Job Hunt Advice 3

[Glenn9999]

As some may have figured out, I've involved myself here primarily in a hobby capacity. But I also used to work in IT and have had a lot of severe problems over the years in finding work between my health, running out of money to search (travel isn't cheap), dealing with family medical issues, and finally my mother's death (and a couple of bad breaks afterwards) so it's ended up turning into 12 years since I last worked in IT. So now, I'm kind of under the gun to find something substantial.

Anyhow, does anyone have any suggestions? Finally, should I just give it up and go to school for something else since employers wouldn't look at me for being out of IT work that long?

It is not possible for anyone to acknowledge truth when their salary depends on them not doing it.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Should anyone ask about what you were doing, do mention taking care of family medical problems. Try not to remember much about personal problems, running out of money, or travel.

Instead of going to some school on speculation, show up at an IT shop, and have a chat about what they need, what you can offer, and how to deal with the difference.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Glenn,

When I click on your TT Handle, I see a list of over two dozen areas of expertise and interest that I have no experience in. Despite your being "out of the industry" for some time, you seem to have much to offer. I also suspect that during the time that you were "away", you probably offered your professional wisdom to more than 1 or 2 people. That is called consulting. So, IMHO, you aren't obligated to explain to an interviewer the specifics of your consulting during the time that you may not have been gainfully employed in IT.

If an interviewer asks you if you have experience with "Technology-of-the-Month", and you do not have experience with it, you can honestly say: "I don't have experience with 'Technology-of-the-Month', but I am a very quick study. If I have the opportunity to read the Users' Guide, ask questions of an experienced technician, and practice with the technolgy, I'm certain I can become proficient in a short period of time."

As you know, a valuable employee in this industry is one that[ul][li]Has a burning desire to help her/his work-group be successful.[/li][li]Has a continuing thirst for knowledge.[/li][li]Uplifts and encourages her/his co-workers.[/li][/ul]

So, regardless of what you may or may not have been doing recently, I would hire someone with the above character traits and positive attitude anytime over a brilliant technician that may have a less-than-positive attitude.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

 

[tcsbiz]

It seems to me Glenn that you hhave been active in the industry. Tell prospective employers that you have been volunteering your time and point them here.

Good luck
Tom

 

[johnherman]

There are almost always openings for good IT personnel, even with niche or archaic technology such as COBOL and Delphi. COBOL, for instance, still runs in many banks, and credit card and insurance companies. These companies have invested a lot of effort developing these systems, many of which have proprietary software modules that give them competitive advantage. Hooking on in a COBOL shop will likely get you some modern database experience to add in, as most COBOL applications have been modified to use a database like DB2 or Oracle rather than sequential files and VSAM. But even VSAM and flat files remain. My advice would be to seek employment with companies such as those I listed above (others may add to it).

==================================
The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was - Steven Wright

 

[FredWagner]

Have you created and account on LinkedIn, and looked up people you've worked with or helped ? While you're there, look for companies you might like to work for, Follow them, see what they post, and who posts it, and connect with the person posting for information about how you might help them.....

Fred Wagner
(retired, but still involved!)

 

[Glenn9999]

I guess I should clarify. By "go to school for something else" I meant something not IT.

SantaMufasa: The problem is that a lot of those are just "interests", and really aren't anything I can do much with beyond a few basic things. Then I'm finding that I'm getting pretty foggy with how things have been changing coupled with my lack of relevant experience. All I really have been doing IT-related is supporting my own computers, and a few little projects in Delphi for my own use. The latest thing has been fixing up my home computer (upgrade a few things, put Windows 8.1 on it), and updating my projects I use to work in that OS. But in a lot of ways, I feel out of touch and not quite grasping everything (my numerous attempts to get Windows API calls for dynamic frequency scaling being the biggest one), not to mention difficulties trying to do almost everything I have in mind lately. I guess in a lot of ways I'm getting frustrated.

