Hello All

I wonder if you could help me. At work I'm currently helping a guy on a placement who is currently unemployed and is looking for entry level work in IT support. Can anyone suggest a good job agency he should register with ?

One of the High Street job agencies has a window display saying they place people with DSG Group (Dixons , Currys etc) but when he went in there they denied they did and sent him along to another agency who also denied they placed people in this type of work. Given my previous experience with some job agencies this level of uselessness doesn't surprise me but there must be some good ones out there.

Thanks

If your guy doesnt have any specific IT qualifications, I would recommend Zenos Training in Sheffield. They provide a 5 months full time Advanced IT Professional course which my son attended. As the course is now recognised as an apprenticeship they also pay £95pw as well. At the end of the course they also help students to find IT related work.

Thanks More4loans I shall mention that one to him. From what I gather he has done some training before and gained the basic Cisco qualification (which to be honest just seems to be rote learning) but has no IT experience hence his placement with us for 6 months.

Looking around it appears that a degree now seems to have become a requirement for even an entry level IT job.

Modis and Hays both have offices in Sheffield and have lots of IT roles.

Try Insight?

I can't remember the name but there is a company that does IT training and provide you with work placement upon completion. I can't remember the name but think they have a few branches in England. An acquaintance of mine did this (got a job in a bank - the contract is with the company and not the bank). If I recall correctly, the company takes a percentage of his paycheck though. If I meet her this weekend, will try to get the company name.

My advise to your son would be look for a different profession.
I'm a graduate with computer qualifications and 18+ years experience in IT and I can't get an IT job of any kind. I've been trying for the last year. Currently working at a call centre and qualified as a gas engineer.
IT industry only seems to be interested in experience in exactly what they want but aren't willing to train anyone. Catch 22. How people get a start in this industry now is a mystery to me.
Saw a job advertised as a "starter" job and then they proceeded to list a great list of experience in products that was required. What? Are these people having a laugh.
I applied for it for a laugh. Never even got an interview.

On the other hand, I've just given notice in my current contract to take up another closer to home, and have been offered 4 in the last few months, which I turned down.

Hmmm a search on the Modis website for any jobs in Sheffield
is a recruitment consultant. You've got to laugh.

My advise to your son would be look for a different profession.
I'm a graduate with computer qualifications and 18+ years experience in IT and I can't get an IT job of any kind. I've been trying for the last year. Currently working at a call centre and qualified as a gas engineer.
IT industry only seems to be interested in experience in exactly what they want but aren't willing to train anyone. Catch 22. How people get a start in this industry now is a mystery to me.
Saw a job advertised as a "starter" job and then they proceeded to list a great list of experience in products that was required. What? Are these people having a laugh.
I applied for it for a laugh. Never even got an interview.

As Cyclone says, more companies are turning to contractors to get a specific piece of work done...might be worth exploring?

Hello All

I wonder if you could help me. At work I'm currently helping a guy on a placement who is currently unemployed and is looking for entry level work in IT support. Can anyone suggest a good job agency he should register with ?

One of the High Street job agencies has a window display saying they place people with DSG Group (Dixons , Currys etc) but when he went in there they denied they did and sent him along to another agency who also denied they placed people in this type of work. Given my previous experience with some job agencies this level of uselessness doesn't surprise me but there must be some good ones out there.

Thanks

Not sure what is meant by 'they denied they placed people at Dixons'? Common knowledge that Dixons contract is handled by Blue Arrow and it's a call centre - basically bums on seats call handling work, not IT... Obviously Dixons will still have an IT dept, but they will either recruit skilled staff direct themselves or use a specialist... If your candidate has some good experience behind him, approach CSC in Chesterfield or EDS in Sheffield directly - both are IT employers who only employ IT people... Modis at St James House used to be the only IT recruiters in Sheffield, but believe that the agency (above Cooplands on High Street) advertise some IT jobs too now... Most of the big agencies are in Leeds to cover Sheffield vacancies - google IT vacancies and you'll find them... Beware though, agencies will only work on your CV if you have had some experience in the field of work you are looking for! They can't sell a candidate who has no tract record of being at least useful in the field...

IT industry only seems to be interested in experience in exactly what they want but aren't willing to train anyone. Catch 22. How people get a start in this industry now is a mystery to me.

Unfortunately it is the same in most industries/professions

Firstly my thanks to everyone for their input on this. I realise that working in IT is a rather broad phrase covering everything from programming the latest web framework , embedded development and so on all the way down to changing a faulty printer on someones desk. My placement guy has almost no qualifications (in fact the school seems to destroyed his confidence and I do wonder if he would have been better playing truant for the last few years of it) but is pretty good at fault finding PC's , basic upgrades and the like. He has no interest or aptutiude for programming. What I was hoping was to be able to help him find work at the very bottom end of IT support i.e swapping PCs at a call centre or basic PC repair in a shop. Hopefully that will give him something to put on his CV and allow him to make some contacts.

I have been trawling the online job sites with him looking for anything suitable but without any luck. I am amused that now a degree seems to be the basic qualification for an entry level job just as an 'O' level in Maths used to be 25 years ago. The best job advert I saw though was for an IT support person and driver who had to be a recent graduate with experience using MS Sharepoint and who would earn just a little more than the minimum wage !

Oh and yes it was a Blue Arrow employee who denied they did work for Dixons despite the signs in the window.

Firstly my thanks to everyone for their input on this. I realise that working in IT is a rather broad phrase covering everything from programming the latest web framework , embedded development and so on all the way down to changing a faulty printer on someones desk. My placement guy has almost no qualifications (in fact the school seems to destroyed his confidence and I do wonder if he would have been better playing truant for the last few years of it) but is pretty good at fault finding PC's , basic upgrades and the like. He has no interest or aptutiude for programming. What I was hoping was to be able to help him find work at the very bottom end of IT support i.e swapping PCs at a call centre or basic PC repair in a shop. Hopefully that will give him something to put on his CV and allow him to make some contacts.

I have been trawling the online job sites with him looking for anything suitable but without any luck. I am amused that now a degree seems to be the basic qualification for an entry level job just as an 'O' level in Maths used to be 25 years ago. The best job advert I saw though was for an IT support person and driver who had to be a recent graduate with experience using MS Sharepoint and who would earn just a little more than the minimum wage !

Oh and yes it was a Blue Arrow employee who denied they did work for Dixons despite the signs in the window.

If he has almost no qualifications I think he will really struggle - is there no way he could go to college and do even a basic course?

One thing I have found very helpful with the catch 22 situation of employers wanting experience but no one being willing to give you a job is to contact companies and ask for work experienc - fantastic for both his CV and making contacts.

Alternatively, maybe there is some sort of volunteering he could do, say for a charity?

Have a look at this www.do-it.org.uk/magazine/features/miscellaneous/it

Hmmm a search on the Modis website for any jobs in Sheffield
is a recruitment consultant. You've got to laugh.

Their website doesn't seem to have any jobs at all. But the agency does.

a college course with a job placement gives you the opportunity to impress a potential employer. there are too many people with too many mickey-mouse qualifications in IT these days to allow a reasonable chance of anybody breaking through unqualified