Bleek future for only High-School Grad?

Hey, I'd be curious to hear how many of you guys that are currently working in IT and have no Degrees?

I'm finding the job market impossible to get into, I've been unemployed for 2+ yrs, My previous job was a mix of Security, NOC, admin, type duties... after looking for security jobs for about a yr, I couldn't afford to take the "$12/hr" jobs these companies were offering me, my rent alone was $1000/month...so then I tried Temp Admin work...nothing... now I'm trying my luck at the IT field...(I've only been looking for IT jobs for 2 months) fast forward 2yrs later and I'm living with my parents, rent free but I'm now 27yrs old, in debt and it's getting worst each passing month... I just finished applying to a position on Monster.com, they let you see how many other applicants applied and their experience and education level, it was for a 24/7 noc position in NJ, of the 24 applicants, I was the only one with a HS diploma, the Majority had a BA, or Masters... Do I have no chance against this crop of applicants, when a person with a Masters settles for $35-40k/yr, what the hell type job am I suppose to work? $20K wtf.... this seems so hard

How did you get your start...?

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NetworkingStudent

johnnyarks wrote: »

...will do !

3 months of boot camp no good?

I didn’t read all the posts , so forgive me if I repeat what has already been said. Here are my tips:
1. Get a 100% error free resume and cover
2. Contact temp agencies- There are hidden jobs that are often not posted.
3. Volunteer using your IT skills
4. Post your error free resume on Monster, Career Builder, and apply for jobs on Craigs List.
5. Clear up your on line accounts-Any social networking sites will be searched by employers..some employers do social media background checks.
6. Apply for the jobs that no one wants. I know this sounds easier said than done , but think of the jobs that no one wants and apply for those.
Weekends, Nights, ect
Also be as flexible as possible

tkae the jobs and work the positions that no one wants.

Take the money you were going to use for the boot camp or certifications and join toaster masters, and take a college class. These are my tips. With Toastmaster you will get public speaking experience, which you can use during your interviews. Also, not to mention the networking opprotunties.

I will say that just having a highschool education will make finding an IT job hard. I just recently picked up my A.A.S degree in IT, plus my certifications, and I find it challenging to find an IT job. There are so many people out of work that have degree’s, certs, and experience, that are willing to take less pay and work harder that you can’t stop improving yourself.
You need to make yourself stand out, because there are so many people out of work.

What did you do while searching for work? I must emphasize it’s not enough to just look for work; you need to prove to employers that you stayed busy while looking for work.
I say get a job, take a college class, and put this stuff your on resume will greatly help you in finding a job.

Unemployed For a Long Time? Try This | BNET

Unemployed? 5 Reasons Companies Won’t Hire You | BNET

Have you considered the National Guard?

Good luck I hope this helps

Alif_Sadida_Ekin

Turgon wrote: »

You spelt grammar wrong. The irony of it

johnnyarks wrote: »

....indeed !

And yet "bleak" is misspelled in the title thread... sorry I couldn't resist :P

johnnyarks

Alif_Sadida_Ekin wrote: »

And yet "bleak" is misspelled in the title thread... sorry I couldn't resist :P

yes I know, but no idea how to change the title for a thread? funny that it took 90+ post for anyone to notice =D

Blackout

But seriously you should really look at the military, I haven't met one IT from the navy that got out and didn't get a good job after 4 years. I mean unless there is something that you are completely tied to in NJ the military ain't that bad these days. Bootcamp for the navy is a joke compared to when I first went through. Its like going to summer camp.

Plus they will send you through like 6 months of "A" School training for IT and possibly a specialty "C" School. Free health care benefits, a roof over your head without paying rent, banks who will give you a loan just because your in the military.

petedude

To jump back toward the title and the original post. . .

Hate to rain on anybody's parade, but-- yes, the future is indeed a bit more dim for those with no degree. With the economic slump and the accompanying new reality, there is much more competition for jobs than there was prior to 2008. It's unfortunate, but truth is industry was trending that direction a little even before the economic downturn.

If you look at CareerBuilder, they have a new tool for stacking up your application against others who've applied for the same post. To say the least, those pie charts don't look very good when you're one of the few folks applying who DON'T have at least a bachelor's.

johnnyarks

petedude wrote: »

To jump back toward the title and the original post. . .

Hate to rain on anybody's parade, but-- yes, the future is indeed a bit more dim for those with no degree. With the economic slump and the accompanying new reality, there is much more competition for jobs than there was prior to 2008. It's unfortunate, but truth is industry was trending that direction a little even before the economic downturn.

If you look at CareerBuilder, they have a new tool for stacking up your application against others who've applied for the same post. To say the least, those pie charts don't look very good when you're one of the few folks applying who DON'T have at least a bachelor's.

