Reply to: Getting That FIRST CONTRACT

[MarillionFan]

A week

As I said, everyone reckons they're experts in a week. Bit like .Net for dummies really.

Its all the other worldly experience that goes with it which comes which only comes with experience that makes you the cash, unless your a tulip hot developer or in a high paid niche market.

[malvolio]

Actually I can do it, although I haven't bothered for a few years - took about week to learn it, since I was already fairly well up on consultancy, data analysis techniques and programming: call it a side-effect of thrity years IT...

But you are sort of right - the real money is in the analysis side, but that's not someone fresh out in the world is going to be offered, is it? And £400 a day - whoa, wish I could earn that much

[MarillionFan]

Not Proper IT

The ladies on the board have a point Imran. Crystal is not 'proper' IT which is why they can all do it and I get paid £400p/d for doing it while they all scrape around for a living. (Milan & Threaded excluded).

Its not the actual use of the product that is difficult, its the consultancy, project management, business analysis, training and provision of solutions that is the Value Add which 9/10 cannot do. Thats whats worth it.

Any idiot can write a report same as any idiot can write 'Hello World' and call themselves a developer.

MF ("Crystal God").

[Xenophon]

Good man Voron. Awfully considerate of you.

[voron]

Thats because you are a shining light of professionalism and competence in a sector proliferated by lemons.

Why thank you, Xenophon. You may have some jelly and ice cream.

And when the frustation of public sector contracting finally causes me to flip and run amok naked with an AK47, rest assured I will remember your words and spare you.

[iib900316a]

OK, so now it seems as though i'm on the right track,

If anyone has any Crystal Reports work that needs doing......give me a shout!

Thanks All,

Imran the Crystal Reports Man!

[Xenophon]

I've never had a permie role but I've managed to progress to management.

Thats because you are a shining light of professionalism and competence in a sector proliferated by lemons.

[voron]

One thing I would say is that if you ever want to go into management it's very hard to do that purely by contracting, so it might be worth putting in about 5 years perm first in that case.

I've never had a permie role but I've managed to progress to management.

[malvolio]

Oh right, so that's what I've been doing wrong for the last 35 years.

It's seems it's easy really - the job will be there, just take it and skip on to something completely different when you get bored. But if I have to say if I really wanted to get into serious development work and database architecture, I personally wouldn't want to start with a bitsa semi-4GL report writing tool as my core expertise. But clearly I'm wrong. I really thought I understood what IT was all about. Obviously not.

What a pillock.

[thunderlizard]

Imran, I reckon you're on track. I started contracting mid-Uni doing something similar to Crystal Reports writing, have never been perm and am doing tolerably well. In contracting it's pretty easy to move from, say, report writing to development to architecture because you move between projects so quickly. Anyway what'll probably happen (as you seem to have sussed) is you'll get fed up of Crystal reports writing after a couple of years.

Let the hobby-horse people witter on about "proper IT". Stick to giving the customers what they want and you'll be first to the decent projects.

One thing I would say is that if you ever want to go into management it's very hard to do that purely by contracting, so it might be worth putting in about 5 years perm first in that case.

[Lucifer Box]

By the way, who is Arkwright?

The board's resident shopkeeper, MarillionFan. Now I think about it, I recall his Crystal reports requirement was shoved up his last client's arse, but if you're in the market for some furniture he can probably sort you out.

[iib900316a]

Thanks all,

It makes things much clearer for me.

I feel alot more confident now

LOL

By the way, who is Arkwright?

...is there a way I can search him?

Thanks again,

Imran.

[Lucifer Box]

BO will be dead and buried and everyone will be onto "the next thing" by the time you have a few years' experience under your belt. Don't specialise too early. A broad suite of general skills will serve you better in your first couple of years (at least).

Anyways, wasn't Arkwright looking for someone to do some Crystal reports for him?

[iib900316a]

Hmm, interesting... thanks mal. Looks like I will have to reconsider my options.

Thanks,

Imran.

[malvolio]

It's not IT because all you're doing is building something limited on someone else's data.

Real IT is about either application development (all of it, not just coding) or Service Management (which they don't even understand at Uni/College). Even the glory boys in web development are actually still doing applications, but with a much prettier face (the results, not the developers, that is, although I know a couple of exceptions..) Locking yourself into any specialisation that is not core IT when you don't yet understand what IT is about may look easy but it isn't and it's not going to pay the mortgage in five year's time.
You want to be contractor, learn the basics, or you'll either get eaten or left behind. Graduate training might look like more college grind, but it will teach you the basic skills that, no matter how good your degree, you just haven't got.