Job market rough (Midwest)

ITdude84

Is it me, or here int he midwest ( Kansas City, MO) the job market is pretty rough. Alot of government and short term contract positions seem to be the norm around here, companies are just not hiring. There are always conflicting news articles on " economy has approved, added 100,000 + jobs! then the next day, unemployment is up by 2% lol)

alot of the contracts here, are very short term 1-6 months if lucky. Not a whole lot of contract to hire. The pay is low, and some of the requirements for some of these positions I have seen have been ridiculous. Been out of work for 3 months now, I have the experience, educational background (working on my certs). Anybody else in the same boat?

dmoore44

I'm not familiar with that market, but it seems like a lot of the IT jobs in the midwest would be centered around the largest cities - Chicago, St. Louis, St. Paul/Minneapolis, etc... Even some of the smaller cities like Madison are pretty heavy in the IT industry.

Also, have you checked out the job prospects at universities near you? Seems like outside of private industry and government, the education sector is going to be you next best bet.

ptilsen

Midwest, not at all. Kansas City? Absolutely. MSP, Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, not at all. IT tends to be more concentrated in big cities, though there's definitely gigs in smaller industrial hubs. IT also doesn't deviate too much from all other employment, from what I've seen, and a quick search shows MO might not be your best bet:
Unemployment - Google Public Data Explorer

Of course, the MSP metro would probably be a huge climate shock for you, but better to be cold and gainfully employed than warm and unemployed.

ITdude84

Its definitely rough here, I have checked all educational, health, banking, IT, and various other industries there is just nothing available. I am glad I have a little but of a savings built up or else I would be in trouble. But who wants to watch there savings get eaten up ya know?

Hopefully something will pick up, just wanted to see if people were having the same issues in there markets...

RoyalRaven

To clarify, are you looking at roles/companies/postings cold? How is your personal network working?

I would expect a city the size of KC to have a tremendous amount of work compared to smaller towns. I recently drove through I-70 and know this is probably one of the better places to be looking for work outside of St. Louis, just due to proximity to business.

I know the Detroit area well and many people say it's bad here, however, if you have a good combo of skills/experience and know people on the inside, it's quite easy to land interviews. You just have to be out there and in the right hands.

ITdude84

RoyalRaven wrote: »

To clarify, are you looking at roles/companies/postings cold? How is your personal network working?

I would expect a city the size of KC to have a tremendous amount of work compared to smaller towns. I recently drove through I-70 and know this is probably one of the better places to be looking for work outside of St. Louis, just due to proximity to business.

I know the Detroit area well and many people say it's bad here, however, if you have a good combo of skills/experience and know people on the inside, it's quite easy to land interviews. You just have to be out there and in the right hands.

Yes I am looking at companies, Contracting agencies, and postings on various websites. I am on linkedin, keeping my resume updated and adding influential people as I go along. I have been told by various people that the reason its so tough here is because not only of the unemployment, but also the people who are currently employed looking for another position. The competition is fierce here.

Yes, compared to St. Louis this would be the next place to check... I cannot compare this market to say Detroit but just judging from the job positions and the current market outlook it seems to be shaky. Private sector is hot right now, but we know how that is... plus I dont have Security plus certification (yet). Sorry, not trying to complain or throw a pity party... just wanted to see what others thought as well.