I messed with Texas and still waiting for a job.

katierose · October 2010

Hi all.

I joined this site two years ago when I was just breaking into IT. I made the mistake of going to a school called Tech Skills and putting myself in 6k worth of debt for just two certifications. Yeah, lesson learned. BUT. It did make all the difference in my career. I ended up landing a great desktop support job and got out of answering phones all day. I would rather play in traffic than go back to that.

So fast forward to now. I just moved from Phoenix, AZ to Dallas, TX. I had a really great job when I was in AZ. I got to get my hands on servers and voIP administration. I wasn't there for very long though, only 8 months. I gave a full month's notice when I decided to move here. Lots of reasons were for the move but I will spare the story.

Anyway. So I get here and I notice jobs everywhere. Not only is this state one of the strongest job wise, but Dallas has a huge IT industry. I've been here for about a month. I've had only one interview with a company in downtown so far, a couple recruiter meet and greets, and one phone interview. So far I've landed nothing but I am not giving up hope yet. Next week is looking good. One recruiter meet and a interview on the same day. In the running for some other sweet gigs too.

I just can't help but notice the high amount of competition here. I'm starting to wonder why I got passed up on a couple of occasions. I think I have a pretty professional resume, good references, and decent interview skills too. What gives?

Is anyone else on this forum from here? Any tips? Maybe some job tips if you know someone who is hiring? I'm looking for a desktop support role that pays at least around $40 k salary. If anyone would like to critique my resume that would be cool too.

puppy001 · October 2010

are u currently working or ???????

post ur resume here with out ur personal info so we can comment also how much experience u got and certs u got dgree or certs or highschool diploma or a masters or phd

katierose · October 2010

Nope not yet. I saved up some money before the move.

ssampier · October 2010

You need to comment more; 4 posts in 2 years. Of course I spend way too much time here, so whom am I to judge? LOL

I understand the Dallas/FW area is a pretty good environment technology-wise. I can't give much advice other than the normal ones:

1. Consider where you want your career to go, network admin or system admin (servers). Start working on CCNA for former and MCITP:SA or MCITP:EA for latter. If you like Linux, you can (mostly) forgo the certifications, but you must be able to prove your chops.
2. Some people have success cold calling companies and doing informal information interviews. This is a more of a long-term strategy, however.
3. What education do you have? For the more professional jobs a Bachelors degree is required, with technical subjects strongly preferred.

Many people on this very forum were able to side-step the education requirements, so they can give you better advice if you don't currently have a BA/BS.

katierose · October 2010

I know I don't post here much. That will change anyway seeing as I am going to start on my Security+ this month and interested in some other certs too like Citrix since I have worked with it before and enjoyed it.

I don't have a degree. If I had the luxury of having my parents pay for school I would have jumped at the chance. So because of that I am a little iffy on if I will go at all. Texas has a lot of great schools though. If I can afford it, I'd like to do two years at Brookhaven CC and then maybe transfer to UT Austin.

As far as my career path.. I'd like to go the network route. I would like to get my CCNA next year at some point.

It would be a dream come true if I could work with a company that encourages education and offers tuition/certification reimbursement.

jmasterj206 · October 2010

Did you ever consider Western Governors University Katie? You can get several certifications as well as your degree. Price is about 2900 per 6 month term and you can get as many credits done as you can in that time frame.

katierose · October 2010

I'll have to research more on WGU. I'm a little unsure about the credibility of those kind of schools to be honest.

mikej412 · October 2010

katierose wrote: »

As far as my career path.. I'd like to go the network route. I would like to get my CCNA next year at some point.

It would be a dream come true if I could work with a company that encourages education and offers tuition/certification reimbursement.

Vendor business partners are usually good for recognizing the importance of certifications and some of them are very good about helping you move up the certification food chain. Larger partners offer competitive benefits like tuition reimbursement to help keep the billable hour talent happy. The fact that the same "partner locator" link on a product/service vendor's web site used to help drive sales can also be used as a source of job leads is a nice perk.

If you can stand the fast pace of some business partners, you can start out with no certifications this week driving the delivery truck and be a CCNA->CCNP within the year (assuming you get a job with a Cisco Business Partner) with more actual networking experience than the CCNP that's been at the same company for the last 10 years whose job is to call you in to fix their network problems and do their next network upgrade.

ajmatson · October 2010

I am in Phoenix and have been contacted by Tech Skills quite a lot. I spent a year and University of Phoenix (which was a waste) before transferring to WGU. I have earned more at WGU in 6 months then I have in Community College and UOP combined. If the certs were the only thing WGU would be worth it.

