Getting a job these days...

[KermitTheFrag]

Anyone got any tips/hints/good agencies etc. Anything that can help...

Area of interest: East Midlands (Nottingham)
Tarket market: Software dev that pays better than £22k :)

[Full_Torque]

ive tried about 10 different places to get a job a job but it seems they dont like me or something.

[Zenith]

Start with the job sites. Some of the sites in my bookmarks are:

http://www.gojobsite.co.uk (my favourite)
http://www.monster.co.uk
http://www.stepstone.co.uk
http://fish4.co.uk/jobs/index.html (not one I'd recommend)
http://www.gisajob.com/

I find that gojobsite.co.uk is very good for filtering jobs. Instead of using words that you CAN do, do a negative search and put in words that you DON'T do... you get far more results.

Once you've done that, start with the recruitment agencies.
http://www.cwjobs.co.uk
http://www.nottingham-recruitment.co.uk
http://www.nottinghamjobs.co.uk

There are many more, but I think you know how to use a search engine. :)

[KermitTheFrag]

cheers zenith. I owe you a pint :)

[CyberDrac]

I know that some people would disagree but I have found that since I re-did my CV I have had a lot more luck getting interviews. What you have to do is make it stand out from the crowd ... it must still look professional but everone elses CV is a clone of one that seems to get taught at school, they blend into each other, if yours stands out you will be remembered and hopefully get that foot in the door that everyone needs. Mine consists of three pages, the 2nd and 3rd pages are fairly normal but the first page is a narrative of my life so far from school through University and into my various careers, showing what I have learnt and how I have developed over the years, also explaing the logic behind changing jobs etc., So far I have got interviews for every CV I have sent out! I also experimented with a small watermark type picture of me on the front page copied from a chalk sketch I had done of me (bizarre but they'll always remember my CV from all of the others).

PS. You are not allowed to use this technique if I am also going for the same job as you! :P

Be an individual, be distinctive!

Good Luck!

CD

PPS I'll send you a copy if you're really that interested.

[KermitTheFrag]

ooh please :)

I think the CV is where I'm lacking at the moment. It doesn't stand out enough compared to other people's.

Email address is www@infinitemonkeys.org.uk (spam free :) ).

[Boffykins]

What's the current standing on the ASP Developer's job market in the Hampshire Berkshire region? I've got two choices for next year, go to Uni and do Electronic Engineering, or get an IT-based job with my A-levels. I see everyone going around and ****ting cash everyone *cough* HalOS, and I think, I want a piece of that. Going to Uni though will get me a job with a starting salary of around 32k, and much room to further my career and get even bigger bucks. I'm stuck with this, whichever choice i make there'll be something bad about it. Thoughts?

[Say_Ten]

If you go to uni try to do some paid, relative work on the side.

[Bluey]

Get a trained job doing whatever you want to do, they can be hard to find but me Kahless and Darkblane are at BMW and they're paying for all the college stuff and the Honors degree plus we'll have the four or five years of on the job work experience by the time its all over. Granted the pays not that good at the moment, but its rising with our experience. And there's nothing in our contract saying we have to hang around once we have the degree either ;)

Plus points

Qualifications and Degree
Full time Work Experience
Chance of cheaply renting Mini's and BMW's :)
BMW looks good on your CV
Will take you from GCSE if your good enough

Bad Points

Its Called an Advanced Modern Apprenticeship :o
Second rate Pay, although that’s made up for with the training


TBH this was the easy way out for me, and so far its going ok. Its probably not for you, but i thought it throw it into the mixer.

[KermitTheFrag]

Originally posted by Boffy
What's the current standing on the ASP Developer's job market in the Hampshire Berkshire region? I've got two choices for next year, go to Uni and do Electronic Engineering, or get an IT-based job with my A-levels. I see everyone going around and ****ting cash everyone *cough* HalOS, and I think, I want a piece of that. Going to Uni though will get me a job with a starting salary of around 32k, and much room to further my career and get even bigger bucks. I'm stuck with this, whichever choice i make there'll be something bad about it. Thoughts?

Avoid the electrical engineering like the plague if you actually want to do electrical engineering/electronics. You won't get 32k for a few years and then you may never hit that unless you are a CAD operator... Half the people I know who actually finished the degree that I started (BSc Microelectronic Systems Engineering) are working for around £16k and aren't particularly happy with the jobs. One designs alarms, one designs weather logging equipment and the other cleans swimming pools...

If you want to use it to further your "proof of abilities" then that makes more sense. Use it to get a higher paid IT job.

Just remember the loan repayments are killer. I'm paying £160/month on student loan payments and that is the base rate...

