Taking non-IT jobs while looking to get my foot in the door?

N7Valiant

Not quite sure what to do at this point. I'm in contact with 3 staffing agencies. TEKsystems offered me a job pulling cables at various job sites, didn't take it since it seemed like a couple pegs down below even Help Desk, and they haven't talked to me since so I assume that was the only position they wanted me to fill.

The other 2 offered me non-IT positions, 1 in a university book store for 2 weeks, and another in a bad part of town where I could reasonably expect any vehicle I park on the street to be vandalized or stolen, but it's with a local bank.

While I hear that it's often better to apply for a position when you already have a job, I'm having a hard time figuring out how I'm supposed to sit down for an interview for an industry that generally works 8-5 Mon-Fri if I'm already in a job with exactly those hours, and I sincerely doubt they'll let the new guy request a day off.

The only real issue is that the tech market in Hawaii seems to be pretty dry. Almost every available position I saw up for grabs at the local tech job fair was for senior positions, and I get the feeling that this place is utterly ruthless towards people without experience since you can pretty much demand that everyone has 5+ years of prior experience because so many people are willing to move here.

However I still can't escape the inevitable certainty that if I don't get my door in the IT door right now, I'll never be qualified to do anything outside of retail.

boxerboy1168

Why wouldn't you take the job pulling cables?

That was one of the questions at my last interview. Have I had experience pulling cables.

The problem here is your perspective is wrong. You are looking at a job as below rather then seeing it from the perspective of learning IT from the ground up.

Try changing your perspective. Lucky you I haven't found anything in 8 months so I'm moving.

N7Valiant

I think I would have done it if it was in a fixed location like a college or something, but driving from site to site might be a bit of an issue with my irritable bowel syndrome, which kind of drove my family nuts when I went on vacation because I would have a sudden and urgent need to use the restroom while we were on a tour bus with about 20 miles between cities.

It was very early on in my job search and at that point I felt like I might have a better chance at landing a different position. 2+ weeks of constant applications with little response kind of changed my mind after the fact.

boxerboy1168

Look at it this way.

Is it an actual skill? Is it experience?

Now you will be able to add a real skill you have actual experience with to your resume.

N7Valiant

The relevance is questionable IMO. I have 8 years of experience in retail, but nobody is really asking me about that or calling me because of it.

Although I am going to go for one of the bank offers just because I have to prepare for the possibility that entry-level IT doesn't exist in Hawaii and I may need to save up some money to pack and move if it becomes a trend.