I am having the same issue here in Phoenix that you are having in Dallas. Just keep your head up and keep trying. I know it is frustrating but you have to keep positive.

erpadmin · October 2010

katierose wrote: »

I'll have to research more on WGU. I'm a little unsure about the credibility of those kind of schools to be honest.

I was too, to be honest with you. I would never have done WGU if it turned out that it would have been a fake diploma. Believe me, it's not easy...very doable, but not easy. The independent research I did outside of TE and WGU verified that I can use a WGU degree to go to a brick and mortar school (B&M) to pursue a MS or MBA for the fact that it regionally accredited. In other words, it would have been no different than going to an unknown state school in Utah (nationally unknown....like Southern Utah University, for example [I never heard of it prior to looking up colleges in UT]). I plan on going to a B&M university (either part-time, online or both "blended") when I'm done with WGU to help erase the "stigma" of going to an online school. But I think online schools are going to have that stigma gone in another number of years as folks like us see it as a viable option to get that BS in something.

Put it this way....if you were to start now, by the next census, you can call yourself a college graduate. But I encourage you to do your own research....trust me...google will take you to other sites other than TE when looking up WGU reviews.

puppy001 · October 2010

post us ur resume so we can check and comment.

Unforg1ven · October 2010

I was actually getting ready to move out to Texas in the Austin area. Still on the fringe to be honest, but hopefully can land a support position just for the time being.

erpadmin · October 2010

Unforg1ven wrote: »

I was actually getting ready to move out to Texas in the Austin area. Still on the fringe to be honest, but hopefully can land a support position just for the time being.

I too would love to make that move to Austin! But it's either gonna be for a PeopleSoft job (Texas is a PS shop...

) or retirement.....

But I could never make a move anywhere without something lined up....I'm too chicken for that. LOL.

tomahawkeer · October 2010

Welcome (late as it may be) Katie. You will find that a lot of us on these boards are actually enrolled at WGU. They are highly accredited, very inexpensive for what you get, and best of all, on top of getting a bachelors degree, you also get certifications along the way as part of your class load. Also, a lot of the learning resources are included in your tuition which makes it even nicer.

Back on topic, good luck finding a job. Ive read that Texas is booming with IT jobs, so I would expect some competition, but im sure you can find something along the desktop support line for those salaries there.

thenjduke · October 2010

WGU is a really good school. It is not easy like others have said. You are really on your own but in the last three months I have earned 30 credits so far but they consider them CU. It has been hard but I look at it this way next year I am done and onto master degree.

phoeneous · October 2010

katierose wrote: »

As far as my career path.. I'd like to go the network route. I would like to get my CCNA next year at some point.

Are you working on it now? At least shoot for ccent by the end of the year for a short term goal.

katierose · October 2010

I read up on WGU last night. I can see the advantages. In a perfect world I would get a B.S in IT Security followed by M.B.A in IT Management. It couldn't hurt to have both, but in the back of my mind I feel like I need to decide between the two. I'm only 22 and I'm still trying to decide if I want to work my way into management or stay behind the screen doing network/security work for the rest of my career.

@phoeneous I am not working on my CCNA yet. I just bought my Security+ book last night (the one written by Darril Gibson which a lot of you seem to love) and hoping to snag that by the end of the year. Next year I'm getting down to business and deciding if I want to start my Cisco certs or go to school..or both.

rogue2shadow · October 2010

katierose wrote: »

I read up on WGU last night. I can see the advantages. In a perfect world I would get a B.S in IT Security followed by M.B.A in IT Management. It couldn't hurt to have both, but in the back of my mind I feel like I need to decide between the two. I'm only 22 and I'm still trying to decide if I want to work my way into management or stay behind the screen doing network/security work for the rest of my career.

I know the feeling (being 23). Those two paths would compliment each other very well. It'll take a lot longer to get into a management position than it will be to get a technical position and it seems like the higher you go up the chain the less "grunt work" aka technical feats you will have to perform (depending on the position title; project manager vs. lead architect). One thing to keep in mind is that you don't need a "project management" type degree to be a PM. At the current moment, I am deciding to go with an MS in Cybersec with a minor in business admin. I want to be somewhat of a security jack of all trades but if there comes the time to step up to a management position I want to have at least some higher business knowledge to be able to have an option. My bachelors was in Criminology and Criminal Justice and the technical masters compliment it if I decide to take a law enforcement route.