Thanks for the tip, I had to hit the edit button twice

...and regarding the pie chart thing...yup that is what I was referring to in post #1 .... it was as follows

3% Doctorate - 1 Applicants
29% Master's - 9 Applicants
55% Bachelor's - 17 Applicants
10% Associate - 3 Applicants
3% High School - 1 Applicants

strangely enough look at the background of the group that applied...very random

General medical and surgical hospital
3 Applicants - 7%
Life insurance
3 Applicants - 7%
Accident and health insurance
3 Applicants - 7%
Federal credit unions
2 Applicants - 5%
Engineering services
2 Applicants - 5%

Turgon

johnnyarks wrote: »

yes I know, but no idea how to change the title for a thread? funny that it took 90+ post for anyone to notice =D

It didn't. I noticed it straight away and pulled another post about that spelling

johnnyarks

Turgon wrote: »

It didn't. I noticed it straight away and pulled another post about that spelling

Sure you did, I totally believe you

Turgon

johnnyarks wrote: »

Sure you did, I totally believe you

Tis true but I didn't want to be unkind. You put that CV thread up yet? People will take time out of their busy working day to help you Im sure.

Sledge.

Maybe he meant Kelsey Grammer?

.....

On a more serious note, I have noticed that many of those who consider themselves IT 'professionals' often have trouble with 'to', 'two', and 'too', 'their', 'there', and 'they're', 'your' vs. 'you're', etc...

W Stewart

I say you just get some certs and move to Texas man. I know it's not easy but I come from a family that always moved to where the opportunities were. I'll probably move to Virginia when I finish school. I've got a kid on the way and I want to be able to give them all the things they want and need. Not saying it's easy and maybe it's just the answer for me and not for you bu deep down inside you know what the right answer for you is.

And joining the military might not be so bad either all though there's no telling where you'll be stationed.

W Stewart

Sledge. wrote: »

Maybe he meant Kelsey Grammer?

.....

On a more serious note, I have noticed that many of those who consider themselves IT 'professionals' often have trouble with 'to', 'two', and 'too', 'their', 'there', and 'they're', 'your' vs. 'you're', etc...

I hear you. I use to work in a sales job with a supposed history major who couldn't spell but at the same time knowing how to fix a computer or configure a network doesn't make you a spelling bee champ either. Plus IT is one of those rare fields where you don't need to get a degree to make 100k a year. Still though I'm a little **** about spelling myself so I can't really say anything.

Cisco Inferno

W Stewart wrote: »

I say you just get some certs and move to Texas man. I know it's not easy but I come from a family that always moved to where the opportunities were. I'll probably move to Virginia when I finish school. I've got a kid on the way and I want to be able to give them all the things they want and need. Not saying it's easy and maybe it's just the answer for me and not for you bu deep down inside you know what the right answer for you is.

And joining the military might not be so bad either all though there's no telling where you'll be stationed.

nothing beats providing for those you care for most.
good job.

ck86

I haven't read every post from this thread, but I think I get the jist of what's been said..

Coming from someone who was on unemployment in NJ (south Jersey) and only has military experience beyond a high school diploma.. I really doubt some of the efforts you claim in job searching. I have zero certifications and 5 years of IT admin type experience.. nothing huge. I wasn't looking very hard for work initially due taking over 20 credit hours (past 5PM btw, which NJ unemployment WILL approve you to do and continue to claim full benefits) in classes and spending over 5 hours a week in the VA hospital tending to come service-related issues. Once I got all patched up I started job hunting heavily. I was offered positions from Comcast immediately at $13.50/hr with decent benefits. Within 2 weeks I was scheduled for an interview for a non specific IT job. I was basically hired during the interview due to them seeing I had a passion for IT.. starting salary $45k. Since then (a couple of wks ago), I have had a couple more calls for IT jobs I applied to with interviews. Grand total time of diligently looking for work before hired: 1.5 months.

I think you might be hesitant to get off the unemployment.. it's ridiculously easy to get it in NJ and they extend it what seems like forever.

SteveLord

kasel23 wrote: »

I think you might be hesitant to get off the unemployment.. it's ridiculously easy to get it in NJ and they extend it what seems like forever.

I can vouch for this. I got on it post deployment to have income while I finished 2 months of schooling. All you do is call an automated line every 2 weeks and answer a few questions and it is extended just like that. One of many reasons NJ is broke I am sure.

As for jobs, Craigslist is still the hottest place (in terms of quantity) for jobs. It costs employers little to post there and it is very easy to actually post there. High population areas always have tons of IT jobs in there.

petedude

Sledge. wrote: »

Maybe he meant Kelsey Grammer?

.....

On a more serious note, I have noticed that many of those who consider themselves IT 'professionals' often have trouble with 'to', 'two', and 'too', 'their', 'there', and 'they're', 'your' vs. 'you're', etc...

Ack. "Affect" vs. "Effect". . . "ensure" vs. "assure"-- two big ones that I see get clobbered pretty frequently in IT.

