Hey guys, I just graduated with a Computer Information Systems degree (Major GPA 3.2) at UHD in July, and it has been rough trying to get any interviews for even entry level position. Wondering if anyone here have any advice or what to look for maybe. I have registered for and applied at monster.com, dice.com, and browsed all over indeed.com ect. Even going to a couple of I.T recruiters in Houston, but they seem to cater more towards experience positions The problem to me could be that I have been working at my family's restaurant before I graduated so pretty much lacking experience in the I.T field. So my resume seems pretty weak probably. Even though, I have been working on computer my free time for the past 10 years, but I know that won't help to an employer. Anyway, since having no luck and short on funds I have started even applying at Best Buy and Fry's which I could even work there probably without a degree. thanks,
What are you wanting to do in IT? Saying you want to be in IT is like saying you want to be in business.
Don't everyone and their mother has IT degrees, unless you are willing to work call desk or Fry's\Geek Squad kind of jobs...you would find a job faster flipping burgers.
Degrees don't mean much in the IT field, it is all about experience. The way I did it. My last year of college I did an internship and an apprenticeship. The college offered me a job supervising a small section of a department, setting up SPEEDE, and providing technical support right after I graduated. After 2.5 years of that I applied for a systems analyst job and got it. And I figure if I want to keep moving up I just need more and more experience.
At this point you sound like you'll take any IT related job just for the experience. You're in a crowded field, your best bet is knowing someone and them hooking you up.
Certifications are worthless, especially A+. Anyway, like v3.0 said, your best bet is getting in through an employee referral somewhere. You'll still have the go through interviews and whatnot, but it's easier to get your foot in the door that way.
Since, I'm killing time lately it seems I have bought the ExamCram A+ book and started reading. I'll probably read it for a week and browse around at practice exams online and take the certification exam pretty soon. Yeah, pretty much right now I'm must trying to find any kind of help desk or support position to just get in and build some experience. Only experience I've had was working as a technical support for Everyone's Internet awhile back.
Maybe it's because I've been in IT long enough to where it doesn't matter anymore but I don't think anyone gives a crap about A+, Network+, MCP, MCSE, etc. types of certifications anymore. If someone was to tell me that they had all of these certs I'd probably laugh at them for wasting their time. Paper techs are as worthless as college grads. They think they know something even though they know nothing. I'm not in LAN\WAN architecture but I think that Cisco certs are the exception to that rule.
Don't waste your time studying for an A+ cert. It's totally worthless. Some companies will require it, and usually pay for you to do it. My company finally forced me to take mine a year ago, I got my voucher code, the next day, I went in to take my test, and was done with both tests in a combined 35 minutes. Passed both. Now I have a nice little certificate in the bottom of my drawer somewhere.
Yep. Also, you might want to expand your search to outlying regions. Don't neglect schools, government and college jobs. Speaking of college, you could volunteer for a college IT department. It's something to put on your resume.
One of our IT guys is heading out, they may be looking for someone to replace him but he was top notch logistics IT tech. Not sure if it helps but here's the link to check if we're hiring. It's Ceva Ground, keep checking if nothing comes up yet cause he just put in his 2 weeks notice. If you're intersted that is. http://people.eaglegl.com/ Once you click the link SCG Careers would be were you check, and navigate from there. Hit me up if you need assistance.
I think that there will be quite a bit of room for someone that is entry level to get on somewhere helping with Windows 7 migrations. I've been bombarded with request to help companies out lately with these kinds of projects. Bombarded enough to where I'm resigning one of my gigs on Monday. These aren't going to be ready in the immediate future because so much has to happen on the front end but eventually when it is time to roll out, there will be a need for grunts to do menial crap like load boxes, swap things out at the users desk, and answer phone calls for problems. Win7 is going to be huge. So many places stuck with WinXP and it's lifecycle is coming to an end. People are going to have to switch and they can't drag their feet about it.
one thing to consider, alot of public schools\colleges have been in extended hiring freezes for a few years now....you very well ight end up taking an unpaid internship just to get some verifiable experience. That is one of the few IT-related things I have on my resume....If I wasnt still working for the company I am at now, I would probably have more than just two gigs on my resume MB, If you find yourself needing someone to help out, I am available as a sub-contractor.
Threads like this are what make me so thankful that I started working in IT in the late 90's instead of the late 2000's. As others have mentioned and I'm sure you've figured out by now, experience is everything in IT. I'd imagine the best way to get into an entry level position is to know someone. We haven't been doing much hiring lately, but if I see anything come through that is entry level at some point I'll let you know.
Worthless in that don't prove you know anything. . . . perhaps Worthless in getting you in the door . .. i don't think so. Alot of companies use it as a weed out tool. No A+ . . throw the application away. When you get 200+ apps. . . you sometimes find reason to weed out people. I found putting that A+ on the resume got it more attention. *shrug* I could be wrong or an anamoly Rocket River
