I.T jobs and salaries in T&T

[Computerman]

I've always said the best approach to this industry is specialization.

Specialisation + Business Networking/Partnering + Working your @$$ off = $ucce$$.

[kg494EJ-1]

^^ Agreed with what's posted. It's very easy to get demotivated here in TT because IT is treated like a bastard child. I'm hoping things will change since we like other countries will be pursuing a 'knowledge based' economy .... as much as you don't like it, IT is here to stay and is one industry that will continue to expand.

I've always said the best approach to this industry is specialization. Even going beyond what is considered specialization in our region. When you get involved in product beta testing, R&D and such then you're really going to earn. Again don't limit urself to TT. If you can't see yourself going this way then you need a solid technical foundation upon which you can add a post grad degree like an MBA. This will get you to senior tech mgmt level.... and on to consultant. Having a natural interest and affinity for technology also adds to the mix. It's good to have this combination, I've encountered many of the IT types who want to boast their technical understanding yet be irrelevant when looking at business processes, evaluating solutions and speaking to senior management.

This is great advice and I will use it, I am currently 23 and plan to learn as much as possible, hoping to move into the web design / eCommerce, it is the one area that truly
keeps me interested and I can fuse my areas of study, I believe that I.T. and Business go hand in hand an it is crucial to understand these two areas to survive and expand in todays market.
I have a boss that has been in the business world for over 30 years and in creating policy drafts for him he is shocked by the way I put together these documents because I fuse the two areas to find ideas and solutions and all he says is young minds good for the business.

[redmanjp]

After reading thsi entire thread, I must consider myself lucky I have a job paying $8000/month and my only certs are A+, Net+ and MCSA on Windows 2000.

and I am essentially the IT Admin for a school...and a peon tech for the Ministry of Education.

Plan to spend 6 years there and oh, will I be enhancing my skills: MCSE, SQL, Linux, Unix, CCNA, Bsc, you name it....

I will have my degree by the time I finish my time there.. the money HAVE to come very nice after...

how do i apply for these jobs? i'm sure there is increasing demand for it as form 1 students getting laptops every year

The Ministry of Educations (I heard) recently advertised posts for ICT Technicians in secondary schools. They will need them: a significant bunch left in the last year.

pay is nice ($8000 - $9400/month), but take heed of these warnings if you gonna apply (I jumped ship after just 2.5 years of my 3 year contract):

- Teaching staff who think because they name teacher they better than you and feel you is little more than an overpaid clerk.
- Teachers (especially Maths/IT teachers)will fight you down over control/authority of the computer lab and equipment
- Make the Principal your best friend early o'clock, else consider yourself screwed.
- Let no Head of Department (or any teacher for that matter) assume any rank over you. No matter what.
- Absolutely avoid being placed in a denominational school! (i.e. Fatima/ ASJA/Hindu schools, etc)...... unless you were a past pupil. They will do you what they like and the ICT division and HR will not do anything to help. (in fact, have a attorney on standby if you end up in such a school)
- MoE HR is useless.
- your time will be spent dealing with the endless broken laptops
- you will not be particularly challenged, unless you have your own initiative for developing IT in the school and the Principal backing you up
- you will hear/witness stories of ALL KINDS of 'incredible' student behaviour ... which will scar you in some way...

i don't have any certs yet but i'm doing A+, I have a diploma in CIS and have 1 more year to finish the Bsc. I also worked as a IT tech for 6 yrs. Is this enough?

[ek4ever]

After reading thsi entire thread, I must consider myself lucky I have a job paying $8000/month and my only certs are A+, Net+ and MCSA on Windows 2000.

and I am essentially the IT Admin for a school...and a peon tech for the Ministry of Education.

Plan to spend 6 years there and oh, will I be enhancing my skills: MCSE, SQL, Linux, Unix, CCNA, Bsc, you name it....

I will have my degree by the time I finish my time there.. the money HAVE to come very nice after...

how do i apply for these jobs? i'm sure there is increasing demand for it as form 1 students getting laptops every year

The Ministry of Educations (I heard) recently advertised posts for ICT Technicians in secondary schools. They will need them: a significant bunch left in the last year.

pay is nice ($8000 - $9400/month), but take heed of these warnings if you gonna apply (I jumped ship after just 2.5 years of my 3 year contract):

- Teaching staff who think because they name teacher they better than you and feel you is little more than an overpaid clerk.
- Teachers (especially Maths/IT teachers)will fight you down over control/authority of the computer lab and equipment
- Make the Principal your best friend early o'clock, else consider yourself screwed.
- Let no Head of Department (or any teacher for that matter) assume any rank over you. No matter what.
- Absolutely avoid being placed in a denominational school! (i.e. Fatima/ ASJA/Hindu schools, etc)...... unless you were a past pupil. They will do you what they like and the ICT division and HR will not do anything to help. (in fact, have a attorney on standby if you end up in such a school)
- MoE HR is useless.
- your time will be spent dealing with the endless broken laptops
- you will not be particularly challenged, unless you have your own initiative for developing IT in the school and the Principal backing you up
- you will hear/witness stories of ALL KINDS of 'incredible' student behaviour ... which will scar you in some way...

i don't have any certs yet but i'm doing A+, I have a diploma in CIS and have 1 more year to finish the Bsc. I also worked as a IT tech for 6 yrs. Is this enough?

