Still No IT Job

I graduated with a BA in Information Technology Management in April of 2012. I've been on 14 job interviews and still no luck. I even completed a 6 month internship in software development while working full-time. I put so much effort in preparing myself for the ideal job and yet I get nothing. I have a potential offer but the downfall is it only pays $12/hr. The job is entry-level and its with an I.T. consulting firm in the Bay Area (California). I currently work in accounting and I make $22/hr. so that would be a drastic pay cut. The hiring manager told me that this position is entry-level but there is definitely opportunity for advancement if I am motivated to grow and development within the firm. Can you please provide me with some feedback, as I'm ready to put my degree to work and begin working in the I.T. field-but I don't think I can take a job that pays so low. Thnx!!

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hoktauri

I turned down a help desk position a few months ago that wanted to pay $9/hr (average was around 12 last I looked), I could of taken that hit in pay since it's not my sole income but the extra gas driving 40 miles instead of 10 each way like it is now would of have killed me in my jeep (15-18mpg). It is nice to be able to say no to what looks like bad offers but you may have to suck it up and deal with it if you want to use your degree, do you have any idea what the average rate for that job in your area is?

I would also look at benefits, my base pay might suck but the vacation and various insurances are pretty good.

Essendon

Yeah you may need to take a pay cut to get into IT. I drove a courier van for Australia Post before I landed my first IT job. I made about $1000 a week after tax and expenses, the IT job paid like $410 a week, go figure! No way in hell I'd be a courier driver again.

You should decide whether you can take the hit in pay, if you cannot pay your bills with $12 an hour, dont do it. If you cut down your expenses then maybe that money may not be that bad. Dont eat out or drink alcohol, take PT to work, you know basic money stuff.

I wish you luck mate!

DoubleNNs

You have never had an actual IT job but turn down an entry level job?

How are you not entry level if you've never had an IT job?

NetworkVeteran

If you were seeking a smooth transition, a more technical degree may have been better.

At this point, consider certifications or part-time work or doing per-gig work through one of the services. At a cost of time, those may make for a smaller salary plunge. I suspect you can easily beat $12/hr in California with basic certifications.

I even completed a 6 month internship in software development while working full-time.

Alternatively, are you seeking development jobs? When I go to BAJobs and type in "Ruby" I get a ton of results, including ones for junior developers. If you were willing to spend a weekend learning Ruby on Rails and making a simple demo, you might be competitive, given your 6 month internship. Those jobs almost certainly pay more than $12/hr. Food for thought.

dave330i

New2ITinCali wrote: »

I graduated with a BA in Information Technology Management in April of 2012. I've been on 14 job interviews and still no luck.

What have you been doing the past 12 months to improve your chances of getting hired? Your degee isn't technical.

New2ITinCali wrote: »

I have a potential offer but the downfall is it only pays $12/hr. The job is entry-level and its with an I.T. consulting firm in the Bay Area (California). I currently work in accounting and I make $22/hr.

Your IT experience < accounting experience. A paycut is expected when you switch careers.

Nemowolf

New2ITinCali wrote: »

I graduated with a BA in Information Technology Management in April of 2012.

Where did you go to school? What did your program entail exactly? Did you earn any certificates or have some sort of capstone/final project to use for your resume? If you went to school for IT Management why did you intern for a Development house?

I put so much effort in preparing myself for the ideal job and yet I get nothing. I have a potential offer but the downfall is it only pays $12/hr. The job is entry-level and its with an I.T. consulting firm in the Bay Area (California). The hiring manager told me that this position is entry-level but there is definitely opportunity for advancement if I am motivated to grow and development within the firm.

I moved the relevant info together. Where in CA are you? Are you near a major technology hub; SF, LA, SD? As a point of reference, 12/hr is sub par pay for any entry level position if you are near one of the metro-hubs. I made more than that as a Geek Squad Agent making hourly wages in a retail store! Point of reference, my company recently had a dozen or so contractors come out for a one day project to do grunt work and paid them more than that.

If you went to school for IT ... Why do you have a job in accounting?

I currently work in accounting and I make $22/hr. so that would be a drastic pay cut.

I know how much i made throughout my career and i know in general how much some of the accountants i have worked with/for have made. If you already have experience in accounting and your already not working in IT, why not stick with Accounting if its paying you better and you already have a chance to excel in your current company?

Can you please provide me with some feedback, as I'm ready to put my degree to work and begin working in the I.T. field-but I don't think I can take a job that pays so low. Thnx!!

I put my questions/feedback in the red.

NetworkVeteran

I reviewed some earlier threads by the OP--

Majority of my courses were in Programming and database management. Also during my internship I worked with the Database Administrator and I assisted with the Systems Development Life Cycle layout for the intranet with the organization.

