Question about landing a federal IT job????????????????

[Nocturnal]

Is there anyway that I would be eligible for any type of federal job if I don?t have any experience in the IT field? Is there anything entry level that would get my foot in the door and help me to obtain certification and what not? I?m really interested in working for the government locally? Should I go to Heald college and obtain an associates degree and try to obtain my MCSE (through Heald)? I can go to their Windows 2000 program which in the end gets you ready for the MCSE test. I?m only making $10.00 an hour right now and I don?t know when or if I?ll ever get a raise. I know someone who started out making $15.00 an hour and he?s already up to $21.50 an hour. This raise/increase was over a nine month period.

What do you think I should do?

I?m currently in a community college trying to obtain my degree (AS) in Computer Electronics Networking Technology. There have been talks into making this CENT program into a four year BS degree program. I can wait it out and see if it will become one and then shoot for my BS or I can attend Heald college for eighteen months.

What do you think I should do?

What would you do?

The thing about my com college is that I have a lot of classes to go through like math and what not before I start the networking classes.

 

[MaxDSP]

Im interested in govt/federal jobs also...job security seems to be the biggest advantage, or so i hear

 

[Nocturnal]

Well everyone keeps shooting that down. They say that it isn't secure secure meaning there is a possible chance of being laid off if there is a rif.

 

[KingNothing]

I work for a government contractor, and the only thing I have to say is, apply for every job you're even remotely qualified for. The job I have now is exactly what my boss wanted, but not very much like the description that I read when I applied for it. I'm doing database work, the job was advertised as a Javascript position. Go figure.

 

[Nocturnal]

King: YGPM

 

[MaxDSP]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
Well everyone keeps shooting that down. They say that it isn't secure secure meaning there is a possible chance of being laid off if there is a rif.

of course, theres always that possibility, but I think the risk of being laid off in corporations is greater

EDIT: BTW, what are some good resources/websites for finding/researching govt jobs?

 

[Dudd]

I'm working a temp job within the federal court system this summer, and all I have to say is good luck. I was talking with the IT woman in our office, and she said she was hired in January out of a pool of 200 applicants for the one job. If you really want a federal job, I'd suggest contacting anyone you know who works for them. That's how I got my temp job, and although it won't be happening in my case due to a move for college in August, sometimes temp employees get retained full time. One of the guys I work with a lot got hired as a temp over a year ago, and he's full time now. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts and a move to electronic filing, he's already been told he will be laid off when the new budget year goes into effect, so the job security isn't as good as you might think.

 

[loup garou]

I don't know about local governments, but when I worked for a federal agency, all our IT services were contracted out.