Foot-in-the-door

Kieth,
I have the opposite problem. No degree beyond HS, no cert's other than Brainbench.com, and over two years experience as a Spanish callback technician doing ISP support.

Prepare your resume and go door to door. Getting a job is a FT job in itself. Take anything to start.

Talk to teachers that like you and have contacts in the industry. See if they can set you up an interview.

If you belonged to a frat, exploit those contacts. You would be amazed at how many former frat members stick together afterwards.

Join a local computing club. Many of the folks you meet in clubs are in the industry anyways and can get you in somewhere.

Visit the uneployment office. Many states have Unemployment Bureaus that work with local businesses to place people. (I also lump temp agencies and corporate headhunters in with this lot.)

Hope these ideas help!

jeff s
spanish support analyst

Don't get discouraged too easily - I also hear the opposite complaint from experienced folks without a degree that their experience doesn't mean anything. It's a marketing process and meaningful exposure wins the day rather than raw qualifications.

You do have work experience but it's academic work. However, somewhere along the way to a BS in IS you must have analyzed and solved problems and even written some programs. Kind of like programmers do. Emphasize that.

Look for the segmentsof industry where a degree is highly valued (financial services comes to mind) and emphasize your willingness to learn. Several companies here in Phoenix have recently been recruiting entry level programmers with degrees because they want to raise up programmers who have been trained in their methodologies and tools from Day 1.

Don't give up - we all had to start somewhere.

regards!

paul

Try the back door, leave the resume at home, skip the Human Resources department. Go to a manager in the department you are interested in and ASK them for help. Ask them to take a look at your pet program and critique it. This will A: flatter them that you value their judgement and opinion, and B: leave them with a good impression of you, after all, it must take a bright boy to realize how smart THEY are. Follow up with something like "gee, I know you probably aren't looking for help right now, but do you know anybody who is?" It will work.

Companies don't necessarily look for a degree. Furthermore, companies don't necessarily look for experience. What every company IS looking for is someone who can help them solve their problems and/or help them improve their bottom line. (Those two usually go hand-in-hand.) The challenge you have in front of you is convincing a company that you are indeed the person who can help them solve their problems, thus improving their bottom line. Do your homework before you contact ANY company. You haveto know what their business is, what problems they may be facing, and what direction they have for the future ? BEFORE you even walk in the door. The more you know about them, the better you?ll be able to present your ideas. Then, and only then, are you in a position to explain what you can do for them. In a nutshell, don't ASK them to give you anything (a job), but explain to them what you can give them (whatever it is they need.)

I would suggest that you look for smaller companies with less "politics" and pe

(The rest of my answer....)

I would suggest that you look for smaller companies with less "politics" and perhaps a little less structure. I would also suggest that you throw the newspaper away and define for yourself what it is you want, then pursue those avenues. Cold calling on a company shows much more initiative than simply reading want ads. You find the companies that you can help, and they'll be more than willing to listen. You do a good enough job explaining what you can do for them,and they?ll be more than willing to hire.

Good Luck.

jr