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Previously on "Next Contract Career move"

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  • northernladuk
    replied
    Originally posted by slinkydonkey View Post
    I agree in some perm roles you can work your way up but in my experience in particular large Corporate US companies where the IT access is strictly controlled it is getting increasingly harder too.
    Oddly i started off in a large Corporate US company and as long as showed the willing I could go where I wanted. They seemed a lot more invested in their staff and skills, particulary if they were an IT outsourcing company. You gaining skills means they can bill you out for more. Win win. This was a good number of years ago though.

    In my last perm role I started off enthusiastic and I was given an opportunity to learn SalesForce. However found it impossible to manage the day to day running of the helpdesk with consistant interruptions as well as do the SalesForce side. Eventually they took that away from me without even a word. (don't want to make excuses but my dyslexia didn't help as the interruptions make it hard to concentrate).
    No chance of learning Salesforce in your own time? IMO 'Learning Salesforce' isn't a skill. It's knowledge of a product. What you do with that knowledge is key. You should be looking at what you want to do and learning that skill, like PM, BA, SDM. You can do any of these regardless of the product.

    I'm not sugarcoating it but it could take you years, particularly if you want to get to a level you can contract again. You need to get on a career path, not a job change.

    Often with perm roles the longer you have been their the move work responsibilities they add to your job role. My manager in my last role turned out to be a narcissist and used to say how great he was and "you won't believe how much money I am on". So was a little be draining.

    But yes overall you are right I can't be paid for skills you don't have. I did work for a little IT Consultancy before joining my last perm role. I should have stayed! lesson to be learned!
    So what you need to do is forget the job you are doing. It's now irrelvant. You have those skills. You now need to avoid the Peter Prinicple which says that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to their "level of incompetence": employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another.

    So you are a desktop bod looking to move in to a role you can't do. You need to get the job spec of the role you want to move in to and start learning the competancies around that job. Somehow start trying to do the position you want to move on. It may need a whole new set of competancies so you need to start learning those in the role you are in so you are already competant (to a degree) at the next role making the transition easier. First and foremost is knowing where you want to go. If you know that you know what you need to learn.

    Just working hard at the role you are in will get you no where. You need to be ready for the next role, even if you are crap at the one you do. Most of what you learnt in your old job won't mean much when you move. Things might have changed but the big America co's did used to invest in their staff and allowed upward mobility more than some others but there must be plenty of other companies that also do that.

    Maybe try a Public Sector employer as well. They are all about moving people about, giving opportunity and the welfare of their staff etc. If your dyslexia is a problem it's a lot less likely to be an issue in a PS role as well as they spend a lot more time on equality and fairness than private do. There are good and bad PS employers of course but the two PS gigs I've had seemed very good places to learn in.
    Last edited by northernladuk; 21 June 2021, 21:06.

    Leave a comment:


  • hobnob
    replied
    I agree with what other people are saying about going perm. At my last two contracts, I've seen people who started out on the service desk and then moved into other teams (e.g. server support). However, this will work better at a larger company (e.g. an MSP) where they actually have separate teams, rather than a smaller company where they have 2-3 IT staff who do a bit of everything.

    Originally posted by slinkydonkey View Post
    Back in the early day I did do an MCP in Windows XP which was very hard but I did enjoy it. Just when it came to doing the Windows Server MCP I looked at the thousands of pages of brain dumps and gave up.
    Just to be clear, when people talk about "brain dumps", that usually means "a website with copies of the exam questions", i.e. they're cheating. So, I advise you to avoid them.

    If you want to try Microsoft certification again, their Fundamentals exams (e.g. MS-900 for Microsoft 365 and AZ-900 for Azure) are pretty straightforward. The training material is all free of charge on the Microsoft website, and the exams cost £69 which is pretty cheap. If you do a (free) virtual training day for Azure Fundamentals, you can get a voucher to do the exam free of charge too.

    Building on that, do you have a custom domain for your limited company? If you get one and link it to an Exchange Online account, that's a way to get more experience with configuration, and it will only cost you £3.80/month for a single mailbox.

