Wildcat_1

Hey All

After living in Denver for the past three years I have decided to move elsewhere in the US primarily because working in the IT industry has only bought me a few contracts here and I need to be able to find something more permanent.

I was just wondering if anyone here had suggestions about better states to try.

I have been looking at opposite sides of the US from New York and Florida to Seattle & Oregon.

Any suggestions, words of wisdom etc would be welcomed

Thnx

WC

edwords

I work in the IT industry and, sad to say, it's bad all over right now. Hopefully, things will pick up as the economy recovers.
If you move to a place like Silicon Valley, you'll find more job opportunities but also more competition from fellow IT workers. If you move to a place that isn't an IT mecca, you'll have less competition but fewer work opportunities.

Britfrombristol

It seems as if it is not just the IT industry which is slow at the moment.

I moved here in December and am a lawyer in England. Whilst I realised I was not going to be able to practice in the US without further education etc etc I did (foolishly) think that my experience both in private practice, insurance, and in-house dept management would mean something.

After applying for in the region of 150 jobs throughout the South East I today spoke to a few recruitments consultants which we hoped would work for myself and my wife. We were told by two that they would not even be interested in even viewing my resume as, unless I fitted the mold perfectly, they knew that their clients would not be intersted in me. I was told that it is such an employers market at the moment that, generally speaking, employers are not even considering what potential a person may have with training as they have so many canidates on their books which would be able to move into a job with no training requirement thus saving cost. After much disinterest in me I set my sights at a lowish level to the extent of entry level insurance work. However, it seems that this level of work that I was doing 10 years ago is going to be a challenge to get.

Neverthless, good luck to you!

Dant3

Glad it's not just me, BritfromBristol. In the UK I have a masters degree, have spent the last four years teaching, often occupying management positions. Only today I was told by over a dozen employment agencies that I'm not even qualified to do entry level clerical work. I even had one recruiter look over my resume and tell me she wasn't sure if I could even legitimately say I had the equivalent of a high school diploma!

It's a tough job market for citizens, for immigrants doubly so.


James

mcjimbo

I think its good to see whats available.

I'm not even in the U.S. yet but I've signed up for alot of job alerts on websites just to see how regularly new jobs are being posted.

So far its reassuring, at least in my field web development.

I signed up on these sites:

www.dice.com

www.monster.com

I get email new jobs everyday. So sign up, post your resume, list your regional preferences and see what you get back.

Hope these help

James

Duncan Roberts

I am in the IT field as well and 2 biggest problem that I've found with job websites are that not all the jobs actually exist and there are, unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of candidates for almost every job.

I recently managed to talk to a few VPs of human recources and various other hiring mangagers, one in particular at progressive insurance, and they said the advertise the same jobs over and over to see what sort of response they recieve. If a resume catches their filters right they look at it and then maybe decide to call you and see what youre about. I also found out that Profressive had over 300,000 applications from its website last year and most of the hiring was done via internal referrals or job fairs.

I spent 3 months wasting time with job websites, but it wasnt actually until I started to network and bug people within companies that I actually got interviews, but still no job.

Patrick

Duncan beat me to the punch, I was going to say the say. I have now been out of work a year and month and whole IT/Telecommunications market sucks. No-one is hiring externally, all the jobs that are posted don't exist and are being advertised to see whats out there. You go to dice everyday and within a couple of weeks you will see the same jobs just come up again and again.

It is tough, if you have a job stay in it. James I wish you all the luck in the world but there are thousands of unemployed web developers out there applying for every job you are. The economy sucks and no-one is hiring, I hope you have a plan B.

Patrick

another one you can try is Americas job bank http://www.ajb.dni.us/

Wildcat_1

All you guys are right about the jobs that aren't there thing. I luckily have had some great contracts that have been in the fields I'm trained in such as project & IT management however that now leaves me with another dilemna.

Whereas before I took those contracts I could have watered my CV all the way down to show just tech support etc and not had to worry too much. What worries me now is in this day and age of intense background checks if I now water it down to try and get in somewhere on a lower level will they find I've been lying about my background (job positions) and then end up not giving me the job or firing me at a later date ? What do you think ?

I still feel the most successful way of finding a job here is through the people you know. Get talking to someone on the inside or find someone you know that runs their own business.

