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How Will Recent Financial Downturns Affect IT Jobs?
An anonymous reader writes "So, with the financial crisis and loss of jobs everywhere, what are the chances of getting a good IT job? I'm going to graduate this year with a BS in Software Engineering majoring in Network Security. I'll be looking for a job as a penetration tester eventually, but I hear that is hard to get right out of college so I'll be looking for a job as a Junior Network Admin or similar type of job to start off in. Is there a lack of jobs in this field? I figure computers always need fixing so they have to have some sort of IT personnel on staff to maintain the core of their business. Anyone have a good insight on this issue?"
Never relax!
How a life can change in an instant. Everything one thought and believed can be shattered on the rocks of an uncharted coast of a new experience. Here I was, a happy English teacher, twenty-five years old with a lovely wife and a five-year old daughter. I was teaching in a good urban school, considered something of a boy-genius by my colleagues, respected by parents, and loved by most of my students. And then one fateful day, everything changed because of Jesse Coulter.
It was right after school, and I was seated at my desk correcting some papers when I noticed his lanky sixteen year old form standing before me. Jesse and I had not gotten along, did not get along well at all. That's because he was a very lazy teenage boy. He got through high school thus far on his basketball skills, and most other teachers seemed to turn a blind eye on the fact that he was charming them with his skill on the court and his million dollar smile. He didn't like English Class. I guess it clashed with his "street jargon."
Hell, he didn't like schoolwork of any kind. What he did like was fucking every girl he could get his large black hands on. And from what I heard around school, it wasn't just large black hands that won the young white girls over. Talk was he was endowed like a horse.
I mean, I knew several teachers who visited the boys' locker room just to verify the rumor. These were straight teachers. And the report they gave was that the rumor was correct. The handsome black boy got on well with other students, but they all treated him with some kind of special respect, like he was untouchable, above them in some way. In the lunch room for example, when he came to a table, other kids would move aside, or even leave if he told them to.
Now, handsome, black, Jesse Coulter stood before my desk. He should have been playing basketball, and I was the reason he wasn't.
"You get me benched?" He asked with a thick, husky, masculine voice.
"No Jesse, you got yourself benched. You didn't hand in the last two homework assignments, and you failed the last three tests."
He stood up talker, straightening his shoulders which usually slouched. "I been busy."
I looked uip at him. He was handsome, I had to say that for him. So dark with flashing teeth.
"Too busy to do your schoolwork? Then maybe you need a break from basketball."
"You know the school never go for that. I the star of the school."
"Not this week. Not until you get those assignments in and do better on the check tests."
"Fuck that."
I snapped up. I could feel the heat of anger rising from my reddening face.
"Don't you speak that way to me!"
Suddenly I was standing in front of him. I could smell his musk. He was about my height, but only sixteen. His strong face had an arrogance about it that was intimidating.
"Look, teach, how the fuck can I take time out to study, when I got to play basketball and fuck half the white pussy in the school?"
I was speechless. I just stood there.
"An, then there's all them female teachers in the school like Miss Mortenson who need my big black dick. And all them faggot teachers too."
"That is enough. I want you out of here and down to the office. Now!"
His eyes burned cold, the white around the cornea clear and ivory.
"Listen, Asswipe. You think I gonna let one cocksucking teacher fuck up my position here at the school? Shit, I already offered two scholarships to good colleges, and I only a sophomore. You the one who is gonna get on board here and learn some respect for a black star like me!"
And with that, he slapped me. He drew back one large black hand and slapped my face, hard. My head spun. I had never experienced anything like it in my life. I grant you, I am not a very physical person, although I do swim at the gym to keep a fairly good body. I am not into sports, and prefer Faulkner to Football. And this teenage black boy had just slapped me. I reached out to grab a fistful of his t-shirt, but he slappe
With jews, you lose. That's how THEY win. They WIN by making YOU lose. Let's lose the jews.
Wow - you're an idiot.
Brecent Earticle put
What's the effect of the end of American Economic Hegemony on the IT industry?
Roughly a year ago I was hiring as quickly as possible, and so were most of the people I knew. Software devs, Ops, PMs, technical writers, IA's, front-end guys, the whole gamut. Sure, I focused on the top end in terms of experience, but it's not a rigid requirement, and I like bright kids out of school (or even still in school). I was one once, and I did pretty well by the people who hired me, way back when.
I can tell you I'm not hiring today. That's just an anecdote. More interesting is this discussion, which seems to be (if you believe everyone) chocked full of other managers. None of them have asked for the kid's contact info. No one on Slashdot wants him. That's a lot more than an anecdote.
Of course you should keep busy in the meantime with unpaid work. That's widely given but good advice.
Not sure how long this will last for. For the record, I'm one of those who's not sure we should even expect a "recovery" at all in our lifetime, at least in the sense to which Americans have become accustomed in the past.
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I agree with the GP's opinion, and frankly, so do all of the top-level executives I know.
It tells a lot about a person's character... whether or not they are willing to stay busy, go all out, and make an effort to make the best of a bad situation. It shows a very strong work ethic and a good attitude. I imagine there are a lot of disagreements with this idea because many people who are unemployed take this criticism personally and as a sign of failure. My piano teacher had a poster that said, "A mistake is not an error until you refuse to correct it." If there's a problem, fix it. Don't just sit and complain about it.
Furthermore, if you don't have any companies who want to employ you, then you might need to take some of your education and experience off of your resume to cater to the job you need to have. Lying about experience you don't have is the thing you have to avoid on a resume.
Your other point was that you assume your potential employer is concerned with every facet of your personal life. Take off your tinfoil hat. If during the interview you get asked, "What did you do during this time?" it's easy to say something like "I stayed home with a sick wife/mother." You are not obligated to tell the employer that you gave the person in your care a sponge bath every night. If they ask that, then they are probably not people you would want to work for, and ethically they have serious problems.
You could also say, "I worked really hard to get through school and I decided to reward myself by taking a vacation." That implies that you had a goal and worked toward it, accomplished it, and are rewarding yourself because you did a good job. (Note that > 1 month is a very long vacation unless you have traveled the world. Incidentally, employers like to see any people who have spent time in other lands.)
Keeping busy is a major sign of maturity and helps the hirer decide whether or not you have a positive attitude. It shows that you are willing to lead and take responsibility for your actions. In this age of limited personal accountability, paint yourself so that employers know that you have the pride to never give up.
It's not a matter of just the posters opinion - it's sadly a fact of working life.
Most if not all of your points can be explained, but if a hiring manager sees large gaps on a resume then there might be something about the person that makes them a less than desirable applicant. Family/medical reasons can be explained either in person, or in a cover letter. You don't have to explain what it was/is but note that there is a valid reason behind the gap.
If you take a break for 6 months, without some sort of accomplishment during that time, anything to show that you didn't just sit at home playing xbox, then why should someone hire you.
That's the question that your resume has to take care of. It needs to paint a verbal image of you as an employee. Employers have to have a list of shoulds and oughts to get the list of candidates to a more manageable level for interviews - even if those lists have "must not have more than x-months of unexplained work gaps" in it.
If you need a break after a long hard 3-5 years of school, you should state that to the employer. Most of them are quite reasonable. And usually, summer break, is enough to recover. If you take a break and have nothing to show what you accomplished during those summer breaks, you are probably not in the right place.
Remember, that IT people should be a bit lazy, wanting to automate a lot of things. So unless there is a valid reason for you to need a break after school, I do agree with GP.