James,
You should know me well enough by now!
Do it right the first time. roll
Nigel
You forgot a question mark at the end of the first paragraph. )
Good spot Rich!
However, the question was meant purely rhetorically and therefore didn't need a question mark as I wasn't actually soliciting a response.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
I see the topic went a bit off course, I didn't mean to start a discussion on grammar.
But I accept the point that I should pay more attention to my grammar. Excuse that English isn't my first language and fixing spelling mistakes in Word clearly isn't enough, even on a forum…
Thanks erowe for your advice, it seems to be the only possibility right now. I am just not sure if I can find many companies with it support jobs in London that provide digital forensic services. The only possibility I could think of would be a bank.
Thanks
I would suggest you try banks, telcos, revenue agency, border services, competition bureau, police, military, private investigation firms, and universities (it's amazing how much trouble students can get into). Around here all of those seem to have employees that do forensics either full or part-time. Large companies sometimes have IT security or e-discovery teams.
Again, try to find out who the folks who do this are, and see if you can talk to them directly instead of going through the personnel department. Personnel will tend to give you the run-around if no job is posted. You will still have to wait for a job posting, but you will at least stand out from the others when the opportunity comes along.
Temp agencies can also get you in the door. Register with as many as you can. The pay is generally bad, but it will hopefully get you a bit of experience to put on your resume, help you meet people, and even get you a government security clearance. Also, if the place is using temps, that's a good sign that they need bodies and a hiring may be in the works. (I still occasionally get calls from some of the agencies I registered with years ago, as well as businesses that I worked at.)
Also, go to your local HTCIA meetings and talk to people there. They might be able to give you leads or point you to people who could help.
And don't give up, it may take a while (i.e. a year or more). I know it was a bit of a long, sometimes frustrating, and tortuous route for me.
We take writing skills so seriously that one of the 'core competencies' we test for our positions is ‘Writing in English’. This test is developed by an outside body and is used throughout the Agency. Our candidates are required to obtain a level 3 minimum out of a possible 4 (level 4 is reserved for individuals who draft legislation and various other public consumption material such as press releases and ministerial briefings). The rationale is that the various reports and documents that we prepare for the Public Prosecution Service and other end users, such as the bench itself, must have an acceptable level of coherence and professional polish.
Hi there.
I am new to this site and this is my first post so please excuse me if this is in the wrong place, format (and let's not even start on my spelling and grammar obviously!).
Like NieUK I am also looking for my first start in computer forensics having completed a 6 month course offered by the Open University. Also, I'm afraid like NieUK, I'm not getting very far but shall keep striving (and the advice from erowe got me thinking laterally, so thanks for that).
The conversation about the quality of English in reports struck me as particularly valid. I work in a court and sometimes blush at the poor quality of some of the reports submitted to the sentencers. The first concern has to be that poor grammar can, on occasion, change the intended meaning of the report (the old “eats, shoots and leaves” scenario). The other issue is one of credibility. I hypothesise but, if someone produces a badly spelled, poorly constructed report, then the reader may well infer sloppiness in the original investigation. I’m guessing that this also applies to CVs submitted to potential employers. I speak as a man who once had to stand before an irate judge having to take a verbal spanking on behalf of my organisation when a colleague, throughout their report, had typed the number 0 instead of the letter “o”. Not too noticeable at the start of sentences, but the judge really saw red when he came to “n0t” and “p0int”!
Yes, I’ve spell-checked this, re-read it a dozen times, and am now bracing myself!