Is it really that bad out there?

tHE vAGGABOND

Just speaking to a chap who used to work here. He was let go from a network job about 4 months ago

and he still has not found anything yet? Now take into account he does not want to take a 'bad' job as it will not do his career any good

but Im just wondering, is the job market that bad or is my mate just lazy

WhiteWashMan

bit of both id say joe.

from what i can see, there are jobs there.
and there a re very good jobs there also.

however, there are now a lot more people going for the same few positions. so you really have to be good at what you do.

also, whats his description of a bad job.
personally, working shift, and talking phone calls is my idea odf a bad job. it depends on what you are willing to take out of a position, not what you think the position will mean to you.
if you know what i mean.

but anyone that says you cant get a job is full or rot.
yes, economy has slowed.
yes, there are less jobs.
yes, there are more people going for those small amount of jobs.

but look hard eough and you will find something.
you may have to compromise if you cant compete with the uber leet geeks
so see what you want, what you can get, and what you'll accept really.

just common sense.

but if hes a friend of yours, he's probably a loser anyway

Greenbean

If, as an hons computer science graduate I was to define a Job as a job doing, programming, QA, network admin or any decent career enhancing IT role, I'd say there are absolutely no jobs for someone with no experience in Dublin. There seem to be a few jobs in other parts of the country, which I'm looking into now. The next step is to move out of the IT frame of mind and look at office work or financial admin work or the dreaded tech support jobs and lower those wage expectations for a year.

Its a slow process copping onto the fact that a computer science degree doesn't mean you can simply get started on your choosen and earned for career path. You've may have worked towards a degree for the last 10 years, tough, the real world doesn't want you at the moment - find something else in the meantime. And theres no point crying about how easy it was last year either. Its bad for anyone in IT out of a job at the moment - but I'd say your friend, if he has decent experience, is just slow in loosening his requirements - he's still probably in a good position for a few jobs somewhere, even if they are far from ideal in someways. If he has little relevant experience I recommend he makes finding a job a full-time job in itself.

tHE vAGGABOND

he has 4 years experience, starting at phone monkey level (like most ppl), he has worked up to network pe0n level, actually configuring and messing about with big ass routers and switches

he's between a rock and a hard place really, he's not a windoze/unix sys admin and he does not have enough experience to be a manager type...

that narrows the amount of jobs he has to go for, those networky jobs pay well and are therefore sought after...

He does not want to do tech support, as its a step back of 3 years in his career and he would pretty much have to start again..

but as I said to him, its either that or McDonalds

rymus

its not just bad out there, its terrible.

Twas only in March the company I worked for liquidated. I was 'chief' network/systems admin. I was my own boss (not literaly of course). best damn job I've ever had. And now.... now I'm a bloody security guard and took a salary drop of about 9 grand. somebody shoot me.

jbkenn

No it is'nt that bad out there

now I'm a bloody security guard and took a salary drop of about 9 grand. somebody shoot me.

I take it from your post you have a PC I presun#me you have a printer and a mobile, if you have you are in business. Get down to Easons or any good stationery shop and purchase a pack of 100 blank business cards, think of a suitable business type name e.g. Blocko Computer Services Joe Bloggs Computer Support Engineer Tel.08X XXX XXXX. Put the cards up in shops supermarkets and wherever you can, go to local business, knock on doors, there are a lot of small office networks out there (3 to 12 Users) badly in need of your expertise. Charge £40 to £50 Call out and £30 to £40 per hour and ensure you get paid before you leave the premises. DONT SUPPLY P.C.'s there no money in it. Fit CDRW's, Zip Drives, Modems, HDD's etc Do System Tune Ups and Virus Scans. There are plenty of opportunities out there. How do I know? I have done it. www.engineeroncall.com Who am I? I am a 47 year old dinosaur who doesnt even have a Leaving Cert. No CNE or MCSE I was too busy doing, to take time out to study. If you want any advice or help phone me on my mobile 087 2962936
Jbkenn

WhiteWashMan

got any jobs?

ButcherOfNog

Originally posted by jbkenn
No it is'nt that bad out there

I take it from your post you have a PC I presun#me you have a printer and a mobile, if you have you are in business

u forgot to mention "initiative" and "balls"

sutty

Hay all


to anyone that looks on a site like Irishjobs.ie and see a 10 sys admin jobs......


1) theres really about 2 jobs, them sites just repeat everything.

2) when you go for the job you find it's on hold (Them sites wont take it down untill its filled)

3) In some areas there is a slow down and in others there isn't. Programing seams to be ok. Sys admin/Network admin and so on seam low.......but are getting better.




The main thing is that, even though you see the jobs been posted up somewhere, doesn't mean the company hasn't put it on hold.

Contracts seam to be more active than anything else, as there are so many ppl looking for work that companys can offer lower rates and still get people.

Blitzkrieger

No - it's worse.

Speaking as a graduate with a shiny new degree there is nothing out there. The only people from my class (approx 80 graduates) who have got jobs in the computer sector, went back to the companies where they did their work experience. Less than 20 people. Most of us are working McJobs until things pick up but some people can't even find them. The girl who graduated top of our class (92% average :eek: ) works in a clothes shop.

The only things I've seen that have even been close to what I'm looking for are "Junior programer" jobs with 2 years experience, and those are few and far between. I have lowered my standards in looking for a job but somebody must need a good programmer!

