Scooby-kid

Hello Everyone, now before we start, I don't want this to turn into a who has the best job thread.

I am 15 years of age, and I'm starting to think of a realistic career path, I think I would like to work in IT, but I'm not 100% sure.

This is were I would like SccobyNet to help me out a bit - Could you please post your proffesion/line of work, your postion in the company, how much you earn per hour, how much a year and any general comments about how you got there, what you are qualified in and how much you enjoy it.

Once again, this is not a thread to boast in, but one in which you can help Britains youth - this bit of British youth in particular is not a chav, keeps on the right side of the law, and most of all, he wants to do well in life and make somthing of himself.

Thanks to everyone who replies, I will welcome any contribution big or small.
Scott.

Sonic'

I hope you clicked the I am under 18 years of age option when you signed up

I would rather not put my salary on here, but it isnt enough, and not as much as I used to be on

I am in IT though, as a Senior Network engineer, some days its Manager (when the MD wants something doing, or something isn't going quite right)

The plus side is I work locally now, so travel is pretty good most days

I have an MCP, MCSA and MCSE, I dont enjoy it as much these days, but then its more the kind of work I do that makes it not as enjoyable as it used to be

I got there by learning lots and gaining valuable experience, I only got the exams years afterwards as there was never really a need to other than maintaining Gold Partnership status with Microsoft, but then I don't just do Microsoft, have done lots of Novell (not so much Netware file & print, mainly all the other stuff, DirXML, iChain, single sign on etc, Citrix, Cisco, and lots of 3com Managed Wireless)

Company I work for currently is primarily education with some corporate work, but we are an ISP also, and do a lot in Radio Internet, and own a few masts around the country, and have linked every council and school building in Anglesey via Radio

andy_s37

Scott, i'm not too sure people will want to post how much they earn but you never know.

I did an engineering apprenticeship (rather than uni) once I finished my A levels and it was the best thing i ever did. I was getting paid for learning and picking up new qualifications. I must admit the pay wasn't fantastic but it was better than getting into debt and would highly recommend an apprenticeship if you can find one and are so inclined.

I spent 4 years in a chemical factory as a multi-skilled process operator and have recently moved into the power industry. I'm 27 and run a 50MW powerstation all on my lone-some. The moneys good and I work 2 days, 2 night, 6 off. The nights can be a bit long but i have scoobynet to keep me company .

Hope this helps
Andy.

sti-04!!

My advice to anyone that is wanting to make themself some money is to get into the building trade, its hard work but the guys that i have had doing some work at the house tell me it pays off.

The Dogs B******s

I'm on £12 an hour and dont really care if anyone's on more than me.It pays the morgage and fills the scooby.

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

Ask what people earn on here and 90% say £100k+

little-ginge

Scott - just wanted to say you sound like a level headed, and decent young man - well done you, and good luck with whatever career path you choose!

Now I've made myself feel as old as most of the old duffers on here

SiDHEaD

IT Technician doin the role of an IT manager, but without the pay - 25k

Got various courses under my belt, but not big named things like MSCE etc.

Currently training to be PRINCE2 certified so I can apply for IT manager roles when we relocate later in the year.

LG John

What I would give to be your age again and facing this choice. I went to uni because it just seemed to be the 'thing to do'. I got a degree and then a professional qualification and finally a job and have been miserable and bored for 6 years since.

The best advice you will ever here is this, and it's my advice: "Sod wages, stuff 'position' or any other perks you may perceive in a job or career. Sit down and think of something you would enjoy doing for about 50 years and do that"

Seriously, no amount of money or status will keep you going for that long unless you enjoy it. Find something you are passionate about and see if you can relate it to a job or career

eldudereno

What he said!!!

hades

I also agree - money certainly isn't everything. Work in engineering, and have done a lot of engineering project management in the past. 2-3 years ago I was working 12 days every 14 away from home, at often 10-12 hours day over pretty much April to September. Think I got something like £17k on top of my (respectable but not ridiculously high) basic salary in overtime alone one year, but I never got any time to myself over the summer, had lots of leave to take in the winter and my social life consisted of staying in the hotel bar with work colleagues, and I often got a lot of hassle when people who were earning more than me but working on my projects ****ed things up.

