5 interviews, 3, possibly 4 offers!

pham0329

I've seen a few threads/message in the past week or so about how Minnesota is a hard place to find IT work, so I figure I post this to let everyone know that there are jobs out there in MN.

Ever since I updated my resume with my CCNP, I've received calls left and right, and have gone on 5 interviews. Of those 5 interviews, I've received 3 offers, and I'm pretty sure another one is on the way.

1. Offer #1 - Security Admin at a large MSP with over 10,000 employees
2. Offer #2 - Network Engineer at a smaller MSP, between 200-250 employees
3. Offer #3 - Network Engineer at medium size MSP servicing Fortune 1000 companies
4. Offer #4 (possibly) - Network Analyst at a fortune 1000 company. I say possibly, but have been told by the hiring manager and HR that I'll have the offer letter by Tuesday.

All these jobs asked for 5-10 years of experience, a bachelor degree. I have a little over 4 years of experience, currently working on my A.S degree online, and have the certs under my name. I keep hearing about how hard it is to get jobs without experience, yet

• I have little to no experience in security but was offered the Network Security job because (in their words) they believe I am motivated, and a quick learner. They don't doubt that I will be able to pick up the technologies being used
• I only have 1.5 - 2 years of solid networking experience, but was offered the Network Engineer positions (which was seeing 5-10 years of experience) for the same reason.

You may not get the first 2 or 3 jobs you applied for, but as long as you keep at it, you'll land one in no time.

kriscamaro68

Congrats on the offers. My vote is the Security Admin position.

universalfrost

congrats!

i will hopefully be in the minnesota job market soon as well (originally from SD and wanting to get back to the upper midwest). again congrats.

Bokeh

Very nice post, good to hear, and congrats on all the interviews and offers.

thall860

wow congrats, where did you post/look? I am not quite up to your level but in the same location.

MAC_Addy

Fantastic write up! Congrats on the offers. This makes me want to hurry up and pass my CCNA and work on the CCNP! Good motivational post

Tackle

Way to go man!

So if you're in MN and are looking for a job you know that there will be at least 2, maybe 3 positions open once pham accepts an offer.

cyberguypr

Glad to hear that. Would also like to know where you posted that got such great results.

sieff

Great to have so many choices, there's so many factors like commute, benefits, etc to weigh ... I'd go with the option that would allow you to work from home a bit. I work from home about 40-60% of the time and its provided so many extra cost savings and overall happiness.

NetworkingStudent

pham0329 wrote: »

I've seen a few threads/message in the past week or so about how Minnesota is a hard place to find IT work, so I figure I post this to let everyone know that there are jobs out there in MN.

Ever since I updated my resume with my CCNP, I've received calls left and right, and have gone on 5 interviews. Of those 5 interviews, I've received 3 offers, and I'm pretty sure another one is on the way.

1. Offer #1 - Security Admin at a large MSP with over 10,000 employees
2. Offer #2 - Network Engineer at a smaller MSP, between 200-250 employees
3. Offer #3 - Network Engineer at medium size MSP servicing Fortune 1000 companies
4. Offer #4 (possibly) - Network Analyst at a fortune 1000 company. I say possibly, but have been told by the hiring manager and HR that I'll have the offer letter by Tuesday.

All these jobs asked for 5-10 years of experience, a bachelor degree. I have a little over 4 years of experience, currently working on my A.S degree online, and have the certs under my name. I keep hearing about how hard it is to get jobs without experience, yet

• I have little to no experience in security but was offered the Network Security job because (in their words) they believe I am motivated, and a quick learner. They don't doubt that I will be able to pick up the technologies being used
• I only have 1.5 - 2 years of solid networking experience, but was offered the Network Engineer positions (which was seeing 5-10 years of experience) for the same reason.

You may not get the first 2 or 3 jobs you applied for, but as long as you keep at it, you'll land one in no time.

Congrats..it looks like hard work and perseverance does pay off!!
Last week I did 2 phone interviews and one in person interview, no offers yet.
I currently work full time(non IT job), study Windows 7, and volunteer.

