Why are people still going into this???

[lisabennett]

Where are all the jobs? I don't see much out here...
I'm in Windsor,On. and look for work in Detroit... seems that there isn't much there.

Lisa Bennett
Network Administrator
MCSA-W2K, MCSE-W2K
(MCSA/MCSE-WK3 in progress)

 

[Nzarth]

Cannot really comment on job situation in the USA, but the UK is getting abit better IMHO.

Jobs are a bit like fashion.....IT was all the rage so every tom, dick and harry thought they would cut a career in IT.

Last year plumbers were able to earn over £100K a year, so guess what type of courses were one of the most popular in this country?

I do think more people will move out of IT than in so therefore we will be a dying breed but should have a better say in our salary.

Note this is only my opinion and in the scheme of IT does not count for much

Nzarth

MCSA/MCSE (W2K), CCA

Working on CCNA

 

[Overclocker]

I know Michelin just lost a chunk of IT folks due to outsourcing here in the US.

Overclocker
(A+, Net+, MCP/Win2K)

 

[lisabennett]

Thanks for the replies... IT was huge in Detroit.
SO I landed a good job in Windsor, I was able to laern allot being the only systems and network administrator.. got certified... and I mean actually took the classes, not a boot camp or anything. Now I have around 4 yaers experiance and $10,000. certificate and still at the same company. Hopefully IT will pick up over the next year os so. Thank Agian for the comments!

Lisa Bennett
Network Administrator
MCSA-W2K, MCSE-W2K
(MCSA/MCSE-WK3 in progress)

 

[jtb]

Lisa!!!

Don't worry. Even companies that are doing layoffs are hiring people.

You just need to refocus your efforts!!!

Don't see yourself as a person who wants $$$, see yourself as a person who can cut overhead, increase productivity and sales, and provide a stragic advantage for [insert target company here].

If you knew that I could help you make 50 million dollars, would you be willing to give me 1 million of that 50?

And so will your "dream job". Only don't just dream, "dollarize" your value and get them to make you offers...

Please look into it... we ought not to be willing to be treated like unskilled laborers...


JTB
Have Certs, Will Travel
"A knight without armour in a [cyber] land."

 

[Terpsfan]

If you are wondering where the jobs went...more than likely they went to India. Most large companies are either a) downsizing their IT departments or b) outsourcing it altogether to India. The best way to get a job in the IT field probably will be to learn Hindi and move to Bangalore... I'm only half kidding.

 

[Jsteve]

for a minute there, I thougt George Bush started this thread.

 

[jtb]

You are in control if you want to be...

You can let "them" control you if you want...

You can accept the crumbs someone else dishes out--or you can bake your own cake...

It's really all up to you...

JTB
Have Certs, Will Travel
"A knight without armour in a [cyber] land."

 

[Tatted]

works like this a few years ago here on the West Coast nursing was the big push then the market became saturated with nurses because everyone was one, they killed the market and the pay rate went down the tubes also. now progress 10 years, nursing jobs are back in demand due to the fact that the scabs that did not want the jobs have moved on to less paying jobs and freed up the jobs for qualified people that deserve and appreciate the job. its the same in IT everyone is running their mouths they can do this they can do that. Yet throw them a few boxes of parts, tell them make 3 user boxes and a server from this and install all the software and get it up and running you have 5 hours, most would fail. and as for all the IT jobs moving to India, only the helpdesk jobs are moving to India, when a first tier helpdesk tech thinks they are worth more then 25 bucks an hour to tell someone to reboot and or CTR ALD DELET, they should liquidate the job and move it to someplace else those people have no place in IT. It amazes me still to this day when people say "I'm in IT" yet cant fix error one on a box I usually look them in the eyes and say, "get outta the way...shouldn't you be out in a security job or something??"

yeah I have my A+, Network +, SAIR, MCP, MCSE and one of them lil things you know a CCNA but the real question is, Buddy can you spare a dime?

 

[jtb]

You're right, Tatted. It's all in how you define what you do.

In the 1900s: "I make buggy whips" vs. "I am in the transportation industry"

Today: "I am just an MCSE, please hire me?" vs. "I am a solution provider that can save you XX percent/year in IT costs and increase your productivity and sales by XX percent/year for only $XXX,XXX!"

We can just "sit on our tails", "cry in our beer", and hope someone will give us some minimum wage insult; or we can pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and get a dream job that we created.

If you look around, you will see that even companies doing layoffs are still doing some hiring. Why? Because some people know how to talk to the right people.

I've already told you how. Get cracking!



JTB
Have Certs, Will Travel
"A knight without armour in a [cyber] land."

 

[Terpsfan]

Tatted, you are way off base in suggesting that only help desk jobs are going overseas. A boatload of application development jobs are going overseas. It's not just the low paying help desk jobs that supposedly no one wants. When a company has the choice of paying an American 70K to develop a web site, they would rather pay an Indian 7k to do the same thing. Obviously an American can't live on those wages.

 

[jtb]

So how do we fix it? Develop new jobs that can't (at least in the near term) be done overseas...

Each of us can do that. It require more effort than channel-surfing; but it is worth a lot to ourselves and to America...

JTB
Have Certs, Will Travel
"A knight without armour in a [cyber] land."

 

[setnaffa]

Easy to say, hard to put into practice... That book by Fox makes it look simple; but it can take more than a week to follow his advice about even one company...

Setnaffa is an MCP-W2K (working on MCSE-W2K) with a few other certs, too...

 

[BoulderBum]

I'm going for the certs to gain a competitive edge for the few jobs that are left.

groups.yahoo.com/group/techsunite

 

[jtb]

I think the idea that there are "few jobs" is wrong; but I understand you.

Just don't give in to that thinking on a permanent basis or you'll wind up working for $10/hr wishing you'd gotten a job clearing tables at Waffle House...

JTB
Have Certs, Will Travel
"A knight without armour in a [cyber] land."