    Leave a comment:


  • ukmercenary
    replied
    Originally posted by cojak View Post
    A recent company I worked with retrained all it's desktop support staff in Azure Platform Operations.

    When the pandemic hit all who looked elsewhere able to find job with other companies (they weren't made redundant, but furlough made them reconsider their options).
    Wow whey where lucky and unlucky all in one! Yes that is an option. I have paid for Linkedin Learning for a year so can see if that is of interest.

    Leave a comment:


  • cojak
    replied
    Originally posted by _V_ View Post
    Just chucking ideas out there. Your current experience is Desktop. How about specialising in SecOps? With all the cyberattacks and cybercrime there is emphasis on securing networks, OS and applications.

    If you could obtain this cert? https://www.comptia.org/faq/security...-security-exam

    Learn patch management tools https://www.dnsstuff.com/wsus-alternative-tools

    I believe this would be a more premium skill and move you over to security teams, which would be your first step into the SecOps world.

    And this is a good option as well...

    Leave a comment:


  • cojak
    replied
    A recent company I worked with retrained all it's desktop support staff in Azure Platform Operations.

    When the pandemic hit all who looked elsewhere able to find job with other companies (they weren't made redundant, but furlough made them reconsider their options).

    Leave a comment:


  • ukmercenary
    replied
    Originally posted by northernladuk View Post

    This!

    You are gonna have to go perm and graft your way in to something you want to do. I'd hazard a guess many of us started from similar(ish) beginnings but it was never going to be anything more than a start so stayed perm and worked through it. By becoming a contractor you've pigeonholed yourself and cut of any career growth.

    You are paid for what you can do, nothing more. There is no career moving in contracting. You cannot be paid for skills you do not have as it seems you have found out.

    Personally I'd say find a gig doing what you do in a large organisation and then smash the career opportunities as hard as you can. Many companies have staff in more senior positions that started off in first line so it's the perfect springboard. You've just got to do a lot of work and have a dose of luck to move. As bad as we think permie reviews are I think they are your friend now as you can discuss your aspirations with your manager or mentor. If they are worth anything they'll do what they can to move and improve you.

    If you've not moved in a year or two then switch it round and just become a massive pain in the ass. It's easier to promote people that are a problem than it is to sack them

    I agree in some perm roles you can work your way up but in my experience in particular large Corporate US companies where the IT access is strictly controlled it is getting increasingly harder too. In my last perm role I started off enthusiastic and I was given an opportunity to learn SalesForce. However found it impossible to manage the day to day running of the helpdesk with consistant interruptions as well as do the SalesForce side. Eventually they took that away from me without even a word. (don't want to make excuses but my dyslexia didn't help as the interruptions make it hard to concentrate).

    Often with perm roles the longer you have been their the move work responsibilities they add to your job role. My manager in my last role turned out to be a narcissist and used to say how great he was and "you won't believe how much money I am on". So was a little be draining.

    But yes overall you are right I can't be paid for skills you don't have. I did work for a little IT Consultancy before joining my last perm role. I should have stayed! lesson to be learned!

    Leave a comment:


  • northernladuk
    replied
    Originally posted by ladymuck View Post
    It's not easy (not impossible either) to move into a different role as a contractor, as mostly you're hired to do what you do rather than learn something new. So, I'd be looking for a strategic permie move with a company that will get you either experience or training (ideally both) and give you scope to try out different roles to work out what it is you want to do.

    Have a think about where your interests and skills lie - business analyst may not be great for your dyslexia as there can be a lot of documentation but if analytics is something you're good at there's other analysis roles out there which may be a better fit.
    This!

    You are gonna have to go perm and graft your way in to something you want to do. I'd hazard a guess many of us started from similar(ish) beginnings but it was never going to be anything more than a start so stayed perm and worked through it. By becoming a contractor you've pigeonholed yourself and cut of any career growth.

