[olug] omaha IT job market

[Sean Edwards]

I used to contract in Chicago almost exclusively, but
since returning from a project overseas in 2001,
nothing full-time developed even in the Windy City. 
Some of the places I contracted, Motorla and Teradyne,
have cancelled projects or still have hiring freezes. 
Tompson Learning sold their Sair Linux certification
app to Compaq, and the list goes on and on.  If it
were not for my Linux and Novell skills, I would have
found no work at all; the market was, and is still
saturated with Windows-centric skill sets.  Linux has
paid my bills for the last 5 years.

If you are looking to stay in IS/IT or another
computer related career, be prepared to relocate.  I
had to move here from Central Illinois, because there
was nothing available in the Chicago area.  I was on a
contract for 9 months in Omaha, commuting between here
and Illinois during that time.  Eventually this
contract went permanent, but it is not that secure.

We just let go about 1/4 of the company at the start
of the year.  With the other lay-offs last year, that
total comes to about 1/3 of the company let go over a
6 month period.

Keep one eye on your job, and the other eye on current
opportunities.

-=Sean Edwards=-
cybersean3000 at yahoo.com


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