If you don’t have ALL the job skills, then you are useless!

It’s true. I have a BS in Interactive Media Design and most often I have found that people want me to know every last detail of every programming language. It makes for a hard time when I am job hunting. I find that they also under pay for my skills all the time.

In 2000 they wanted you to have 10 years experience with Win 2K.

Basically, the first test of a job interview is what are your lying skills. Being an honest person, this can be frustrating.

These stupid company recruiters like to list a huge number of “requirements” but often there are only 1 or 2 that really matter. Recruiters are basically worthless, stupid morons… the trick is to get past them to someone who actually will be interested in hiring you. I applied for of those jobs that listed like 20 crazy things — I only knew one or two of them but they loved me once I got the interview, and I learned all the new stuff on the job (I spent the first month just reading books and studying C#, XML, etc etc… it was great!)
So don’t give up hope — it might take a while but I’m sure your unique talents (especially your websites, etc.) will catch the attention of the right hiring manager. Be sure to emphasize what makes you unique and awesome!

Today’s job market is rough because more people are looking, and less jobs are available. Employers can be more selective, if not unrealistically optimistic that some super candidates who know-it-all will be willing to work for next to nothing.

It will probably get worse before it gets better.

I say : Online jobs – Go for it.
And Yes, you are excellent in design. I agree. Your website shows your talent. I salute ! I wish I had little bit of your knowledge to enhance the blog.
Best-Wishes !

Sounds just like the issues I have out here in Bahrain. Except on top of all that, the clients and employers don’t have a clue as to what all those letters actually do! Most people out here still believe you can make a great website with Word or Frontpage.

This is why I’m freelancing. It’s easier. I deal with the clients directly and have the chance to educate as well as provide a service.

It’s still hard though.. but getting better.

Mona.. if you have time on your hands, I can send work your way if you are interested. I lack in my design skills so could really use help there. Also, I’m starting to get more of a reputation out here so will be picking up a lot more jobs soon.

Can you code in Actionscript? Do use OOP?

Boring?! how’s that?

Easy there… I’m only trying to expand my business while hopefully giving someone who needs it some work.. I WAS going to offer you the php portions of the jobs I do.. but hey.. suit yourself.

Mona,

I am having the same problem. I was laid off from my fixed-term
position at Penn State University at the end of January. My programming skills are limited to the projects that we worked on over the years. Basically our applications were developed using VB.NET, VB6, Avenue, and some basic HTML. I have been looking at programming positions for months now since I knew my appointment ended in Jan, 09, and like you say, they want you to know every language in the book, and not just know them, but be proficient in them. Not only is my skill set limited, but I am too old; I am 55 years old! So I have been programming for something like 15 years, but because I don’t know a vast suite of languages, I am useless in the IT field. These companies today want the whiz kids who can do Java, C#, C++, etc. in their sleep.

So, I am at the point where I am about to forget getting back into IT and try to find a way to afford going back to school and retraining in some other field, because I am getting nowhere applying for programming jobs. I have not even been contacted for an interview, let alone offered a position. I have not been unemployed in 25 years, and things really do not look good right now. Good luck in your job search.

jobs are hard to find these days, too many seekers. I went for an interview last August after the company I was doing work for 5 years died. I had maintained their ecommerce site which was java based, yuck. I wish it was php. Anyway they hired me on the spot for a php job which was great, but they wanted to pay crap. I was promised a conversation with the company owner so we can renegotiate salary, but he was always too busy. After 2 days of waiting to talk to him, I just quit and went to Lebanon instead for about 3 weeks. When I returned I got a short term project which is still going right now.

Funny thing, I never got a job in programming through an interview, resume or any of that none sense. It was always someone I knew needed someone for something or they knew someone in another company that needed so and so.

Mahmoud that is the best way to get a job is through someone you know. I agree with Mona on the programming jobs bit. They want everything but the kitchen sink. I’ve looked at the big laundry list that some of these employers want. I personally think the I.T. field sucks. Where else can your skills become so quickly outdated?! Imagine what recent grads from computer science and what not must feel looking at some of these job postings and thinking there is no way in hell I will ever meet those requirements!

Mona you would have been better off having entered another field of employment. Nursing and healthcare is the place to be right now along with any other government job. That seems to be the only thing booming right now government jobs. Where else can you get job security and a 3% pay raise every year while everyone else in the private sector is losing their jobs or taking pay cuts? It is too bad the baby boomers get all the well paying secure government jobs and we young people get stuck permanently with these stupid low paying contract jobs.

Sapphire, you are quite correct with regard to the health care field. That area will continue to grow, especially since us over the hill (boomer) folks are getting older.

As I mentioned earlier, I have been looking for a while now for some kind of programming job, but the clock is ticking and I do need to find a job soon, so I am seriously looking at possibly retraining in a health related field. I have several good, and not too expensive options close to home for that kind of training.

Heck, I don’t even have a degree in computer science. I learned my programming skills on the job at the university as our particular research projects required. With my limited skill set, I pretty much feel there is no way that I am getting back into I.T. at this point. Time to move on. Maybe that is the silver lining for me here. A chance to step out into new territory for a few years and learn something new until I can eventually retire.

One requirement for a lot of Dev jobs is interpersonal skills – so redundant!

I think the issue with dev jobs is that a lot of people can score positions as devs; its not too hard to get through an interview and tests, but its that factor of fitting in with the company culture + software whish is critical. Obviously it is a hit and miss on whether the right person is selected for the job, but it is quite an area to get into with “limited” experience