APRIL 2009 futures
3futures FOCUS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Parlez-vous ICT...?
IT Support Officers
If you are about to leave school and are not sure what your next
move should be you should look into the opportunities available to
you with an Apprenticeship from:
JHP Training
An Apprenticeship strikes the perfect balance between study and work and offers you
the chance to gain a nationally recognised qualification and valuable work experience
all at the same time as earning a wage.
We have Apprenticeship opportunities available in the following areas:
� Business Administration � Customer Service � Retail Operations
� Children's Care, Learning and Development � Health and Social Care
If you are looking to drive your future forward and would like more information on Apprenticeships
please call 0870 974 8069 or contact your nearest JHP Training Business Centre:
www.jhpapprenticeships.com
Finishing school?
Confused about the future?
Not sure what to do next?
Make an Apprenticeship the ideal starting place for your career!!!
JHP Training Carlisle, 4th Floor, Broadacre House, Lowther Street,
Carlisle, CA3 8DA Tel: 01228-53-63-73
JHP Training Whitehaven 1st & 2nd Floor, 34 Lowther Street, Whitehaven,
Cumbria, CA28 7JS Tel: 01946-69-09-09
� Customer Service � ITQ � Playwork
� Administration � Childcare � Health and Social Care � Retail
I
T SUPPORT officers monitor and
maintain the computer systems and
networks of an organisation.
They install and configure computer
systems, diagnose hardware and software
faults and solve technical problems, either
over the phone or face-to-face.
IT support officers are sometimes known
as help desk operators, technicians or
maintenance engineers and are responsible
for ensuring the smooth running of
computer systems. Tasks can include:
installing, monitoring and maintaining
computer systems
talking clients through a series of actions
diagnosing and solving hardware and
software faults
following diagrams and written
instructions to repair a fault
running network applications to support
systems and users
setting up new users
sticking to deadlines
testing and evaluating new technology
SALARY AND CONDITIONS
RANGE of typical starting salaries start at
�17,000 to �21,000. The range of typical
salaries at senior level or with experience
varies considerably. However, the salary
range for a support manager in a large
organisation is �44,000 to �47,000.
Technical support is not regarded as one
of the better paid jobs in the IT sector,
partly because degree-level qualifications
are not required. You may be expected to
work shifts or be on call. It may also be
necessary to work extra hours to finish a
job.
This profession is currently
male-dominated, but steps are being taken
to redress the balance. The Women in
Technology website lists events and advice
for women who want to work in technology.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
THE following degree and HND/foundation
degree subjects may improve your chances:
business information technology
business systems engineering
computer networking and hardware
computer science
computer software development
information technology
software engineering
The above qualifications are not always
required, although some employers do ask
for an IT-related qualification or
appropriate work experience to ascertain
applicants' levels of technical knowledge.
Employers look for in-depth knowledge
of the programs and packages they use.
Potential candidates will need to show
evidence of the following:
the ability to think logically
a good memory of how software and
operating systems work
listening and questioning skills combined
with the ability to interact confidently
with clients
problem-solving skills
a strong customer focus
technical orientation and interest
TRAINING
TRAINING tends to be on the job, learning
how systems work and how to deal with
clients to gather the information required
to diagnose the problem. Apart from
learning by watching others, most training
is self-directed and includes reading
manuals, studying online help screens and
working things out from logical principles.
Larger organisations may offer external
training courses or in-house training
opportunities.
M
ORE than 40 business
and ICT students from
Workington Sixth Form
Centre went to Marne la
Vallee in France for a
packed weekend of activities and
seminars.
The event � Business Live and ICT Live
� saw almost 1,000 sixth form students
from across Britain take part in three
hour-long seminars.
The workshops were run by leading
business people from the likes of The
Financial Times and Eurostar.
Journalist Stephen Cole chaired the
conference. He has anchored some of the
world's biggest news stories on national
and international TV for 17 years.
Currently a main anchor at Al-Jazeera
International, Stephen has fronted Sky
News, BBC World and BBC News 24. He
was also the host of the BBC's Click
Online programme.
In the Business seminars, Richard
Donkin of The Financial Times talked
about people in organisations. He advised
the students that despite research it was
difficult to pin down the average age of
the current workforce during the credit
crunch.
Irfan Badakshi of Bean2Bed, talked
about business planning and strategy. At
only 25, Irfan is the co-founder of
Bean2Bed Ltd, a company that makes
unique giant beanbags with beds inside.
Launched in 2005, the product is taking
the retailing industry by storm.
He gave the students a fresh, young and
new approach to the industry by using
models to help promote his products at
expos.
Emma Harris of Eurostar, talked about
marketing. With a background in sales
and marketing from outside of travel, she
has brought a new commercial approach
to Eurostar and played a fundamental role
in transforming the business over recent
years.
Because of the different cultures
between Britain and the rest of Europe,
Emma informed the students that
marketing strategies had to be different
for both target audiences.
In the ICT seminars, Johannes Paul
and James Tuthill of Omlet, talked about
on-line business strategy. James's
graduation concept of the Eglu led to him
and three friends from the Royal College of
Art in London � Johannes, Simon Nicholls
and William Windham, all in their
mid-twenties � to form Omlet in 2004. The
Eglu is a modern chicken house designed
to provide an ideal habitat for the birds as
well as providing an easy way to collect
eggs. Johannes and James explained how
their on-line business strategy has been an
important key to their success.
Jerome Touze, co founding director of
WAYN.COM, talked about effects of ICT
on society and effects of ICT on society,
innovation and enterprise.
With over seven million members
worldwide, WAYN.com is the number one
travelling social community online with
members from over 220 countries.
Jerome found sympathy with many
students when he recounted how the
server hosting the website was in his
friend's bedroom � one night it exploded,
leaving the company with nothing since
they had not organised any form of back
up for it and had to start from scratch.
Mark Harris of SOPHOS, talked about
ICT serving organisations. Sophos is a
world leader in IT security and control
solutions purpose built for business,
education, government organisations and
service providers. Its products protect
over 100 million users. Businesses,
especially large corporations, face a real
battle to maintain their systems and avoid
spam, viruses and policy abuse by their
own employees which can have a critical
affect on their vital IT systems.
Mark tested his presentation out on his
two 16 year old sons, which resulted in it
being pitched about right for the students.
Alison Phillips, co-ordinator of ICT
and e-learning at Stainburn School and
Workington Sixth Form Centre, said the
trip had been a great success. "This was a
rare opportunity for the students to get a
real insight into business and ICT from
some of the world's leading figures. These
people are outstanding in their field and
proved to be a real inspiration.
"Not only was it a chance for them to
learn more about the knowledge and
skills they use during their course, but it
was a chance for them meet with other
sixth form students across the UK they
thoroughly enjoyed it."
DEEP IN STUDY: Some of the students on Workington Sixth Form Centre's trip to France.

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