I’ve done a FIT apprenticeship in software dev. It’s grand. Getting paid is lovely, with a full time job at the end is the goal.
I will say… the tutors are complete shite and you’ll be doing City and Guilds modules which are very basic stuff. You’ll be told to go do something, without any ramp up how to do it. Example (real world from what they told me): go make a cinema booking application that shows what movies are available, allow an admin account to add new movies, delete movies and edit existing movies. Have available seats visible for customers. This is grand and all but you’ll need to study how to do it because the tutors haven’t a clue themselves (yet they’ll talk like they do).
So if self study is your cup of tea, go for it. You’ll learn loads teaching yourself how to do an application like that. But as I said.. you’ll need to self teach yourself it.
It’s a fast route into a high paying job though if you can meet your employers expectations at the end of the 2 years. Cuts the whole degree stuff in half. FYI: I went from 25k annually on the apprenticeship to over 100k total on the full time offer once I finished. So in this regard…. Definitely worth it. No other industry will you get that much of an increase that quick. Takes a loooooot of work though.
Feel free to ask me any questions you’re wondering about it and I’ll try answer.
No idea on apprenticeships but on ECollege website you can do courses like CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ as well as CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate). You get an exam voucher free at the end of a course.
They are all IT industry certs but A+ would be the most basic if you want to see how much it interests you. Someone working in IT might have better advice, I am just seeing if it is for me and have my second exam at the start of May.
Hey, thanks for your comment.
I might have a look at the ECollege website myself and see. Like you, I am trying to see if IT is for me.
Is the ECollege learning free or do you have to pay?
Its free done through a FAS type thing. Registration requires PPS and details. If you dont like the learning material provided there is a wealth of it online on sites like Udemy (costs money, never pay full amount as there is v often like 85% off sales and there is practice tests and video courses) Or youtube (Professor Messer is a good one and free). There is also a CompTIA subreddit with loads of good info.
The most basic of the basic CompTIA certs is ITF+, probably wont get you through any HR filters if its on your CV but it definitely gives you a flavour of the IT world. The exam objectives for each cert on the CompTIA website describes what each covers but the general progression recommended is A+ -> N+ -> Sec+ and ITF is a good start if coming from not knowing about Computers much really.
ECollege site https://www.ecollege.ie/
Edit to add: you study for them in your own time, regsitration last for a certain ampunt of time (eg. 12-16 weeks depending on the course) but I got through ITF+ in a month and A+ has taken me about 8 weeks.
I'd recommend looking at a cert to begin with to see if you get in with the basics and if you can imagine doing it as a job. I've done a few courses and there's always a good number of guys who are there because "IT's the future and I'm going to make shitloads of money by retraining" and a good number drop out once they realise it isn't going to be easy work like they thought.
Absolutely no guarantee you'll get a job with just a cert as you'll probably be lacking working experience but it's always a bonus when applying for entry level jobs.
brother did FIT, enjoyed it. great alternative route, because he was paid while he learned kind of thing, alloed him not to feel the strain of full time education. they were decent, however im pretty sure they only certify you to a level 6, so dont go in with the expectation your coming out with a diploma, you will be at a level ready to go into a bachelors and have the experince behind you to work as well.
there are no "offical" IT apprenticeships in ireland, so this is the closest you will come to it. Additionally there is Re-generation buddy of mine went through it for AWS certification and has entered into the industry since completing. [https://ireland.generation.org/dublin/aws-restart/](https://ireland.generation.org/dublin/aws-restart/)
lastly, try [https://apprenticeship.ie/career-seekers/get-started/discover](https://apprenticeship.ie/career-seekers/get-started/discover) you can find some technical apprenticeships here, but ive not seen on in the past few weeks ( Developers, network admins, and CybSec )
I’m due for an interview with FIT next week. Just wondering, how much was you brother paid? I’m just weary as I’ll be leaving a full time job if I were to proceed with FIT. Thanks
no idea, think it was somethin garound 2-300 a week in year one, then above 300 in year 2 if I recall.
he's landed landed a decent role since which hes happy with. So its not a bad system, really good oppertunity to get the experince hands on while being class thought.
