IT Work Experience

IT Work Experience - Need work experience? - make your own!

Probably the hardest aspect of breaking into the computing industry is the no IT work experience catch-22 even for entry level positions.

More and more employers are demanding high level certifications and periods of time spent in a customer facing role. The key here is that experience in a customer facing role does not necessarily have to have been in a computer support related customer facing role.

My observations of the job market, role requirements and interview questions have led me to the realisation that there are very few resources for computer first jobbers to develop the interpersonal skills which are as important as technical knowledge when it comes to IT work experience.

The IT training market is saturated with training companies offering courses which will get you your certification in a short amount of time and promise a high paying job after it. What they neglect to mention however is the salary they match to the certification is typical of someone with that certification + 5 years IT work experience.

For someone looking for an entry level job certification is important but you need to develop hands on abilities relevant to your perspective role to get your foot in the door.

IT Work Experience - Developing ‘People’ skills experience

For the sake of this discussion I’d like to concentrate on support roles with a view to progression into system/network administration. These entry level positions really are the front line of user support. As you move up the ladder in your IT work experience the less end user support you will see. But to start out you will be the first point of contact for users/clients with IT problems.

Let’s assume that you’ve acquired a certification or two so you’re technically qualified and ready to apply for some entry level jobs. Before you do however ask yourself the questions below.

Should you need to develop some IT work experience of the above traits please follow the links for each question for more detailed advice on what to do:

The chances are you possess all of the above skills and have used them at some stage of your life. You need to be prepared to provide examples of when you have demonstrated them at what the outcome was. Interviewers like to ask for specific examples so you need to have them ready.

IT work experience is more than knowing how to respond to error messages, you're dealing with people - who need their computers fixed or they'll get behind on their work!

IT Work Experience - Getting technical experience.

There are a few ways to approach this issue, depending on whether you have any IT work experience or not. To start with you will have to be prepared to work for free for a period of time:

1. Government/welfare arranged work experience.

If you are unemployed you can do what I did and ask your local government welfare office to send you on a training course and/or work experience placements. Even if you have a certification already you will most probably find you need to do the course to get the IT work experience so take it even if you feel you’re overqualified for the course.

This is how I got my big break and found myself working in a global blue chip financial institution, as it is the way I got onto the ladder I’d suggest you make it your first port of call.

2. Charity/Non-profit Organisations.

If you have the time it’s well worth looking up your local charities and other non profit organisations and asking them if they have need of your expertise.

Even if they don’t you can still ask them if you can hang around and shadow their IT people for some IT work experience. Offer to help out with any other non technical tasks in return for some hands on computer work experience.

This will compliment your resume quite nicely as an added bonus, you’ll appear proactive, perspective employers will look favourably on this step and the charity will benefit from your contributions. Everyone’s a winner. Volunteering your services for free can often turn into a paid position - that's how I started and I know that's how many other people have as well.

If you’re in a job already and looking to switch career this can be done on the weekends.

3. Offer to work for free to jobs that turn you down.

If you apply for a job, get to the interview and do not get offered the job it is essential that you get as much constructive feedback as to why you were turned down.

You have nothing to lose by offering to work for free in return for some IT work experience and it doesn’t have to be full time.

4. Advertise your repair/installation services locally.

This is a good way to get some IT work experience and references although the competition can be quite fierce. If you are not getting responses to your advertising efforts it’s an idea to find out who your competition is and ask them if they need any help.

Again if they say no offer to work for free in exchange for some IT work experience and hopefully a reference, they might take you on if you make yourself useful enough.

I spent 3 years being outsourced to small businesses and single home users and it was a steep learning curve. There is no IT work experience quite like supporting small businesses. All of the people skills mentioned above come into play more so than they do in an office environment.

It’s important to be absolutely clear about the tasks you are there to perform and have agreed this with the client before starting any work. The best way to do this is to develop a site visit form detailing your work instructions, the hourly rate/cost per job and ensure that the client - and you - are happy with this and that you are both on the same page.

In my outsourcing days the most common form of client dissatisfaction was the lack of concrete understanding on how long a job was to take, what tasks were to be performed and an agreed price.

On these types of visits the client will almost always come up with extra little jobs they need doing in that “Oh while you’re here my printer has started making this noise”… type of way.

I learnt more about managing expectations, documenting my work, communicating technical problems in non-technical terms and general people skills from this type of work than I ever did in a large office environment.

It’s a fact of life that people will always want something for nothing, while they have got you there they will ask you to squeeze in all sorts of jobs that you’re not there to do and after you’ve left they will phone up and complain that you broke something (you probably didn’t even touch) and they want you back to fix it ASAP.

Too many times I had to field complaints about “since you came to fix ‘x’- ‘y’ has stopped working, you’re the last person have been here it can only have been you”. 9 times out of 10 ‘y’ was already broken and the client was seizing the opportunity to squeeze in a freebie.

This is why a site visit form is essential because it details the work to be carried out and proves what you have potentially broken or not. A typical site visit form should look similar to this:

Of course if you have time to do extra tasks that they ask you to do add them to the sheet, agree the price adjustment and do it when you are happy that this is all clear. If you don’t have time schedule a repeat visit to do the tasks. If the tasks are more urgent than the original tasks you are there for agree how to adjust the visit form accordingly.

Be sure to look out for extra potential jobs, feel free to point out ways to improve your client’s IT set up if you see a potential for additional work. These types of clients will see you as a source of knowledge and ask you for recommendations, never pass up the opportunity to go the extra mile.

In these situations you find yourself going from 'fixing' to 'consulting' - now there's a great word :) - And by recommending how someone applies IT to their business (no matter how small) you're doing it.

Above all - be professional and proactive in every aspect of the job.

If you develop this work ethic and make it a given way of doing things you will impress the socks off of any interviewer without having to try.

Again I’ll stress the most important rule #1 regarding working for home users and very small businesses:

Do NOT start work until both parties are 100% clear on the nature of the visit, the tasks to be undertaken, the hourly rate/job cost and that both parties are 100% happy.

If you exercise the above method you will develop working practices that will positively shine in a job interview. When asked to give an example of when you have exercised people skills you’ll bowl them over.

The above practices will make you into more than someone who is knowledgeable about computers and can fix things; you’re now a highly efficient service provider with a professional work ethic. Be sure to relate this clearly on your resume and to anyone you approach for paid/unpaid work.

To review the client facing skill questions please follow the links below: