It seemed simple, accountants and actuaries have to do loads of studying and exams whereas software engineers do not - army officers have a certain life style that comes with the job. They money is good enough in software and I rarely get shot it, in fact never at work, hence I became a software engineer.

[minestrone]

If working in a shop paid contractor rates I would work in a shop.

It is the never ending array of halfwits and the legacy of halfwits past that fooks me off about IT.

[tomtomagain]

If working in a shop paid contractor rates I would work in a shop.

It is the never ending array of halfwits and the legacy of halfwits past that fooks me off about IT.

Yeah. Shop workers never have to deal with halfwits.

[minestrone]

Yeah. Shop workers never have to deal with halfwits.

I dunno, I worked in quite a few shops and did that for a number of years, I don't remember thinking "did I just hear that?" or "what complete cretin came up with that idea?" on an almost hourly basis.

[MyUserName]

I dunno, I worked in quite a few shops and did that for a number of years, I don't remember thinking "did I just hear that?" or "what complete cretin came up with that idea?" on an almost hourly basis.

When I was a petrol station cashier I was once confronted by a person who insisted on paying by card but refused to give me her card number.

[Sysman]

I don't know about internships, but I know from my father that apprenticeships are a real pain in the arse. His boss took a couple on (sheet metal fabrication) thinking it's be cheap labour, and my dad was one of the kid's mentors - or whatever you call them. Anyway - there seems to be ALOT of regulatory oversight and messing about to be done.

A colleague had that in the eighties. He had a company supplying accountancy solutions for small companies and thought that it might be an good idea to give someone a bit of work experience.

The red tape was a nightmare, including a check from the Elf 'n' Safety lot to see if his premises were suitable.

He wasn't going to bother again.

Meanwhile my local double glazing chap was using the Youth Employment scheme quite cynically for cheap labour and getting away with it. When one lot had done their stint he'd declare them all useless so that he didn't have to create any proper paying jobs and ask for another lot to be sent.