[Afty]

Originally posted by Boffy
What's the current standing on the ASP Developer's job market in the Hampshire Berkshire region? I've got two choices for next year, go to Uni and do Electronic Engineering, or get an IT-based job with my A-levels. I see everyone going around and ****ting cash everyone *cough* HalOS, and I think, I want a piece of that. Going to Uni though will get me a job with a starting salary of around 32k, and much room to further my career and get even bigger bucks. I'm stuck with this, whichever choice i make there'll be something bad about it. Thoughts?
My advice : don't go to uni until you know what you want to do as a career.

On the other hand, your other option is pretty sucky, as the bottom dropped out of the webdev/design recruitment market about a year ago, and no-one is looking for people with no experience.

"Junior" level jobs often require a minimum 2 years commercial experience.

[bvark]

If you go to uni, go to a decent uni and make sure it has a decent careers department.

Decent unis with decent career departments have good gap year programs because they have good relationships with companies, and a large number of 'milk round' companies that come pitching for recruitment.

An interesting figure which all reputable universities publish per-course is the %age of graduates who left for 'positive destinations' (i.e. subject related or professional jobs, further study or similar, not unemployed/travelling/mcdonalds).

A lot of folks from my year at York (CS, 1999) went on to get high 20s salaries (which is probably low 30s now).
I'll make a horrific generalisation and say that the former polys (many of whom are suffering extremely unpleasant funding crises) probably don't have a similar level of resourcing for their careers centre.

Still, be prepared to **** yourself in the third year as you look for a job.

[jugster]

32k - Fu!K ME! Erm dont want to piss on your parade, but youve got next to no chance of getting that sort of money without > 5 Years experiance aim for 12-14k with a degree and I will be inpressed if you get that, I am Systems Manager for a company and have been here for 7 Years and dont get that.

That said - Go to Uni - I wish I had. :)

[Afty]

Originally posted by jugster
32k - Fu!K ME! Erm dont want to piss on your parade

Sadly, students all over in unis seem like this. I was out with a friend at the weekend doing a degree in "management" and he expects to get 25k within a year, going into marketing.

I tried to explain to him how the bottom dropped out of the industry 2 years ago and that there was no chance but he kept telling me about how this big multinational company told him how he'd be trained up and have his own team within 12 months, and how good his prospects were.

The acid test #1 : a quick google search, fails to find their company.

[jugster]

Muppets one and All.

Oh I forgot to add that for my money I am expected to do what ever is needed to get the job done. 5am till Midnight if the system is down.... :(

But hey thats life.......


/me looks for a job as Dustbin Man.

[Dwarf_Pr0n]

Or if you want games development jobs:

Games Recuit (http://www.gamesrecruit.co.uk/)
Or my old work place:
Aardvark Swift (http://www.aardvarkswift.co.uk)

[bvark]

I know folks who started on more than 32k straight out of uni with little-to-no commercial experience.

Places like the consulting meat factories, city banks and larger multinationals really do still pay large salaries for the best and brightest (read: those with firsts from decent unis, and those from Oxbridge).

I have to say I know no-one in my year who started as low as 12K in a professional job - the mean salary for York CS graduates in my year (which admittedly relies on the honesty of the graduate) was around 18K IIRC.

[BugAlugs]

Here at the 8-bar-blue. We have different entry methods in. I'll highlight two for you.

Graduate Entry, highly competative scheme various interviews held before a three to four day continual assement at one of our training centres. The academics of these people is normally without flaw, what sets them apart is personality, their drivers and other non-academic experiences. Gold Duke of Endinburgh holders please move to the fast path track (ie those people generally have what you want)

Direct Experienced Entry, CV will be processed by a HR rep, not the manager that wants you. If your CV passes the 'its not ****' litmus test its then entered onto our system. The searching manager can only look at these hits. If you have the experience an interview may occur. They will want to see that you can follow process and work as a team , its very TEAM here at the blue.

Of course we cut back the workforce last year by 8%, no new vacances are allowed, unless an exhaustive search of internal skills is made. The Graduate scheme continues.

Everyone has the Academics now a days, its the 'rest of you' they like.

[Afty]

bvark : Didn't your year of CS students leave York uni during the boom around 1999?

IT salaries in the UK have declined significantly since then, particularly so for new starters. For more technical positions most companies except the multinationals are not even bothering to hire CS graduates without commercial experience.

If they were starting on 18k with a CS degree from a good uni in 1999 then I imagine the same person + qualification would be very *VERY* lucky to land 14k this year. They would actually be lucky to find a position in IT full stop.

[BugAlugs]

I should say the Graduate scheme here starts at 20K, it needs to attract the best people. London jobs expect higher.

[Jez_Gafys]

read my post in the gcse thread in the same forum areas. It kinda supports what jugster says talking about my starting salary and what I am on 5 years later

http://forums.multiplay.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&postid=210847#post210847