Is it because I don't have Microsoft certifications?

I just found this site via google, and am happily reading the posts here!

Something that is really bothering me about this tech industry (I run my own small computer-servicing business from home) is that NO ONE is responding to my resumes. On my resume, say for example I am applying for a PC Technician position, I am putting down that I have my two-year degree in Computer Information Technology and that I run my own computer-servicing business from home.

Why is it that no one is responding to me? Not that a lot of job opportunities (punching the clock for someone else) exist here in the Berkshires (western Massachusetts) actually exist. Still, does no one have enough respect for the fact that I went to college for two years AND that I service clients' computers in their homes?

Yeah, I realize that the "hiring manager" might not believe someone saying on his resume that he runs his own computer servicing business from home. Because, after all, if I am that good, why am I applying somewhere else?

Still, Berkshire Life Insurance was the last employer I applied to for a PC Technician position about two weeks ago. The HR department never bothered responding to my email (my cover letter, resume and list of references.....they suggested in the ad that this stuff be emailed to them), and when I was finally able to get through to HR, the lady lied to me. She said that the hiring manager had my application and that I would be getting a call, when all I got was a "thanks for your application, but we found someone more suitable for the position" letter).

Folks, I hear it all the time that the computer industry is going down the tubes because of work being shipped over-seas. I believe that part. What I am TRYING to believe, but having a difficult time doing anymore, is that the employers in our good ol' USA have enough decency and common courtesy to at least tell someone why he or she didn't get the job. I mean, if you help someone help his or her self, that could help you a lot down the road. That's the way I see it, anyhow.

Is the fact that I am not getting any calls because I don't have Microsoft certifications (granted I also run and am learning to support Linux, LOL), or because I just don't write a "techy enough" resume?

Back last fall I was taking a CCNA course at the local community college, but dropped out after it was clear that the professor was just a step ahead of us (he was getting certified to teach the second part of the CCNA course, and they were trying to cram all four Cisco modules into one course), and just generally feeling I wasn't getting much excitment out of the course. I was older than most of the students, so the hacker-punk mentality didn't rub with me real well :=)

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Comments

janmike

"thanks for your application, but we found someone more suitable for the position"

That's pretty much a standard reply. I've received a lot of 'em!

Just keep trying. You'll probably pick up your experience for your resume by bits and pieces. True, HR folk want Assoc or BS degrees, but they also want to see referable experience so they can check out your ability to hold down a job in a company setting. Certs most of the time, but not always, carry weight as well.

Often times company policy demands that new job openings be publicly offered, however, the person doing the hiring already has someone in mind to fill the position from the existing pool of employees and that's the person who gets the job. Sometimes there are demands made on HR people to fill quotas. There may even be a local college that a company uses to recruit from. It all depends.

Hang in there! I finally got in--didn't even try to keep a count of the number of resumes I submitted.

tremere

For someone like me living out here in western Massachusetts, what would you suggest I do in order to get employers to call me? This time around in running my home business I'll do a better job, still I do like the security of income ya know

Is www.monster.com worthy of my taking the time to submit my application/resume there (given that I don't really have lots of experience, and only a 2-year CIT degree), or are there better ways for me to be putting the word out about me? Truthfully, as important as I know networking is, I'm not very good at it. To be even more truthful, I'm a shy person that has physical limitations (hard of hearing, and unpredictable bouts of canker sores on the tongue and in mouth, that make speech very painful). I hate to ruin the party here, I just feel that if there was truely no way for me to make it in this field (please don't mistake that for my not loving computer technology, which I do), then I wouldn't be disclosing these sorts of details about me :=)

nutsatchel

I really don't have any suggestions, but man I feel ya on this. I'm 24 years old. I have a degree from University of Arizona in MIS, I have a CCNA, I have two years solid experience. I just recently lost my job in Texas and moved back out to Arizona. The story is the same out here... "thanks for your app, we found someone better than you" type of stuff. So atleast know its not just you, cause I was starting to wonder if it was just me

JOblessELement

Atleast, you guys got the "thanks but no thanks" kind of replies. In my case, I got a job ... waited one, two, three months for a visa and then after a lot of "we're working on it"s and heckling the HR on my part, I found out that it had been refused. Not getting interviews anywhere else kinda put me in an 'all eggs in one basket' situation. Now after 6 whole months of no 'real' IT job, I have an interview tomorrow.