I’m a volunteer tech/computer skills instructor for one organization, but the volunteer work is here and there.(Some weeks they have a volunteer assignment for me, and other weeks they don’t) ...so I’m going to apply as a volunteer as a Microsoft Office Basic Skills instructor at a local organization. This way I will have two volunteer opportunities that I currently hold that will help demonstrate my technology abilities. Also, I like helping others by using my technological skills.

I won’t stop applying, I dream of the day when I start my IT career.

Thanks for posting and Rep given I like this thread

ChooseLife

You rock, man Choose wisely

LucasMN wrote: »

So if you're in MN and are looking for a job you know that there will be at least 2, maybe 3 positions open once pham accepts an offer.

Ha-ha, awesome comment

ImTheKing

Congrats on the offers.

Timing and location make all the difference in the world, really. Some people just have lousy luck.

SouthSeaPirate

LucasMN wrote: »

Way to go man!

So if you're in MN and are looking for a job you know that there will be at least 2, maybe 3 positions open once pham accepts an offer.

I LOLed good one

pham0329

Thanks guys! I posted on Dice, and that's it. I didn't actually apply for any jobs as I hate filling out application forms. 70% of the calls I get are from recruiters, but for 3 of the offers above, I was contacted by the company directly. If anyone out there is looking, I can pass along the names of the companies I'm turning down, or companies that I have scheduled interviews with but will be withdrawing from.

Initially, I was going to take the network security admin position, but the more I study TMG/UAG 2010, and CCNA: Security, the more I realize it's not what I want to do full-time. Sure, it's interesting and I don't mind doing it in addition to my job, but I don't want that to be my job.

I'm pretty sure I'm going with offer #4 as it's a closer commute, has a great team (even a few CCIE written), and R/S is what I'm good at!

ptilsen

Congrats! As I read, I was thinking "this sounds like the IT job market in Minnesota, where 'required qualifications' are ridiculously out of line with what they'll take when they meet the right candidate" and then I looked to the left.

I have to say, I continue to be pleasantly surprised at what a great place Minnesota is to work as an IT professional (and in general, of course).

Of course, if that large MSP is All Covered, I have to say boo. But congrats even if that's where you end up.

pham0329

ptilsen wrote: »

Congrats! As I read, I was thinking "this sounds like the IT job market in Minnesota, where 'required qualifications' are ridiculously out of line with what they'll take when they meet the right candidate" and then I looked to the left.

I have to say, I continue to be pleasantly surprised at what a great place Minnesota is to work as an IT professional (and in general, of course).

Of course, if that large MSP is All Covered, I have to say boo. But congrats even if that's where you end up.

I agree, MN is awesome...until the winter hits! Also agree on the qualification thing. It seems like every network engineer position has a "CCIE desired" in it.

Never heard of All Covered, but I assume they're a crappy MSP? Speaking of MSP, I'm amazed at how many there are in MN. I'm going to have to start looking for the non-complete clause when reviewing offers now...

ptilsen

I remember looking for jr. server admin and DST jobs and seeing ~$30-40K helpdesk jobs list MCSE or CCNA as requirements.

Yes, All Covered is an enormous MSP that was recently purchased by an even more enormous MSP (Konica Minolta). I work for a very tiny MSP. We have are flaws and faults, being a small business, but a good 30% of our customer base is former All Covered clients who were dissatisfied and have horribly setup servers.

Actually, you would be well qualified to fill a position we have open, but it's probably less money than you're worth and it looks like you don't need the offer. So I'll just say congrats, again.

CenturionMario

Congrats on the offers!

By the way, I don't think the problem was finding IT jobs in Minnesota, but entry level IT jobs. For the jobs I see posted, there seems to be a lot of jobs for mid-level people, but not many for ones trying to get into the industry.

I have a physical interview on Wednesday for an entry level IT position. I'm not going to give myself false hope, I'm just going to go in and try to do my best, that is all I can do.

Everyone

pham0329 wrote: »

I agree, MN is awesome...until the winter hits! Also agree on the qualification thing. It seems like every network engineer position has a "CCIE desired" in it.