(damn smileys)

kayos

Check Here Blitz

Xterminator

Sounds all 2 depressing.

I've got a fairly ok admin job, but I'm not 2 happy 4 other reasons. I guess maybe I'll wait till things pick up, before i look 2 jump ship.

X

dazberry

In a word, yep! It sucks (for IT dev).

There are jobs out there, but not many...
What you're seeing on the jobs sites ...

1. One job * 20 agencies = 20 jobs
2. Old jobs reposted by agencies (trolling CVs)
3. Actual jobs but they're delayed (months) and don't look like they'll ever happen (assuming they're real or were at one stage), or they're just falling thru.

The agencies are really acting the mick at the mo. so be careful.
Decided to make a move at the end of Aug., and now I really want to setup a real job site with no agencies, 'cos they really suck. For the last 7 yrs they wouldn't leave me alone, and now that I'm applying to jobs (at this time) its muck. I'd love a bit of honesty... and I thought it was bad in '94. Luxury!

I apply and its like posting to /dev/null. Not a word of reply. Can never get a reply on email or phone.

If I do get a reply its either on hold (which is ok, at-least I know the read), or the jobs been cancelled***

*** One crowd that the job disappeared as soon as I applied, have been advertising another job recently that is for a company (they don't say but its obvious - trust me) that I used to work for. I'm still friendly with the tech. dir. and I rang him and they 'aint looking people. Smells like trolling to me ;(

On the jobs sites they pay a yearly fee, so for a job it costs them nothing to post (or repost), and methinks that they're just trolling at the mo. in the hope that they'll have this nice big database of CVs when things improve (and they wont have to fork on the advertising with their buldging databases<g>).

If you want to think I'm just bashing, or if a crowd has done something good for you thats cool, but ppl be careful, I really think alot of them are close to the wall and as a result they're not doing the job they should be doing.

If you don't care, apply away and maybe something will happen in the future, but if you're looking now, you're best off doing a bit of research and applying directly, be it old contacts, friends in different places, or just by searching the net.

Personally I'd rather cut thru' the BS, and if I see two real jobs on the job sites instead of 80 atleast I'd know there was something happening... IMO.

Good Luck!

DaZ.

SantaHoe

dazberry - you've hit the nail on the head.
Something odd is definitly happening with Job sites... I've seen the same Jobs posted twice (or more) under different headings... and many times I've re-visited these sites, I'd see jobs that I applied for months ago, which I never got a reply from, (funnily enough).

95% of my mail to agencies has gone un-acnowledged.
I'm through with them, they can go fork themselves now.

1234id

Originally posted by jbkenn
No it is'nt that bad out there

I take it from your post you have a PC I presun#me you have a printer and a mobile, if you have you are in business. Get down to Easons or any good stationery shop and purchase a pack of 100 blank business cards, think of a suitable business type name e.g. Blocko Computer Services Joe Bloggs Computer Support Engineer Tel.08X XXX XXXX. Put the cards up in shops supermarkets and wherever you can, go to local business, knock on doors, there are a lot of small office networks out there (3 to 12 Users) badly in need of your expertise. Charge £40 to £50 Call out and £30 to £40 per hour and ensure you get paid before you leave the premises. DONT SUPPLY P.C.'s there no money in it. Fit CDRW's, Zip Drives, Modems, HDD's etc Do System Tune Ups and Virus Scans. There are plenty of opportunities out there. How do I know? I have done it. www.engineeroncall.com Who am I? I am a 47 year old dinosaur who doesnt even have a Leaving Cert. No CNE or MCSE I was too busy doing, to take time out to study. If you want any advice or help phone me on my mobile 087 2962936
Jbkenn

Couldn't agree more, the time of cushy jobs in big companies is over but there is still loads of work for people with solid IT knowledge and some initiative. Think of all the solicitors, insurance brokers, accountants who cannot afford a fulltime sys admin but are in desparate need of support!
Just stay the **** away from the Ennis area, that's my turf...

Kali

Its very bad out there, I'm just about to finish up working for Tusa Financial Services (automating sales/lending reports) as we're closing as of the end of the year (found out last night in a meeting which reduced dozens to tears, but I won't go into that)...

Anyway my desk is beside the HR managers, and after a single ad (three months ago) on the frontpage of the Independents Appointments section a ridiculous amount of applications came in, we're talking a metre or so of cvs high, a worringly amount of which where computer students with loads of experience (my job was the only one requiring comp. knowledge in the company), add to that the fact that the majority of the financial institutions in Ireland at the moment (BOI is one exception) have a recruitment freeze, as do several large telecommunications and bluechip companies (whose names I cant really mention).

Fortunaly though I'm in the position where I can wait until jan/feb to get a new job when hopefully things will be a bit more optimistic.

And on the agencies side of things, don't bother with them, as far as I'm concerned personal initiative (as mentioned) and as many contacts as humanely possible are the only ways to get your name and availability out there.

Just on Blitzs' point, as a new graduate myself (tomorrow morning is the ceremony in fact) its absolutely ****e, from rumors I hear that over 1/2 of my graduating class (computer applications) are a) either unemployed or b) have returned to do masters in the hope that things will be better when they get out again... its not nice at all.