Now I'm doing a job with similar basic pay, no overtime, flexitime and a lot more technically interesting things to do. With no overtime, the money's noticably less, but it's plnty to enjoy life with. More relevantly I enjoy work, and have the time to enjoy a good social life and great girlfriend, neither of which I had before.

CrisPDuk

What ever profession you chose to go into, go into it with an eye on moving abroad in the future
The UK is on it's ar$e, and it's only going to get worse with Flash holding the ropes

Jerome

I'm an IT Consultant. I consider IT to be the best ratio of least effort to most money.

If you choose IT, I would recommend getting a relevant degree. Firstly, because many companies still insist on you being degree qualified. Secondly, if you change to another career, a degree will come in handy. Thirdly, you'll have a great time at uni. Fourthly, if you ever move abroad, a degree is always recognised, many other qualifications aren't.

As for salary, I'm not sure what permies get, but IT contractors with 5+ years of decent experience, can get £350 or more per day in London. Get yourself some financial experience and the daily rate can go up to £700 a day for the creme de la creme. No idea what the rate is up North.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

i wouldnt worry about it. im on just over £10 p/h working nights in a distribution warehouse. the mrs is on less than £6 p/h and she works in abacon factory. i dont particularily care who earns what, but if i got a break with my commission work, i could make a lot more. as you say currently it pays the mortgage, fills the car up, and deters the baliffs for another week.

Chris L

I'd pretty much agree with Jerome. I've been in IT consulting for about 14 years. When I joined degrees weren't always necessary because a) I worked my way up from the bottom and b) there was a very limited choice of relevant IT-related degrees (and c: I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do!).

To be honest, a lot of IT is fairly boring and repetitive, so my suggestion would be to look at a specific area, such as security. IT security is always needed, it's ever changing (and therefore interesting and challenging), so you always learn new stuff and it's in demand.

There are also a number of specific degrees (Royal Holloway's MSc course is one of the best and considered the de-facto standard if you want to go into the real techie application / penetration testing side of the industry).

Education and qualifications are essential - it's very competitive now as the salary packages are very good. Get yourself some programming experience, learn Unix / Linux - immerse yourself in it - it's the only way to really get to grips with the topic and really understand it.

I now consult on secure email systems and secure transport technologies - it does require a wide knowledge of IT - something that only comes with experience - so don't expect to walk into jobs paying mega bucks on day one.

My package keeps my head above water (several times the national average, with decent bonus, car, private health / dental care / life insurance / pension etc) and I get to travel a fair bit (not as glamorous as it sounds, but you get to work in some interesting places). If you're good then there are some excellent wages being paid - top line experienced app testers can earn up to £80K and there is a decent amount of very well paid contract work available - esoecially in the financial institutions in the City.

The Snug Rhino

Finacial Advice/sales

Run my own little firm but spent first 5 years working for a big life assurance company (being doing it 11 years)

Didnt need qualifactions to get started (like any sales job - my GCSE's have NEVER been out of the envelope they came in from the school...no one has ever asked about them!) Need a few industry exams but all easy stuff.

HUGE amount of turnover as most people dont like selling anything, but if you can stick with it the pay can be good (depends what you sell of course!)

I made £70k in my fist year and £100k in the 2nd. Now make signifiacntly more but have the hassle of running a compnay.

Wouldnt do it for normal money but it has its fun days (sort of!)

pwhittle

I did Computing (HND) at uni (my only regret!), as I went at the last minute through clearing, and couldn't think what to do.

Started on £11k 9 years ago, and ended (in IT)on £20 4 years ago. Never gained the specialist experience everyine wants, as I was doing very general jobs. Then got the chance of a totally different job, without moving chairs, and a 30% payrise.
Still only £12 ish ph thoug, but ooop North, that's a decent salary. In london it's hardly get you a bus driver.

looked at going back to IT, as I'm pretty stuck where I am, but just don't have the experience to keep my salray.