I am only familiar with VB and I have taken a VB course.

The advice you received a year ago is remarkably similar to the advice you're receiving now.

On the plus side, you took a VB class and know something about databases. The easiest sell would be a junior programming role such as the Ruby one I mentioned. You'd need to cram whatever the interview language is, as employers won't assume you can learn other languages. I've seen plenty of employers willing to take on someone who proves they can adapt quickly.

On the minus side, for most other IT roles I don't see that you've done any preparation. There are hundreds of thousands of people who spend a few weeks earning their A+ to make themselves more attractive, and many go further. If you want this career, you'll have to work for it. Either by spending some time laying the groundwork, or by taking on entry-level positions.

instant000

"The IT Career Builder's Toolkit"

-- that book fits your scenario. Someone who wasn't directly in IT, but used his on-the-job knowledge about the business to transition into an IT job.

You may be better off working the accounting thing, getting proficient in that, and being the person in accounting who know how the business sides works, and can also facilitate IT. (In accounting, you see where all the dollars come and go.)

Leverage what you have. You have six months of development work, and you also work in accounting. Looking for IT jobs that work on accounting packages (such as the one your current business uses, for example) and work it that way. You'll have a much better inside picture than an "IT Outsider" would.

Just trying to present a possible strategy.

SteveLord

$12hr job in the Bay Area? Better off panhandling. Make more money and you work outside in great weather!

Tom Servo

What type of IT job do you want, and what type are you applying for? Based on your accounting background, your best shot at getting into a job with an IT focus and decent starting pay might be to study for your CISA if you have auditing experience, and consider trying to get a job at a professional services firm (Big 4, Accenture, Protiviti, etc) doing IT auditing. It probably won't get you completely out of accounting though, if you absolutely hate accounting.

blargoe

If you can take the hit to your income, and you are serious about getting into IT, then you really aren't in much of a position to turn somethign like this down. Once you have a year or so of real IT experience you should be getting a more reasonable rate of pay.

You have to consider temp or contract to hire types of jobs, and not just full time perm positions (not sure what you were looking for previously) to get in the door.

You could always do some moonlighting accounting type work on the side for supplemental income if you have the skills for that.

New2ITinCali

I didn't turn down the job. I'm undecided still. I know that all I qualify for is an entry-level position, but $12/hr with a Bachelors degree is kind of a joke. I think $15-$16/hr. is decent being that I live in San Francisco's Bay Area. The cost of living here is one of the highest in the country.

New2ITinCali

So, what type of certs should I study for. I would like to go into softeware development. Right now I'm desperate and willing to go into anything I.T. be it Help Desk, Networks, or programming.

New2ITinCali

Thanks! I've applied for positions that are sort of Accounting/I.T. in nature and I never get a response. All I can do is keep trying I guess.

DoubleNNs

blargoe wrote: »

You could always do some moonlighting accounting type work on the side for supplemental income if you have the skills for that.

Or even better, you could keep your Accounting Job and look to moonlight in IT, get a weekend PT role, or do gigs. It'd at least make for a better transition.

New2ITinCali

I don't know how many I've heard this,a lot of people tell me, "You should just stick with accounting, since you have 6 years of experience in that field." The downside to that is, I have to go back to school to get a Masters in Accounting. I cannot move ahead in my current place of work because it is required that I have a degree to 'climb the ladder'. I'll be putting myself into further debt. I don't know, maybe it'll be worth it but I really wanted to transition into IT and put accounting behind me.

New2ITinCali

I'm thinking about making that $12/hr. job a part-time gig. It'll definitely be worth it to give me the experience and knowledge that I need, especially because I'm highly considering on getting certified in something lol.

SteveLord

Consider moving?

ChooseLife

New2ITinCali wrote: »

$12/hr with a Bachelors degree is kind of a joke. I think $15-$16/hr. is decent

$16 sure is better than $12, but in the year that you've been searching you have not been offered $16, if I understand correctly?

Look, starting a new career has inherent risks, no doubt about it. The good thing about IT is that it is a fast-moving field; if you have the smarts and the skills you can progress quickly, both in ranks and pay, especially in the bay area.

Dakinggamer87

New2ITinCali wrote: »

I didn't turn down the job. I'm undecided still. I know that all I qualify for is an entry-level position, but $12/hr with a Bachelors degree is kind of a joke. I think $15-$16/hr. is decent being that I live in San Francisco's Bay Area. The cost of living here is one of the highest in the country.

