10 July 2008

Papadoc needs a job!

| papadoc
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So I recently had a midlife (25, i smoke…) crisis and quit my I.T Helpdesk job. I enjoyed the people and the place, but I just don’t think running a helpdesk is a career I’m interested in. I enjoy computers, but the vast skill sets required to even be a level 1 these days is ridiculous to the piss poor pay and respect we receive.

Basically, I just want to do data entry or basic admin or something where I don’t deal with other peoples stupidity on a daily basis. 3 years of helpdesk from Canberra to Brisbane and back has left me feeling a little numb. I’d even consider going back and working in Security or retail if it didn’t involve weekends (Mrs. Papadoc needs looking after).

So my RiotAct peeps, any suggestions/jobs for me???

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transaustralia12:15 am 18 Jul 08

^ thanks peterh, but I never ever had the chance to establish any career before embarking on my new life, because those you refer to are those who usually embark upon this change in later years, whereas I did so when I was 21. At that point, I had no work history and found a very hard time trying to pick up work in my field I had trained in. I was unable, for reasons related to my health and medication, to undertake any physically demanding or active occupation, so sought out and trained in, office work.

I reach the point now of being quite skilled, having recently trained again, but having been out of work for the majority of my adult life. Admittedly, most of my residency through this time and job searching had been concentrated in Sydney, not back in the ACT.

I feel that society is slowly changing, but that change has came too late for me due to the length of time I’ve been forced out of work, my age, and limited range of entry-level jobs anywhere that I can do due to needing physically undemanding employment, this rules out some popular entry-level options pursued by very young workers such as factory shop or cafe work.

I feel sincerely and verily believe to be true that I had not been judged upon experience/ability/skill, but looked less favorably upon because of my personal circumstance, and that left me feeling very hollow about the society I once lived in but now feel alienated from. The effect of these experiences upon my physical and mental health has also been marked, and talking about the problem has really been useless because it changes little. The feeling now is that I have little to look forward to in life, and that I have lost so many years.

there are transgender people working everywhere, I know a few who were originally dave, but came back to work as sally, or similar (dave is such a hard name to feminise, apparently)

there are people working in key positions, and some in lower positions, but they are all judged on their ability and experience, not their gender.

transaustralia said :

Transaustralia: So if I qualified in admin, was looking to work as either admin or personal assistant, but unable for a long time to get work [btw I am in Syd at present] does the ACT offer me a real opportunity to start over and find a good job in a professional and welcoming workplace?

Btw many of the employers here had knocked me back from my youth to my present [>30] age as I am a transexual.

I would be interested to find out if I could find back at the ACT what I missed out on in Sydney, ie a fair go when trying for a job.

I have no idea if you’re actually still reading Trans….
No government department\agency\authority can discriminate against you based on background, and private business doing it are subject to the same rules.
Government departments are actually able to exclusively set aside a position for someone of a different background if t means a better performance in the job. :\

At two of the places (govt authorities) I’ve previously worked, there have been transgenedered members of staff, that were supportive throughout the process of Paul coming back as Pauline (name changed), so I’d say you’d have no problems so long as you were able to do the job.

FaHCSIA (Office for Women, maybe?) would probably have a position hiding somewhere set aside, but no department can say “No, you’re a transgender”.

papadoc,

any updates? will there be a new thread called “papadoc has a job” soon?

POK said :

Why is I.T in such demand? When I was graduating it seemed every other kid was an I.T “genius” and used as free tech support by his extended family. Shouldn’t the market be flooded by imported workers and the like by now?

IT techs are everywhere. What a lot of companies are looking for are IT sales staff, someone who has lived in Canberra for a while and has a private network that they can draw upon.

being outgoing – able to talk to just about everyone is also a plus, and with another 3 new companies coming to town, some will be here soon, others a bit later in the year, there will be a massive demand for sales staff over the coming months.

transaustralia1:09 am 14 Jul 08

All these places desperate for staff! So if I qualified in admin, was looking to work as either admin or personal assistant, but unable for a long time to get work [btw I am in Syd at present] does the ACT offer me a real opportunity to start over and find a good job in a professional and welcoming workplace?

Btw many of the employers here had knocked me back from my youth to my present [>30] age as I am a transexual.

I would be interested to find out if I could find back at the ACT what I missed out on in Sydney, ie a fair go when trying for a job.

I’m not going far but, unless I have anything lined up, legitimate businesses seeking to make contact can search my profile or go to system admin to forward me a message if thats ok by them, not sure as I’m a bit of a newcomer to RA.

Anyway papadoc, best of luck to you.

Why is I.T in such demand? When I was graduating it seemed every other kid was an I.T “genius” and used as free tech support by his extended family. Shouldn’t the market be flooded by imported workers and the like by now?

there are several companies that I deal with on a day to day that are looking for staff – sales, tech and admin. there aren’t many IT literate applicants – for instance, a tech job had 29 applicants, only one guy knew how to open up a pc case – he got the job.

Felix the Cat8:54 pm 11 Jul 08

grundy said :

I need someone to fill a lvl 1/2 helpdesk role on our helpdesk.
$50-55K

(yeah yeah, another helpdesk, but pays well and is a great place to work!)

