Hmm, just remembering - the first official tech job I had was a result of me being employed as a junior paper shuffler in one office of a nationwide employer, and being well-known as the only person (apart from the resident tech) who could program a VCR.
When the tech left, I applied and got the job. I later learned that no-one else applied, which probably gives you some idea of how the job was perceived. I then expanded the part-time job into a full-time one simply by detailing all the things people wanted me to fix and handing it to the office manager. The week after, I automated 90% of it and spent the next couple of months fiddling with the macro engine on the major in-house application.
Eventually, I turned that half-tech, half-admin job into a position in a genuine TS team in another department, and then traded back up to the national helpdesk in the original department.
The point, which I kind of drifted away from, was that even though I've been in the techsupport business one way or another for ten years and at least six positions, I never got them 'cold', but always because I either had a similar job already, or was in the same office doing a non-tech job.
My advice - find a large employer (or one that has a lot of IT) with the world's worst helpdesk. Yes, worst. Their turnover will be at a frightening rate and new positions will always be opening up. Get a menial paper-pushing job as physically close to the helpdesk location as possible and wait for your chance. Once you're in "the biz", as it were, it's a LOT easier to transfer around within the industry.
A third option is to apply for admin/liaison work for an IT vendor large enough to assign low-paid reps to permanently sit at desks in their larger clients' buildings. These are usually large hardware or services companies. Our own helpdesk has recruited half a dozen of these reps from their organisations to ours, purely because (a) our red tape is enormously complex, and (b) it's a lot easier to recruit people who have already picked it up and know our management, our jargon, and where the break room is. Hell, we recruited the waitress from the deli across the road - not because she had a computer background, but because she was a sharp cookie and we all knew her. (It helped that she utterly aced the trainee IT tests within about four weeks.)
As for cold-recruiting, it really does help to personally know the people who are looking for a new tech (especially in smaller organisations). Failing that, have a friend or family member personally know whoever will be doing the hiring. Low-level tech skill isn't rare, there's a huge pool of it to draw from. Employers are just trying to make sure they're hiring someone everyone can work with, and if they already know them outside of work, that's a massive shortcut.
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Date: 2006-05-13 11:41 pm (UTC)When the tech left, I applied and got the job. I later learned that no-one else applied, which probably gives you some idea of how the job was perceived. I then expanded the part-time job into a full-time one simply by detailing all the things people wanted me to fix and handing it to the office manager. The week after, I automated 90% of it and spent the next couple of months fiddling with the macro engine on the major in-house application.
Eventually, I turned that half-tech, half-admin job into a position in a genuine TS team in another department, and then traded back up to the national helpdesk in the original department.
The point, which I kind of drifted away from, was that even though I've been in the techsupport business one way or another for ten years and at least six positions, I never got them 'cold', but always because I either had a similar job already, or was in the same office doing a non-tech job.
My advice - find a large employer (or one that has a lot of IT) with the world's worst helpdesk. Yes, worst. Their turnover will be at a frightening rate and new positions will always be opening up. Get a menial paper-pushing job as physically close to the helpdesk location as possible and wait for your chance. Once you're in "the biz", as it were, it's a LOT easier to transfer around within the industry.
Alternatively, look for employers who are going through sudden growth spurts and send a pre-emptive resumé strike to their HR group and helpdesk managers.
A third option is to apply for admin/liaison work for an IT vendor large enough to assign low-paid reps to permanently sit at desks in their larger clients' buildings. These are usually large hardware or services companies. Our own helpdesk has recruited half a dozen of these reps from their organisations to ours, purely because (a) our red tape is enormously complex, and (b) it's a lot easier to recruit people who have already picked it up and know our management, our jargon, and where the break room is. Hell, we recruited the waitress from the deli across the road - not because she had a computer background, but because she was a sharp cookie and we all knew her. (It helped that she utterly aced the trainee IT tests within about four weeks.)
As for cold-recruiting, it really does help to personally know the people who are looking for a new tech (especially in smaller organisations). Failing that, have a friend or family member personally know whoever will be doing the hiring. Low-level tech skill isn't rare, there's a huge pool of it to draw from. Employers are just trying to make sure they're hiring someone everyone can work with, and if they already know them outside of work, that's a massive shortcut.