[NCLUG] Re: Job market in the Ft. Collins area (Chris Ernst)

[DJ Eshelman]

"Don't do it, it's a trick!"  (that's what my friend Ben always says, 
anyway :) )

Its been a hard year up here; but I'm optimistic that 2004 will start to 
pick up (I guess I should say it BETTER pick up).  My suggestion to you 
would be to examine much more of the programming route at this point- 
there is still a lack of admin jobs out here; either that or there are 
just too many people applying for the same jobs.  If you have Cisco 
experience it would help- almost every job out here wants pretty solid 
Cisco experience (most list a minimum of 4 years and aren't flexable 
with it).
If you're currently working my advice would be to wait to move until you 
actually have a job offer in hand, if that's possible.
Regardless, it's pretty hard work to make yourself attractive to 
employers up here because of the mass of people applying for the same 
job.  With 8 years experience you're sure to have a better time than I 
have had, just remember- loyalty isn't what it used to be in this field 
and it's best to be prepared for battle when looking at this job 
market.  People who come here don't want to leave- and they'll fight for 
the same job you're looking at.  The other big problem, I'm finding, is 
the over-qualification problem.  I've talked to people that apply for 
the same job I do, and they get it even though they have much less 
experience than I do.
Just my 2 cents from the past 8 months of unemployment (and several 
other 3-8 month spans from 2000-2004); don't hate me for being 
honest/bitter!  Like I said- I'm sure things will pick up again this 
year- I have a few friends in HP's Itanium division that say they've 
been crying for req's for a long time- I'm sure it won't be long before 
they're hiring Linux gurus again- sounds like that might be an area to 
keep your eye on given the experience you described.

All in all, good luck to you- the Fort Collins area is a great place to 
live.
If you haven't done so already, look at nichestaffing.com; run by some 
of our esteemed members up here at the Fort.
Otherwise, the usual suspects.  There is also a Yahoo group called 
NOCONET that is a kind of employment watchdog and networking group that 
has meetings up here every Monday.

On that same subject, does anyone know if places other than HP are 
looking at hiring any real geeks any time soon?

(back to trying to fix my osCommerce site...)

-DJ

>   1. Job market in the Ft. Collins area (Chris Ernst)
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Message: 1
>Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2004 21:44:42 -0700
>From: Chris Ernst <penguin-guy at comcast.net>
>Subject: [NCLUG] Job market in the Ft. Collins area
>To: NCLUG at nclug.org
>Message-ID: <20040206214442.15151d86 at ses.comcast.net>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
>Hi everyone,
>
>I'm just curious about the job market in the Ft. Collins area.  I'll be moving there from Denver this summer and I need to start looking around.
>
>I have a BS in CS and about 8 years experience in *nix systems administration, network administration/security, systems programming, hardware maintenance, bla bla bla......  Is this a good market for someone like me?  Am I going to have trouble fonding work?  Any recommendations on where to start?
>
>I'm planning to head up there for some meetings over the next few months.  I'm looking forward to meeting you all =)
>
>Thanks a bunch!
>
>	- Chris
>
>
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>End of NCLUG Digest, Vol 4, Issue 7
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