a month certified... and still no luck getting a job

2 phone interviews...in 1 month and thats it. and neither place called me back up like they "promised". ive applied every site imaginable. every pc store in town, even outside of my town.......

no luck at all.

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crap I forgot my old pwd

do you have any experience at all or are you just A+ certified?

Ricka182

I wouldn't expect much with just an A+......

JDMurray

If you aren't getting called for interviews then you need to get your resume into more places and seen by more people. Don't rely only on job boards and headhunters to get your resume in front of prospective employers. Do some emailing/faxing/phone calling yourself.

Take a look at your current job hunting efforts and figure out how you can double or triple it. When you do get a job offer, you'll probably be surprised how much effort it took to get it. Finding a good job--or any job, for that matter--can be a lot of work.

moss12

LOL only A+ tuff luck man , do you hold a degree of that sort if not do more certification as you can

sprkymrk

I hate to tell you this, but a month ain't that long. Ask a few of the folks on this forum that got a Bachelor's degree and then an MCSE or CCNA how long they had to look for an IT job. I consider myself lucky that only 3 months after becoming an MCP I landed a good tech job. That was after lots of pavement pounding. It was my second interview in the whole time. About 2 weeks prior I was actually offered a good position (my first interview) but had to turn it down due to travel issues.

Hang in there, persistance is required. I'm not sure if you currently have a job in another field. I made a career switch at age 31 after being an electrician for 12 years.

oldbarney

burzumaske91 wrote:

2 phone interviews...in 1 month and thats it. and neither place called me back up like they "promised". ive applied every site imaginable. every pc store in town, even outside of my town.......

no luck at all.

First, I haven't posted much here. Techexams.net is one of my favorite places to absorb some really valuable information. Kudos to the resident mods and posters.

Presently, my situation is somewhat comparable to yours although I have a few certs coupled with ten years of experience and a college education. Furthermore, in my area, a large number of tech jobs, particularly computer support/help desk positions, are abundant.

Without going into a lot of detail, I resigned a position roughly one month ago. The position was primarily located in a dangerous part of the world that garners considerable media attention.

I'll attempt to provide you with a bit of insight from my current job search.

- Employers not only look for certifications, but also experience. They also look for a good fit.

- Use as many resources as possible. Monster, Career Builder, Hot Jobs, America's Job Bank, the local newspaper and Craigslist are quite valuable. If your state has a workforce web site, check that out as well.

- Look into related work or short-term gigs. Admin work for a small office may not hold the glamour or prestige of a computer tech. But those offices typically have desktops. Desktops go down from time to time or a co-worker needs assistance with MS Office. Make sure not to annoy your local sys admin! A one hour gig removing spyware from someones PC also helps with experience. Anything helps, for that matter.

- Network, network, network. If you have good personal references, ensure that a copy of their contact info is on your person. Talk to friends and acquaintances about possible openings at their workplace.

- Be professional! During an interview, you are actually selling yourself to an employer. Dress accordingly. An interview is your opportunity to convince an employer you can perform the job.

- Make sure your resume and cover letter look good. Keep a positive attitude. Sometimes a prospective employer may not schedule an interview for weeks after the resume is received.

- If you need more education, then get it! A 2-year IT degree can help you with a foot in the door. A bachelors degree helps more.

- The other evening, I spoke with an acquaintance who works in HR. She indicated that 10 resumes for every interview is more or less the norm these days. As one poster in this thread commented, pounding the pavement is usually a requirement in the job search.

Remember that a certification will not guarantee a job, but grabs attention from HR.

Personally speaking, since the end of February, I've submitted resumes for 51 different positions. Out of all those resumes, 15 contacted me, and I conducted 13 interviews either in person or on the phone. 3 jobs were offered. I currently work about 2-4 hours per week in an IT-related, temporary position involving a 120-mile round trip drive. Another IT job, which I'll probably take, is part time and holds lots of potential for growth. I declined a decent paying position that is not so IT related (cellular customer service rep). Have another interview scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Additionally, 6 staffing agencies contacted me off my web resume posted on one of the job web sites. However, I've learned not to count on those positions. Many agencies offer temporary contract positions which are literally bidded on to a real employer, and depend greatly on a person's resume and the interview. For someone beginning an IT career, those positions are a good way to gain experience and some pay.

Good luck.

Random21

burzumaske91 wrote:

2 phone interviews...in 1 month and thats it. and neither place called me back up like they "promised". ive applied every site imaginable. every pc store in town, even outside of my town.......

no luck at all.

same here..same here

and my parents are more pissed than me.

moss12

Random21 like I said you can’t get an IT job with just A+ man, do you hold degree? FFS A+ is next to nothing to MCSE and CCNA .IT job is really hard to get into very competitive lots of people want to get into IT field Better to be qualified really well.

on the Final note

You Can't get work with just A+ you will not get called,lots of people will apply for this Job you after only one selected which is the person that hold experience or higher certification or degree.

JoeNvidio

moss12 wrote:

Random21 like I said you can’t get an IT job with just A+ man, do you hold degree? FFS A+ is next to nothing to MCSE and CCNA .IT job is really hard to get into very competitive lots of people want to get into IT field Better to be qualified really well.

on the Final note

You Can't get work with just A+ you will not get called,lots of people will apply for this Job you after only one selected which is the person that hold experience or higher certification or degree.

your optimism burns my retinas.

im gonna be starting my job hunt soon as well. and i'll only have a+ and network+. im sure there is someone out there lookin for entry level technicians like us.

TeKniques

I'm not really sure what type of job you guys expect to get with A+ certs with no experience. But as stated before I wouldn't expect much. And guys, seriously, you need to give up on the 'They promised me but never called back so they are liars' excuse. The employer owes you nothing as far as getting back in touch with you or sending a letter, email, etc.

If it happens with all of them (the employers) you might want to consider looking in the mirror and figure out what is wrong with your approach that gets this sort of response.

Good luck to all of you, it is hard to get in the door.

moss12

joeNivideo I'm sorry good luck to you anyways

I was speaking from my perspective

Ten9t6

All I can say is continue to move forward. It is all about the the numbers. The more people you meet, the more resumes you put out there, the more certs you have, and the more experience you have, the more doors will open......... you got to Charlie Mike!! Keep putting one foot in front of the other....

We all went through it....or go through it..... I interviewed a few weeks back and still haven't heard anything. So, it happens to all of us. But hey...everything happens for a reason....You keep putting in the effort, it will all work out.

Good luck to you...

skully93

Don't be afraid to follow up. The worst they can say is not.

The A+ opened a couple of doors for me, but I also had experience. The MCSE will open up a few more.

However, the certs themselves don't guarantee anything, just as a degree doesn't.

If you have little experience, the A+ counts for little. So you take a crappy desk tech job or a geek squad job. Not ideal, but have to earn your stripes.

Contract jobs, though unreliable, often pay decently, and if you prove yourself, if nothing else you have good references.

Good luck!