In short ... No.

If you want a technical position you better have at least 3 years in a technical support environment, master level certs encompassing server OS, virtualization, messaging and collaboration, mobile networking and networking and security. I recommend Cisco, Juniper and Checkpoint for security. You may also want to consider one area, like security or data storage, and follow a track to get you to a master level.

For IT management you will now need, in addition to some technical certs, post grad in information systems mgmt or similar (M.Sc. or MBA), 5-10 years IT management experience and project management. ITIL is becoming more relevant now for consultancy so if you want to go that way then you can choose a specialist area within the ITIL framework.

Good luck

[air wick]

ICT Technician $15k in oil and gas company

[Death-Row]

so apparently sams didnt record my resists i did last few years. i started the BSc in CIS in 2006, year 2 in 2007. had some resists, did most of them later 2007, only had like 2 more again to do but i just endup being an alcoholic and never went back. so im ready to finish my degree now. not sure if sams even do it still. think its better to do over the resits in sams to complete year 2 and then SBCS? i have 6 resits to do since they didnt record that i did 4 of the 6 and passed. sorry but i have no paper work to prove them wrong, sams just give you a crappy normal print saying "passed."

[r3iXmann]

so apparently sams didnt record my resists i did last few years. i started the BSc in CIS in 2006, year 2 in 2007. had some resists, did most of them later 2007, only had like 2 more again to do but i just endup being an alcoholic and never went back. so im ready to finish my degree now. not sure if sams even do it still. think its better to do over the resits in sams to complete year 2 and then SBCS? i have 6 resits to do since they didnt record that i did 4 of the 6 and passed. sorry but i have no paper work to prove them wrong, sams just give you a crappy normal print saying "passed."

how u mean they didnt 'record' your resits

resits are graded by the university..not sams

and if you really did them,that info should be easily available

[kg494EJ-1]

so apparently sams didnt record my resists i did last few years. i started the BSc in CIS in 2006, year 2 in 2007. had some resists, did most of them later 2007, only had like 2 more again to do but i just endup being an alcoholic and never went back. so im ready to finish my degree now. not sure if sams even do it still. think its better to do over the resits in sams to complete year 2 and then SBCS? i have 6 resits to do since they didnt record that i did 4 of the 6 and passed. sorry but i have no paper work to prove them wrong, sams just give you a crappy normal print saying "passed."

how u mean they didnt 'record' your resits

resits are graded by the university..not sams

and if you really did them,that info should be easily available

I know what he is saying, experienced similar until I started getting on like a Madman, at the end of my year 2 I noticed my exam papers started carrying Local exams instead of the the International that was usually located to the front of it. You have to be very observant with these details, I took all my credits finished up and moved to UWI.

[redmanjp]

ICT Technician $15k in oil and gas company

what qualifications they require? and does it involve anything offshore?

[Terabyte]

What's the scope like for CCNP qualifications? Is there significant demand for it in T&T?

[air wick]

ICT Technician $15k in oil and gas company

what qualifications they require? and does it involve anything offshore?

offshore sometimes on south west coast, land support most times.... Diploma in Computer or equivalent, A+ Net + etc...

[Death-Row]

so apparently sams didnt record my resists i did last few years. i started the BSc in CIS in 2006, year 2 in 2007. had some resists, did most of them later 2007, only had like 2 more again to do but i just endup being an alcoholic and never went back. so im ready to finish my degree now. not sure if sams even do it still. think its better to do over the resits in sams to complete year 2 and then SBCS? i have 6 resits to do since they didnt record that i did 4 of the 6 and passed. sorry but i have no paper work to prove them wrong, sams just give you a crappy normal print saying "passed."

how u mean they didnt 'record' your resits

resits are graded by the university..not sams

and if you really did them,that info should be easily available

I know what he is saying, experienced similar until I started getting on like a Madman, at the end of my year 2 I noticed my exam papers started carrying Local exams instead of the the International that was usually located to the front of it. You have to be very observant with these details, I took all my credits finished up and moved to UWI.

i know the resit papers are in my house lol but is where. if i find that, i can just get sams to update it for me. if i go in the office, i dont like to raise my voice, always rather raise my hand. steups. so to keep out of trouble, i just said ok and walked out when they told me that. thinkin to just cut my losses and finish off in sbcs yes.

but you said you finished in uwi, how is the uwi degree compared to the sbcs and the CTSCBCS or how ever you spell that school name lol. ??

[kg494EJ-1]

^^^ I finished CIS at SAMS, didnt have to raise my voice just gave them a letter as I had all my supporting documents, while doing my new degree at UWI, used my CIS for exemptions did not have to do a few of the prerequisite courses, so basically I am doing a second degree in a different field.

I had friends who were in my year at SAMS leave and go to SBCS and CTSCBCS and from what they said CTSCBCS was better.(Not sure what abbreviation is either)

[Death-Row]

hmmmm, used to hear alot about ctscbcs b4, not hearing much these days. SBCS has kept a steady flow tho. sorry for all the questions, just dont wanna make the mistake 2wice.

