Any Real World Advice for finding employment?

Success101

Other than knowing the right person or volunteering does anyone have any advice? I understand the market is flooded and such. Resume is fine and posted on numerous job boards; same as majority of people no doubt. I have and use LinkedIn on a daily basis, even paid for the "Premium" service...nothing. I sort of need an opportunity to build experience...no opportunity no experience simple as that.

Just saying.

networker050184

Have you done any in person networking? Go to local user groups or anything like that? Applied directly to companies besides just putting your resume on the boards? Spoke with any recruiters or staffing agencies?

Success101

Thanks for the reply. Haven't done anything in-person because there really isn't anywhere around where I live to go. Seriously. I have applied directly, but will keep shooting. I have spoken with more recruiters and staffing agencies than I care to think about. I hear the same thing from each one of them..."Looks great we will send your resume out" after that...I never hear back. Yes, I've tried following up...but get the same run around. I advertise that I am open to relocating ANYWHERE and at no cost to the employer, but it's a no go.

I may have to start applying for fast food joints at this rate...my savings will only last so long.

Bokeh

Have you looked at Indeed.com, CraigsList? Have you sent your resume in to any of the myriad of recruiters/headhunters? If youre looking to get involved with Cisco, have you contacted any of the Cisco partners in your area? They may not have an opening, but might know of someone who does who might get your foot in the door for an interview.

Bokeh

Success101 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. Haven't done anything in-person because there really isn't anywhere around where I live to go. Seriously. I have applied directly, but will keep shooting. I have spoken with more recruiters and staffing agencies than I care to think about. I hear the same thing from each one of them..."Looks great we will send your resume out" after that...I never hear back. Yes, I've tried following up...but get the same run around. I advertise that I am open to relocating ANYWHERE and at no cost to the employer, but it's a no go.

I may have to start applying for fast food joints at this rate...my savings will only last so long.

A tip I got from a recruiter in another career field is to keep posting, sometimes daily, your resume to the boards. The newest ones always go to the top. So if they have an opening, they will see those who are most recent. They rarely dig down unless they are looking for someone with a specialty besides CCNA, MCSE, etc. Worth a shot.

ltj8765

networker050184 wrote: »

Have you done any in person networking? Go to local user groups or anything like that? Applied directly to companies besides just putting your resume on the boards? Spoke with any recruiters or staffing agencies?

This is very good advice!! I can say without any reservation and based on actually experiencing this, that it "pays" to network and know people! Every position I have ever been hired for in my entire Telecom / IT career has been the result of me physically going out and introducing myself to hiring managers and getting to know others in the industry. Later, these relationships I have built in the industry are still paying off. As the people I have worked with over the years have moved up in other companies and have obtained executive positions, it has helped me further my own career. My current position is a direct result of a professional relationship I first built back in 1998!

Lets be honest here and I will say this about myself...I am a typical engineer with an introverted personality type which means I am more comfortable not standing out and introducing myself to people, etc. I prefer to focus on technical issues and cut everything else out. A lot of people in our industry are like this (not everyone,) so there is a tendency to want to do things online or by mail, etc. and avoid that face to face interaction. However, on that fateful day back in 1993, I went outside my comfort zone and searched, asked questions of a lot of people, etc., just to find someone that knew a technical manager in Bell Labs. Finally I found that person, and they introduced me to this manager. When I meet this manager I gave him my pitch about why I wanted to work in the Labs, he took my resume, folded it up and stuck it in his back pocket and said he would get back to me. 1 Week later, this led to an internship for over 2 years and then a full time position in AT&T Bell Labs. He said he liked the fact that I was so persistent and enthusiastic in my approach and knew I would be a good addition to his team. This launched my career.

Listen, this subject gets dealt with a lot and has a lot of differing views. The reality of the situation no matter what someone says is that managers tend to hire people they know. That is they way it is and that is the way it has always been. The key is getting to know people in the industry and the way to do that is to go out and meet them! A person can submit their resumes to job boards and the odds are very low for success. There are different strategies for meeting these people (Managers, HR Reps, etc.) initially but it really comes down to finding out who some of these managers are an introducing yourself. I can tell you this, most managers (not all), will have no problem spending some time meeting someone they do not know and getting that persons information (resume, etc.) Get their phone number and call them back periodically just to chat and see how things are going.

Establishing professional relationships and building your reputation through networking in your industry is a a successful way to advance your career. Initially, it will not be easy, but in the long run, it pays off.

DCD

It hard getting a start, What type of job have applied for? You should post your resume here for review, Leave out your personnel information when you post it. Like Bokeh said try craiglist and go under gigs/ computer you should find small contract job which will give you experience.

Heny '06

Push your resume like its drugs someone will take a hit. In all seriousness, just keep applying to jobs even some that maybe you are under qualified for, you never know.

Get experience by looking for ads in Craigslist and what not. Good luck, based on your certs I'd think you'd get some hits. You may need to modify the resume.

DoubleNNs

Craigslist and networking worked for me.

Tell friends that you're looking for a job. Even if they don't work in IT, most companies have IT departments. A friend can send your resume over to the IT department. I asked a friend to do that and I got offered a job same day. (Unfortunately, the positon was at another office, which was far away. So I declined.)

On LinkedIn you get to have a title - those words to the right of your name at the top of the page? Instead of having my current position, I changed it to "Seeking entry level Information Technology positions in the greater NYC area." Friends and recruiters alike started hitting me up on LinkedIn after that.

I tried using each and every one of the job boards. But I got the most amount of luck from Craigslist. That's actually where I got my current position - my 1st IT role.

