Leeds

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by Mariusz, Feb 4, 2011.

  1. Mariusz

    Mariusz Byte Poster

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    Hi
    I was wondering if there is somebody from Leeds here? how is it in Leeds on IT job market? is it easy (it's never easy) to land a job as junior IT Technician, or other entry level jobs?
    Is the City Centre (LS1) a good place to live?
    right now I don't live there, but ve been few times, and the centre during the day looks fine.
    I think about moving there in 1-2 years (now I have a temp clerk job), but I wonder if it has sense?
    by this time I will have few more certs (I think about Linux+, Server+, 70-680 and 685, maybe something else), but certs are not equal to skills, I forget very easly the knowledge that weren't used in practise.
    when I think about moving I also think about other aspects, like safety (where I live now it is safer, but not many IT jobs), how easy it is to find a job, how good local schools are etc.
     
    Certifications: ECDL Extra, ITQ Lvl2, CompTIA A+, N+, S+
    WIP: MCTS 70-680 Win7
  2. michael78

    michael78 Terabyte Poster

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    Leeds is a great city but like all big cities there are good and bad areas. I've never had any issues when I've been to Leeds whether with my wife or a lads p@ss up. From what I gather IT in Leeds is meant to be pretty good. I'm sure someone here will add to this. Leeds behind Newcastle is my favourite city. Probably cause I love yorkshire women :biggrin (before I was married).
     
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  3. Apexes

    Apexes Gigabyte Poster

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    I worked in Leeds for a few months, albeit i supported the office from bristol, but i travelled up there for a few days of the week. It's a nice city, loads of pubs clubs, bars resturaunts etc.

    in terms of the IT - i wouldn't know to be perfectly honest. My company just took someone on a 3 month contract to fill my role in Leeds - as i'm now working in germany for a bit, but there are lots of big office buildings about, which i guess most of require in house IT.

    have a scour on the job sites for leeds area - i just had a quick look, and theres around 15-20 jobs - obviously depending on what you want to do or specialize in, i suspect linux, as you mentioned will probably be a smaller market for jobs
     
    Certifications: 70-243 MCTS: ConfigMgr 2012 | MCSE: Private Cloud
  4. greenbrucelee
    Highly Decorated Member Award

    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    I used to live there and I think gingerdave is from Leeds.

    Leeds has lots of IT opportunities because there are a few blue chip companies aswell as long established companies there. There are loads of office buildings. I worked for KPMG for a while but not doing IT that was when I was a student.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
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  5. Gingerdave

    Gingerdave Megabyte Poster

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    The man speaks the truth.

    I love Leeds, its a great place to live, however living in LS1 and LS2 are VERY expensive with it being the city centre as is LS6 (Headingly and Meanwood) as they are primarily student areas and the rent is high. If you dont mind living slightly further out around to LS12 (Armley and Pudsey) you can get some really nice places for much less then the centre. The same is true in the other direction (Morley and.. Damn cant remember)

    For isnstance I live in a 2 bed back to back terrice in Armley with my girlfriend. The rent is sub £500, the landlord is good and bar the odd party the street is quiet. There is a bus route that runs past the end of my street, about 20 feet from my door) that drops me in the centre of town so door to door my commute to work is about 20 minutes.

    IT Jobs wise there is a lot going round here, lots of call centre work, but a large portion of that is in Bradford, so you would have to commute (its about 15 minutes by train). The jobs that are in the centre are normally quite popular and so are heavy on applicants but there are lots of opertunities.

    By the time you are looking to move over here the job market will have changed again so just keep looking. I suggest subscribing to something like CWjobs with alerts set for what you are looking for and that will giv eyou a good indication.

    Hope this helps.
     
    Certifications: A+,MCP, MCDST, VCP5 /VCP-DV 5, MCTS AD+ Net Inf 2008, MCSA 2008
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  6. Gogs

    Gogs Bit Poster

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    Hi Mate,

    I'm a Leedsonian (or whatever they're called) too. As Dave says there is a lot around here, as an example the company I work for train 16-18yr olds in A+ & EDST and then help them get employment. After the last intake they managed to find postitons for approx 130 students in a short period of time.

    As well as Bradford, which Dave mentions, there is also Wakefield and Sheffield that are commutable. Bradford/Wakefield cost me £89 a month for a Metro Card which covers train and bus. I know that Fujitsu (based at Wakefield) are a little more "lenient" and willing to give people with little experience/qualifications a go as long as they interview well.
     