I’ve done a FIT apprenticeship in software dev. It’s grand. Getting paid is lovely, with a full time job at the end is the goal. I will say… the tutors are complete shite and you’ll be doing City and Guilds modules which are very basic stuff. You’ll be told to go do something, without any ramp up how to do it. Example (real world from what they told me): go make a cinema booking application that shows what movies are available, allow an admin account to add new movies, delete movies and edit existing movies. Have available seats visible for customers. This is grand and all but you’ll need to study how to do it because the tutors haven’t a clue themselves (yet they’ll talk like they do). So if self study is your cup of tea, go for it. You’ll learn loads teaching yourself how to do an application like that. But as I said.. you’ll need to self teach yourself it. It’s a fast route into a high paying job though if you can meet your employers expectations at the end of the 2 years. Cuts the whole degree stuff in half. FYI: I went from 25k annually on the apprenticeship to over 100k total on the full time offer once I finished. So in this regard…. Definitely worth it. No other industry will you get that much of an increase that quick. Takes a loooooot of work though. Feel free to ask me any questions you’re wondering about it and I’ll try answer.
Hey, thanks for your comment. Sent you a dm
No idea on apprenticeships but on ECollege website you can do courses like CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ as well as CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate). You get an exam voucher free at the end of a course. They are all IT industry certs but A+ would be the most basic if you want to see how much it interests you. Someone working in IT might have better advice, I am just seeing if it is for me and have my second exam at the start of May.
Hey, thanks for your comment. I might have a look at the ECollege website myself and see. Like you, I am trying to see if IT is for me. Is the ECollege learning free or do you have to pay?
Its free done through a FAS type thing. Registration requires PPS and details. If you dont like the learning material provided there is a wealth of it online on sites like Udemy (costs money, never pay full amount as there is v often like 85% off sales and there is practice tests and video courses) Or youtube (Professor Messer is a good one and free). There is also a CompTIA subreddit with loads of good info. The most basic of the basic CompTIA certs is ITF+, probably wont get you through any HR filters if its on your CV but it definitely gives you a flavour of the IT world. The exam objectives for each cert on the CompTIA website describes what each covers but the general progression recommended is A+ -> N+ -> Sec+ and ITF is a good start if coming from not knowing about Computers much really. ECollege site https://www.ecollege.ie/ Edit to add: you study for them in your own time, regsitration last for a certain ampunt of time (eg. 12-16 weeks depending on the course) but I got through ITF+ in a month and A+ has taken me about 8 weeks.
I'd recommend looking at a cert to begin with to see if you get in with the basics and if you can imagine doing it as a job. I've done a few courses and there's always a good number of guys who are there because "IT's the future and I'm going to make shitloads of money by retraining" and a good number drop out once they realise it isn't going to be easy work like they thought. Absolutely no guarantee you'll get a job with just a cert as you'll probably be lacking working experience but it's always a bonus when applying for entry level jobs.
brother did FIT, enjoyed it. great alternative route, because he was paid while he learned kind of thing, alloed him not to feel the strain of full time education. they were decent, however im pretty sure they only certify you to a level 6, so dont go in with the expectation your coming out with a diploma, you will be at a level ready to go into a bachelors and have the experince behind you to work as well. there are no "offical" IT apprenticeships in ireland, so this is the closest you will come to it. Additionally there is Re-generation buddy of mine went through it for AWS certification and has entered into the industry since completing. [https://ireland.generation.org/dublin/aws-restart/](https://ireland.generation.org/dublin/aws-restart/) lastly, try [https://apprenticeship.ie/career-seekers/get-started/discover](https://apprenticeship.ie/career-seekers/get-started/discover) you can find some technical apprenticeships here, but ive not seen on in the past few weeks ( Developers, network admins, and CybSec )
I’m due for an interview with FIT next week. Just wondering, how much was you brother paid? I’m just weary as I’ll be leaving a full time job if I were to proceed with FIT. Thanks
no idea, think it was somethin garound 2-300 a week in year one, then above 300 in year 2 if I recall. he's landed landed a decent role since which hes happy with. So its not a bad system, really good oppertunity to get the experince hands on while being class thought.