All in all, I guess I'm saying make sure the degree you choose, on top of your work experience/certs, gives you the ability to move between roles seamlessly so you don't end up hitting a wall or getting stuck in one position for an extended period of time. It'll be like throwing three resumes at a time into the marketing pool instead of one when you go searching for jobs.

katierose · October 2010

Gotta love the beginning of the month.. lots of openings.

This week is looking really good! Two in person interviews tomorrow. Phone interview Wednesday. Then waiting for a confirmation on another in person interview later this week.

All of these for very exciting positions. Stoked.

erpadmin · October 2010

katierose wrote: »

Gotta love the beginning of the month.. lots of openings.

This week is looking really good! Two in person interviews tomorrow. Phone interview Wednesday. Then waiting for a confirmation on another in person interview later this week.

All of these for very exciting positions. Stoked.

Knock 'em dead, kiddo!

N2IT · October 2010

katierose wrote: »

Gotta love the beginning of the month.. lots of openings.

This week is looking really good! Two in person interviews tomorrow. Phone interview Wednesday. Then waiting for a confirmation on another in person interview later this week.

All of these for very exciting positions. Stoked.

GL I know how rough it can be.

Make sure you bang out that Security +.

veritas_libertas · October 2010

Good luck!

citinerd · October 2010

katierose wrote: »

Gotta love the beginning of the month.. lots of openings.

This week is looking really good! Two in person interviews tomorrow. Phone interview Wednesday. Then waiting for a confirmation on another in person interview later this week.

All of these for very exciting positions. Stoked.

How did the interviews go?

I have to say, as a Washington Redskin fan, it would be a living hell for me to live in Dallas

erpadmin · October 2010

citinerd wrote: »

How did the interviews go?

I have to say, as a Washington Redskin fan, it would be a living hell for me to live in Dallas

Skins?! Try Giants.....lol. (Though we have our own beef, Dallas, of course, is much stronger...lol).

That's probably the reason why Dallas remains one of the few cities I haven't visited in TX. Been to Austin, Houston, San Antone, Galveston....but not DFW, in part, because I'd be afraid of getting shot by some yahoo. (I would be dumb and proud enough to rock Giants gear in Dallas....I'm not afraid......but that might not be a good thing....lmao).

katierose · October 2010

The first interview was with a recruiter for a position that sounds like it would allow me to really put my management skills to the test which is great. There is one IT guy that supports multiple offices, so I would be there to help. It pays great too, hopefully getting a call back for that one.

The second one was terrible. Not because of me thankfully. I have to say this was the first time I have been interviewed by a manager that probably Googled "how to interview someone" and decided to ask me every single unnecessary question possible. Granted, he found my resume on Dice and I was his first interview for these positions he wanted to fill. I never applied to this job. He should have read my resume before he decided to ask me how to do an ipconfig. It was just embarrassing. THEN he says he will make a decision on filling this by the end of this month!? Yeah good luck with that.

I have a phone interview in a little bit for a network admin job for a college I REALLY want and would be qualified for. Plus I was referred by the interviewer's boss. Crossing my fingers!

BradleyHU · October 2010

erpadmin wrote: »

But I could never make a move anywhere without something lined up....I'm too chicken for that. LOL.

yeah, thats wild crazy how pplz move without having anything lined up. and since the OP did that, and she only had 8 months of experience, i believe those are contributing factors to why she was probably passed up for some of those jobs.

katierose · October 2010

Yeah, I wouldn't have done this if I had the choice.

I couldn't live at my apartment anymore. I had to give up my room to someone else who was in more need. I had somewhere to live in Dallas rent free with my boyfriend so I chose that.

Things are picking up though. Two more interviews tomorrow. The phone interview I had today went great. It's definitely the position I would like the most. I just need to wait for confirmation on a in person interview.

j938 · October 2010

What are some of the agency you've met. Have you tried Skillstorm or, Modis, or Comforce.
these are pretty good in the Dallas area as I am in the Dallas area. I know couple other companys as well if you want to pass your resume I could forward to them just pm me to me

I messed with Texas and still waiting for a job.

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