Now setting up a photography business, which will pay me diddly-squat, but I'll be working for myself, which is what I've always wanted.

Once you get enough to pay the bills withour worrying, money really becomes less important IMHO. There's loads of folk on here who couldn't imagine running a mortgage and family on £28k, but we manage fine, and I get home before 5:30 everyday.

SJ_Skyline

- Maths, Physics & Chemistry A level.
- Degree in computing and business.
- 10 years in IT (developer, team leader and project manager for small, medium and large companies).
- ISO9000 and CMMI exams last year.
- Currently working QA for a large IT consultancy.
- Next role... who knows?
- Salary... I'm happy with what I earn.


For the last few years IT has been moving away from systems integration work and into value-added, ongoing service delivery. So whilst there are large organisations (like us) taking on graduates all the time, there is increased competition from new offshore consultancies (like Tech Mahindra) who can come in and totally undercut the market. I can't really see where it's all headed but there are two things for certan: 1. Organisations will continue to require "IT" 2. The IT market will continue to have to tighten its belt over the next few years.

OllyK

Depends which IT market you're in. Standards based system integration and interoperability IS the big thing at the moment in the sector that I work in.

Matteeboy

LOADS of IT bods here!!

I got an Engineering degree and have had about 345352335235 jobs since Uni, mostly in sales but also all sorts from site and farm labouring to running a division of a large fresh produce trading company.

Now doing run a sales and PR company with my wife - flexible, run from home, pays well, varied and interesting work, ideal for arrival of a baby in November!

David Lock

I think if I were you I'd not worry too much about your career path at this stage but rather follow your general strengths in educational subjects and probably stay on for the 6th form. Uni is probably worth it, not least because of the fun you can have whilst doing a bit of learning. Unless you have a steadfast ambition of something you are determined to pursue, in which case go for it. I would put a strong marker up for travel as it's so easy and relativeley cheap these days; it does you good to see how the world lives. My son lived for the guitar from about 13 onwards. He left school after GCSEs and has just got a job teaching in schools (£23 ph) so he is as happy as Larry doing what he enjoys. My daughter now has a good uni degree and hasn't really got a clue as to what she wants to do but did really enjoy her 3 years.

Avoid being "guided" too much by parents. Someone said to me once that many people actually have 3 careers in their working life. Sounds odd but look around and there is a lot of truth in that. But you can't be faulted for thinking ahead so best of luck. d

Leslie

It is very important that you pick a career that you really enjoy working at. I believe that job satisfaction is more important than the salary. Lots of cash sounds very nice, but it does not replace looking forward to going to work because you like doing the job. If you enjoy a job you will do it much better anyway and that in itself creates opportunities.

As said above, concentrate for now on achieving good results in your studies, it is a bit early to specialise at the moment since it is surprising what kind of opportunities pop up that you were not expecting.

I was very lucky in that my parents let me make my own choices without trying to influence me. I loved my job even though the pay was not outstanding and never regretted taking it up.

Les

john_s

iTrader: (1)

My advice would be to choose something that you enjoy or are good at rather than you (or your parents) think might make for a good career path.

You're going to potentially be spending close to a third of your life for the next (maybe) 40 years. If you enjoy what you do, it's going to be a hell of a lot easier than if you're just there for what lands in the bank at the end of the month. There's more to life than money.

One thing I really wish I'd done was going travelling after my A levels. It wasn't really the sort of thing that I'd have done at the time (would have been completely out of character for me), but looking back, I think I'd have enjoyed it, and it would have given me more time to think about what I wanted to do rather than feeling that it was all but expected that I'd be going to uni.

John.

Ray_li

choose a career that you'll be happy doing as you will be spending 35-40 hours a weeks doing that job.

Money is not always that important but it does help

dreamer_girl

Not going to post what I earn, but it's pretty good imo.

I went into IT in 2001 (after graduating then going travelling for a year or so). I knew I wanted to work into networking, and got into Cisco. I spent 5 years there and now work for one of their biggest competitors.