Speaking of that, the typical worst experiences of my life have been job searching. Just don't have any contacts, first in my family to college, and the like. None of it very easy. Some pretty horrific experiences when I have gone on interviews. Then add to that the difficulty of finding serious job possibilities (i.e. people not resume collecting or trying to justify their H1Bs), so I'm not wasting my time, especially since it's starting to hit life and death considerations.

I have a Linkedin account and am fully listed there, but couldn't see anything different of it than any other social media like Facebook, and couldn't see how to use it other than connect people I already know anyway outside of IT. I'm sure I'm not seeing something, but that stuff is like I described above. Especially, since I'm reading several employment-related things that are suggesting that employers are looking for heavy social media presence on multiple networks before they will even consider you. I have always been on Monster.com, but that's yielded no fruit at all (as I really think all of those are data collectors anymore).

There's a lot more going on and a lot more questions, but I really didn't locate a good general career/life advice board upon a number of searches. So I thought I'd ask here, as it may suggest a further course of action and further questions. To be honest, I'm pretty dumbfounded at this point.



It is not possible for anyone to acknowledge truth when their salary depends on them not doing it.

 

[kwbMitel]

The problem is that a lot of those are just "interests", and really aren't anything I can do much with beyond a few basic things"

Anything you do, inluding fixing up your home, taking care of your family, and even simply asking questions such as this can be considered job skills. These are the intangibles that make us who we are and how we interact with others.

Skills can be learned but work ethic, interaction, confidence, and many other intangibles are what make us good candidates.

What I'm getting from your reponses is a lack of confidence. You do not feel worthy. That is what you need to work on more than anything else. If you lack confidence in an interview, you could have credentials up the wazoo but you won't get hired. Honing your skills can be done on the job as SantaMufasa suggested. You need to get your foot in the door and that will take confidence.

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Glenn, in which metropolitan area do you reside? What are your main professional skills that would be of interest to potential employers? Are you able to relocate?

I invite you to do a "Me in 30 Seconds" presentation here.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

 

[FredWagner]

Glenn -
there is much more to LinkedIn than posting a profile - you use it as a tool to actively job search. Connect with people you've known, or who you've connected with here on LinkedIn, and see who they are connected to - and what organizations they've worked with. I'm active in the Veterans Mentor Group, and actively coach people in transition - somewhat similar to what we do here, but there are coaches in a large range of career areas, not just tech. there are many interest groups on LinkedIn. another feature is following a company - pick a company you might light to work for, and 'Follow' that company - see what they post, and who posts it, and if you see a job title that might be a likely supervisor there, make contact and learn more about the company and how you might be useful there.
Also - don't discard your tech experience - you've learned tech before, you and learn again - and as has been mentioned, there are legacy systems out there that the younger generation has no familiarity with. Even if you get hired to help gracefully ease one out, you'll be exposed to the system that replaces it, and so get a transition into the newer technology. Look for me on LinkedIn - I'm wearing a black shirt with ESGR logo and name badge.

Fred Wagner
(retired, but still involved!)

 

[gbaughma]

I must say that I have been having some good success with placement agencies. I have currently 3 recruiters that I am working with who are all in a "race" to get me a job. XD



Just my 2¢

"What the captain doesn't realize is that we've secretly replaced his Dilithium Crystals with new Folger's Crystals."

--Greg

http://www.YourITGuy.org

 

[Glenn9999]

What I'm getting from your reponses is a lack of confidence. You do not feel worthy

Interesting opinion, though, I wouldn't say that is the case from a fundamental skills stand point. I've proven to myself time and time again that I can do the work if I can figure out what I need to do. The issue stems more from uncertainty of what I should be doing, along with my demonstrated lack of ability when it comes to convincing people that I should be allowed to do the work. If anything, my lack of confidence is in getting the job and a couple of other factors more than doing it. Ironically, my absolute worst skill is keeping me from doing some of my better ones.

in which metropolitan area do you reside?

