On Thu, Nov 01, 2001 at 04:15:00PM -0000, Tom Davison wrote:
i have read the replies on this subject and i have come to the conclusion that it's true we are underpaid and over worked but on the other hand the fun with have and some of the benefits like free computers, granted they are cast off's but i set these up for people who have nothing and pass them on, it's a great feeling.
i work in one of the departments at leeds uni as a techy, when i started i got £10,500 i am now on £11,800 after nearly two years which i think is quite a good rise but i still have to have a second job to pay the bills and get a bit of spending money which i think is wrong, but hey what can i do! you shouldn't have to have two jobs when you are a techy it's just not right or am i wrong in thinking this?
i have always wanted to work in a school as a techy although most people tell me that it's a thankless job and i would be better off not, the only thing is i don't have the qualifications to do much which is really depressing because i consider myself to be very good as a techy i may not be too hot on the network side at the moment but in my last job i ran a novel 3.1 network for 6 months on my own when the network manager went of on sick! i have experience with NT workstation/server, novel 3.1/3.12/4.11, dos, windows 3.1/95/98/me/2000 and xp, linux, office 95,97,2000. i also have a good knowledge in electronics so i do allot of soldering and things like that. basically i can fix most things that go wrong with a pc.
IMO, you'd be best off staying in a university environment but push yourself over to the unix/linux side - there's more money there & you'll enjoy the work more.
ok sorry just realized that i went into selling mode then but you get the idea, i am only 21 which does go against me but i think i get a rough deal with my pay and workload.
Hey, I'm near 40 which really works against me!
how come everyone asks for mcse's now and things like that, it's not giving the people without them a fair chance like me, i could apply for a job now that i know i could do very well and not even be considered for it because of my qualifications which i think is wrong, granted i think they have to be taken into account sometimes but not as much as people are at the moment, what ever happened to just being able to do the job and getting on with it, i personally think that people with more qualifications may not be the best people for the job as sometimes they may be more interested in bettering them self than bettering the system which they are supposed to be supporting.
Forget MCSEs, they're not worth the paper they're written on & anybody who employs you on the basis of having an MCSE is not worth working for. Go for a Diploma/Degree which really count in the education field - the people who interview you will after all have a degree/diploma & they know that they are worth something. I did my Diploma in Computing with the Open University & am now doing my Hons in mathematical sciences & computing. Because I'm doing it part-time it allows me to work also (not that I'm doing much of that ATM :( But with my Diploma I'm looking at jobs where I'd be earning the same as an MCSE - but this is the kicker - I've got the potential to go on and earn a lot more whether it be on the technical or managerial side. After all, I've learnt how to program (in proper languages!) doing my diploma yet if I did an MCSE it wouldn't necessarily mean that I can even mark-up a page of HTML let alone write anything in a platform specific language like VB. -- Frank *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Boroughbridge. Tel: 01423 323019 --------- PGP keyID: 0xC0B341A3 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* http://www.esperance-linux.co.uk/