I've got my fingers (eyes, toes and any else you can think of) crossed

Rebound86

Im not sure what it is like in the states but i have just started to look around at It jobs and in Australia experience seems to be the key. Indeed it seesm to be a requirment before they will even look at your resume, eg "CCNA with 3 year experience runnning a ....... blah blah blah" Uni degrees dont seem to be a highly reconised thing over here. I am starting to think of the IT Industry as a trade, like plumbing ok its not a flattering decription (no offence to all you plumbers where would we be with out ya

) but a Uni degree in plumbing does nto count for much at least not the way i see if (please correct me in im wrong). This does not help your situation but is simply a passing comment on the state of the IT Industry

Best of luck in the job hunting

Peter

Mwgamer

Plain and simple its the market right now. Its an employers market they can pick and choose whatever they want. Tough not to be frustrated Im feeling the same way. Just keep up with the new stuff and keep working at it. Eventually things will improve. Right now employers want you to do everything for little compensation because they can, its their market.

nutsatchel

I went to a job open house and there were people there with 5+years experience applying for the same entry level jobs I was.... now that's an employers market!

Mwgamer

Reminds me I went for an interview at Apple Computer near me, tech support over phone deal. I passed all their tests and did pretty well made it on to the next round. I have zero real world experience in pc's but tons just being a geek

Anyways talking with some of the folks while we were waiting to be called in some of them had over 5 yrs experience and willing to commute hours for the job. There were so many qualified canidates above me for the few posistions I probably didnt have much of a chance. Stuff like that doesnt get me down the whole process was really interesting applying to a big company.

Rebound86

Sigh you bring no good news to those of us just enetring the industry (im a current yr 12 student starting to look for jobs in IT)

JOblessELement

Well, here's some good news for the future:

http://gsmweb.udallas.edu/cmo/New_Website/CareerCounseling/2003JobBoom.pdf

I believe the article for my own good. If it wasn't for 'hope', I'd consider myself a waste of life.

bellboy

Rebound86 wrote:

in Australia experience seems to be the key. Indeed it seesm to be a requirment before they will even look at your resume, eg "CCNA with 3 year experience runnning a ....... blah blah blah"

same in my area of uk. they ask for certs and experience for all the best jobs. but then again, i just got a few comptia certs - i wouldn't expect to get offered a job for £20+ making major decisions and planning projects.

tschnabel99

It's bleak out there! I am the same as several of you. Computer Information Systems A.A.S, Network+ and over 2 years experience with the majority of it as the sys admin for a State funded non-profit. Lost my job in November of 03 and have not been able to replace it. I do some contract work which you should consider to keep active. I also obtained my cert and working on another one (MCP). I would consider these options to continue your career even without full-time employment guys.

It shows you take IT serious. I hardly ever get replies from HR bastards and that is a real pet peeve on mine. I was given 3 months to find a job b4 mine ended. With that in addition to the almost 5 months unemployed thats 8 months I have been looking with only 1 in person interview on the 2nd cut and a phone interview plus the interview with the Tek Systems recruiter. Its sad indeed. I thought I changed careers for the better! This won't last forever. Hang in there. Keep busy. Learn!

Some jobs right now get 60-100 applicants for mid-levbel postions. (Just ask the HR MFs) You're lucky if the even f--- with you right now. They can pick from the cream. When I had a one year certificate back in 2000 I was getting admin interviews for gods sake! They couldn't find enough people.

Have I bawled nuff? Do I sounds bitter?

Drakonblayde

since I knocked my school schedule down to just one class a quarter until I graduate, I have time to look for another job.... and all I can say is that I'm staying in school for as long as I can con the state into paying for it.
Only calls I've gotten back have been for phone support paying barely a buck more an hour than I make running a register for wally world.

kicker22

this is weird,, i always read your posts..and I just dont know why that doesnt apply to me..
ok here is my story:

1. I am about to graduate this summer with a degree of Computer Info. Systems

2. I have CCNA Certs, and couple of MCP's

3. I have 4 years of SOLID experience.. working at school.. maintaing/administrating College network...
maintain DB and college website..

