Attempting to reenter the job market after a lengthy illness….extremely discouraged!

ImThe0ne

srabiee wrote: »

Second most common negative feedback: "We are looking for someone with a broader skillset. We need someone with VMware, Hyper-V, SCCM, SCOM, MCSE, CCIE, VCP, VCAP, CISSP, Red Hat, SUSE, .NET Developer, JAVA, Oracle, 20+ years of experience, and can heal the blind. Oh, and the job pays $70K."

This is all too common these days too. People want a Sr. Engineer for a Jr price.

kohr-ah

srabiee wrote: »

Second most common negative feedback: "We are looking for someone <..SNIP..>, and can heal the blind. Oh, and the job pays $70K."

I have a PDF for healing the blind if you need it.

srabiee

Update:

Landed my first job interview! It's for a Systems Engineer position at a reputable multi-national company. They don't do Skype so this will be the initial in-person interview after passing the phone screening process. It seems like a great position, heavy focus on Hyper-V, SCCM, and SCOM. My experience is much heavier in VMware ESXi, vSphere, and Horizon View, but I will try my best to land the job. Hoping my certs will help make up for lack of professional experience with these technologies. This will be my first in-person job interview in over 5 years, although I did get some practice via Skype over the past couple of weeks.

Have had a few other calls, mostly Indian recruiters trying to wheel and deal like used car salesmen.

I did have another legit call today regarding a desktop support admin, but it only paid $18/hr and the hiring manager was afraid that I was over qualified. She said that they would be taking a risk on me because I might jump ship ASAP if they were to consider me as a candidate, based upon my experience, education, and certs (the job only required an associates degree and no prior knowledge of anything other than Windows desktop OS and related technologies). And she was right, I would have used that position to springboard myself back into a server admin or systems engineer role (although I didn't admit to that up front, of course).

So I'm definitely starting to get some legit interest, and landed an interview. I've pretty much applied to any and every job I can find across the job boards and LinkedIn right now. Applied to about 200 jobs throughout the DFW area so far. I'm going to keep applying to jobs each evening as new ones are posted, until someone makes me an offer and I accept. (About 5 ~ 15 new ones appear each day)

cyberguypr

I'm delighted to read this. TE is rooting for you! Best of luck.

anhtran35

Do you think you need to BS a bit? State on the phone and your resume you were doing 1099 work as a independent consultant for the last few years?

techfiend

Another company on hyper-v, I've seen it on more than vmware on job listings lately. You're mcse probably helped, go knock that interview out of the park!

Chev Chellios

Best of luck buddy, you deserve a break- go smash the interview, you've got this!

PS- Not got certs in it but have a lot of experience with VMware/VSphere etc and a lot of jobs in the UK seem to now be dabbling in Hyper-V- Looks like MS finally has a decent alternative to VMware that companies are taking seriously.

scaredoftests

Sending good interview vibes.

srabiee

Had 3 rejections today from recruiters citing the same reason: "The client considers your work history gap to be too much of a negative and has decided to pursue other viable candidates."

I think it's becoming painfully obvious that, even in the Dallas job market, the fact that I've been unemployed for over a year is killing my chances.

EDIT: Make that 4 rejections today. Last one that came through didn't cite a reason. It said "Despite the impressive resume, we have determined that you wouldn't be a good fit for this position."

paul78

Sorry to hear that... It's sometimes just a percentage game, I'm sure something will turn up. You have a good resume so hang in there.

scaredoftests

Baloney! You will find something. I have had lengthy gaps in my employment as well. Keep on trying and there will be bound to be someone out there that will see your talents.

Mow

Don't let the discouragement get to you. Things will work out for you, I am sure.

TheFORCE

srabiee wrote: »

Had 3 rejections today from recruiters citing the same reason: "The client considers your work history gap to be too much of a negative and has decided to pursue other viable candidates."

I think it's becoming painfully obvious that, even in the Dallas job market, the fact that I've been unemployed for over a year is killing my chances.

EDIT: Make that 4 rejections today. Last one that came through didn't cite a reason. It said "Despite the impressive resume, we have determined that you wouldn't be a good fit for this position."

Say that you were doing freelance/ contractor gigs because of whatever reason.

techfiend

When they ask about the gap, what are you saying? I'd stress college.

GreaterNinja

hey buddy, been there and done that. I'm actually looking for a new job now...kinda. Yeah it sucks and its frustrating finding a new job. Once you do find a new job (and you will), things will change for the better. You just gotta take care of yourself, eat right, exercise, etc. Stay positive and keep chopping the wood!

cs8400

Something will come your way. Keep your head up and keep on looking for what best suits you and your family.

linuxabuser

I'll probably get burned at the stake by the "do-gooders", but why not stretch the truth, ok, lie, a little bit and say you've had a consulting company for the last year doing freelance sysadmin work.

I mean, hell, you gotta eat. You need a job. I'm not telling you to say that you were a contractor for a Fortune 100 company doing crazy ****, but just something to fill that gap.

srabiee

I really don't want to get caught in a straight up lie. Going down that road can get hairy. For example, I would then have to explain what contract work I performed exactly, and why I didn't include it on my resume. I have also heard of some potential employers even asking for W2's before finalizing an offer. (There's at least one thread about it on these forums)

I agree that telling the absolute truth, without reservation, probably isn't the way to go either. ("I was out of work because I developed a rare headache disorder.")

I'm hoping the middle ground of concentrating on my education and prior accomplishments will be sufficient to land a position and get back to work.

