IT Job Query

wanderer672

Hi Boards

Is there such job role were your just building PCs for a living.

I heard a rumour that product management would be place to start am I wrong?

Or would I have to set up my own company were I'm building PCs for a living for example building custom made PCs by what people have requested for their specific requirements.

Cuddlesworth

wanderer672 wrote: »

Hi Boards

Is there such job role were your just building PCs for a living.

I heard a rumour that product management would be place to start am I wrong?

Or would I have to set up my own company were I'm building PCs for a living for example building custom made PCs by what people have requested for their specific requirements.

Honest answer, not really. There are so many reasons why it's so difficult to do properly and not lose money on it.

wanderer672

Ah that's shame I would've enjoyed doing that everyday but thanks for replying if anyone else has any insight let me know.

Serephucus

I looked at this briefly. Long story short: You can just about match Dell for price with off-the-shelf parts, and make around a 10% profit for yourself, but that's only if you have absolutely no other expenses.

There's just no way to make it viable, unless you're doing extremely high-end, modded, watercooled type stuff. And then, 99% of people who want something like that know enough to not want someone else building it, and don't live in Ireland. :P

As for getting started in that IT space... Honestly? Start modding. It's becoming more and more common for case manufacturers to seek feedback from, and in some cases employ, well-known cases modders for product development.

wanderer672

Hi Serephucus

Thanks for the reply. When you mean modding do you mean modding other people's PCs? or do mean modding your own PC?

Serephucus

Modding your own. When you have a really good case mod (I don't mean just drilling a hole for a new fan, I mean custom panels, lighting, machined stuff, etc.) post on forums and the like for feedback. When you get a particularly good one, post it to a couple of brands' social media pages. Maybe they'll feature it/be interested.

I wouldn't start out modding other people's cases. Better get comfortable with your own stuff first.

cherryghost

The only viable solution is if the job is an integrated part of a larger company, as many companies do offer an assembly of your parts. As a standalone job doing your own thing, you can't match the online retail prices against your own work.

Cuddlesworth

cherryghost wrote: »

The only viable solution is if the job is an integrated part of a larger company, as many companies do offer an assembly of your parts.

That's a minimum wage position with no real career path. I'd recommend a position in McDonalds before doing something like that. Assuming that such a company even exists in Ireland today.

A desktop technician role would allow some repair work on laptops/desktops but that interaction is minimal and you are expected to have more than a single skillset.

wanderer672

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Tails142

Many moons ago I did my transition year work experience in a place called PC Peripherals in Sandyford. They make and sell custom PC's, they don't try to undercut online prices, instead they target a different type of customer, generally older, walk in business etc.

Now, the job I was doing was essentially hand building PC's - I can tell you it sucked! =D I was very interested in an IT career and the whole thing turned me off IT altogether, which was probably to my detriment as I ended up pursuing engineering instead and more than likely would have got into software development as opposed to buliding PC's!!!

The full time people who were working there, which I believe were people with IT degrees seemed to hate it, and I can't imagine what they thought about a 16 year old with no training being brought in to essentially do the same work as them. I can only assume that they were paid peanuts too.

Making up PC's, to be realistic is a low enough skilled job so you can't expect to get paid big money. And boy does it get repetitive. You are basically just plugging parts together and loading up software.

Now maybe if you were working on your own, and are a great salesman and can find a market to tap into who aren't the price conscious type, who are looking for that personal service you could do well. But I bet if that was the case you would focus more on chasing sales and find some young fella to put the PC's together for you instead. So you're really asking about a job in sales as opposed to IT

humvee4444

Like others pointed out - it would not be economically sound, unless building ultra high end machinery (try passive cooled tri/quad SLI setups for example), which mandates a whole different skillset to make it work, commanding better fees for your work. Problem with that - very very few people that actually want one and can afford it. Certainly not enough to make sustained living out of it.

If you're good, and have a reputation to follow, some jobs will come from time to time in a freelance way. Like I said - not enough for a salary, but enough for some extra spending cash.

wanderer672

Hi everyone

Thanks for all the replies. I have been reading them and keeping up to date with the thread just haven't got time to reply back.