Hey all, Pretty sure I've posted a thread or two about this before, but it seems this forum seems to have a wide range of people in it with some sound advice. Basically, for the past year and a bit I've been an AV Technician at a school. It's not been too bad and the money certainly isn't terrible, especially for a first job when I was fresh out of uni. However, things have gone a bit stale. I'm getting fed up with the place, and they've really not been cutting me any slack of late and I'm finding it harder to pluck up enthusiasm for the job. I come home feeling pretty down and deflated. I want to do something else, or get another job. I want a change of scene. I did originally apply to be an ICT Technician there, but unfortunately they didn't allow me to the interviewing stage because they wanted to keep me as an AV Technician. I've worked alongside the ICT department quite a lot, and got a real feel for 1st line support and the like, I've been involved in cabling up rooms, terminating, installing and building desktops, repair work, helpdesk work and such like and I really enjoyed doing it. I've also been left in charge of a Media suite, so I'm regularly installing bits of software on the machines and sorting out permissions errors that crop up when the kids edit video on them. Ideally, I think I'd like to branch into IT, but my pickle is that I have no IT qualifications aside from GCSE level. I'd like to think that the dabblings in ICT that my current job has offered will allow me to branch out, but thinking realistically I'm not sure it's enough. I currently earn £17,950 - could I earn that going into IT at my current skill level? I guess my other option is perhaps apply for jobs higher up in the AV chain. I've applied for a position similar to the one in the school I'm in now but in a London University. The pay is brilliant (£28,000 starting wage), but unfortunately I'm not sure I have enough experience, and it appears they would rather employ black people as they are under represented in the AV sector (according to their advert in the guardian) Last option is to stick it out. I don't want to but I guess I might just have to swallow the pill. Help!
Just be aware that if you do move locations for a job the cost of living especially in London will be higher so the difference in pay may not be as much as it seems.
If you're interested in school IT, visit http://www.edugeek.net. They'll be best placed to advise you and there a few opportunites advertised there as well.