Networking pays pretty well, and I work in pre-sales (systems engineer) specialising in security and WAN optimisation. Basically this means you aren't a proper hands-on spanner techie, but you aren't a fluffy sales person either.

If a customer wants to buy one of our products (anything from routing to firewalls, to WAN optimisation etc.), or generally wants to improve their network, they would have someone like me go to site, chat to them, help them re-design, recommend our products, set up evaluations and demo's etc., and generally assist with the technical side of the sales process.

It's pretty interesting work and can lead into management, technical marketing, pure sales etc. I've never had a "5 year plan" (and until the age of 19 I was studying music!) so this job is good for me.

Qualification-wise, I have a BA in Computing (lol yep a BA) and I would say the best (easiest) way to get into this career is to do a degree then get onto a graduate scheme at a decent company. Plenty of people don't bother with the degree and work their way up, but I reckon it's a lot easier this way. The degree is worthless in itself and I've never used the knowledge, but it gets you a foot in the door and onto the grad schemes. Beyond that, get some basic Cisco and/or Juniper qualifications and see if you can get some relevant work experience.

If you're seriously interested in networking then PM me and can chat more - no need to bore everyone else

PS - don't be in a rush to finalise your decision, and like someone said above - go travelling! I went for 14 months after graduation, never regretted it, and it's never held up my career. I know now I wouldn't be able to take that time out of work easily so it was a good decision to go then.

lightning101

Considering the price of a house for a first time buyer, I think money is VERY important. Anything from 5 to 10 times your salary to put a roof over your head doesn't really allow for some hippy dream job, unless you are happy living with your parents for another 15 years and never having a girlfriend

D.K.1

He is 15 years old L, he has time now to dip his toes in a few things until he decides which path he would like to take, before working his way into a better paid job and getting a mortgage etc, at his age, things like mortgages are probably the last thing on his mind, he has a good few years before he needs to think about things like that and by then he will probably be settled in a job he (hopefully) enjoys and has a wage he can't grumble at either

Whatever he decides to do, I wish him good luck

lightning101

He asked for MY experience, and in my experience, the people who are well off are the ones that got highly paid jobs when they left university/school and bought property almost immediately. How is someone who does one of those lower paying jobs able to get on a housing market that starts at £250k for a flat without moving to some scum ridden area of the country. Basically he is asking what path to take, so I am saying "the one that pays the most money, or you will live with your parents or in a scummy area where it's not condusive to bring up children or leave a nice car in the drive". Those last two are things that I couldn't do without.

If he does this when young, THEN he can pick and choose what he does later in life. I just don't see how people leaving school or college these days can manage at all

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

1.Get a degree. Get as much qualification as you can. These bits of paper are worthless in themselves but mean that most doors are open to you should you so wish. People with out a BA dont have quite so many options open to them. To counter that there are many people with out a degree doing very nicely for themselves. It just gives you many more options that is all.

2. IT, Law and Building seem to be two areas where money is to be made

3. Choose something you might enjoy. A MUST. Do you like being inside or outside? Have you hypothetically a passion for art? Then desigh could be a way to go etc etc? Think hard about who you are and what you like.

4. Fix an end goal. Again hypothetical. Say Design. I want to be running my own Design Consultancy employing around 10 people at the age of 30. Picture where you eventually want to be and then work backwards from that, as to how you can get there.
In this instance
1.get a degree in Graphic Design or Marketing
2.go and work for X Y or Z
3.Blah Blah
4. Etc
5. Etc
6.Hey I have set up my design consultancy at 30
You make plans and then life happens. But it is a good approach.

5. Unique-specialist understanding of a subject = money. People are usually buying your understanding as they don΄t have it themselves.



Steve

Karl 227

I make that three areas?

Anyway, I agree with L101, money does matter and the sooner you start earning a decent wage the better, not least because when you want to take the step of getting a well paid job you'll stand a far better chance of getting it if you have done something other than just "enjoying yourself" before hand, IMO.

Good luck with whatever you choose