IT People - Do you think job market will improve? - POLL Added

[Murpheeee]

Do you think things will improve when (if) the econmony ever improves - will companies suddenly be hiring IT staff again?

Or do you think that bubble has burst for good?
They have survived with skeleton crew this long right?

If you are in IT would you switch careers if you could? [POLL added for this]

 

[aircooled]

There will always be IT (gotta have phones, computers, etc... to be a functioning company). The question is; How many of us will they need? Computers in general will keep getting easier to use, so finding the right "specialty" field in IT is going to be the big decision. Right now security is big, but you have to engulf yourself in it and take that risk that it will always be there for you. Same with all other IT speciality fields... Most of us are "generalist" we know a little about all of it, but that may not help us in the future, we may have to pick a direction and hope it works....

 

[Vadatajs]

Jobs? Ha! outsourcing is cheaper.

 

[damiano]

The thing is the following:

With the internet buble, lots of people started to do HTML and learned how to install windows...and they worked being overpaid for some IT company, and now that this illusion is over, there are a lot of people who think they are IT professionals but who really don't know sh!t.
What is happening right now is that the IT job market has to stabilize and all these useless tech-wannabees have to get out of this market so the real tech job market can get back to normal
And it sucks for the skilled techs who have problems finding jobs for now
but it will get better

cheers

Damiano

 

[TheCorm]

Used to work in IT, not at the moment...want to get back into it....

But I don't think the market is going to improve anytime soon....

 

[rudder]

I guess it depends on what area of IT you are in. For the forseeable future I beleive there will be a need for sys admins and engineers. As far as developers are concerned, many of the larger companies seem to want to cut costs by outsourcing these to places like India and such. It has been a natural progression to reduce costs of high dollar developers. First hire people on visas and keep them enslaved by promising citizenship, now companies found out if you keep those same workers in their native country you can pay them even less. Will this change if the economy makes a rebound? I doubt it since the emphasis will still always be on stock price.

I chose IT as a career change since my other career kept me away from home to much. I am fortunate enough now to have a very stable job in the IT industry. I could probably stay where I am at till I retire, but if I could find a new career without having to go to school again, I would jump ship in a second.

 

[kranky]

Check out this article that is somewhat gloomy regarding IT job prospects.

 

[rh71]

I work in IT - I would change careers if I could ...

...just to see what else is out there. But I don't want to give up what I have...

 

[dmcowen674]

There are signs the bleeding has stopped and the door is cracked open a little bit. Don't expect an insane Boom though.

 

[Scarpozzi]

No more IT for any of us. We'll all be writing everything down with pen and paper again within months.

 

[damiano]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
No more IT for any of us. We'll all be writing everything down with pen and paper again within months.

haha
that's what I tell some really stupid users when they ask too many dumb questions, I tell them they should be using a pencil, a paper and a fax machine instead of a computer

 

[Murpheeee]

Originally posted by: damiano
The thing is the following:

With the internet buble, lots of people started to do HTML and learned how to install windows...and they worked being overpaid for some IT company, and now that this illusion is over, there are a lot of people who think they are IT professionals but who really don't know sh!t.
What is happening right now is that the IT job market has to stabilize and all these useless tech-wannabees have to get out of this market so the real tech job market can get back to normal
And it sucks for the skilled techs who have problems finding jobs for now
but it will get better

I agree the market is saturated, and skilled techs are competing with "tech-wannabees " for jobs

I don't know if I share your optimism though about things improving anytime soon.....
Companies that used to hire tons of IT staff have had to lay most off, now they see they can operate with a few, they are not going to hire more for the sake of it.

 

[MuffD]

I went from IT to Quality Assurance. Better money here than I could have made in IT.

 

[Dat]

*edit*

regardless of market condition, IT still pays pretty well for those with the skill + talent. My peer group all make around 100k a year with a few years experience.

 

[damiano]

Originally posted by: muffstah
I went from IT to Quality Assurance. Better money here than I could have made in IT.

