I got my A+ Cert in Dec and am working on my Net+ while I am not looking for an entry-level job, hoping to gain experience. No one has called me back and I've been sending resumes for about a month. Is the economy that bad or am I doing something wrong??

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Particularly for entry level jobs, the hiring manager is not always in a big hurry to hire someone, and depending on how many levels of paperwork and review the resumes have to go through, it may be a month before they call anyone. (I once got called 6 months later!)

Nor is a month a long time to be looking, especially for an entry level position when there are a horde of other people applying for the same job. Job searches frequently take several months, so you definitely want to consider temp work or a short contract job in the meantime. Temp work is often a great way to get your foot in the door, even if it isn't temping at the kind of job you are looking for.

You need to find a way to stand out from the crowd. Effective job hunting strategies are detailed in lots of places, so I won't cover any of them here. An internet search, or a book like "What Color is Your Parachute" is a good place to start looking for ways to market yourself.

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A+ is not even cutting it for entry positions no more. You should visit a local compusa,bestbuys, circuit city and try to talk to thier technical director and try to gain experience from those enviornments.
Unless you can create jobs for yourself by consulting, you will hurt in this market.

21% of techs are unemplyed, and it will continue to slump further till dec-jan 2003.
Try to work around this massive slump, try doing some work/upgrades/repairs for friends/family/small businesses.

for every position that is listed on a job engine there will be 1000 to 10,000 applicants.

Why would an employer care to look at yours?
give them a reason to look at your resume.

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I was looking to break into IT five years ago with a B.A., an A.A.S. in Comp.Sci, and four years tech support in the medical equipment industry, and it took me a year and a half. For the job I eventually took I, too, didn't hear from them until 6 months after they got my resume. And all this was when the economy was much better than now.

A+ is a start, but it will likely not be enough, as stated. But keep at it, and something will present itself.

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Waiting for the phone to ring won't help - put some shoes on and go sell yourself. You'll be very lucky, in this climate, for company's to call you.

Go and knock on some doors even if they are not advertising - just let them know you are out there willing to do the job.

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I agree with Frank and while you're doing that keep studying for your certs - You got more time to study w/o a job

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A+, CNA, MCP, MCSA, Net+

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A+ and Net+ won't get you a job. Why should an employer knock down your door with these certs? Even if you have a MCSE or CCNA they won't call you. The market is flooded with certs and having every cert under the sun does not impress. What counts is your attitude, problem solving skills, experience and your responsibilities. It is harder to lie about these.

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Originally posted by jackiechan
A+ and Net+ won't get you a job. Why should an employer knock down your door with these certs? Even if you have a MCSE or CCNA they won't call you. The market is flooded with certs and having every cert under the sun does not impress. What counts is your attitude, problem solving skills, experience and your responsibilities. It is harder to lie about these.

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Sorry, but I have to disagree about the certification issue. Having certifications does help. True, having some experience, and a can do attitude also have a lot to do with getting a job. But ceritfications show that you are capable of learning and understanding technical concepts. This impresses a potential employer more than someone that has 10 years of experience and no certs.

JMO

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quote:

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This impresses a potential employer more than someone that has 10 years of experience and no certs.

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Depends on the employer. I'd take 10 years experience over a help desk refugee with 20 certifications any day.

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Guess I was going to the wrong employers before I got my first MCP cert. I had 10 years in the field, mostly low pay positions, like Data Entry and LAN cabling. Then I got my MCP and things took off! In the five years since, I have more than quadrupled my pay rate! And also have 3 MCP's and A+, with Net+ coming soon!

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Keyboard not functioning. Press F1 to continue....

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to use the Net and he won't bother you for weeks.

What goes up must come down. Ask any system administrator.

If a trainstation is where the train stops, what's a workstation...?

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