Posted on 06/19/2017 11:39:53 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Tech jobs in the U.S. can offer salaries of up to $100,000 and above, and recruiters are in a rush to find those with the skills needed to fill open positions across the country. The job market has never been better for IT: they unarguably offer the best type of employment opportunities, with high wages, generous benefits, and the comfort of job security.
Entering into IT workforce can reap the great rewards of a growing field. Based on job satisfaction, position openings, and earning potential, tech jobs are the most worthwhile.
The even better news, however, is that many, if not most of these jobs, do not require a four-year degree, let alone a PhD in Computer Science or Data Analytics.
Nationwide, accelerated IT-training programs have sprung up, to meet the need to train workers for the IT-heavy workforce. Often low cost, or even fully funded by entities like the U.S. Department of Labor (through such initiatives like the TechHire Grant), these “bootcamps” can take people with non-technical backgrounds and set them on the path to financial and professional success.
Some colleges and universities are starting to understand the need to teach tangible tech skills, but specialized training organizations have begun to fill the gap, and are starting to show a solid track record of getting graduates into the tech workforce.....
(Excerpt) Read more at nhregister.com ...
Dang, I must really suck then. I was laid off 5 months ago and still looking. I’m in IT. Oh wait, I’m over 40 (not a millennial) nor an H1-B. Middle aged white men need not apply.
Send me your resume or brief description and your location and I’ll look around. I was a career counselor for decades.
Working corp-to-corp can eliminate several layers of racial and sex discrimination against you. If you’re over 40 and not new to IT, chances are you have skills that can be marketed direct to the companies that want access to them.
Start early. Very early...
Look at companies that are not quite large enough to have acquired the multi-layered PC gestapo that is the modern HR Department, but large enough to have IT infrastructure. Especially in cities that are a little off the beaten path. They’ll hire you, if you have what they need as far as skills base. It’s very challenging to find qualified individuals for such companies, in such places.
For later
In my case, it’s not so much starting something, but trying to re-enter - I’m getting referrals/interviews, but few results.
What I have landed has been sparse project work. Mostly software reinstall/data recovery, with some light design work.
What I have landed in the not so recent past (2004-08) was a UNIX-heavy, yet entry-level role. Grew from basic form filling to process automation, programming, and (very) light information security work.
What I’ve not managed to land is anything beyond the former. In the case of high call volume support work, they were concerned about being “chewed out”. In the case of more technical work, it was due to some deficiency (no formal exposure to Active Directory) or regional issue (such as finding suitable work that isn’t bound by clearance/IAT 8570).
As a result, I seem to be in an uncanny valley - too much for high volume support desk work and not enough to land more technical work, while being in a DoD-heavy region.
This is a plague that depresses salaries that should be reserved for American citizens ONLY.
Bump for later...I know a friend who wants to get back in computers. He was jailed for a year and now he is just on welfare. He hates it and wants to get a job to be a productive citizen. (Unlike most of the people where he lives).
I know under 40 Hispanic women in the same situation.
One of the problems is the irationality of the job market. Far too much weight is now on the algorithms and models of the resume database firms. Those models are as unscientific as the models that predict elections and climate change.
Far too much control is in the hands of HR and those who do not understand IT, but can parrot what they learned in gender studies in college.
Far too much control is in the hands of Indian recruiters who openly are biased in favor of people like them.
There must be a market somewhere, even a niche market, for the contrarian. Why is nobody filling that market?
My story is nearly identical!
Been in IT for 20 years, as a contractor for the last 5.
My last contract ended last September and I’ve had to take essentially a entry-level job in a blue-collar field to stay afloat.
I can’t say I agree with the hype about tech jobs. The challenges of finding one, even if you’re experienced, are crazy. Most software work is commodity work. You shouldn’t have to work miracles by the seat of your pants at some day-long interview in order to land a job debugging 30 year old CRUD applications at a bank, and hiring committees should be satisfied picking the “best” out of 4-5 people. It doesn’t have to be 100 people. It’s not like they’re Jimmy Page trying to replace the late John Bonham.
My story is nearly identical!
Been in IT for 20 years, as a contractor for the last 5.
My last contract ended last September and I’ve had to take essentially a entry-level job in a blue-collar field to stay afloat.
I still get job offers as a programmer and I am approaching 60.
My husband manages an IT department and when a job is posted, even though they only "required" a BA or BS in the ad, he will have many applicants with their Master's and some with their Doctorate, but he wants pertinent experience. So no matter what your degree is, if you "know" the job (they verbally quiz an applicant during a couple interviews) it doesn't matter what's after your name, you may end up with the job. There is always a little caveat in their ads... "or equivalent experience."
On the other hand, our son works for a company whose requirement for an entry level job in his department is an MBA. So it goes both ways.
Tell me about it! My last job was dominated by non-native workers whose abject servility was totally inappropriate in an American workplace. This made things much worse for their American-born colleagues. Glad to be out of that situation.
Only 5 months? You’re doing better than a lot of others, who have been out for years.
I can’t tell you how many resumes I’ve sent out where there’s no response.
It’s not you.
Entry-level positions are just as bad. If you see positions that want 3 years of experience, there’s a reason for it: OPT visas can get you to 3 years of experience.
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