Anyone else having trouble finding work? 4

[LARiot]

Hey, I used to find work in LA as an MS-Access programmer with fair ease. Now it seems there are no contracts to be found anywhere. I've had a few calls with no real results.

Anyone else? Any advice? Any leads?

Thanks

-Nima

 

[KornGeek]

In my personal experience, MS Access just isn't in high demand, and the demand is decreasing.

I was fortunate enough to recently find employment dealing with higher demand technologies (up here in the Sacramento region).

 

[mrdenny]

I'd have to agree, demand for MS Access is becoming less and less.

I've been seeing less and less use of MS Access in companies as the SOX and SAS70 regulations have been kicking in everything has been moving into larger database platforms like MS SQL, MySQL, Oracle, etc.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

My Blog

 

[ousoonerjoe]

While I still see the occasional request for Access developers, they are far and few between. Most of them are contract jobs for migrating it to newer technologies. I would recommend brushing up on your VB6 and SQL. It's short jump from VBA and can be a good stepping stone. Once you get fairly comfortable there start on .Net. Larger learning curve with .Net, but well worth the invested time.

"If I were to wake up with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am right now.

 

[shoalcreek]

Remember that mysql is free. You can learn it home. They don't care that you have database experience. Employers in IT do not understand the concept of transferable skills. You're going to have put what they want on your resume, whether you actually have the skill or not.

 

[KornGeek]

You're going to have put what they want on your resume, whether you actually have the skill or not.

I strongly disagree with this. Putting down a skill you don't have, while it may get you a job you don't deserve, is a horrible idea.

 

[rjoubert]

I would concur with KornGeek...a lot of employers these days conduct separate technical interviews which can really test your knowledge of a specific technology. If you put on your resume that you know something that you really don't know, I'm sure that would be caught by the technical interview.

 

[spamly]

As a MS Access programmer, you most likely have good knowledge concerning database architecture and/or theory. I see no reason why you couldn't add this to your list of skills on your resume.

Employers are looking for what you have right now and what skills you can grow into. Emphasize your strengths.

Good luck!

 

[kmcferrin]

You're going to have put what they want on your resume, whether you actually have the skill or not.

Most companies that I have dealt with in the past 3-5 years have done technical interviews. Either you interview with the manager who has technical skills, or you interview with one or more members of the team and they grill you with technical questions. I have seen companies where the entire 12+ person team interviews you en banc. I myself do a lot of technical interviews for my employer. The one thing that I can say for sure is that if you put technical skills/experience on your resume that you don't have you've got about 95% chance of being caught in the interview.

If you're a really, really good BS artist and you're lucky then you might slip through. But if you somehow do get the job you're not going to have a clue what you're doing, and your employer and co-workers will know it, after which you will usually end up unemployed again. Just keep in mind that you are usually competing for a job with several other people, and while lying on your resume may get you the interview it's not going to help you compete against other people who DO have those skills.

________________________________________
CompTIA A+, Network+, Server+, Security+
MCSE:Security 2003
MCITP:Enterprise Administrator

 

[chiph]

Demand for MS-Access is decreasing.
Time to learn another database, such as MS SqlServer (Express or Developer)

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
www.chipholland.com

 

[audiopro]

Never lie about your technical skills but on the other hand
the technical questions you are asked at interview, are not always relevant to your required knowledge. I interviewed for a web designer's job but failed to get it as I didn't know how to print the fraction symbol for a 'third' in MS Access. I found this out later when I worked with the interviewer who asked the question, on a community project. Turns out he knew nothing about web design but was an 'expert' with fractions in MS Access.

Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[DTSMAN]

I am.
I got my two year degree in 1993, have been setting up and supporting retail and restaurant software packages since. Pretty good at it. Went back to school at night and now have a BSIT degree. All my training and schools have been on proprietary/industry specific software.
Researched and got advice from here and other places and chose college over MCSE certs and stuff like that. Now I have graduated, looking for the bigger-better deal and feeling piegoned-holed.
Some of the job ads list just such a multiude of qualifications, that after reading them I feel if I met those criteria I wouldn't be looking for a job, people like them would be finding and fighting over me.

Bo

Remember,
If the women don't find you handsome,
they should at least find you handy.
(Red Green)

http://www.redgreen.com

 

[Stella740pl]

Some of the job ads list just such a multiude of qualifications, that after reading them I feel if I met those criteria...

But do you meet at least 30-40% of the criteria? Do you apply for the jobs then? You should. They list all of the criteria they can imagine. Especially when the requirements are written not by a hiring manager, but by a HR or some such person. Often that list means that they want one or the other, or that they would be satisfied if at least some of the criteria are fulfilled. If you apply, you might be surprized.

 

[SQLSister]

I'm with Stella740pl. Nobody has all the qualifications for most jobs advertised in IT. I remember one job I applied for, they had a whole list of alphabet soup requirements (ASP, SQL, etc) and wanted a Masters in IT as well. I didn't have everything but had a few of them and I got the the interview and found they wanted to pay around $25,000 per year. No way they got anyone with even minimal skills let alone a Masters for that kind of salary. Those skill lists are just wish lists and bear little relationship to the reality of what they want. If you have good solid skills in any of the major ones (you can make a guess on what is major based on the job description) then go ahead and apply.

"NOTHING is more important in a database than integrity." ESquared

 

[ousoonerjoe]

Absolutely, Stella. My wife is in HR. She says the only items on the job you have to be concerned with are the Required items. Those are the skills that have been defined as absolute to perform the job and HR will screen out those that do not meet the minimums before sending them on to the IT manager for review(There is some flex in this with smaller companies and "Mom and Pop Shops"). The "Additional Skills" are things that can be trained and are willing to train in. Obviously they will typically take the candidate that has the most amount of requested skills, but not always.

Put it simply, Apply for anything you come relatively close to. As long as you think you could do the job if hired. What's the worst thing they could do, not call back?

"If I were to wake up with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am right now.

 

[Stella740pl]

As long as you think you could do the job if hired.

And then sometimes you don't always completely know what the job is about until you get the interview and talk to the hiring manager, not just read the HR-posted ad. I've seen it. And even what HR posts as "Required skills" are not always absolutely required. It could be that they ask for, say, all the database systems they could think of, when, in fact, hiring manager mentioned all of them just to say that they need at least one of them, any one, not all.

 

[EdwardMartinIII]

Oh man, trying to interpret Help Wanted ads -- that's a magical science sometimes...

Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

 

[ousoonerjoe]

That is true, too, Stella. However, I was meaning for example: VB programmers applying for a Java position that has some VB scripting. Obviously you can do the scripting, but can you do the Java? If not, then don't apply. Use common sense.

"If I were to wake up with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am right now.

 

[Stella740pl]

We recently wanted a person who would be familiar with database design and programming, knew Visual FoxPro, preferably had some knowlege of SQL server and some VBA to write an occasional Excel macro.

We hired a person who is familiar with database design and programming, doesn't know Visual FoxPro, but knows reasonably well SQL server and Visual Basic. He is now successfully learning Visual FoxPro while working on the project; and knowing VB, he doesn't really need to learn VBA.

 

[shoalcreek]

Your most important skill when looking for a job and starting out on a job is simply knowing how to play the game. It doesn't ever matter if you can do the work. If you know how to scratch your supervisor's back, you will go as far as you want. Schmoozing, manipulating, and sucking up beat talent, hard work, and passion most of the time.

Many people don't like admitting this. However, you have to judge them by what they actually do, not by what they say.