Certifications and IT jobs/Salaries

Author

Crossroads

chncasper

2004-12-14, 10:39 pm

Hello all, I'm kind of in a bind right now. I was recently laid off from a Systems Analyst position I held for five years at an energy consulting company. The job began as a jack of all trades computing but slowly became technician work with some VB / SQL development. Since the job paid a decent amount it was easy to become complacent. This has been my only job since college (B.S. Comp Sci). I want to get into more programming oriented jobs and am willing to get MCAD certified, but without solid on the job experience, the opportunities are limited. I really don't know what my next step should be.

Any ideas?

walterbyrd

2004-12-15, 9:02 am

I don't know if you've tried this yet, but sometimes you can pick up a few clues about the job market in a certain sector by going to the job-boards, and trying various searches. You might try "MCAD" or "Visual BASIC." Sometimes that will give you an idea about what employers want.

curiousgeorge

2004-12-15, 12:04 pm

quote:
without solid on the job experience, the opportunities are limited.

With a CS degree and five years experience as a Systems Analyst, you'll be surprised what kind of jobs you can get.

Don't worry about the "requirements" on a job posting. If you are familiar with 1/2 or 2/3 of the things listed in the job, you'll be fine.

If the interviewer asks about your experience in an area that you've never worked on, just reply "That is one of the few things I haven't worked on before, but I'm very eager to start working on it."

I'm a network admin right now. When I was interviewed they asked me about my experience with Macs (I didn't have ANY experience with Macs). I flat out told them "I don't want to give you any impressions that I have experience working on Macs, but it is something I've always wanted to add to my skill sets." They just smiled and told me not to worry about it, that I would learn on the job.

Best of luck my friend.

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