That's why I brought up money and travel. I don't live in a metropolitan area. It's a $30-40 hit every time I travel to one (depending on gas prices).

What are your main professional skills that would be of interest to potential employers?

The COBOL/CICS stuff is what I was trained for degree-wise, and my last job. I also have a degree of database experience. As for things I have no paper behind (and this has been proven important in numerous job interviews of mine, if you don't have paper, they treat you as trying to "puff up your skills" and call it nothing), I've done enough to be semi-fluent in Delphi. I also could probably handle generic hardware type stuff and software stuff like installing OSes, drivers, and so on. But again, no certs, so I really am not heard when talking about those skills.

Are you able to relocate?

I would have to.

there is much more to LinkedIn than posting a profile

Like most of social media, I really don't see the utility of it. I've been very busy lately trying to get out from under my mother's affairs (the reason for the lateness of this reply), but when I get more time I can try looking at it much more and see how it can be useful.

It is not possible for anyone to acknowledge truth when their salary depends on them not doing it.

 

[MikeHalloran]

>>>It is not possible for anyone to acknowledge truth when their salary depends on them not doing it. <<<

That's absolutely true, but also a very negative thought.
Omit it, or find something positive or humorous to replace it.

Also scan your resume for similarly negative material, and find a way to say the same thing in a positive or humorous way.

Transcribe your last couple of interviews, as well as you can recall them.
Note how the conversation's tone changes. Whatever you said before that, possibly something negative as above, don't say it again, not even to yourself, ever.

 

[pgmr777]

Glenn, sorry to hear of your troubles, that could easily happen to any one of us. For what it's worth, I got most of my jobs through someone I knew, friends, former co-workers, etc. Applying to jobs cold rarely has worked for me, even when I am able to get an interview I usually blow it since my people skills are next to null. I do know however that you are supposed to try and make a "personal connection" with the interviewer. Ugh, I hate interviews. Good luck to you and keep us posted.

 

[FredWagner]

Glenn - you started this thread in April, November is in sight. There is ALWAYS work to be had in IT. To quote on of many job search techniques from Richard Bolles book, "What Color is your Parachute?" - consider your skills, consider what you read in the trade blogs and magazines, and dream up what would be the ideal job that would use your experience and abilities, then start researching and asking others where such a job could be found, or what kind of organization would benefit fromt the contributions YOU would make. Then contact that organization, find out who is the person who would be responsible for that kind of a talented person, and make an appointment - take him or her to lunch, and explain what you'd like to do and how it would benefit the company. Do your homework first - be ready to explain how your ideas and talent would really make a difference. They just might create a position for you!

Fred Wagner
(retired, but still involved!)

 

[Glenn9999]

Yes I'm still here. I've been pretty busy with finishing out my mother's affairs (mainly trying to fix up her house so it is in a good condition to sell). Still have a bit more, but really looking for work is the first priority now.

 

[fredericofonseca]

if you have sound experience in COBOL and Mainframe UK/Ireland, and eventually other countries in EU are always looking for good people with it for contract work (which normally ends up being a few years in a project).

Regards

Frederico Fonseca
SysSoft Integrated Ltd

http://www.syssoft-int.com

FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886

 

[jaymaechtlen]

Re LinkedIn-
1) groups - look at the groups that relate to what you've done.
Join some. Then join some of the HR groups, too. Why? So the recruiters can easily find you.

2) Contacts - have you looked up the folks you worked with? Are you connected with them?
What about industry contacts?

Aside from LinkedIn -
Since you're out in the boonies, it's a lot tougher to go to trade shows and such. But there are still online events. Start hunting down vendors that deal with the technology that you have used or want to use. (ok, the technology that replaced what you used to use!)
Query the vendors, get them to send info or free trials. Pick their brains, maybe find some worth connecting with.

Remember what Winston Churchill said-

never, never, never give up!