Now, with that, i was able to get internship with a fortune 500 company.
always get phone calls from companies i apply for.. i swear to god I kid you not..

now, i know there are people out there better than me.. but WHY ME? why would they rather call me and ask for interview?

well, here is what i think why...
the way you represent or market yourself... the better way you market yourself the better off you are..

need to establish networking.. and communication with recruiters..
Your Resume should be different than others..specially the layout..
try to differentiate yourself among others..

make sure you have business understanding background...
for example.. one of the interview questions i get "What do you know about our corp?"
and I will start talking about their market shares..and how it increased/dropped... new projects ... new plans... about their CEO and how he blaah blaah blaah... and i keep talking..

so.. once again.. its all about differentiating yourself among others..

there are jobs out there..maybe way less than before... but still..they do exist... so all you have to do is stand out by differentiating yourself in every possible way

thats all i can say

GL all

morad

ajs1976

Companies are impressed when you target your resume and cover letter at them and when you can tell them about their company during the interview.

it tells them at least two important things about you:

a. You actually want the position

b. You understand the value of research and preparing for a situation

M_Boyd

Totally agree !

In addition the person in question needs to make the CV is something that wins over not only by personalizing it but making sure the details are to the point, show success, and generally flatters yourself.

I have this book on writing CV's with real world examples (with just the names changed) - the good, bad and somewhere inbetween. Some people mess up their chances by demonstrating themselves in a light which could be more favourable and they don't know it. I feel I have the time to put effort into 'job seeking skills' and write it myself but if I did not - I would have it professionally produced from a very reputable source with experience of writing similar CV's in your field.

The errors people make in their resum'es can be as dumb as putting divorced as status with pride of place on the top of the page - to stating verbal diaroah on irrelevant information, masking good information. The thing is that most people don't even realise these errors.

You have to write a good cover letter - it is your first contact with your employer and it allows you to state things that don't really fit into your resume. I would really recommend the book "the perfect cover letter - Richard Beatty"

You also have to do courtesy letters to thank for interviews.....etc

But getting back to the point - what do you think an employer will think when you say that you service computers at home for a living? - This might seem like im being annoying but this to me (and im not saying is the case) puts an impression of - this guy is just lounging about at home and fixing some friends computer for enough cash to pay the rent and doesn't aspire to much. If you have been doing this for a long time period and you are far from this image - this is where your writing skills comes in on your CV. This is what you have to portray to your propective employer. In an essence - you have to make it more professional and less 'homey'....

garv221

I Agree with M_Boyd. You can turn any senerio into an extordinary event with your choice of words in a cover letter/resume which would express how serious you are about your work.

knowlwk

It can be done... finding a job that is. I switched over from teaching about 4 years ago with nothing but an A+ and several years of tweaking my own machines... lucked out.. right place/right time. My town is not exactly a hotbed for technology, but everyone has a computer, and they all need fixing on a regular basis. Be persistent, turn over every rock.

I think as technical folk, we tend to underestimate people skills. There are many jobs out there that require daily interaction with end users, and people skills are very important. I work in a small/medium shop (8-9 techs tending to maybe 300 small business customers) and dealing with people is critical. Same thing with phone skills... we do a large amount of phone support besides on-site work.

A good HR person will be evaluating those skills when you talk to them, be it on the phone, or in person... not to mention, evaluating how your resume is put together. Don't skimp on putting together these materials. Short and sweet is good.. don't go into so much detail as to make it hard to read.. if reading it is work... it won't get read. Also, wear a suit, don't show up asking about jobs looking like you were just out mowing the yard.. you'd be amazed how some people dress when looking for work. 1st impressions last a looooong time.

keenon

to answer your question as everyone else has..... nope it doesn't mean anything i have over 5 years exp. from cabling, net admin, cti, cisco, it recruiting and some other tech stuff and have plently of work. i suggest maybe dropping your work that you do from your resume at home, broaden your objective( or change it to a tech summary about what you know)ex.

pc tech with over x amount of experience supporting .... u get the idea

don't get down on yourself dry spells happen every now and then .. i run my own it shop and would suggest if they won't hire you sell them your service!!

stay up

sab4you

ajs1976 wrote:

Companies are impressed when you target your resume and cover letter at them and when you can tell them about their company during the interview.

it tells them at least two important things about you:

a. You actually want the position

b. You understand the value of research and preparing for a situation

So true.