That pay is crap! I’m sure Papadoc could earn more than that if he has good IT skills and qualifications.

tylersmayhem2:03 pm 11 Jul 08

Papadoc – coming from a similar background about 5 years ago, I got into doing PC/XP roll outs and floor walking. It was a good lead on from help desk work, and gave me a chance to get exposure to IT Projects and experience (and the money doing this is heaps better). That’s lead on to many things and now I do service delivery which is great – but something I never thought I’d want to do.

Also, application type classroom training pays much better than 1st line support dude!

Good point by Thumper: the experience I’ve been referring to over the last few years was in London! Had a rad time over there!

papadoc said :

Hey guys, the responses have been amazing and I’m quite surprised to tell you the truth. I take back everything negative I’ve said on here lately, you’re alright…

(Inserts hug here…)

You guys are awesome, I’m talking to a few of you now about what’s on offer and if I haven’t replied, it’s not that I’m not interested, it’s just that Mrs Papadoc has got me cleaning 24/7 in exchange for some lunch money haha.

Keep em coming, I too need a million dollars and if there’s any web designers on here, I have a business idea which could be quite successful so drop me an email too 🙂

papadoc, can you please get in contact with me? jazz has my details, and i have now got 2 confirmed clients that are looking for sales staff in the IT industry.

Nosey – How do you find the boys in blue as a job freddie281????

Are you asking me how much I enjoy the job or are you asking me how I even consider it as a job?

Hey guys, the responses have been amazing and I’m quite surprised to tell you the truth. I take back everything negative I’ve said on here lately, you’re alright…

(Inserts hug here…)

You guys are awesome, I’m talking to a few of you now about what’s on offer and if I haven’t replied, it’s not that I’m not interested, it’s just that Mrs Papadoc has got me cleaning 24/7 in exchange for some lunch money haha.

Keep em coming, I too need a million dollars and if there’s any web designers on here, I have a business idea which could be quite successful so drop me an email too 🙂

notdingers said :

reallityskin are you looking for a highly paid BA? Or are you a highly paid BA looking for work.

Either way I might be able to help you out.

I’m looking for a new *interesting* contract 🙂

Impressive. Papdoc has to tell us which job he took though!

Papadoc. hope you get what you are looking for, what a great response from the Rioters.

Vic Bitterman7:20 pm 10 Jul 08

BerraBoy68 said :

If it’s that easy, I need a million dollars…. (sit back quietly and waits to become wealthy..)

PM sent.

Jazz said :

done

DONE?!

If it’s that easy, I need a million dollars…. (sit back quietly and waits to become wealthy..)

G-Fresh said :

Suggestion? Look for a job and once you get it, hold on for dear life. Employment is a privilege not a right!

Otherwise, get a loved one to support you.

In Canberra at the moment, if you have any IT skills, you’re guaranteed a job!

I’ll await your email papadoc.

Suggestion? Look for a job and once you get it, hold on for dear life. Employment is a privilege not a right!

Otherwise, get a loved one to support you.

How do you find the boys in blue as a job freddie281????

reallityskin are you looking for a highly paid BA? Or are you a highly paid BA looking for work.

Either way I might be able to help you out.

I need a high paying BA role !

Wow guys, cheers for the responses! I’m willing to look at anything that’s available, Mrs Papadoc doesn’t like paying bills by herself LOL

Jazz, can u shoot my email off to Skid, Aurelius, notdingers & Grundy, that’d be awesome. Plus I’ll help you sell advertising, I have a lot of spare time at the moment haha.

Once again guys, thanks heaps for the positivity. Being unemployed sucks, no matter how much you like Oprah 🙂

Midlife crisis at 25?! Well I guess you ARE a smoker….

Have you thought about working in schools? There are massive shortages as registrars/school business managers. Should be around the ASO5/6 level, range of duties that include IT support, finance, staffing and running the admin side of a school by supporting the Principal do their job. Supervision of a small team of Front Office workers and to top it all off , really good hours (every 10 weeks the kids disappear!).

I know my kids school has an opening that they just can’t fill. It would be a change in direction at least!

Sorry should have specified it is an IT Consulting company 😉

I need someone to fill a lvl 1/2 helpdesk role on our helpdesk.
$50-55K

(yeah yeah, another helpdesk, but pays well and is a great place to work!)

I think everyone is desperate for staff in Canberra!

Papadoc

The company I am currently working for is looking for testers, with your help desk experience sounds like you would fit in pretty well.

The company pays really well, because it is consulting there is lots of opportunities to do a variety of different things and work in different places and develop your career in a number of different directions. The conditions are also rally good as it is a quite large and professional company but still has that small company feel.

They are looking for people part time or full time.

If you are interested contact the RiotACT admins and they can put you on to me.

papadoc,

I have a client who is looking for a sales person, I can get the info to you. not retail, in the IT Industry.

there’s quite a good new jobsite – capitaljobs.com.au

Is there a way to contact Papadoc personally? Or can he contact me?

stereo henry10:35 am 10 Jul 08

Director of web services at the Attorney-General’s Department 🙂

hehe, i need someone to sell advertising for me.

What level of pay are you wanting?

We could use you at our Tier 1 database \ large departmental funding processing tool support…
Upskill as part of the job into payment support, swing into a program payments officer role, work your way into program contract support, on to contract management, etc.
Or go into one of the more technical Tier 2 analysis teams, work your way into solutions assurance and software development…

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy10:08 am 10 Jul 08

Jump onto the website of a range of large private sector organisations with offices in Canberra, and search for internal IT support jobs. These come up from time to time and can be a good stepping stone to a better paid career.

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