Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire So, here is some of my dirty laundry.... Help needed....

Just saw an article in the paper tonight that the Marcellus gas industry expects to hire 4000 in the coming year. Might not be in your field but it's something to look into.

Hang tough,

Dale

Dice also start looking at teksystems and other tech recruiters.

I worked contract work in IT for 3 or 4 years until I got a perm position. Not as much stability but the money is pretty good.

Hadn't heard of them, but will be checking with them in the morning. Thanks mack!

Here is a list of all the tech recruiters

http://www.interbiznet.com/hunt/Recruiters.html

and another

http://www.ere.net/2001/01/09/a-list-of-recruiter-associations/

These might help you find a recruiter that handles something in your wheelhouse.

I am SQA and there are a couple of recruiters that specialize in QA.

Also look to the forums for your skillset.
I go to several for SQA.

Lots of them will have a special section for job postings.

Same for any certifications you have they often have job postings on their site.


Also Linkedin is your friend.

If you want to start making some connections you can PM me and I will add you into my network to get started.

Give me a few more minutes and I can probably keep you busy for a few days!

Good Luck and keep this post going I will check back and keep looking for anything that can help.
LOL

Mack

Instead of just sending resumes you should wait a week and call about the job. Ask for the recruiter, tell him that your well qualified for the position and ask if he has seen your resume.

One problem is that businesses will use your lack of a degree to reduce the number of resumes that have to go through. Generally these positions require a degree in CS. So it will be difficult.

If you can learn web stuff and seek a job doing that.

Thanks Mack! Good stuff there! I wish I had any certs...

Yep! Those are the problems that I'm facing. It's not a complaint, it just is what it is.

I have called every place that I submit a resume to, to follow up. I try to stay on them pretty continuously.

Don't! (Go to school, I mean.) Complete waste of time and money, especially if you already have work experience. Anyone who sticks about the lack of a degree isn't somebody you want to work for.

Read books, read blogs, do exercises, follow gurus on Twitter, attend user's groups, participate in area dojos and katas--much more effective, much less expensive. Not only will you learn much more than any school will teach you, but you'll wind up networking with all sorts of real people in the industry, many of whom will know where the jobs are.

How far are you willing to travel? How much are you willing to learn? Is this kind of work the penalty you grudgingly endure in order to be able to bring home a paycheck, or is it the driving passion of your life?

cant help in Alabama but it sounds similar to the job my wife turned down in Boise, she has a degree in computer systems intigration and picked up a second job locally when a programming outfit tried to set up a partnership with the tribes.....worse comes to worse i can see if she still has contacts with the company she was working for:

http://www.avanade.com/en-us/Pages/default.aspx

If you're unfortunate enough to have to submit resumes, then I guess that's what you have to do.

But if you were a well-known member of the software-development community in Huntsville--because you were a faithful member of a couple or three user's groups (even presented--they're always looking for speakers), had attended a couple of Code Retreats and distinguished yourself, and had maybe collaborated with some local folks on an open-source project or two--then your name would already be swimming around, and if you had to submit a resume it would be an after-the-fact formality just to satisfy some obscure HR requirement once you were already hired.

Once I figured that out, the whole job-hunt landscape completely changed for me. In the last five years or so I've probably worked for eight or ten different companies. All of them came looking for me, rather than the other way around, and as far as I know none of them have ever seen my resume. I'm not actually that big a deal, but a whole lot of people around here have heard of, listened to, talked with, and paired with me, and since I don't royally suck either, when they need to hire somebody it's a lot easier to go with me than it is to dig through a pile of resumes to find some anonymous no-name about whom they know nothing and who might be a big risk.

That's your secret, right there. Don't be buried in a pile of resumes; be part of the active community.

Find a different town.

Jim

Find a headhunter.

Expand your search.

If you can't sell your house, rent it.

Say a prayer and be thankful.

Dave

He's the same God now as then. You and your family will be provided for. Have faith and I, and many, will begin praying.

Good luck and prayers for ya HUG!

never forget to think outside the box. juggle the career between wife and husband.

take care of the kids while the wife puts food on the table. go to nite school to upgrade certifications, licenses, etc.

continue to network within the industry, and keep your ear to the ground to listen for the sound of approaching hoofbeats (new businesses coming to town, existing businesses expanding).

in a fall back position, consider working out of town on a commuter basis, while the family continues to hold on in Huntsville. not easy, but what is?

Big + 1 on Barak's post

My job wad eliminated a couple of years ago. I ended up moving for a new job. Prayers for you.

monster.com We have hired a number of people off of this jobsite

Have you tried linked in ?

Very sound advice, B. Thank you, sir. This has been my failure to do up to now. This kind of thing actually never crossed my mind. It won't be my failure going forward.

I thank everyone who offered advice, prayers, and well wishes. Some of you, I've been a real jerk to in the past, yet your character shows through in these instances. I am humbled, and grateful.