IT Career Options Advice

[autozoor]

IT Career Options Advice

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Basically, its the 'recent graduate with no industry experience' problem.

I'm 21 and graduated in June from a computing degree - achieved a 2:1. I've been looking for a job across the North West for a while now but I'm not having much joy. I say computing and IT but I started off looking mainly for a Programming / Web Developer role; I'm now looking for ANY kind of job in IT... Besides the no experience aspect, I'm finding there aren't many entry level jobs about, unless I'm doing something wrong, but I am searching on jobsites daily like totaljobs.com.

So what can I do to improve things?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Having no job is a killer. Merry Christmas.

Not sure whether I should have stuck this in the advice forum or not as I'd imagine I would get a more specific response here.

 

[Padma]

Since you're looking in the Northwest, I can't give much specific help. We do have some entry-level jobs at my company, both here in Omaha, and in Mobile, Ala.

General advice: keep looking! Make sure you have a good resume, and post it on sites like careerbuilder.com. I know, as a recent grad, you can't point to your 'experience', but you can highlight your particular skills. If you have any examples of your work (links to web pages you've designed, for instance) it can help things along.

And a reminder: anything in a job description can be waived, if you can show the employer you're the person they want. Example, a job we've got in Mobile:

• Associate's degree in Computer Science, MIS, related field, equivalent work experience, or a Programming Certificate is required - bachelor's degree preferred
• Based on area of responsibility and departmental need, knowledge of: one standard programming language is required (i.e., C, SQL, Visual Basic, C++, COBOL, HTML, PERL, etc.) and/or one program platform is preferred (Tandem, Windows, Unix, or Web)
• Minimum one year programming experience using an industry standard coding language and/or platform preferred
• Knowledge of a suite of office software packages
• Extensive knowledge of DHTML utilizing JavaScript, XML, CSS effectively and knowledge of SQL, ASP & PHP programming is a major plus.

If you have the DHTML knowledge, I can almost guarantee they'd overlook the 'one year experience' requirement, especially since you have a Bachelor's. A position we've got in Omaha is even more explicit:

Advanced work in pursuit of a Bachelors degree (e.g., junior and senior year, etc.) in computer science, MIS, or a related field can be substituted for one year of programming experience.

Basically, if they say they want a year (or even two) of programming experience, they're really just kidding, at least to some extent. If you see a position that really appeals to you, go ahead and apply. The absolute worst that will happen is they'll say "No." You won't be any worse off for trying.

Finally, remember that the job market is tight, and will likely get tighter for the near future. (I've got over 25 years experience as a developer, and I'm very good at what I do. Yet, when I got laid off last winter, it took me five months to find another job.)

 

[taper]

Don't forget about newspaper ads. I know it sounds old fashioned, but when I was looking for an Electrical Engineering job I found about twice as many jobs in the local paper than on the web for the region I'm in. Probably won't be as many people looking at print only ads too, so you'll have a better chance.

 

[Speedo]

If you have the DHTML knowledge, I can almost guarantee they'd overlook the 'one year experience' requirement, especially since you have a Bachelor's.

That depends heavily on company and position, however. I know more than a few professionals in the programming arena who want a degree and experience even for supposedly "entry-level" positions, because they believe that the average person just out of school doesn't have the knowledge to meet their requirements.