[r3iXmann]

used to be a fan of cts but a few bad incidents with them has ensured they wont be getting my money again

you get what you pay for,basically

[redmanjp]

Anyone know how much this job might pay?

http://www.caribbeanjobs.com/Systems-Engineer-Job-33062.aspx

and btw, why employers in T&T fraid to post salaries so?

[BulletProof]

Anyone know how much this job might pay?

http://www.caribbeanjobs.com/Systems-Engineer-Job-33062.aspx

and btw, why employers in T&T fraid to post salaries so?

1. Call them and ask.
2. Very few employers anywhere in the world post salaries on job boards.

[fouljuice]

need some advice on I.T jobs

Have a BSc. CIS (hons) University of London

If the OP or anyone else who did (or knows about) this degree could answer,
What can you do with this degree / What are some examples of jobs you can get with this degree?

[redmanjp]

^ i doing that too- would like to know that as well

[redras]

If any of you are thinking about relocating, to use your qualifications and experience in one of the biggest projects ever under taken in Queensland Australia, then I suggest you get yourself a skilled visa "this can be a lengthy process, but once you have it, you good to go"

Have a go and apply for jobs with Arrow Energy or APLNG (Australia Pacific LNG) and be sure to have a very competitive salary package.

Just something to think about.

[redmanjp]

If any of you are thinking about relocating, to use your qualifications and experience in one of the biggest projects ever under taken in Queensland Australia, then I suggest you get yourself a skilled visa "this can be a lengthy process, but once you have it, you good to go"

Have a go and apply for jobs with Arrow Energy or APLNG (Australia Pacific LNG) and be sure to have a very competitive salary package.

Just something to think about.

The Fridays off- it's in addition to weekends I assume?

[redras]

If any of you are thinking about relocating, to use your qualifications and experience in one of the biggest projects ever under taken in Queensland Australia, then I suggest you get yourself a skilled visa "this can be a lengthy process, but once you have it, you good to go"

Have a go and apply for jobs with Arrow Energy or APLNG (Australia Pacific LNG) and be sure to have a very competitive salary package.

Just something to think about.

The Fridays off- it's in addition to weekends I assume?

That's correct.

[acesinghit]

leave it to some of these guys and they want 30k a month with a cis degree. masters u say? They want $40k above.

These sam/scbs/ctscbcs/utt/uwi/uosc graduates who feel them is the next bill gates or michael dell just realize that it have police corporals making more coin so naturally they feel they should rake in more than those plant and platform boys working in petrotrin, bp, bg etc etc.

u want to work in an it dept with little to 0 experience in IT....take ah $5-8k a month with certs/degree

have certs and degree with experience? take ah 8k to 15k a month

have masters and a supervisory or junior management position? handle a 15k to 22k a month plus the ability to make your IT manager good despite him not knowing how to crimp ah cable.

IT Manager u say? 22k to 35k a month (based on your ability to blow sushine up the HR manager's a$$ and or CEO)

CEO of an IT company? ***<unlisted income>*** (depends on pay package and closeness to govt tender issuers)

if the above is not worth it then go study engineering or medicine.

If anyone of you hoping to switch careers and become a lawyer and feel you could be keith scotland in 5 yrs, you might as well stick with that LAN admin position.

Live within your means and humble thyself or hope and pray Aunty Kamla creates the position of "minister of ICT" and you can offer youself to be screened for said position. That salary btw especially being a non cabinet minister will land you 30k a month as well.. LOL

OR

Sell IBM and HP servers for a living. Your pay will make IT Manager's jealous.

[neilsingh100]

if the above is not worth it then go study engineering or medicine..

Interesting enough in this country I think engineers make more money than medical doctors and there is far more opportunities for upward mobility.

[5forward]

Could some of you guys tell me if it might make sense to go strictly into the field of fiber optics?
Jobs like fiber optic technician and fiber optic installer,how much (on average) would it pay?
Bear in mind i dont have and of the other IT qualifications you guys speak off.

[carmelo]

There is no scope for that here.... U best bet is fly out...ppl coming out with bsc and msc in IT with no experience expect to get 20 and 30k salaries. That will never happen. U have to start at the bottom and work ur way up.

[zoom rader]

Trinidad is now a national of paper people with no real skills. All expect to come out of UTT, UWI ect and want big pay. Its the same with Technicians and Engineers they do a lil course and want $20k a month and dont know how to use a hacksaw or Fluke.

[GOAT]

Fellas I doing a lil OJT job right now and going to start my degree with in the next year.
But just wanted to know where does A+ and Net+ rank in the OJT payscale?
Do they give you level 2 pay(A levels, diplomas) or is it level 1 pay(O'levels)?
If its the level 2 pay then I'd do that right now, won't take me long, then work on my degree but if its level 1 pay then it makes no sense to waste money writing that.

So any of you know, yeah I know is small change but you gotta start somewhere, right?

[fouljuice]

I don't think there are any exceptions, but you could call and ask to make sure.

[sonygoup]

Inside