ttlpkg....IT depression is real....

[Test boy]

IT workers are not the only ones biting a big bullet. I'm a photographer....guess what gets cut out in a bad recession? I'm sure this is true of many other businesses with a product that people do not necessarily need. My phone rings about 2% as much as it used to. I'd be dead without other income.

 

[the nature boy]

No kidding.

I'm a professional geek. I've done Mac support, PC support, NT Server work, network admin stuff, even some phone stuff.

Now I'm in managment, which to my employees means I'm technically stupid.

With him being laid off, I'll be doing more technical stuff, but I've kept myself in it pretty well the whole time. Not quite as sharp as I used to be, but I hold my own.

All told, I've been in IT for about 5 years, and I still love it.

OMG that management line is soooo damn funny. That's what happens over here too. Once people become managers they lose any sort of technical skill. "Uh, you mean a switch and a router aren't the same?" "I don't care how you make it work, just do it."

 

[TheProject]

glad you are happy and employed...but that Cisco guy ranting is like...from way beyond PC support and NT network admin.

I'm talking about IT people with intense degrees and Cisco certs -- Cisco certs...that can't get jobs.

I understand that he's above and beyond NT admin, but if he's cross-trained, he should be able to get a different job.

That, to me, is like a CEO complaining because he can't make 2 million a year anymore. If I'm forced to change jobs, I fully realize that I will probably step back at least one level and take a pay cut.

This also seems to me to be symptomatic of all these schools and programs churning out certified professionals. You end up, in many cases, with people that are book smart in a certain area, lacking experience, and having no cross-training.

Certifications and specialized professionals are great, but it can be very limiting.

 

[the nature boy]

Certifications and specialized professionals are great, but it can be very limiting.

That's true. being very specialized is not a good thing, having a good knowledge covering the entire systems architecture is probably going to save someones ass if they get laid off.

 

[TheProject]

OMG that management line is soooo damn funny. That's what happens over here too. Once people become managers they lose any sort of technical skill. "Uh, you mean a switch and a router aren't the same?" "I don't care how you make it work, just do it."

My boss is a pretty sharp guy, but he has his moments.

One of my favorite arguments with him was whether or not frame relay was a WAN or not...

 

[TheProject]

That's true. being very specialized is not a good thing, having a good knowledge covering the entire systems architecture is probably going to save someones ass if they get laid off.

You need to have a variety of skills to survive in IT. Everything changes SO fast that what you're really good at might be gone in a year or two.

If I hadn't learned to support PC's, I'd be up a creek right now. Try finding a Mac support job.

 

[Code]

It is indeed bad out there.
I'm interviewing for experienced (but not senior) network engineers, and I get resumes from people with graduate level degrees and director/executive experience.

I'd say for each position I have open I get an average of 200 resumes a week.

It's not pretty in the IT field right now, and it's not going to get any better for about a year or so. Once all the companies realize that having 10 Sr VPs of Marketing running 20 marketing grunts, it's going to be a cold Christmas for those guys.

I have a friend starting a business and all the IT and programming work is being done by people volunteering on the off-chance the company will fly and they'll get a job 3-6 months from now.

 

[TheProject]

Hey Code, if you don't mind my asking, what part of the country are you in? I'm in the Midwest, and I suspect that the market is worse out west, but I don't have any facts to back that up.

 

[HappyScrappy]

the market isn't good in boston either, I have friends that have been out for like 5 months.
I'm really hoping I don't get laid off.
I'm tryting to get things setup on the side - but really I just wish things were back to normal - not insane where no talent ass clowns are getting good jobs, but just normal where I don't have to frea losing my job and there being nothing out there.

I also feel bad for all of the people that switched to comp sci b/c they heard of the huge demand that there will be and now there is very little demand... so they are going to come flood the market with young unexperience labor... not going to be pretty...

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

Wow! Did I leave the IT world at the right time!

I was a Cisco guy.