Job market

denis92

Is the job market as bad as it seems or is it just me? I just graduated with a BS in IT, have the A+ and have 6 months of internship experience(was not extended to full time opportunity) yet I am getting no call backs. About to start looking for any jobs to pay the bills. The only calls I get are from Indian recruiters that just don’t go anywhere. Seems like many are still working remotely, is that a possible reason for why it’s difficult right now? Will this pick up once people are back in the offices?

scaredoftests

What area do you live? In my area Washington Metro area, I still get calls. Mostly for remote jobs.

JDMurray

It depends on what type and level of IT jobs you are applying to. It's really difficult in this remote-only situation to train people new to the company and especially those who are inexperienced in the job role. There are still lots of on-site jobs in date centers and for field technicians. New budgets start on 10/1/2020, so hiring will pick up, but will quickly fade as the Winter holidays approach.

denis92

I’m applying for help desk roles in nyc. Didn’t think it would be this hard with some experience and a degree

RunningForward

This worries me a fair bit since I am also in New York (north of the city though, Westchester County) and don't possess any certifications nor a technical degree. My bachelor's is in the humanities and I have very minimal job/work experience.

I'm a tad scared now if I am being honest haha.

Good luck and keep us posted though!!

chrisone

Just started a new job two weeks ago. Gov, security clearance took 2 months, so far so good. Got more pay and less responsibilities. Win, win. I say the market has been good, but its all perspective. 

RunningForward

@chrisone may I ask where you are located?

I ask because aren't the majority of government jobs in the DMV area? Primarily in DC?

scaredoftests

Primarily. 

RunningForward

@scaredoftests

understood!!

chrisone

@RunningForward , I am located in Southern California. Things ran a little slow due to COVID, but I got my security clearance within 2 months. 

RunningForward

chrisone said:

@RunningForward , I am located in Southern California. Things ran a little slow due to COVID, but I got my security clearance within 2 months. 

gotcha!

well congrats and good luck!

I hope I can pick up the right certs and find my way to something!

yoba222

denis92 said:

. . . have 6 months of internship experience(was not extended to full time opportunity) yet I am getting no call backs. . . 

Did you get any feedback on why it wasn't extended? 

Raya90

Since the pandemic Ive been working fulltime (albeit a temp contract, but then again this is a lot of IT jobs now). Right before the quarantine hit, I was T2 Desktop Support for Disney/ABC in NYC, but I lost my temp to fulltime contract due to the pandemic (they were looking to permanently take me in due to staff shortage for onsite desktop support) but then Covid19 came in and Disney started their mass layoffs, etc.

Now I'm working 100% remote for a major investment bank since May. Since working at this remote position, I've had at least a half dozen offers for remote work (all helpdesk T1-T2, even two manager positions for smaller companies but I turned them down due to uncertainty with layoffs during the pandemic).

I would still apply and try for the remote helpdesk roles. elaborate on your customer service skills and your methods of troubleshooting tough situations and apply that to how you would find solutions in a technical way. 

JDMurray

There is still quite a bit of uncertainty by businesses of how long this 100% remote work-from-home situation will be enforced by both government and lawyers. Some businesses are stating they will continue remote work indefinitely so the hiring of remote workers will fit into the long-term planning of the business. However, I think most business owners (and landlords) are hoping the workforce will begin to reoccupy commercial office space in 2021.

DatabaseHead

I really think it depends on your role.  I see a lot of sales folks and product folks on LI writing this long winded post about how they been out of work for 6 months or so.  For engineers, nurses, programmers I haven't seen that at all.  

TechGromit

We have a hiring freeze in place as well, less to do with Covid, more to do with the current administration's position on global warming. No lay-off as of yet, but next year that will change if government policies continue.  

Raya90

TechGromit said:

We have a hiring freeze in place as well, less to do with Covid, more to do with the current administration's position on global warming. No lay-off as of yet, but next year that will change if government policies continue.  