The last job I left I did the hiring and weeding out for a replacement. Honestly everybody and their mom is a MCSE. But what keeps some resumes seperate is the efforts they put in to showing me the skills they have that matches what the job is looking for.

Its possible the market just sucks in your area right now, and they get swamped with too many resumes they may not even get to look at all of them. For the position I left I received a few hundred resumes all within the first week.

Your best bet is to be on the ball and be one of the first people to submit a resume. Check those listings daily. Then when you see a job, many of them are now scanned by computer for keywords to weed them out. Make sure your resume contains words matching what the job application is asking for. Further make it clear to respond to the points that they want. If they are asking for A,B,C you need your resume to clearly show you have those skills or something similar.

Looking for jobs usually sucks and is discouraging. Put in the best effort you can on every resume you submit. If you have a phone number it doesnt hurt to call. If you have a web address (from their email) then look em up and find a phone number. Call them, introduce yourself and submit a resume. Some suggest to even bring your resume down in person, as its better to place a face with a resume as well. Who knows, you may even get an interview on the spot.

Not to sound like a cliche, but keep your chin up, keep a good attitude and spend the time on each resume you submit to customize it and make it the best you can for that particular job.

skully93

nutsatchel wrote:

I really don't have any suggestions, but man I feel ya on this. I'm 24 years old. I have a degree from University of Arizona in MIS, I have a CCNA, I have two years solid experience. I just recently lost my job in Texas and moved back out to Arizona. The story is the same out here... "thanks for your app, we found someone better than you" type of stuff. So atleast know its not just you, cause I was starting to wonder if it was just me

I think at least some of it has to do with the fact that so many qualified people with bagillions of years of experience got laid off in recent years. Why hire someone new when you can get someone old for the same price? Sure outsourcing hurt us, but enough people are fed up with it that once the economy improves things will even out a little.

Never be afraid to professionally be persistent. I call about a week after applying. If I get an interview, I call a week after that. Sure, you'll still get the 'well, we filled the position..." but they'll remember you. Plus, on one occasion, the guy's tactic was to interview, mark off the DEFINITELY DO NOT HIRE THIS JERK people, and see who called back. I called back and got the job

dswillieus

I feel a part of this conversation already, so I figured I'd jump in. I have over ten years experience in IT, LAN, WAN, Cisco, 3Com, Bay Networks (Nortel), etc.. and I'm getting the same. A lot of my rejection has been over qualified for those entry level positions, or the employers are looking for CCIE's with CISSP certification and only wanting to pay 45K a year for the position. That's the signs of an employers market, for many of you college graduates, remember supply and demand. The employer holds ALL the cards right now. Huge supply of engineers and IT professionals who were put on the streets in 2001/2002, and now there is very little demand at the present moment. Employers are picking the most for less. Don't get discouraged, keep persistent with the employers!

And who ever you vote for this election, voice your opinions about outsourcing American jobs to other countries, tax breaks for employers who hire american workers. Any idiot can be given the presidency by the Supreme court, but a real president would stand up for the american people in their time of need.

TeKniques

Ummm, actually it's not the Governments job to get you a job. That's your own responsibility. Secondly, the jobs going over seas are mostly call center jobs that probably contain at max 10 "REAL" IT jobs. Anyone can read from a knowledge base and be a Level 1 tech. Thirdly, not John Kerry or anyone else you vote for is going to get you a job especially when his wife's own company has outsourced all their jobs to other countries (talk about hypocrisy).

Anyways, my own situation is the same as most on this board. Although I don't have any certs yet, I do have a two 2 year degrees, one in CS and the other in Computer Info Technology. I just started with the Certs which I do need. The main thing I found out is that the best way to get into a good job is to get on with a company doing basically anything to get in the door. Where I work now I have internetworked myself with a lot of people and have set myself up for the potential possibility to move into the IT field. In my opinion, networking with other people and having the skills with a good resume is a very good combination on getting a good job. Sometimes knowing a lot of people will increase your chances. Where I work there are lots of jobs in the IT field that require a lot of the things people on this board have, it's just the way you go about it and present yourself.