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Breaking into the Industry

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by rlvoss

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I am looking to get into the IT field I would eventually like to become a consultant or sales engineer but for now would like a position in a support or installation role. I recently completed A+/Net+ training and am enrolled in MCSE training. Employers don't even want to talk to me. I have a background in sales and training and worked in the credit card industry providing customer service for standalone credit card terminals and their programming. What am I missing as far as being considered.Are there that many qualified people out of work?

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by road-dog

Bad News:
The IT market has taken a huge hit in the last 18+ months. There are legions on geeks on the street. The employers are very selective in light of this market, they want vast experience and training / certification and the pay scale is low. The tech bust and the telecomm implosion have caused large layoffs of superbly trained and experienced people. You are competing with them.

Worse News:
In this uncertain business climate, many customers have made the strategic decision to extend the service life of existing infrastructure. The flow of new equipment purchases has slowed to a trickle. Look for and pronounced recovery in the economy in general to expect open entry level positions.

by madroxxx

But I have been seeing highly qualified people appling for entry level positions. Your best bet at this point I believe would be try to get an "in" through an aquaintance.

by brian.h

Well, not just you, but there are also, possibly, 40 to 60, even 100 applicants that are knocking on the door to get in for an interview and land that job.

While examining the past in relation to the I.T. industry's history of what the employer was looking for in back ground experience and certification, there was not much demand for folks who had a 4 year degree under their belt, but just a simple certification and experience. Now, there are A.S. degrees specializing in hardware, software,programming, and networking fundamentals - but that is just to say Fundamentals. I think with the next wave of future I.T. jobs there is going to be a need for at least certification, some experience, but then a 4 year degree. Best idea to think about is a credential like a four year degree either in M.I.S, I.S., or I.T. or computer science, because after that there are post graduate certification degrees that lead into Project Management.

One more item; focus your resume specifically to discussion topics related to computer topics, your experience, certification and education. Be ready to back up track history record on your primary interests and experiences too.

Best of Luck,
Brian.H

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