Interesting, what industry you work in, and what's your position if you don't mind me asking? Is it SCADA based?

UnixGuy

Location dependent as everyone else said, but we're still in the middle of a global pandemic and in 2020 every month is a new chapter of fun it seems.

Hopefully next year is better.  I & plenty others managed to get better jobs this year, while others weren't so lucky. so it's a huge "it depends".

TechGromit

Raya90 said:

TechGromit said:

We have a hiring freeze in place as well, less to do with Covid, more to do with the current administration's position on global warming. No lay-off as of yet, but next year that will change if government policies continue.  

Interesting, what industry you work in, and what's your position if you don't mind me asking? Is it SCADA based?

Nuclear Power, I do Cyber Security. They have hired to replace some employees that retired like operators and Skilled Maintenance (Electricians, Mechanical, etc), but nothing in IT across the fleet.  They are still utilizing contractors as needed. There's two planets that will shut down next year, due to Changes the Trump administration the weaken the carbon emissions rules for U.S. power plants. Basically with the cheap price of electricity due to the drop in the cost of Natural gas due to fracking has made it difficult for Nuclear power to be profitable, carbon credits for generating clean power is critical to making the difference between profitability or not.

Some people can argue that if an industry isn't profitable, let it go out of business. Fair point, but government subsidies for wind and solar power exceed what nuclear receives every year, and they produce less than half the power that isn't reliable, (No sun or wind no power).. And while gas generating plants produces less than half the pollution than a coal plant, they are not clean energy either. While solar may one day replace other sources of energy (think world wide power grid where solar panels on the sunny side of the planet sending power to the dark side) it's not there yet. As for Wind, it's still needs more development. It was discovered that wind turbine blades that were suppose to last 20 years were badly damaged by the elements in only 2 years. They are still working on ways to make the blades last longer.      

JDMurray

So "carbon credits" is another term for "government subsidies?" Or is the money paid for credits coming from private enterprise and then redirected by government to the Nuclear segment as a indirect subsidy?

Raya90

TechGromit said:

Raya90 said:

TechGromit said:

We have a hiring freeze in place as well, less to do with Covid, more to do with the current administration's position on global warming. No lay-off as of yet, but next year that will change if government policies continue.  

Interesting, what industry you work in, and what's your position if you don't mind me asking? Is it SCADA based?

Nuclear Power, I do Cyber Security. They have hired to replace some employees that retired like operators and Skilled Maintenance (Electricians, Mechanical, etc), but nothing in IT across the fleet.  They are still utilizing contractors as needed. There's two planets that will shut down next year, due to Changes the Trump administration the weaken the carbon emissions rules for U.S. power plants. Basically with the cheap price of electricity due to the drop in the cost of Natural gas due to fracking has made it difficult for Nuclear power to be profitable, carbon credits for generating clean power is critical to making the difference between profitability or not.

Some people can argue that if an industry isn't profitable, let it go out of business. Fair point, but government subsidies for wind and solar power exceed what nuclear receives every year, and they produce less than half the power that isn't reliable, (No sun or wind no power).. And while gas generating plants produces less than half the pollution than a coal plant, they are not clean energy either. While solar may one day replace other sources of energy (think world wide power grid where solar panels on the sunny side of the planet sending power to the dark side) it's not there yet. As for Wind, it's still needs more development. It was discovered that wind turbine blades that were suppose to last 20 years were badly damaged by the elements in only 2 years. They are still working on ways to make the blades last longer.      

Thanks for the response! I want to pick your brain and ask more questions, lol. I'm in grad school for MSCSIA at WGU atm. My long term goal is to work in ICS and SCADA for cybersecurity, and hopefully for a power company in NY (or else somewhere east) someday. 

Is this the Indian Point Energy Center along the Hudson River? Its an interesting point for sustainable energy. Its going to be interesting to see the industry transition into clean energy.