Never heard of All Covered, but I assume they're a crappy MSP? Speaking of MSP, I'm amazed at how many there are in MN. I'm going to have to start looking for the non-complete clause when reviewing offers now...

There are quite a few HQs for large companies, including many Fortune 500, in MN. It should not be surprising that there a lot of MSPs out there to service them.

This fact is also why I don't believe it when I see people saying there aren't any IT jobs in MN. Of course I'm sure the bulk of these are in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. So I guess if you're far outside of that area, it may be an accurate statement.

I was contacted regarding a few different positions in the Minneapolis area a few months ago when I was looking for a new job, and I live just outside of Chicago! I turned them all down because I wasn't looking to move.

Anyway, congrats! It sure is nice to have a few choices isn't it?

N2IT

CenturionMario wrote: »

Congrats on the offers!

By the way, I don't think the problem was finding IT jobs in Minnesota, but entry level IT jobs. For the jobs I see posted, there seems to be a lot of jobs for mid-level people, but not many for ones trying to get into the industry.

I have a physical interview on Wednesday for an entry level IT position. I'm not going to give myself false hope, I'm just going to go in and try to do my best, that is all I can do.

I agree

I have been in Rochester MN for 1 month now and have had 5 phone interviews and 2 offers. Nothing special, but with my current job I do a lot of the work at night. So it potentially possible to work 2 jobs. One "regular" shift job 7-4 and the one I am ramping up for now working 3 12's Friday evening through Sunday evening. It's a lot of work, but experience teaches me more than certifications, plus the idea of two paychecks isn't that bad. I don't have the earning power yet that some of the higher level technologist on this forum have. Besides I am almost done with my PMP, figures crossed if I pass it will be no certs in 2012 just a lot of work and family.

C'est la vie

N2IT

Everyone wrote: »

There are quite a few HQs for large companies, including many Fortune 500, in MN. It should not be surprising that there a lot of MSPs out there to service them.

This fact is also why I don't believe it when I see people saying there aren't any IT jobs in MN. Of course I'm sure the bulk of these are in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. So I guess if you're far outside of that area, it may be an accurate statement.

I was contacted regarding a few different positions in the Minneapolis area a few months ago when I was looking for a new job, and I live just outside of Chicago! I turned them all down because I wasn't looking to move.

Anyway, congrats! It sure is nice to have a few choices isn't it?

Just as recent as May 2011 there were 20 in the state of Minnesota.

Fortune 500 2011: States: Minnesota Companies - FORTUNE on CNNMoney.com

LinuxRacr

Great inspiration in here. This is definitely encouragement to see past current circumstances to what is possible.

NetworkingStudent

CenturionMario wrote: »

Congrats on the offers!

By the way, I don't think the problem was finding IT jobs in Minnesota, but entry level IT jobs. For the jobs I see posted, there seems to be a lot of jobs for mid-level people, but not many for ones trying to get into the industry.

I have a physical interview on Wednesday for an entry level IT position. I'm not going to give myself false hope, I'm just going to go in and try to do my best, that is all I can do.

I’m from MN too and I agree that there isn’t a lot of entry level IT jobs. The competition is fierce, because so many skilled IT professionals are out of work. Most of these IT pro’s are willing take anything, even an entry level IT job for less pay. Another thing is there is no definition of an entry level IT job. Yes, you can say Help Desk is entry level title/job, but some companies have help desk analyst as an entry level role/ position/title. Additionally, I have seen some help desk roles that require 5-7+ years of experience.

Here’s what helped me get interviews:

Apply for anything that requires 2 years of experience if you have an associates, and anything that requires 4 years of experience if you have a 4 year degree. (A friend from TE gave me this tip)

Make sure your resume is one page and error free.

Volunteer-Using your IT skills—Sometimes I get asked about my volunteer experience listed on my resume, some companies find it really impressive. Also, it can be used as a filler for experience.

APPLy..apply..apply

Try networking with people(in person) and on line. Let people know your looking for an IT job. Also, remember that there is often a hidden job market…………..several jobs never get posted on line.

Practice your phone speaking skills-I haven't done this, but I can tell from my experience more compnaies are holding phone interveiws before oing physical interveiws.


Good Luck