    You are paid for what you can do, nothing more. There is no career moving in contracting. You cannot be paid for skills you do not have as it seems you have found out.

    Personally I'd say find a gig doing what you do in a large organisation and then smash the career opportunities as hard as you can. Many companies have staff in more senior positions that started off in first line so it's the perfect springboard. You've just got to do a lot of work and have a dose of luck to move. As bad as we think permie reviews are I think they are your friend now as you can discuss your aspirations with your manager or mentor. If they are worth anything they'll do what they can to move and improve you.

    If you've not moved in a year or two then switch it round and just become a massive pain in the ass. It's easier to promote people that are a problem than it is to sack them

    Leave a comment:


  • malvolio
    replied
    LM has the right answer (unlike the other two). Reskilling by certificate won't work, you need experience, especially in the brave new world you are in these days.

    Grit you teeth and look for a perm role with one of the better system integrators (SCC are quite good, for one) and work up the ladder until you have something properly saleable. That is also your only route to working outside IR35 in future.

    Leave a comment:


  • vetran
    replied
    Don't get out of bed for less than £100k that is exploitation. Lay off the Avocados as they make you fat.



    Cloud seems to be the future, get a few certs ~$300, babble about cost savings and kerching! Tell everyone you did cloud as last cient.

    If you can't bear changing passwords your future is not in desktop support.


    Alternatively office365 & PowerXYZ Powershell is hot).



    Leave a comment:


  • _V_
    replied
    Just chucking ideas out there. Your current experience is Desktop. How about specialising in SecOps? With all the cyberattacks and cybercrime there is emphasis on securing networks, OS and applications.

    If you could obtain this cert? https://www.comptia.org/faq/security...-security-exam

    Learn patch management tools https://www.dnsstuff.com/wsus-alternative-tools

    I believe this would be a more premium skill and move you over to security teams, which would be your first step into the SecOps world.


    Leave a comment:


  • ladymuck
    replied
    It's not easy (not impossible either) to move into a different role as a contractor, as mostly you're hired to do what you do rather than learn something new. So, I'd be looking for a strategic permie move with a company that will get you either experience or training (ideally both) and give you scope to try out different roles to work out what it is you want to do.

    Have a think about where your interests and skills lie - business analyst may not be great for your dyslexia as there can be a lot of documentation but if analytics is something you're good at there's other analysis roles out there which may be a better fit.

    Leave a comment:


  • ukmercenary
    started a topic Next Contract Career move

    Next Contract Career move

    Just looking for some general guidance. I've been working in IT since 2001 starting on an IT Helpdesk then to Desktop Support and to various roll out jobs.
    My last perm role was over 4 years and most recently gone into a Windows 10 roll out.

    It's not been the most exciting career but it's paid my bills. However I have always struggled to specialize in IT or to move into 3rd line support / system admin even today I have an interview for a 3rd line support role. However after 10 minutes I new I was a bad fit after asking him some typical support questions the job holder would require to do.

    I could very easily jump back into another desktop support or 2ndline support role. However having to deal with end users over the phone all day particularly password reset issue is tantamount to torture. I recently finished my Open University Degree in Business and IT however nothing has really changed Career wise.

    Back in the early day I did do an MCP in Windows XP which was very hard but I did enjoy it. Just when it came to doing the Windows Server MCP I looked at the thousands of pages of brain dumps and gave up. I'm mildly dyslexic and have always struggled with exams at the best of times.

    I am trying to think what to do next if I keep doing the same thing and expect a different result that is insanity right?
    My options are:
    Do nothing and just look forward to retirement in about 20ish years..
    Try to do a SWOT Analysis on my skills. Example my Server Skills are pool and perhaps create a test lab to improve them or do a training course.
    Try to specialize in Mac OSX deployment (Jamf Pro) or Microsoft Azure
    Get out of IT and move more into a Business related filed, example Business Analyst, Marketing Analyst.

    How have people on here got out of 1st and 2nd line support. (Dealing with obnoxious end users). And do you genuinely like 3rd line?

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