@techfield, When they ask about the work gap (it's always the first thing they bring up), I state something to the effect of: "I resigned from my previous position in order to complete a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology as a full-time student. I then immediately began pursuing a Master of Science degree in Information Technology, also as a full-time student, which I have been working on up until the present date." They then usually go on to ask me about why I moved to TX from WV.

Sometimes they ask why I'm looking for work at this time when I haven't finished my masters degree. I usually try to explain that the bachelors degree was something that I felt I urgently needed to complete as quickly as possible, whereas the masters degree isn't a hard requirement to further my career, and thus I feel I can work on it at a much more leisurely pace. (work on the degree while still working full-time)

kenrin

This is quite ridiculous. I Had a three year gap of unemployment when I did my BS degree and no one said a thing about it. Yeah it probably killed a lot of job opportunities but i'm sure zero certs and only helpdesk support 3+ years to put on my resume probably hurt more.

Have you tried not listing your masters degree at all?

I'm just speculating here, but if they think you took that gap because of schooling and you are still schooling for masters you wouldn't dedicate yourself?

I only ask because I was advised by my professor from my associate program to NOT list my bachelors degree while I was looking for work while in-school. It worked out pretty well getting a job, at least until the semester and my schedule changed. I'm sure you won't have that problem though being online.

srabiee

I think the in-progress masters degree really helps to identify and explain what I've been doing this past year while I've been out of work. Besides that explanation, the answer would have to be "I've been working on certs," or "I was too sick to work." I think "working on my masters degree" is definitely the best explanation of the three options.

Mini-update: Purchased a one-way flight to Dallas, flying out Tuesday evening. Purchased a new suit. First in-person interview thus far is scheduled for Thursday morning. I'm planning on staying in Dallas for awhile to give myself time to attend other interviews (fingers crossed) and to look at housing options. My wife and I are prepared for me to stay there with family for several weeks or longer if need be. She is staying behind in WV with the baby, and to begin packing and making moving arrangements. Hoping this initial trip to Dallas is as fruitful as possible. I really don't want to get caught flying back and forth over and over again.

techfiend

You could add that you wanted to spend time with your baby. Paternal leave is becoming more and more common.

Good luck on your stay in Dallas!

scaredoftests

Good luck..

paul78

srabiee wrote: »

I think "working on my masters degree" is definitely the best explanation of the three options.

Just be prepared for the followup questions - "why did you decide to do your masters?", "is there a reason why you didn't decide to do a part-time masters program?", and "what do you intend to pursue with your masters?"
Good luck on your trip... Hopefully, in 10 years from now, you can look back on this time as a grand adventure.

Mow

Any news? I hope you have heard from someone by now, and have some interviews lined up!

srabiee

I had a bit of a setback. I've been sick with bronchitis and sinusitis for the past two weeks. Antibiotics don't seem to be helping, and this thing just keeps lingering on from day to day. Ultimately, I had to postpone the flight to Dallas for one week, and rescheduled the interview for the following week. That bought me an extra week to recover from the illness, but didn't seem to do much good.

I flew to Dallas yesterday evening, even though I felt like crap. I plan on being here in Dallas for the next couple of weeks, staying with family members. I have three in-person job interviews lined up this week - One on Wednesday and two on Thursday. Bought a new suit too.

If I could only recover from this damn respiratory infection, I'd feel a lot more comfortable going into these interviews. I break out into random coughing fits throughout the day, even with prescription cough meds. Totally sucks.

Mow

That sucks, man. I wanted to let you know, also, I sent you a PM, not sure if you got it or not, about something in Dallas.

SgtBOOM

Been reading through this thread throughout the day. How did the interview go? Rooting for you!

usaftyler

I have been following along with your story for about a week now, I'm very interested to hear how it works out for you (I am wanting to wind up working in Dallas after my military gig is up ) and wish you the best srabiee!

ILUVIT

Sent you a private message.

srabiee

Hey guys, thanks for checking in on me. Sorry for the delayed response, I had an extremely busy week and I'm still trying to recover from this upper respiratory infection. I finished a whole course of antibiotics but the damn thing just lingers on.

Update: Some very good news. I had 4 in-person interviews this past week. They all went pretty well, despite being ill and not being able to shake this cough. The first company that I interviewed with on Wednesday morning called me up on Friday and extended an offer of employment. It's a Systems Engineer position, they offered $81K + benefits. They sent me the offer letter via email and I have until Monday evening to make my decision.

So here's the crazy part. I immediately informed the other 3 companies that I had received an offer and I have until Monday to decide. All 3 companies expressed the desire to meet with me again on Monday to present me with counter-offers. So essentially, I have 4 companies fighting over me to secure my employment. Not sure what the counter-offers are going to be, but the initial offer stands at $81K.

So suffice to say, tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day.

As far as which to choose if the money and benefits were equal all around, I really don't know. The first company (the one that made me the offer) is a large multinational homeowners association with over 10,000 employees. Company #2 is a medium-sized software development company. Company #3 is a medium to large-sized mortgage company. Company #4 is a small MSP, about 20 ~ 25 employees, been in business for 10 years. The job titles are either "Systems Administrator" or "Systems Engineer," however the job duties are very similar between the 4 companies, including sysadmin, engineering, and architectural/design duties.

It may just come down to money and location. The company that made the initial offer is located in downtown Dallas, and I really don't want to have to drive downtown everyday if I can avoid it. Some of the others are located in beautiful suburban areas away from the inner city. As far as money goes, not sure how much they are going to counter with or what benefits they provide, because I hadn't gotten that far into the interview process before I received the initial offer.

I will definitely update this thread tomorrow evening after all is said and done.