I don't know how much you make...
but believe me, your statement is wrong

 

[Hoober]

Originally posted by: Dat
*edit*

regardless of market condition, IT still pays pretty well for those with the skill + talent. My peer group all make around 100k a year with a few years experience.

I'd love for you to tell me where to make 100,000 a year with three years experience in IT. And then tell me how to get it.

 

[Gyrene]

Originally posted by: DatWhere else can a person make 100,000 a year with 3 years of experience?

HVAC Engineering

 

[damiano]

UNIX admin in New York City
IT consultant in NYC as well
etc...etc...etc..
and in three years, you will still be making 100 k
the unix admin will be making 175

 

[yoda291]

companies have learned they don't need to put up with incompetent techs and admins. They also learn that IT returns productivity in direct proportion to money invested in it provided you have the right people employed and only when you have those people employed. What happens now, IMO, is that people will start to realize they have no place in IT and shove off and businesses will start to pay whoever is left whatever money they're worth

 

[Hoober]

Originally posted by: damiano
UNIX admin in New York City
IT consultant in NYC as well
etc...etc...etc..
and in three years, you will still be making 100 k
the unix admin will be making 175

They need any DBA's in NYC?

Course, I don't think I'd really like to live in NYC.

 

[yoda291]

Originally posted by: Hoober

Originally posted by: Dat
*edit*

regardless of market condition, IT still pays pretty well for those with the skill + talent. My peer group all make around 100k a year with a few years experience.

I'd love for you to tell me where to make 100,000 a year with three years experience in IT. And then tell me how to get it.

Considering most professional consultants bill out at a minimum of 150/hr...doesn't sound all THAT hard to do...it's just a lot of work.

 

[newbiepcuser]

Originally posted by: damiano

Originally posted by: muffstah
I went from IT to Quality Assurance. Better money here than I could have made in IT.

I don't know how much you make...
but believe me, your statement is wrong

If your Senior software QA Engineer, and do more Unit testing than just logging defects then its possiblity that your salary can be high. The Senior QA engineers are also responsible for designing the test plans, writing out the test cases, etc.


Its possiblity that Senior Software QA Engineer can make as much as an IT person, but not as a whole in general.

 

[Hoober]

Originally posted by: yoda291

Originally posted by: Hoober

Originally posted by: Dat
*edit*

regardless of market condition, IT still pays pretty well for those with the skill + talent. My peer group all make around 100k a year with a few years experience.

I'd love for you to tell me where to make 100,000 a year with three years experience in IT. And then tell me how to get it.

Considering most professional consultants bill out at a minimum of 150/hr...doesn't sound all THAT hard to do...it's just a lot of work.

It's probably not all that hard to do, but you need the experience to be able to bill yourself as a consultant.

 

[damiano]

Originally posted by: newbiepcuser

Originally posted by: damiano

Originally posted by: muffstah
I went from IT to Quality Assurance. Better money here than I could have made in IT.

I don't know how much you make...
but believe me, your statement is wrong

If your Senior software QA Engineer, and do more Unit testing than just logging defects then its possiblity that your salary can be high. The Senior QA engineers are also responsible for designing the test plans, writing out the test cases, etc.


Its possiblity that Senior Software QA Engineer can make as much as an IT person, but not as a whole in general.

maybe some of them yes...
oh well..good for you if you have a good job in these tough times...

 

[damiano]

Originally posted by: Hoober

Originally posted by: yoda291

Originally posted by: Hoober

Originally posted by: Dat
*edit*

regardless of market condition, IT still pays pretty well for those with the skill + talent. My peer group all make around 100k a year with a few years experience.

I'd love for you to tell me where to make 100,000 a year with three years experience in IT. And then tell me how to get it.

Considering most professional consultants bill out at a minimum of 150/hr...doesn't sound all THAT hard to do...it's just a lot of work.

It's probably not all that hard to do, but you need the experience to be able to bill yourself as a consultant.

I bill 250 an hour