No kidding!!

kanecain

Keep your current job for now, and start volunteering. Volunteering is one of the most underrated things a IT wannabe could do. This can be put on your resume. Experience is the only thing IT managers look for, and they don't care where you get it.

hoktauri

I don't want to derail his question but where are good places to ask about volunteering? My local libraries don't do volunteer IT, it's a staff position through the county.

instant000

Local charities like volunteer workers

(this is easier to do, if you're a member/participant in that charity already, for obvious reasons)

Kinet1c

I was in the same position as you about 5 years ago. Get out of finance and follow what you really like. Taking a pay cut now and getting exposed to the industry will benefit you in the long run.

Corrsta

I was in a very similar position as you about two years ago. As someone who studied accounting and finance in college, I don't blame you for wanting to get out. Since I didn't have any formal IT experience, I had to make my own opportunities. I volunteered for non-profits until I became comfortable interacting with people in a business/IT environment and then I started my own company doing web/app development which nets me about $50k per year, part-time. If you're willing to dedicate an extra 10-20 hours a week in addition to your entry-level job, you'll be raking in more than you were as an accountant and doing something you actually enjoy.

kgb

In my opinion, the paths of being an IT (desktop/network/admin/etc) and software development are pretty different. My opinions are from someone that has been doing art for the last 12yrs that has made the switch to software development and has been doing it for a year now.

If you want to to development, I wouldn't worry about certifications at all. At most, if you were looking at defense/government work I could see maybe picking up Security+, but I wouldn't make it a focus. It's pretty simple though and as mentioned before, it's a lot of hard work.

If you want to be a programmer, you have to do programming. You should be programming at home. I would imagine living in the area that you do there's a very active user group community with the various languages/technologies. I cannot stress enough how beneficial it would be to get involved with the community. Especially if your day-to-day job isn't in the field, sitting, talking with professionals is priceless. In my experience they are some of the most helpful as well. Not to mention that's probably the best networking outlet someone could have minus attending a school.

NetworkVeteran

New2ITinCali wrote: »

I didn't turn down the job. I'm undecided still. I know that all I qualify for is an entry-level position, but $12/hr with a Bachelors degree is kind of a joke. I would like to go into softeware development. I have to go back to school to get a Masters in Accounting.

The problem, as I'm sure you realize by now, is your random degree in stamp-collecting or management does nothing to qualify you for high-end accounting or software development work. If it had been a random BS degree, that would've helped a bit. For development, a CS degree is the gold standard, preparing you to architect or program medium to large-scale software.

Certifications and help desk experience are nearly useless for development.

If a degree is too much, you could--

1. Learn a language that junior programming jobs in your area (Ruby) demand and make a good demo.
2. Take an Introduction to Programming course online or locally (offered in Python, Java, or C++). This would give you a stronger foundation and expose you to another mainsteam language. I've never seen a good one taught in VB.
3. Take side gigs from a freelance site (oDesk, eLance, etc.). VB and .NET work for that.

Hopefully your resume is tailored towards development jobs.

Nemowolf

New2ITinCali wrote: »

I don't know how many I've heard this,a lot of people tell me, "You should just stick with accounting, since you have 6 years of experience in that field." The downside to that is, I have to go back to school to get a Masters in Accounting. I cannot move ahead in my current place of work because it is required that I have a degree to 'climb the ladder'. I'll be putting myself into further debt. I don't know, maybe it'll be worth it but I really wanted to transition into IT and put accounting behind me.

What makes you think your not going to need an education to do anything in IT?!?! Your going to have to invest from the group up in an IT education starting with basic certifications now and eventually some really in-depth topics as you grow into your own. If your looking for a get rich quick job, stay where you are and get the masters. IT is all about continually educating yourself in both your current technology and new technology so your never going to just get a degree and stop learning.

Michael2

If you like accounting, you should stick with that for the time being. Maybe a position in the I.T. department will open up in your company and you can apply for that. They may consider your current salary and time with the company. Don't take that $12/hr job. You don't need to take that kind of hit.

New2ITinCali

Nemowolf wrote: »

I put my questions/feedback in the red.

I went to a local school that has a good reputation in the San Francisco Bay Area. Golden Gate University. Reputable school around here and many successful alumni.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, born and raised. I'm not going anywhere, I love it here. A lot of entry level jobs in I.T. start around $15-16 in this region. Also the company is an I.T. Management firm. They have contracta with small to mid-level businesses to handle all their I.T. needs. They've been in business for 12 years and they say they are substantially growing and the CEO said I have the opportunity to professionally grow as well.

I want to get out of accounting. Also I've reached the ceiling in my department. If I want to advance further, I need to ger my degree in accounting, which will obviously have to be a Masters and I don't want to get myself into further educational debt. Plus I have a deeper passion for IT than accounting.