Slow Hiring? Jobs?

I'm finding myself in somewhat of a grey area. I have plenty of certifications and decent knowledge base, but lack of experience. By experience I mean not much hands on with servers, routers, etc. I've mainly been doing a lot of support.

I have been looking for a job for over 2 months now, but I'm not having any luck. I know my resume is good, I've even posted it on here. Recruiters call and we go through the motions then I end up never hearing back. I apply to places where I basically match what certifications/experience they want and don't even get a call.

Also, I have a TS/SCI clearance which I figured would help, but nothing.

I'm sorry to vent, but it's so depressing being unemployed, family to support and not knowing where your next dollar is coming from.

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ande0255

It took me years to find my first networking job out of school with a degree and CCNA, was like career purgatory for years, but I eventually found my way out. Just gotta stick with it and eventually something will come through, just have to not stop applying, and go to every interview no matter what.

darkerz

After the first 2 to 3 years of experience, you will experience the strangest turn of luck compared to many, many, many careers in the world...

You'll have to fight recruiters off with a stick, especially in Metropolitan areas.

1st world IT problems

kohr-ah

You know this is kind of funny as it is true. Made me feel good in a way. I am by no means a networking guru. I know my protocols but have so so experience with them but when I post my resume online they call me and call me and call me.

Filtering out the good ones is what I need to do next.

But really keep at it OP. Apply to everything. Try to go work for an MSP even. It is hard work but they pay decent and you will get lots of skill.

Don't. Give. Up.

miroa12004

kohr-ah wrote: »

Try to go work for an MSP even. It is hard work but they pay decent and you will get lots of skill.

As I am in the same boat as the guy above (add to that my degree is from a different country), I've seen this term used a lot. Can someone tell me what is an MSP? and how can you find them and be able to get them to hire you?

Excuse my ignorance, as from where I come from, they only have ISPs only ;D

N2IT

Managed Service Provider

ande0255

To elaborate on what an MSP is, it's a company that performs IT functions for different companies, which means completely different network infrastructures. It is a LOT of experience if you can hang in there with the tidal wave of info.

Going on my 3rd month at an MSP, and holy **** was the first month terrifying, but I'm at a fairly comfortable level now. The experience and exposure to technology though, really saved my drive to stay in IT when I was really on the ropes about giving up looking for a job in networking after yeeeears of looking.

And like darkerz said, once you get in, you'll have difficulty wading through job offers to find the right one.

miroa12004

Cheers mate.

How do you find one in your area though? Google? newspapers?

Excuse me but I just moved to the United States and the job search is so far becoming more difficult than getting on a date with Scarlett Johansson.

dsgm

Same here i just moved to the US, been going on interviews and even been hearing im closed to being hired then to hear that it has been delayed.

Johnjones

Thanks for replies. I'm not exactly "entry" I have over 6 years of experience and certifications such as CCNA Sec and VCP5 to name a couple. The only thing I can do is keep plugging away because of my family. Anyone else unemployed who feels a lack of motivation?

miroa12004

Not a lack of motivation just depression & anxiety. Suddenly whatever I did in my home country means nothing to all the hiring managers and my 20 or so job applications I throw every day can't get a reply.

For me, all the effort I put in, in my university and previous jobs are meaningless. I even had a recruiter blatantly telling me, I won't get hired anywhere cause I don't have any North American experience.

ande0255

I was actually contacted by a recruiter through linkedin for my current job, never met her or spoke with her before she messaged me on there to schedule an interview with the hiring manager for a direct hire position. She sent me a message on a Thursday, and I had an offer letter on Tuesday for a Cisco voice / data network technician role, which given I had little previous network experience at all was monumental for me.

Which is why I can't recommend linkedin enough. Seriously connect with every IT recruiter you can find, so other recruiters can see you through connections, and one day you might get that game changing message to kick start your career

shodown

1st off where do you live to make the most out of your clearance?

2nd. The clearance game has dried up. Most of the smart money left DoD a few years ago. I make way more without my clearance than with it. My last 3 jobs have all been non cleared.

3. Time to take a look at yourself and find out what you can do about where your coming up short. Some things like experience can be tigheted up with labs, but not fixed. You may have an appearance problem, odor problem, soft skills who knows...

ande0255

Here is my linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/david-anderson/27/6a0/120/

Probably will edit that out in the next day or so after this thread fizzles out, but wanted to show what I created for reference, cause I've seen IT professionals with absolutely horrible profiles (that ironically cannot ever find a job). I update this normally as my goals change, new certs / skills, and make new connections by invite or browsing coworkers / classmates.

petedude

shodown wrote: »

2nd. The clearance game has dried up. Most of the smart money left DoD a few years ago. I make way more without my clearance than with it. My last 3 jobs have all been non cleared.

East Coast maybe, especially with all of the budget showdowns taking place back there and some gov't agencies having a tough time with PR lately.

West Coast, still plenty of work for clearance folks.

Ruminus

I'm about to break the 3 year mark of IT employment in April. I hope you guys are right because as much as I like my job, it'd be nice to see what other options are out there and having to wade through offers is a problem I would love to have.

NightShade03

miroa12004 wrote: »

Cheers mate.

How do you find one in your area though? Google? newspapers?

Excuse me but I just moved to the United States and the job search is so far becoming more difficult than getting on a date with Scarlett Johansson.

