How to get that first job in IT…

[Tutulechapeau]

DS has just completed a degree in computing at our not so great local uni.
Being dyslexic he was initially adamant that he wanted to do an apprenticeship in IT and get more practical experience but despite decent grades, a good CV etc he didn’t get a single interview so ended up doing a HND then degree.
It was all pretty much last minute stuff and didn’t help that it was in the middle of the pandemic to start with.
He’s not massively confident so hasn’t applied for any graduate posts, just hoped he could get a 1st line support desk job first and work his way up. Unfortunately pretty much all the current vacancies seem to ask for prior work experience in IT for what are entry level jobs. Just wondered if this was always the case or something new ?
He’s coming to the conclusion that most of the apprenticeships around are what were once those starter jobs so pretty much out of reach.
Just wondered how to get that first position ? Offering to work for free maybe ? He’s got some interviews coming up in retail so hopefully that will get him some customer service experience but even those jobs seem difficult to get.
Any advice ?

It's really awful out there just now. My son is 6 years out of uni and has had a couple of good jobs(software engineer). The last one finished and he went travelling for 3 months. Came back and says the contacts from recruitment agencies have dropped off significantly and they are paying far less for jobs than they were 6 months ago. He says everyone is in a similar boat. I think it's even harder for graduates as they have no/v little experience

I am not so sure either. Many years ago, when those of us in ours 40s started, it was very easy to walk into any IT job. You don't need to the right degree background at all. I had friends at university with science degrees and walked into first line IT and worked their way up because they could build a computer and set up a home network. I'm in software and it's the same.

A colleague's son did an IT course at a not so good college and is now working at retail. She even pulled connection and got her son to be interviewed at our company but he didn't pass.

Good luck! I'm sure there are still junior positions, but there are so many candidates for them now.

Can he get a blue shirt job at an Apple store? I know someone who frequently recruits for entry level IT support roles in London and they look for techbar experience.

The tech market hasn't been this bad since the dot com bust, it's a really bad time to be looking for your first job in software. Things will get better, the industry always goes through cycles, but for now, he might be better off taking a job in a different field while he's applying. I know multiple people in the industry that have been looking for over a year, and they have up to 4 years of experience. Good luck to your son, he'll be able to break in at some point, but it might not be very soon.

All this is helpful and kind of reassuring. He’s got an interview this morning for a retail post so crossing fingers he gets that !

Hope he gets a role soon. He’s done all the right things. There’s also no harm in applying for jobs that say they want experience. They might not get many applications, or give him a chance.

First of all, look at all job options going, whether it's something like retail which he's been interviewed for or something else. It gives him recent experience and could be a way up the ladder, even if it's a different one to what he studied.

DD studied sustainability so not so many jobs around in that sector. However, she literally applied for anything she thought she could do. She was determined. She'd had a chat with an environmental agency who'd already taken on their one grad that year, but approached them a month later saying she'd be really interested in anything that comes up/any work experience - a chat followed with the manager over zoom and they ended up creating a job for her rather than lose her.

Applying for a contact centre role at a large household name company would get him a foot in the door.
He would have the opportunity to apply for internal jobs on service desk and IT support roles within a year or so or even on to their graduate schemes.
It will also build his confidence in a work environment.
That’s how the majority of my colleagues in IT have started.