I had to go with plan B which is to setup my own production company which has been bridging the gap but I really need to get into FT IT work again.

Its nice to know we're all not alone but just wish it was a better outlook for all of us

WC

Duncan Roberts

By the way, word on the inside has it that New Jersey and Texas are two primo states for IT jobs.

mcjimbo

When I came to England alot of people said the same thing.

The economy wasn't the best, alot of dotcom's had gone bust or where on the verge of going bust.

The fact is I got a job within a month and half. Did I have to work hard to get it? Yes.

I applied to every job I saw, and I had multiple versions of a cover letter and my resume to suit different job roles. I think all up I probably applied for 150 jobs.

When someone checks into you previous job and sees you did alot more than you stated on your resume I don't think they'll take it that you lied and they don't want you. For instance if you apply for tech support but also did alot of development if anything this would be an asset as your multi-skilled. A resume is just a personal marketing tool employers know that. But it what gets you an interview, and thats where you can proove yourself!

I spent a lot time on each application and customised my cover letter and resume. 1 1/2 months of serious job hunting paid off for me.

I exhausted every avenue also. I registered with every job agency in town, bought different newspapers everyday and searched the various online recruitment sites like monster for positions.

I must say i'm a little worried about not finding a job. But i've already got some contacts who've said they can help me when i've got a work permit and ssn. So yes networking is also invaluable.

Oh yeah another thing that i'm going to put together is a portfolion website showcasing my work. Mine isn't up yet but a mate of mine from Oz who used his to get a job in London does have one. Check it out for those who are in Web Development might give you some ideas on how to showcase your work:

www.jetstyle.net

Britfrombristol i'm sorry to hear about your situation... is it possible for you to move to another state?

Best of luck to you all

James

ladylisa

Hey James when did you live in Milwaukee? Where did you live?

As you can see I am currently living there and was surprised/intringed to see you have too.

mcjimbo

Hi Lisa,

I'm not living there yet, but will be in little over 3 months if my K-1 goes through ok.

Are you there now? If so keep in touch! I would love to hear from you.

James

whatever

We have experienced both ends of the stick and I personally would say, put less effort into agencies and web introductions and more into contacting the companies that interest you the most - direct. One of our friends that relocated (through marriage), last year did this in Boston and ended up not only with a job, but the job of her dreams at the Boston Comedy Store.

We contacted 3 recruitment agencies covering Central/South USA that advertised themselves as 'specialising' in our area of work, (we tried other areas/states in the North-east first but our research soon told us that the opportunities were not good). One agent said 'Call us when you arrive and we'll talk then', one didn't reply at all and the other told us that he may be able to place us but that we would not be first choice as we were not familiar with the market.
"Great! Thanks!"

We decided to just go ahead and contact the companies we were interested in direct and did so by e-mail. Completely different story. The response's have not only been thick and fast but very encouraging and very exciting. I feel relieved that we have not ran into the problems that I have read about on here, and it can't just be our good fortune.... so I suppose what I'm trying to say is it's not ALL doom and gloom.

Good luck to all of you out there looking

Britfrombristol

Thanks for your input whatever. Out of intereset what area do you work in?

Mcjimbo-I have been looking pretty much throughout the entire South East of US. We are flexible in terms fo relocation and have made this very clear on all job applications. Neverthless-we continue to search!!

whatever

Corporate Office Interiors (Design & Build and Office Furniture). For example, when the HSBC Tower was built in Canary Wharf, or the new GLA helmet building etc... we would work with the architects and tender for the fit out package... that sort of thing.
Mr Whatever is a consultant and has 17yrs working experience and I have 9yrs. I worked as a Consultant too but didn't like it, preferring to work closer with the products. We work with companies like Steelcase, Herman Miller, Vitra, KI, Haworth - does this mean anything to anyone?!?!? Many of the companies we have worked with in London are American manufacturers so we have targetted those.

Stepping away from us, I have found that if it is something you have the talent for, can talk the talk, walk the walk etc... you can always find sales positions - no matter how badly a company is doing - they will always hire sales people because without them there is no company! If I could not find a job, I would search out a sales position that offered a decent basic. Once you're working a while and mixing with the right people you can always switch to doing something else further down the line.