Split Career PathsHere's my situation. I graduated from a tech school last spring in hopes of getting a better job. I've had some interviews, but nothing has been offered. My main problems seem to be the following: 1) Lack of experience; & 2) I have a diploma, NOT a (Bachelors) degree. My current job is basically clerical. Recently, I'm being trained to do this womans job when she goes on maternity leave in a few months. Unfortunately, I hate it more than my regular duties and it has absolutely nothing do with what Iearned in school. And, to top it off, I'm beginning to forget what I learned in school because I don't use it at my job. I want to desperately leave the company itself because being a small company, there's no room for career advancement. And as I stated before, I HATE learning this other persons job. I feel I wasted too much time and there and I want to move on. And I'm willing to sacrafice and take another clerical type position elsewhere in hopes that one day there will be a IT postion open up and I can possibly advance up. Should I post my old resume which states the clerical position and just add the school I attended or use my updated resume which states I'm looking for a IT position? The later is probably overkill, but being I have no experience at a IT position, I'm still just a clerk. Any advice would be helpful! First does your school off placement assistance? If so this is the place I would start. I would ask what type of school you went to? Was it a technical school that actually resulted in a diploma? Or one that offered a certificate of completion? There is a difference. Here's some reality you probably won't want to hear. You need to hang on to the job you have until you find something better, no matter how much you hate it. It is going to be incredibly difficult for you to find another (better) professional office job with little experience in an office setting and no degree. Actually, it is interesting that you found one at all. It is going to be nearly impossible to find something in IT with no experience and no degree. Start by going back to the school's career center. Look at internships and job postings. Get their help with your resume and applications. In the meantime, find somewhere that you can volunteer to start building your IT skills. Most volunteer agencies need someone with these skills and it is a way to say that you really do know what you're doing. Get yourself enrolled somewhere to finish out your Bachelors. Even if you're just doing 1 or 2 classes a semester you can then put "BS in (whatever) anticipated graduation date 2010" on your resume. That's a HUGE help. Tess
Unfortunately, after being bought out by another school, my schools' job placement is awful! (This also being said by an ex-teacher.) It was a tech school. I received a diploma which I'm starting to realize from most people's opinion, means nothing.
I would see my response to LValDean in regards to my schools so called "Career Center". I even told my so called "advisor" I would be interested in internships right after I graduated. They seem to be non-existent. I've even looked on my own, and I must be living in the wrong state because the closest internships only exist in big cities. Closest to me, that would be NYC. But again, most require someone attending COLLEGE. I never heard of volunteer agencies. I don't think they exist here either. In response to you office position comment, I've been working in office environments for over 27 years thank you! So I'm not some teeny-bopper who just graduated from high school. But what I've learned far too late, working in a office for a small company, is a dead-end job. As one of the managers in my company stated to another employee, "You don't need a brain to do any job here." And yes, this is the kind of mentality I work with on a daily basis. For over 12 YEARS now. I'm sure you can see my desperation to move on. Diploma as in Associates degree? The difference in diploma versus certificate is that one is recognized as a degree from an accredited school and the other is not. That is the real question. There are so many out there that provide technical certificates that still don't really provide door openers. So the next question is what did you specialize in with this education? Networking? Programming? Portal Development? IT is a very broad path with lots of different jobs and career paths. For you to get your foot in the door you will need to narrow it down a bit. If you have been working in administrative jobs for 27 years you might be able to do this by blending what you already know with your recently acquired skills. Of course that you are in a smaller town, if I am reading your posts correctly, may make this more difficult. But there are some ways to look at this that maybe you aren't thinking of. I am guessing you know all the normal productivity tools like MS Office? What about Windows? Just a thought but have you thought about jobs like Desktop support services with a larger company that provide these services as a outsourcer? Companies like EDS, IBM, Siemens all do multi million dollar contracts for Desktop support services across the country. It is one way to get your foot in the door. You've been working for 27 years and never heard of volunteer agencies? You've never heard of Red Cross or Salvation Army, United Way, SPCA? You've never heard of the Boys & Girls Club, Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts? You don't have a church in your town or a synagog? You don't have a senior center or a child care center or a walk-a-thon for something or other? Give me a break. Nothing is going to fall from the sky, you're going to have to make it happen. You need to get experience and you need to increase your education. You need to be pro-active with your school's career center and force them to work for you, not just sit back and give up when they are weak. Since you're not a teeny- bopper, you should know how to assert yourself enough to get your due here. Start making good choices about your career and start being more active in making the change.
Tess GIVE ME A BREAK! IF YOU MEANT THESE TYPES OF PLACES, JUST SAY IT! I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU MATRICULATED FROM, BUT WHEN SOMEONE NORMALLY SAYS "AGENCY", I THINK OF A PLACEMENT AGENCY, A TRAVEL AGENCY..., SO DON'T BELITTLE ME!!! All I can say is that it's NOT an Associates degree. But supposingly, it is an accredited school because I would be able to transfer my credit to obtain an Associates. What I want to do, I'm not 100% sure. I'm leaning towards wireless administrator or Linux admin, but I know both are tough. My classes varies begining w/A+, to 2003/Exchange Server. XP, CISCO. There were all great (when the schools network was working), but you can't retain information in 6 week classes. One class would be A+, next would be 2003/Exhcnage server, then you'd go to Net+, then Linux, CISCO...It was kind of poorly organized. Ideally, yes, I wouldn't mind beginning with Desktop support, but again, no EXPERIENCE, NO JOB. But I did hear if you have A+ cert, you have a better chance to get a help desk job. Unfortunatly, back then, I didn't get one because of money problems, so I am planning to take the exam in the coming months. | |
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