So difficult to get your foot in the door

Hey guys, I guess I am just ranting, but MAN it is difficult to get your foot in the door without much experience. =( I live in southern Louisiana and all the entry level desktop support/ help desk jobs want like 2 years experience. I thought having the "holy trinity (A+, Net+, Sec+)" certifications would help me land an entry level job, but does not seem to be the case. Oh well enough of my rant, I hope everyone else who is looking for jobs are having better luck than I am.

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CodeBlox

I'd apply to these jobs anyway. Some places would probably be willing to take a chance on the newbie. My first IT job required 1 year experience but I applied anyways and got the job too.

fontenjj

Oh trust me I am. I know I will most likely not receive a call back, but I do apply, hoping for the slightest chance they decide they want to give me a chance.

earonw49

I only have 1 year of experience an 0 certs (as of now).

I quite literally applied to more than 17 desktop support/helpdesk positions here in Nashville over the past 3 weeks and finally got an offer from a company...yesterday.

If I can do it, you can.

Apply, apply, apply for you never know till you try (that rhymed).

fontenjj

I have been applying since maybe nov 6 haha. Sucks to still not have a job. During this time i have been getting more certification, currently working on CCENT, but waking up every day not going to work is not fun unfortunately.

Success101

fontenjj wrote: »

I have been applying since maybe nov 6 haha. Sucks to still not have a job. During this time i have been getting more certification, currently working on CCENT, but waking up every day not going to work is not fun unfortunately.

Hang in there. Something I have learned is "It's all about who you know". Seriously, I have seen complete idiots in the most Senior level positions. Try to expand your network.

fontenjj

I am a total new when it comes to networking for jobs. Can you give me an example or lead me to the right direction on how to do that? All I have been doing is going on sites such as dice, linkedin, indeed, simplyhired, and craigslist and throwing out resumes left and right. I get some calls (recruiters mostly) but nothing after that. Its just extremely frustrating when you have a family to support, If I was single I would not be worrying so much lol.

earonw49

fontenjj wrote: »

I am a total new when it comes to networking for jobs. Can you give me an example or lead me to the right direction on how to do that? All I have been doing is going on sites such as dice, linkedin, indeed, simplyhired, and craigslist and throwing out resumes left and right. I get some calls (recruiters mostly) but nothing after that. Its just extremely frustrating when you have a family to support, If I was single I would not be worrying so much lol.

I would also like to know this information as well (not to thread steal).

Certinator

I totally understand! When I graduated college in 2007 I was offered a position a week later at my current job as a Printed Circuit Board Technician and didn't want to pass it up cause it was a great opportunity to get more hands on experience troubleshooting Circuit Boards to component level and build my electronics background. A couple years into I got bored so I was ready to jump back into the IT field but man was it HARD! I go to several interviews a year but still have yet to land that dream position because of lack of experience. So in the meantime I just continue to build up my skills and experience the best way possible.

"Eventually you will get tired of trying to get your foot in the door and find a way to knock the door down"

About7Narwhal

Come on guys, it is simple: You get experience by working entry level jobs. Companies will gladly give you an entry level job just as soon as you show some experience. It isn't too complicated.

In all seriousness though, keep applying and keep interviewing. Eventually you will be given a chance to prove your worth. Until then, keep working on your skills and developing yourself.

jamesleecoleman

Yea, it is about who you know and who you meet. It's not fun not working.

My suggestion is to volunteer somewhere and go to security conferences, ISC2, Linux, Mac, Cisco, and other types of meetups.
I've had people suggest to me to apply to certain companies where they worked. I've also had people tell me about positions that they need to fill at the company they're working at. It's really cool when you talk to people and they tell you these types of things.

Have you tried looking at an ISP?

goldenlight

Success101 wrote: »

Hang in there. Something I have learned is "It's all about who you know". Seriously, I have seen complete idiots in the most Senior level positions. Try to expand your network.

I agree %100 I've seen people move to higher level positions that had no experience or education.

HANG IN THERE Mate. Something will come through when you at least expect it. It will happen when you are studying for that next certification and suddenly you will have your whole month tied up in interviews being offered a job the same month before going through the other interviews.

fontenjj

goldenlight wrote: »

I agree %100 I've seen people move to higher level positions that had no experience or education.

HANG IN THERE Mate. Something will come through when you at least expect it. It will happen when you are studying for that next certification and suddenly you will have your whole month tied up in interviews being offered a job the same month before going through the other interviews.

I hope you are right, I would gladly love to be overwhelmed with interviews while studying for my next cert haha.

WA_Jeremy

Here is some advice for networking, even though I'm still terrible at it. An "easy" way to do networking is to find some local user groups in IT things that interest you and attend them (e.g. Ruby, Windows, Amazon AWS, etc). Talk to the people there and it can be a great way to get to know companies and hear about jobs. Popular site to find some would be something like meetup.com.

A little bit more scary and more suited for those who want to freelance would be to talk to local business owners either directly or by attending meetings of your local Chamber of Commerce or other business organization. Business owners everywhere have IT problems, you start solving them then even if you don't want to freelance it can be good actual experience to show the companies you want to work for.

DoubleNNs

Have you posted your resume here for people to critique it?

I know when i was attempting to get my foot in the door I was getting NOTHING. No calls. No e-mail responses. Nothing to indicate people saw my resume when it was posted or that a human received any of my applications.

I did heavy revisions of my resume. Completely starting a fresh at least 2 times. Eventually, something clicked and I started getting calls. Within 1 week I went from nothing to multiple interview offers. I went to 1 and the company called me 1st thing the next morning w/ a job offer because they knew I had other interviews coming up.