And instead of applying for fast food, maybe just apply to a few positons you're over/under qualified for. For you, getting low wages at an IT job would probably be better than getting low wages making food.

And maybe try experimenting with your resume some. At this point it couldn't hurt. I threw an Objective statement on mine (even tho everywhere claims it to be an outdated practice that shouldn't no longer be used) and put a few programs I did in high school under my education section. Even tho some of the things on my resume was a little unorthodox, it seemed as if it was received very well. If you're having trouble landing anything, playing around with your resume couldn't hurt.

nerdydad

I noticed something recently, I had replied to a couple of posts in the LinkedIn groups and all of a sudden I started getting hits from recruiters, I'm not looking at the moment, but I never burn a bridge, simply let them know now is not the time but please keep me in mind, blah blah blah.

Anyways, the point of this is, I never got hits before, I have to believe the recruiters are browsing through the groups. It couldn't hurt. Where are you in Florida, I know the job market there has always been hard.

pinkydapimp

to be honest, if you are sending out your resume and not getting responses, it all starts with your resume. Have you posted it here for advice on improving it? What skills do you have? What certs? Are you actively looking to improve them while looking?

some great advice above. For networking, also take a look at meetup.com and look for some tech meetups.

For building skills, build a Vmware lab(ESXi and vsphere are free) and learn stuff.

at the end of the day, if what your doing isnt working, you need to make a change. Good luck!

Success101

Thanks to everyone for the replies. Lots of good advice/information and I'll certainly give it a shot.

SteveLord

Don't just post on job boards. That's what most of the public does (why they can't jobs) as it's just you basically sitting there waiting for people to come to you. Problem is, it's expensive for employers to post there versus their own websites or craigslist. And they're mostly flooded with recruiting firms anyway.

Keep a spreadsheet of jobs you find, description, salary if possible, location, when you applied, when you contacted them for a follow up, etc. Again, that last part is one most people fail to do.

Michael2

You're right about one thing, the job market is flooded. For that matter, so is the volunteer market. If you find any work right now, even a position at a fast food joint or a volunteer position, do yourself a favor and hold on to it before you have a five year gap in your resume. I don't think most companies are even hiring right now, just downsizing or moving overseas.

Iristheangel

I'd disagree with you on this, Steve. It may not be the way state IT departments find their employees but tons of recruiters and consultant companies search through resumes posted out there. My current job was found by my resume being posted on Dice. I still get TONS of emails from recruiters every day because my resume is still posted on most major job sites but I don't see recruiters as a bad thing. If you can do the job well, temp-to-hire should never sway you from starting a job that pays better and aligns with your career goals

@OP - Be open to temp-to-hire and consulting gigs. Sometimes it's the best way to get your foot in the door and open up possibilities. There are TONS of companies out there looking to hire but they prefer to "try before they buy."

Success101

Michael2 wrote: »

You're right about one thing, the job market is flooded. For that matter, so is the volunteer market. If you find any work right now, even a position at a fast food joint or a volunteer position, do yourself a favor and hold on to it before you have a five year gap in your resume. I don't think most companies are even hiring right now, just downsizing or moving overseas.

No worries here. I'd be dead or homeless before I made it five years.

SteveLord

Iristheangel wrote: »

I'd disagree with you on this, Steve. It may not be the way state IT departments find their employees but tons of recruiters and consultant companies search through resumes posted out there. My current job was found by my resume being posted on Dice. I still get TONS of emails from recruiters every day because my resume is still posted on most major job sites but I don't see recruiters as a bad thing. If you can do the job well, temp-to-hire should never sway you from starting a job that pays better and aligns with your career goals

Notice that I said don't just post on these sites.

Iristheangel

My bad. I completely misread you, Steve. Totally agree with the rest of what you said. For some reason, I thought you were saying not to post your resume at all on job boards. LOL. Totally a blond moment on my part. That's what I get for posting first thing in the morning in bed

chmod

The resume and getting a job is about marketing yourself if there are 100 techies around looking for a job you should make sure that your resume looks interesting even if you don't have experience, there must be something about you about your skills or previous experience that might help you to stand out. Probably in your previos jobs you learned a lot of things very quick and u were one of the best dealing with customers even if it was in kentucky or burger king but if you are applying for a phone support role or a sales rep for wallmart(to sell printers and computers) it won't hurt to make sure your resume reflects that, they have to make sure you are really good at that, that you are the best option.

Check your resume(post it here) you might have something that looks weird or the format of the document is not ok or is too long or too short or whatever but check it get a second and third opinion about your resume.

Everybody uses linkedin, monster, craiglist try to look for something else a different way go to the universities and check their ad boards, go to the supermarket and do the same, visit the recruiting agencies not just check their websites, meet people that might help you out, check all the companies facebook fan pages, talk to your friends, post it on facebook an old friend might reply back and say hey the it guys in my company have a vacancy send me your resume i'll forward it to HR.
Apply for positions even if you think they don't fit your profile some companies(the hr departments) post a profile of a jack of all trades but they really need just a helpdesk guy and they anyways might consider your resume.

Keep pushing yourself, be positive, be patient. If others are working in IT, there si no reason for you to think you are not going to get a chance.

NetworkingStudent

Success101 wrote: »

Other than knowing the right person or volunteering does anyone have any advice? I understand the market is flooded and such. Resume is fine and posted on numerous job boards; same as majority of people no doubt. I have and use LinkedIn on a daily basis, even paid for the "Premium" service...nothing. I sort of need an opportunity to build experience...no opportunity no experience simple as that.

Just saying.

Did you previously work in IT? I’m having troubling finding my first IT job too. Seems like everyone wants several years of experience even for entry level help desk or tech support.