    Certifications: in Signature
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  7. Darkfunnyguy

    Darkfunnyguy Byte Poster

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    I just browsed a few websites and to be honest I am not where you coming from but I found virtually very few IT Support, Desktop Support/Technician, Windows/System Admin or other keywords for IT jobs. :unsure:unsure:hhhmmm:hhhmmm
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCP, MCDST, MCSA 2003
    WIP: Server+, Vista,
  8. Gingerdave

    Gingerdave Megabyte Poster

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    Step 1
    go to www.cwjobs.co.uk
    Step 2
    For location select Leeds West Yorkshire
    Step 3
    Hit search
    Step 4
    browse through the 188 jobs currently on offer there see here and try and narrow it down from there.
     
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  9. greenbrucelee
    Highly Decorated Member Award

    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    This

    Just dont live in chapletown as I did. Dave will know what I mean :D
     
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    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  10. Mariusz

    Mariusz Byte Poster

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    talking about Leeds centre, now I pay 550 for rent only, so I am not afraid of high rent (for 550 I will have flat in Leeds Centre with better spec than I have now), it is more about being close to centre and to work (if it will be in centre).
    Also property prices in LS1 are not that high
    for example: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-17844927.html
    90k for large 2 bed flat with car parking is not that much (price of similar flat in Warsaw), you can pay mortgage for a price of rent or bit higher
    I just don't know why there is lot of flats on Concord street for sale (and for 2 bed flats the price is from 90k up to 120k) - is there something wrong with this buildings that so many people want to sell them flats?
     
    Certifications: ECDL Extra, ITQ Lvl2, CompTIA A+, N+, S+
    WIP: MCTS 70-680 Win7
  11. Gingerdave

    Gingerdave Megabyte Poster

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    Not that I aaware of, I have known a couple of people who have lived there and neither had any issues - they look really funky as well.

    GBL -

    Not. Kidding.
     
    Certifications: A+,MCP, MCDST, VCP5 /VCP-DV 5, MCTS AD+ Net Inf 2008, MCSA 2008
    WIP: MCSA 2012
  12. Darkfunnyguy

    Darkfunnyguy Byte Poster

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    Only problem is 90-95% of jobs are programming jobs. I do not have programming/developer skills.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCP, MCDST, MCSA 2003
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  13. Gingerdave

    Gingerdave Megabyte Poster

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    Extend it to Bradford - generally lots of first line there. Also I tend to see most of the first line stuff comes in waves - keep an eye out chief!
     
    Certifications: A+,MCP, MCDST, VCP5 /VCP-DV 5, MCTS AD+ Net Inf 2008, MCSA 2008
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  14. westernkings

    westernkings Gigabyte Poster

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    It's because the flats are cheaply built, small, with barely any natural light and all together naff. Hell, I used to live in Salford Quays with a previous girlfriend, paying £1650 a month in rent for a penthouse with 4 bedrooms and 2 on suites etc, balcony and all that nonsense and even then we could hear the guy below us screaming his head off at all hours, when we arrived the bathrooms were covered in mould due to the lack of airflow. It was nice but it certainly wasn't worth the buying price.
     
    Certifications: MCITP:VA, MCITP:EA, MCDST, MCTS, MCITP:EST7, MCITP:SA, PRINCE2, ITILv3
  15. kevicho

    kevicho Gigabyte Poster

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    I dont live too far away, but generally Leeds has historically had a bigger job market than Sheffield/Doncaster for IT roles, and it still seems to be that way.
    Would also be worth Looking at Nottingham as well, but worth keeping an eye on Sheffield, Doncaster for your searches.

    Most of the search websites allow you to search within a specific distance from these areas.

    There are some desktop support roles in sheffield at the moment, check reed.co.uk

    Good luck
     
    Certifications: A+, Net+, MCSA Server 2003, 2008, Windows XP & 7 , ITIL V3 Foundation
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  16. NeedMoreSleep

    NeedMoreSleep Bit Poster

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    90K isn't bad for a city centre flat however with the housing market fluctuating at the mo, it's the flats that are getting hit worse (if you're buying, something to take into account). There are quite a lot of new flat developments in that area of Leeds and I don't think demand for them is that high at the moment, until recently my friend used to rent one around that area and most of his neighbouring apartments were empty.

    I can't really tell you about the job market at the mo in Leeds but as mentioned above, from Leeds you can get to Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, York etc without too much trouble on the train.

    Good luck, Leeds is a good city, it just keeps on growing at the moment and whilst the centre is a bit soulless IMO (it's mainly chain stores) it'll pretty much have everything you need and has a fairly good nightlife. I'm not sure what schools there are around the city centre but you can always looked them up on the Ofsted website. (Ofsted is a school inspection agency).
     
    Certifications: MCSA+Messaging
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