The Student's View
Name		Janine Peppiat
Age		20
Current Position		Help Desk Analyst; The Post Office
Course		Advanced GNVQ in Information Technology
College		Farnham College
Why GNVQ?
I chose a GNVQ course because it seemed so practical and work-based. I knew that I didn’t want to go to university at that stage so it made sense to get a qualification which would really help me get a job. At school my only involvement with IT was the stuff I absolutely had to do; I was much more interested in what I thought of as expressive subjects like arts and English. My college career started in a similar vein with A levels in English Literature and English Language, but I took a GCSE in Information Technology just to fill my timetable. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it and I really wanted to take my IT knowledge forward. By combining the first year of the GNVQ course with my A levels and staying on an extra year, I was able to get both qualifications. People sometimes think that GNVQ courses are a soft option compared to A levels but, if you take them seriously, they involve a lot of hard work. There are exams and you have to develop a strong knowledge base. I put my heart and soul into my GNVQ course because the results were so satisfying. Now I am very keen to go on developing my knowledge and skills. Once I am established in this job, I would love to do a part-time degree.
The course
The great thing about the GNVQ course is that it covers so many aspects. One of the things I value most is the practical research ability I gained. Before I started, I wasn’t a big Internet fan, now I have the ability to use library and web sources effectively and write a report that has real practical value. GNVQ also taught me how to be organised. When I was doing A levels, my files were in a real mess and the work deadlines always seemed stretchable. With GNVQ, project work had to be completed on time and properly recorded; I designed a fault logging system at college which is just the kind of documentation that I am using in my job now. The technical knowledge I gained was also very broad. It ranged from the basics, like using Office and loading software, to programming and networks. I got hands-on experience of operating systems such as Windows NT and learned the basic principles of software so that I can now apply them elsewhere. It gave me lots of confidence in my ability to learn new packages. My work placement was brilliant and I really enjoyed it. I went to a small company which did computer upgrade and repair work. It was my first chance to build a computer from scratch – I knew the theory from college but, not surprisingly, they didn’t have the resources to give everyone a computer! One of the most challenging and useful things about GNVQ was the need to communicate ideas and information to different audiences. As well as doing demonstrations and talks for fellow students and staff, we also gave presentations to parents and students on other courses. The social skills I gained are really important to me now because I need to convey technical information to non-technical people. On my A level course, I had been very much the quiet student who hid behind my books and sat in the corner. The emphasis on group projects in GNVQ prepared me for the totally team-based environment in which I now work. My tutor also gave me one to one assessments which are just like the performance development reviews I now have with my line manager.
Getting the job
When I finished my course, I wanted to start with a basic IT job which would enable me to consolidate the learning. GNVQ had showed me that a help desk job would be a great starting point and would enable me add to my knowledge as I was advising customers. The newspaper advert for my job asked for people educated to A level standard with a deep interest in IT – it seemed just right for me. I now work in a team of 4 on a help desk which is open 8.30-6 most days and sometimes until 7pm. We service 2000 Post Offices around the country and advise staff on a bespoke package used to do cash accounts and balance stock. Calls can last from a few minutes to a couple of hours and have to be properly documented. Typically we get around 100 calls a day but there are extra pressures on Wednesdays and Thursdays at the beginning and end of the Post Office week. A lot of it is educational, helping people who used to do manual accounts to work in DOS. We sometimes get recurring problems where we need to report the solutions across the Post Office network. Generally we can close the problem ourselves, but we occasionally have to call in the engineers. A new system is coming in, so it is interesting working with both systems; when we aren’t busy with calls, there is a chance to explore the potential of the software and share the learning outcomes with colleagues. My intake included people from different backgrounds including a number of graduates. I feel that my GNVQ course really put me a step ahead in the training, partly because of the breadth of knowledge but also because I was so familiar with the everyday demands of the workplace like good timekeeping, managing deadlines and staying on shift until 8 or 9pm if that is what the customers need.
The Future
I can see myself staying on the Help Desk for about a year. After that I would like to move into second line IT support working on more complex network based problems. At my interview, I learned that the Post Office was just developing a new division and that’s what I would like to move onto in the longer term.