I.C.T Tech's/Engineers.

[Joel]

Hello everyone, im going to change Career.. Ive always been interested in doing I.C.T, i quiet like the thought of doing it in a school. Can People tell me what money is like for "Trainee's" and what sort of working Hours.. ETC.

thanks Joel

[summeh]

ICT as in Information Communication & Technology ?

Trainee doing what... It's a big area if that's what your on about.

[Daz.]

Thats impossible to answer!

You'll have to be far more specific to get any relevant answers - you say you fancy doing it in school? Tech's aren't very well paid in schools. how old are you? that will dictate costs and times that you can achieve.

[darkfibre]

I was an ICT techie for a year in a school in London between 2004 and 2005. It was only myself and one other person running the whole place...it got kinda hectic at times!! Everyone wants to be a priority, and the heat is definitely turned on if the teacher or support staff is running a class that depends on the ICT equipment working!!

As an ICT tech, I covered basically ALL technologies there, from AD/servers to SmartBoards.

We were very short staffed (only 2 people) but if you have a good partner who you can read well (and read you back in return) it can make things a lot easier. I was fortunate enough to have an excellent co-worker and we got a lot of things done.

So to summarise:

Pros:

- Learn a lot
- Great place to get your 'foot in the door'
- The kids are a laff
- Much more relaxed than working for a large corp (e.g. Finance)
- Get to suggest, introduce and implement new technologies into the school
- Very hands on
- FREE LUNCHES!!


Cons:

- Feckin busy!
- My contracted hours were 08:30 to 17:00, but often got in much earlier and stayed much later to get things done. Working hours can be longer than usual, but expect that if you're getting into I.T...I.T is awake 24/7.
- Pressure can be high at times (but not as high as in Finance...I know! Hours put in are even worse in Finance lol)
- Pay can be quite low. I reckon London nowadays pay's anywhere between 17-23K (low for London).
- Not usually any room to 'climb up the career ladder', since there are usually no other specialist IT depts other than yourself and your local team, but it is a good place to start.

I work for a corp now, left because I thought it was about time to start climbing that 'ladder', but looking back, I'd say it was one of my more enjoyable places to work, and that counts for a lot in my book.

[Joel]

Thanks Matey, Decided and thought and ill stay as an electrician, due to come out of my time in 6months then ill be fully qualified. then thinking of working for myself. :D

[fasterthanjesus]

try testing instead.

pays more and you dont need to be a complete whizz.

[Joel]

You Mean Electrical testing and inspecting?

i have a mate doing that £36k a Year, Im Just learning it at the moment.

[fasterthanjesus]

it testing

[Joel]

kk

[Mark One]

big monies in cisco mate. Try and get into that. I think I might. Particularly Cisco telephony (IP phones - VoIP)

I'm working for a company in watford at the moment for a summer job. I'm 20 and I have a company car and a damn good wage with o/t. This is just inbetween years at uni!
So a little network TCP/IP knowledge can get you a long way.