Is the job market really weird right now?

[Shanteli]

Lemme explain?ok I just new graduated in May with an MIS degree and I have not really been able to find sh$t for jobs. I find myself applying to low tech jobs because I have never actually worked being a ?real? network admin or systems analyst. The last job I applied for I got ousted by some guy who worked for Sun for 5+ years?like how am I supposed to compete with that? And since companies don?t consider any computer support jobs that I had at the University as real world professional experience, I am totally sitting at 0 years experience then.
Ok so then after sitting there on my @ss for like 3 months I started just applying to ?play? jobs at the mall or at a bookstore and stuff?essentially HS stuff right?and I find that I am not getting calls from there either?though I totally worked at these places when I didn?t even have a HS diploma. I have heard it is cuz 1) They know that you have a degree and will bail in a second or 2) The managers are insecure about you being able to oust them from their position if you are good enough cuz most managers of retail are not necessarily college educated.
So yeah in the mist of all of this?I decided to go back to school and try to get a campus job like I did when I was getting my undergrad?and I still can?t find anything?I was told by some internal people because it was cuz I had a degree from a different university and they wanted to save the jobs for a student who was a real degree seeking undergrad.
Anyway?is anyone else experiencing similar things like this? Cuz as the market is going I am ready to jump ship and try to get into nursing or pharmacy or something like that cuz at least I would have a damn job when I got out. An MBA or a MS in MIS would totally not help my situation either because I still would not have ?real professional experience?.

 

[Evadman]

You need experence to get a job, but you cant get a job without experence.

Welcome

 

[AU Tiger]

The IT job market is sh$t and will be that way for a while longer.

The offshore stuff is killing the IT rates companies are willing to pay and then there are hundreds of people applying for the jobs that are advertised. Most jobs aren't even advertised because recruiters have enough resumes to fill the positions they have without the cost of advertising.

The best chance of getting a job currently is to have contacts that can help you get a job. Just be glad that you are young. You have a lot more options than others I know who are looking.

 

[Ameesh]

how many places have you applied to?

 

[rh71]

You're right about 1) & 2). That's what they mean when they tell you you're overqualified. Besides, you don't want to waste your precious career-path time with meaningless jobs like that, unless you're desperate for cash. Unfortunately, it is too late to tell you this, but anyone still in school, DO INTERNSHIPS. I don't care if it doesn't pay anything. You will realize how much this helps after you get out. These look better than helpdesk-type jobs on campus. Even if it's on campus, most IT internships are better than your typical campus computer-center type job, at least on paper. And strike 3 for you - MIS is such a general field that you need to specialize (or say/show you do) in something particular, like DBs, or SysAdmin (NT stuff), or web.

I don't mean to sound negative, but you've already faced reality. Be good at something and search for jobs that way. There's already a ton of people applying for the typical computer-related job at a financial firm, etc., while fewer are applying for entry-level DB admin or web dev for smaller firms / IT companies. The jobs are out there... you just have to look under the rocks. Good luck. And if all else fails, there IS grad school and certifications to get you a step ahead. All depends if you need the money now or not.

 

[Maverick]

yeah job market sucks right now...I want to go back to school but I think I'll wait till it boils over...I want to make sure I'll have a job to come back to!

 

[trmiv]

I've found the same thing. I can't find any helpdesk or desktop support positions, which I really don't want to do anyway, because I hate tech support (being doing software tech support for 3 years through college). I don't have a specialty like rh71 said. I have an BS in MIS which prepared me for ZERO as far as landing a job is concerned. I'm finding out that after spending 98% of my life so far in school and working my ass off to graduate, that I need to go back to school to take classes to be able to land an entry level job, because the stuff I learned to get my BS just wasn't enough. What sucks is, I burned myself out on school so much by working hard to graduate, that I'm not sure I could tolerate sitting in a classroom again right now.

I do have a nice fancy looking degree sitting on a shelf, but that and 99 cents will get me a biggie fry at Wendy's.

 

[radiocore]

Originally posted by: Evadman
You need experence to get a job, but you cant get a job without experence.

Welcome

yeah, sucks...don't it? :frown:

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: radiocore

Originally posted by: Evadman
You need experence to get a job, but you cant get a job without experence.

Welcome

yeah, sucks...don't it? :frown:

I N T E R N S H I P S - work for cheap-ass companies while you can afford no income and still get valuable experience. Hit your school's job center for listings. Business schools (dept.) should have tons of these listings for IT. I did 3 internships my last semester... 2nd best decision of my entire life.

 

[flavio]

I have 5 years IT experience but got laid off 2 months ago. I haven't even managed to get an interview yet.

 

[Shanteli]

OK well I have applied to a lot...around 200+ and this includes cold calling companies, somehow getting into contact with the IS/IT dept and bypassing HR, going through HR, using the web (useless). The bad thing is that I don't have any internal contacts becasue all of my contacts are in academia...so if I needed another University position I would have hookups but both states, AZ and NV are having budget difficulties so they are not really hiring right now.
And to respond to rh71, I did have internships...2 of them. So my resume has my university student jobby and both internships posted. And I did mildly specialize in NT/W2K system admin stuff so I am not as "general" as can be. Yeah I was not totally stupid and did not sit there expecting a job just with my degree like a CS or ECE major would have. But now it is looking pretty bad cuz I don't really know what to do.
So trmiv, you sound like you are in the exact same position I am in...what are you doing now? Oh yeah and I was stupid and got my useless degree encased in the really neat wood trim frame....that is now sitting in my closet somewhere cuz it disgusts me to look at it.

 

[BoberFett]

I was out of work from September 01 to March 02. I didn't have a single interview out of 50 resumes mailed. I finally lucked out when my roommates girlfriend happened to mention that her company was looking for a programmer.

Welcome to the glut.

 

[DAWeinG]

When you guys are talking about IT, are you referring to jobs such as computer engineering and software development/programmer (ie a computer science degree)?

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: DAWeinG
When you guys are talking about IT, are you referring to jobs such as computer engineering and software development/programmer (ie a computer science degree)?

no that's different from IT.

 

[alm99]

Originally posted by: Evadman
You need experence to get a job, but you cant get a job without experence.

Welcome

the irony of it all...Life

 

[Shanteli]

Umm I dunno about everybody else...but I am mainly refering to MIS/CIS type majors when I talk about IT...cuz development has always been CS people from what I have seen. And 90% of the people whom I knew who graduated with CE or SC have jobs while only the lucky ones who got internships with IBM and were MIS majors got jobs...I would say out of a class of around 150-200 MIS majors only around 8 people had offers....3 of which were with IBM...but that was before one of the big layoffs so I dunno if they got off.

 

[trmiv]

Originally posted by: Shanteli
So trmiv, you sound like you are in the exact same position I am in...what are you doing now? Oh yeah and I was stupid and got my useless degree encased in the really neat wood trim frame....that is now sitting in my closet somewhere cuz it disgusts me to look at it.

I'm working part time doing tech support at a small software company, which I've been doing for almost 3 years. I really want to start some kind of career though.