If you look at all of the products you work with on a daily basis (let's say Cisco, Dell, and Check Point) you can visit their respective websites and start scrolling through who their partners are. Usually each vendor will tell you "this is an integration partner, this is a reseller, and this is an MSP". You can then subsequently make a list of all the MSPs and then start going through researching and applying one by one. Should take you around 2 - 3 days of work, but you'll have a list of like 100+ companies to blast a resume too

Also don't just limit yourself to products you work with, but pick any vendor and repeat the process.

NightShade03

Ruminus wrote: »

I'm about to break the 3 year mark of IT employment in April. I hope you guys are right because as much as I like my job, it'd be nice to see what other options are out there and having to wade through offers is a problem I would love to have.

This is most certainly true and I can tell you that the best way to validate this is to keep your linkedin profile updated. With Recruiters, they all work with software that scans places like linkedin based on keywords in your profile. If you know what is "hot" in the market right now and have a few good keywords in your profile you'll be getting pinged left and right. If you have a very diverse background as well that means you'll also be exposed in different sets of search results.

Personally I get 2 - 3 recruiters a week asking me to take an interview, but the interesting part isn't the volume it's the diversity in which clients they represent (Data Science vs Networking, vs Security vs Developer).

FloOz

darkerz wrote: »

After the first 2 to 3 years of experience, you will experience the strangest turn of luck compared to many, many, many careers in the world...

You'll have to fight recruiters off with a stick, especially in Metropolitan areas.

1st world IT problems

This is very true

Makes it hard to stay at one place for long.

googol

I just recently left the government sector, so my security clearance went inactive, but still get numerous emails and calls about government positions since their database is old and some online sites not updated. I also agree with the other folks here, with a couple solid years of experience under your belt, I am spammed with positions all over the US for contract, contract to hire or direct hire/FTE for both govt. contracting or corporations.

Just need to find the niche you want to be in and get that experience. I balanced my education with both degrees and certifications in various fields since I tend do it all.

maharaliel

Two months are not a lot, you will get a job, don't pessimistic.

kohr-ah

miroa12004 wrote: »

Cheers mate.

How do you find one in your area though? Google? newspapers?

Excuse me but I just moved to the United States and the job search is so far becoming more difficult than getting on a date with Scarlett Johansson.

If you are in networking / Cisco maybe this can help.
Partner Locator-Partner Central - Cisco Systems

Partner locator by Cisco. Then apply to the companies on there.

DoubleNNs

kohr-ah wrote: »

If you are in networking / Cisco maybe this can help.
Partner Locator-Partner Central - Cisco Systems

Partner locator by Cisco. Then apply to the companies on there.

Awesome.

Johnjones

shodown wrote: »

1st off where do you live to make the most out of your clearance?

2nd. The clearance game has dried up. Most of the smart money left DoD a few years ago. I make way more without my clearance than with it. My last 3 jobs have all been non cleared.

3. Time to take a look at yourself and find out what you can do about where your coming up short. Some things like experience can be tigheted up with labs, but not fixed. You may have an appearance problem, odor problem, soft skills who knows...

I just wanted to reply to this. I live in Florida. Also, perhaps the clearance game has slowed down. However, having a clearance is better than not having one obviously. I am trying to leverage every possible end I have. I'm happy for your success in regards to outside of the DoD world.

Lastly, an odor problem? Appearance problem? Seriously? I'm not an idiot lacking common sense and/or personal hygiene. Not sure what types of individuals you have been around.

EngRob

Johnjones wrote: »

I'm not an idiot lacking common sense and/or personal hygiene. Not sure what types of individuals you have been around.

I have worked with many an IT individual that fits into one or more of these categories

lol.

JoJoCal19

Hey John, I just wanted to chime in here since you've said you're in FL. I work out of Jax, lived there and worked there for the past 13 years and now I'm in Tampa. The situation with the recruiters is sadly true. Since getting my CISSP and putting it on LinkedIn, Indeed, and Dice, I've been flooded with emails from recruiters. Out of all of the times they submit me for positions, I'd say 30% of the submittals actually lead to phone interviews, and out of the phone interviews I'd say half lead to in-person interviews. Unfortunately I too have a lot of times I'm submitted and either the recruiter never hears back from the place or the recruiter never responds. I don't know what part of Florida you're in, but IT opportunities can be sparse, with a lot of open positions actually being a dead end. Recruiters are unfortunately the best way to get submitted and actually have a shot, from what I've seen anyways.

Thankfully I just got word today that I have an offer coming in for an AVP Sr Risk Analyst position. I'm finally going to be able to break out of Identity & Access Management. Sadly, it looks like my dreams of moving to the technical side of security is all but dead. Companies want people who have the technical experience already. If you want, feel free to PM me where you're located and if you're in either Jax or Tampa, I'll give you contact info for recruiters I have dealt with that are actually responsive.

DoubleNNs

EngRob wrote: »

I have worked with many an IT individual that fits into one or more of these categories lol.

And I've seen quite a few IT people who had neither an odor or hygiene problem, but looked so disheveled that no one wanted to get close enough to find out for themselves.

Don't take the simple suggestion to heart. Everyone has room to improve in just about every category - even hollywood actors are often criticized about how they look/dress. But I guess that's another topic..

mokaiba

kohr-ah wrote: »

but when I post my resume online they call me and call me and call me.

I created an account on monster and career builder, never posted a resume, only filled out the about me info, and they call and email me all the time even though, I put for both, I was not available until Dec 2014. Guess I shouldn't have put my certs and job info in my profile.