[olug] Finally, geek for a living

[IrishMASMS at olug.org]

I wish there were more hiring managers like Bill out there. My last
i-view, even though I took the initiative to research the product not
having any 'real world business' experience took me down a few notches (at
least).

Catch 22: can not get the experience without the job, so you take the
initiative to at least get a smart as you can on the product(s); and you
are still fighting a uphill battle.


Irish


>
> Well the period we're in right now in IT is a contraction/consolidation
> period.  The IT job market will probably never return to the conditions in
> the mid 90's where anyone with even minimal qualifications could get a job
> in IT.  Since there was the massive buildup of "IT" people in the 90's,
> especially Web content developers, there became a glut on the job market
> of
> people who were at least nominally qualified.
>
> Major economic trends seem to lag about two years behind the coasts to get
> to Nebraska, so the "recovery" that started a while back should be getting
> here sometime in the next year or so.
>
>>From an IT standpoint we're getting far enough from the "bust" that most
>> of
> the people who were cut loose have either found jobs (many probably not in
> IT), or moved for greener pastures.
>
>>From a hiring standpoint I'd be more likely to hire a fresh-face
> know-nothing newbie right out of school who has been actively working with
> computers recently than a guy with several years of experience which all
> happened 2 or 3 years ago (providing this was an entry or near-entry level
> position).  There are tons of people out there that have experience, but
> the farther they get from their last IT job (or schooling) the less
> attractive they become as employees.  When I'm going through a bale of
> resume's and I see someone who got out of school or left their last IT
> related job 2 or 3 years ago, I figure there's a reason he hasn't been
> hired somewhere, and he goes in the "No" pile.  Maybe that's judgemental,
> but when I have 50-100 resume's I don't have the time to give everyone the
> benefit of the doubt, and quite frankly I don't need to as their are
> plenty
> of qualified applicants without that.
>
> The thing that can set you apart when you're looking for a job, especially
> interviewing is if you can demonstrate that you have some initiative and
> genuine enthusiasm for the technology.  If you go into an interview and
> they ask you "So what computer related publications do you read on a
> regular basis?" and your answer is "uhhhhh, let me think...... none." then
> your're probably not going to get the job.  But if you go in, show that
> you
> have a genuine interest in expanding your skills, and are willing to do it
> on your own then that makes an impression; because, that is VERY rare.  If
> you get out of school, go to work at Target, and never look at another
> computer figuring that whatever job you get will train you to be a
> computer
> guru, you're probably going to be at Target a LONG time.  Probably the
> most
> impressive interviewee response was when I asked him if he had any
> experience with app X.  He said yes, because when he'd done some checking
> after the interview was scheduled, seen that we used it, went out
> downloaded the eval version, installed it and gotten a basic understanding
> of it before the interview.  That showed us he had initiative, interest in
> both the job and what it would take to do the job, and that he was
> prepared
> to take it upon himself to get those skills.  With that one answer he got
> the job offer.
>
> This got a little longer than I intended, but hopefully you'll find it
> encouraging.  I think anyone who bothers to be on this kind of a list
> probably has what it takes to be an IT professional, it just takes some
> work to get that first break.
>
> Bill
> Nebraska Educational Telecommunications
> CNE
> 402-472-9333 ext 589
>
> Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds.
> The
> latter cannot understand it when a [person] does not thoughtlessly submit
> to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses their
> intelligence.
> --Albert Einstein
>
[snipped]