VAHokie56

W Stewart wrote: »

I say you just get some certs and move to Texas man. I know it's not easy but I come from a family that always moved to where the opportunities were. I'll probably move to Virginia when I finish school. I've got a kid on the way and I want to be able to give them all the things they want and need. Not saying it's easy and maybe it's just the answer for me and not for you bu deep down inside you know what the right answer for you is.

And joining the military might not be so bad either all though there's no telling where you'll be stationed.

+1 for Virginia. I have never had trouble finding good solid opportunity's here.

johnnyarks

kasel23 wrote: »

I haven't read every post from this thread, but I think I get the jist of what's been said..

Coming from someone who was on unemployment in NJ (south Jersey) and only has military experience beyond a high school diploma.. I really doubt some of the efforts you claim in job searching. I have zero certifications and 5 years of IT admin type experience.. nothing huge. I wasn't looking very hard for work initially due taking over 20 credit hours (past 5PM btw, which NJ unemployment WILL approve you to do and continue to claim full benefits) in classes and spending over 5 hours a week in the VA hospital tending to come service-related issues. Once I got all patched up I started job hunting heavily. I was offered positions from Comcast immediately at $13.50/hr with decent benefits. Within 2 weeks I was scheduled for an interview for a non specific IT job. I was basically hired during the interview due to them seeing I had a passion for IT.. starting salary $45k. Since then (a couple of wks ago), I have had a couple more calls for IT jobs I applied to with interviews. Grand total time of diligently looking for work before hired: 1.5 months.

I think you might be hesitant to get off the unemployment.. it's ridiculously easy to get it in NJ and they extend it what seems like forever.

Like you said you didn't read everything. I haven't had unemployment benefits for 8 months, it ran out in Jan 2011. I have no income.

You have 5yrs IT experience, I have 0. When I was looking for work it was security jobs I was searching for, not IT. I'm not in south Jersey, I'm in Passaic County. I wasn't in NJ till recently, I was based in Brooklyn. My school, in Long Island City, only offered most of my classes between 12-6pm. I didn't qualify for financial aid because fafsa based your employment off your last W2. It took a full year for me to qualify f.aid for school, when I went to the labor dept I was told that they couldn't guarantee my benefits wouldn't stop because I was on "emergency" benefits.

I'm curious how did you travel to and from school, and work?

Akaricloud

johnnyarks wrote: »

I didn't qualify for financial aid because fafsa based your employment off your last W2. . It took a full year for me to qualify f.aid for school

FYI

If your change in income is greater than 10% then you can fill out a change of income form and have your FAFSA not based off of your previous W2. The financial aid office at any school should be able to walk you through this.

I know this doesn't help you now but it's still good to know for future cases.

johnnyarks

Akaricloud wrote: »

FYI

If your change in income is greater than 10% then you can fill out a change of income form and have your FAFSA not based off of your previous W2. The financial aid office at any school should be able to walk you through this.

I know this doesn't help you now but it's still good to know for future cases.

I did my fafsa at home, myself. What does "income is greater than 10%" mean?

Can a MOD please correct the spelling of the title of this thread... it's driving me mad

Akaricloud

johnnyarks wrote: »

I did my fafsa at home, myself. What does "income is greater than 10%" mean?

If your income changes by more than 10%. So if you were making $40,000 before and say took a new job making 20% less($34,000) then you can fill out a change of income form and have your financial aid based off of your current income instead of your previous years W2.

In your case I'm sure your income changed by quite a bit more than 10% being unemployed.

Quite a few of my friends did this after leaving their jobs to go to college and received great financial aid. I'm kind of a financial aid expert.. I've made a lot of money from going to college.

johnnyarks

Akaricloud wrote: »

If your income changes by more than 10%. So if you were making $40,000 before and say took a new job making 20% less($34,000) then you can fill out a change of income form and have your financial aid based off of your current income instead of your previous years W2.

In your case I'm sure your income changed by quite a bit more than 10% being unemployed.

Quite a few of my friends did this after leaving their jobs to go to college and received great financial aid. I'm kind of a financial aid expert.. I've made a lot of money from going to college.

I really wish I knew about this.

tpatt100

Not sure how anybody can get comfortable collecting unemployment. My unemployment checks were a quarter of what my regular paycheck was.

johnnyarks

I'd like to announce I just accepted a job offer for level 1 NOC engineer in NY, I start next Monday!

rogue2shadow

johnnyarks wrote: »

I'd like to announce I just accepted a job offer for level 1 NOC engineer in NY, I start next Monday!

CONGRATS!!!!

I've been following the thread at work the last couple days. Things are looking up

TLeTourneau

Congratulations!

Mrock4

Congrats man. Kick ass there and you'll move up in no time.

instant000

johnnyarks wrote: »

I'd like to announce I just accepted a job offer for level 1 NOC engineer in NY, I start next Monday!

This is your opportunity. Make the best of it. Press hard on your job at work, and when you get home, press hard on your lab.

JohnnyBiggles

Wow congrats man! They still hiring? ...lol... (but not lol)

andy4tech

Congrats........................