Expert advice for readers' career problemsI am to be made redundant from a local authority in March.
After 10 years in manufacturing I took up a career in IT, trained
in Access programming and got an MCSE, CCNA and City & Guilds
in Technical Communication. In the past five years my post has been
de-skilled. I have been on sick leave for four months with
stress-related problems. I would like to get back into a hands-on
network support role but I am unsure of how to proceed and wonder
if there is much point trying as an inexperienced, unwell
40-something. Am I washed up?
Don't worry demand for your skills is
high
You are in a similar position to many people working in the support
field, particularly in local authorities, which have deskilled as
much of the development and highly technical work has been
outsourced. But there is a raft of companies supplying remote
support to the local authorities that are always on the look-out
for people who have an intimate knowledge of how they work. They
are often prepared to upskill you in exchange for the knowledge you
have. They see this as an equitable trade off.
As for being an unwell 40-something, you need to take positive
action to get back on your feet. Make the decision that you will
take the council's money for your work, make a plan of action to
move into a new career, and then follow it through.
You will be amazed that simply by taking control of the parts of
your life that you can, you will feel re-energised and better able
to cope. Run a search for companies that outsource IT work in local
or central government and then get a good CV together and send it
to the companies direct. I would be very surprised if you didn't
get positive feedback.
Solution by Tracey Abbott , divisional director, Zarak
Group
The panel: Plan-Net Services, Spring Group,
E-Skills UK, British Computer Society, Computer Futures, Hudson,
Elan, Reed Technology, Zarak Technology.
E-mail your career questions
to
computerweekly@rbi.co.uk