Am I cooked in finding an IT tech job?

[katurner]

Hello
I am hearing (I live 90m from Atlanta GA) that IT jobs overall are hard to find and the job market is in the tank. This is from the tech support/web author type people. Is this true or is it BMW (B*hing, Moaning, Whining)? I am looking for support tech/network administration type work. I already work as a store tech and am looking to move up and out. And will the war's end mean loosening of the job market?
Ken

[Stalemate]

I know that good, paying jobs are a rarity in my area right now, but that might be different in your own region.

I've been looking for 2 months now.

[Ya_know]

It has been bad for several years. Since the .COM empire took a squat. Following that Sept. 11th only made things worse, now with airlines going out of business, and companies all over the place going bankrupt, it can only get worse with the impending war. I spent 11 months looking for work last year, doing some odd contract work here and there, collecting unemployment, and than this job just fell in my lap. If it weren’t for luck, I would probably still be looking...a good friend of mine spent 15 months looking, and settled for something making one third the money he was used to, and 8 hours away from his home, just to work!

Bottom line is, if you are working, stay working as long as you can and keep looking. Something will turn up. At least you have a paycheck, imagine how hard it is for those that don't even have that.

[silencio]

Check www.atlanta.computerjobs.com if you're interested in a job in/around Atlanta. I see desktop support requests all the time.

[katurner]

Thanks for the replies. I am looking in the SE area and Georgia but not so much Atlanta. But it is a suggestion well taken.

The impending war will, when the dust settles, render some closure to this uncertainty. As to when the IT industry will get its feet under it I wish I knew.

I plan to stay and search and not make rash moves. I might even go to REAL college and get an IT degree. If all this doesn't work I'll go to work for Tom Ridge at dhs.gov- hey, money is made from misfortune sometimes.
Ken

[silencio]

I watch the job boards weekly and right around January 1st things seemed to pick right up. I don't think there's too much of a job demand glut but, if you have years of experience and have a specialty (or many) in SQL, AD, ERP software or .net coding in particular, the demand is there and the money is good.

[Packrat]

nope not BMW, its in the tank. I live in East TN and IT jobs are just not happening. I was out of work for 8 months before getting this job (Head of the IT Dept in a collections agency) sounds good, but since I am the only IT guy (thats why I am the head of it ) I have to take care of 500 computers, 500 phones and the Meridian PBX, plus all the printers, scanners, faxes, and copiers here. I make terrible money but it was the only place hiring (and I had 7 years experience at the time). Good luck finding something.

[Cleetus]

Yep, Texas is rather poopy too. At least Dallas and Houston, both areas have had all sorts of business sectors take huge dives. There just isn't much out there. I've got over 4 years and several certs college degree blha, blah blah, and all the headhunters are just saying sit tight where you are no matter how bad your job might seem.

[Necrometal]

Indiana area is in the tanker as well.....

Mostly just phone support, or odd off hand contract work in and around Indy, Chicago areas

[ironwill99]

Seriously, I am in Austin Tx and have been out of work since early March. It seems like all the jobs I find on the internet require 5 to 10 years experience, a bachelors degree, MCSE, CCNA, A+, expertise in 7 different programing languages, Peoplesoft experience, and must know how to wash bosses car and take out trash. I know I am exagerating but not by much. Good thing I qualify for unemployment benifiets and have wealthy in-laws. I hope everone else out there finds something good soon! Good luck everyone.

Later

[Cleetus]

Originally posted by ironwill99
Seriously, I am in Austin Tx and have been out of work since early March. It seems like all the jobs I find on the internet require 5 to 10 years experience, a bachelors degree, MCSE, CCNA, A+, expertise in 7 different programing languages, Peoplesoft experience, and must know how to wash bosses car and take out trash. I know I am exagerating but not by much. Good thing I qualify for unemployment benifiets and have wealthy in-laws. I hope everone else out there finds something good soon! Good luck everyone.

Later

And that is for a $22000 "entry level" job!!!!!

[PeLiGrOsO]

South florida is having the same problems.. no IT jobs and lots of people looking for them... I guess we can also thank the companies that have those accelerated programs that offer people a well paying job in a growth oriented company to those peole who pay top $$ and complete the course.. they are advertised in a lot of radio stations here in fort lauderdale.. they tell you how you should take the course, get certified in a few weeks, quit your old job and start making good money in the IT bussiness... with this said, there are a lot of people who have never seen a computer or arent computer inclined.. they take this classes and spect to be a tech or administrator just by completing the courses.. with no hands on and more than likely not understanding the course they took.. now there are a bunch of people over saturating the IT bussiness, with no experience and MCSE cert on their hands.. when we were looking for a helpdesk person for the hospital.. people with MCSE and CISCO certs were applaying for the jobs, and they didnt even know how to put a computer together... this is why i believe the IT industry is down the drain..

[cisco2]

My brother is an out of work tech with boat loads of experience in a broad range of communications environments. He's up in Northern California and has been looking for over a year. He's had some luck contracting his skills out for various projects and found some work for a while with a startup that went belly up (big surprise).

I'm hearing lots of similar stories here. Lots of people out of work, a wealth of experienced techs looking for work and a glut of wannabes with their ever so valuable A+ certification in hand.

The thing that gets me is all the economic news you hear says demand for information and technology jobs is on the rise.

Yeah, right.

[Tacit_k]

IT is a job market like anyother, right now it is rather ugly but there are still jobs to be had.

If you have a job, keep it and work on your certs.
If you don't have a job then look at returning to school full time and improving your education.

Bone up on some extra skills like SQL and VB programming anything that will make you more marketable.

As your skill set improves the market should do likewise, by the time you find a better job you may end up making far mor than you would if you landed a different job now.

Right now the market is down from before but it is not any worse than other markets, even the Department of Homeland security is planning on hiring 15,000 IT pro's by the end of q2 in 2004 but there are currently no jobs lidted in IT at thier website. Just more reason to get your skillset up to par.

[thejokker]

michael dell is the anti-christ...

Dell is waging a price war and is shipping jobs overseas to maintain it's market position. 10 years ago computers were priced higher and there jobs a plenty. Now computers are dirt cheap and american workers are too expensive. how can america keep innovating when talented people can't find a job?