On top of that, it's awesome to use recruiters when trying to get your foot in the door. Some good ones will give you some tips. Even better ones have great connections and can get your resume forwarded past all the hundreds of people applying online and placed right onto the desk of the hiring manager. On top of that, it's great interview practice when a recruiter calls asking you to clarify something on your resume. Better to stutter and figure out the best way to explain something while talking with a recruiter than when in the real interview.

Also try craigslist. At least in my area there are quite a few craigslist job ads. I never claim to be full-on applying until I've also fired off some e-mails to craigslist job ads. A lot of smaller companies use craigslist to advertise their positions because it's free to post, instead of having to pay a fee to post ads using other mediums. A lot of those smaller companies are also often the ones who will take a chance on you, even without prior professional experience.

Good luck!

DoubleNNs

Here's also an interesting blog post I read earlier today about a similar topic:

Chronicles of Darby Weaver - Network Architect: How CCNA's get hired without experience by Darby Weaver

kohr-ah

Success101 wrote: »

. Seriously, I have seen complete idiots in the most Senior level positions.

Do you work at my company? How you know?

About7Narwhal

^^ I too attend meetings with senior level staff and usually, at least once, think to myself: "WTF? That doesn't make any sense..." yet everyone else is nodding in approval... perhaps I am too young to understand?

lsud00d

@fontenjj, you live in my area. As suggested post your resume so we can help critique and improve upon it. Also, depending on what area of LA I can help you scout some jobs and introduce you to some recruiters.

fontenjj

Maybe it is my resume then? Here is an attachment of it. Be harsh if needed, I can take criticism

Attachment not found.

@Isud00d that would be great of you to help.

Resume Critic.pdf

Qord

Your skills and proficiency's are not reflected anywhere in your work history. I'd suggest trying to expound on details of your prior jobs to describe more what you did for them, how you positively affected the bottom line or business operations.

DoubleNNs

I actually save all major revisions of my resume. PM me if you want me to send you the revision of my resume that got me my 1st IT position a few short months ago.

As far as critiquing, I think your Technical Skills and Summary of Skills sections are kinda redundant. Additionally i think you could elaborate a lot more throughout.

Additionally, I've been told by others that instead of an Objective statement, you should have a short summary statement instead. It should flesh you out in a single sentence, then touch upon your goals and how you can benefit the potential company.

I actually think it's a solid resume. But at the same time, the lack of elaboration might be part of the cause you're not getting many bites.

fontenjj

I agree DoubleNNS, I think my resume is actually kind of redundant, but at the same time I feel like if I try to elaborate, it will be even more redundant haha.

tprice5

earonw49 wrote: »

I quite literally applied to more than 17 desktop support/helpdesk positions here in Nashville over the past 3 weeks and finally got an offer from a company...yesterday.

YMMV. Brentwood/Franklin/Brentwood is a hot spot for IT. You may want to consider putting your resume out to more IT centric locations.

I would steer clear of the big leagues, i.e., SF/San Jose, competition is pretty stiff in those neck of the woods.

^--- is this accurate?

devils_haircut

It's pretty rough when you're first starting out. However, once I got that first 4-6 months of support experience under my belt, I get calls every single day about jobs, and I'm not even very highly qualified. Granted, most of the jobs are from recruiters looking to fill short-term contracts, but still...a job is a job when you haven't worked in a while.

And don't worry so much about the "minimum X years experience" line that you usually see in job postings. I have ~6 months experience, and I've been hired on for jobs that "required" a minimum of 3 years experience. It's all about your personality and willingness to learn.

Snow.bros

fontenjj wrote: »

Hey guys, I guess I am just ranting, but MAN it is difficult to get your foot in the door without much experience. =( I live in southern Louisiana and all the entry level desktop support/ help desk jobs want like 2 years experience. I thought having the "holy trinity (A+, Net+, Sec+)" certifications would help me land an entry level job, but does not seem to be the case. Oh well enough of my rant, I hope everyone else who is looking for jobs are having better luck than I am.

No one said it's going to be easy you just have to keep looking and maintain the winning attitude and never ever give up.

xenodamus

I was hiring for our desktop/helpdesk teams in my previous position and here's what would land you a spot on my team with no experience:

- Polished resume: Nice format, no errors, showing true effort
- Certifications: A+, N+, S+ are plenty to get my attention for desktop/helpdesk
- Professionalism: I like to see a clear, professional cover letter with an app....and wear a suit if you come in to interview
- Motivation/drive: I want to hear about your aspirations..where you want to be in 5 years...and know that you'll open a book and learn anything you need to excel at your job.

Getting your foot in the door is about showing potential. There are plenty of employers who will hire without experience if they have faith in what you can become, if given the opportunity.

petedude

kohr-ah wrote: »

Do you work at my company? How you know?

Don't even go there. I've seen people holding high level IT management roles who may not have even earned a bachelor's degree. I recoil in horror when I think about what BS-ing they must have done to get into their roles.

puertorico1985

I agree with all the posts here, and just wanted to give you my two cents. My first job, which was Helpdesk, was acquired by who I knew. No certifications, no degree, and at the time, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I knew the manager and I asked him for a position to work Helpdesk, simply because it was more money. I had no desire to work with computers at the time, but he gave me an opportunity anyway. Thanks to him, I am where I am today. Sometimes it truly isn't what you know, but simply who you know. Get out there, sell yourself and network with everyone you meet and you will have a position.

coreyb80

I had no real professional experience in IT, but manage to land a desktop contractor position back in August. Just had my contract extended for another couple of months with the intentions to convert to a FTE. So it's definitely possible, but it's more than having the know how for IT it's also your personality as well being willing to learn on the job.

pert

I've gotten every single job I've ever had based on what I know, and as a general rule I despise working with people who got theirs through other means.