IT People Landed a good Job in America

[jessphil 0]

any advice from people who migrated to america who is currently in IT industry landed or found a good job. How did you do it?

any advice what alternative job that I can have closer to IT industry.

[brian_n_phuong 193]

any advice from people who migrated to america who is currently in IT industry landed or found a good job. How did you do it?

any advice what alternative job that I can have closer to IT industry.

CERTIFICATIONS CERTIFICATIONS CERTIFICATIONS !!

and they must correspond to the type of work: Network will require as minimum a Cisco CCNA, and Juniper is hot right now

Sys admin will require some type of Microsoft Cert. And DB folks need Oracle Certifications (or whatever flavor of DB the employer uses)

Dont waste time with Network+ or the other TIA certifications, too generic in the industry and they are not taken seriously.

Be prepared to show some type of experience to back up your claims. There are zillions of college kids witht he same IT degree that will work for minimal pay to get thier foot in the door, and experience along with some certifications will usually beat them out.

[jessphil 0]

CERTIFICATIONS CERTIFICATIONS CERTIFICATIONS !!

and they must correspond to the type of work: Network will require as minimum a Cisco CCNA, and Juniper is hot right now

Sys admin will require some type of Microsoft Cert. And DB folks need Oracle Certifications (or whatever flavor of DB the employer uses)

Dont waste time with Network+ or the other TIA certifications, too generic in the industry and they are not taken seriously.

Be prepared to show some type of experience to back up your claims. There are zillions of college kids witht he same IT degree that will work for minimal pay to get thier foot in the door, and experience along with some certifications will usually beat them out.

Thank you for your reply. This is really making me worried very much because there are a lot of IT people in America right now that are finding Job. I'm thinking of shifting on other areas that are related or closer to IT Industry that will fit my skill set.

[brian_n_phuong 193]

Thank you for your reply. This is really making me worried very much because there are a lot of IT people in America right now that are finding Job. I'm thinking of shifting on other areas that are related or closer to IT Industry that will fit my skill set.

Dont sell yourself out. There are lots of people looking for IT jobs, but most dont have any experience, and many that HAVE experience DONT have proper certifications.

Certifications + Experience = Job.

Do you mind me asking your skill sets. I have worked in WAN engineering and related IT/Telecom industriesfor a long time. Might be able to point you in the correct direction.

To get an idea of whats out there, log into dice.com which is like monster.com, but is oriented exclusively to IT jobs.

Edited November 10, 2011 by Brian_N_Phuong

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Beware of certifications, Everyone pays money for them and most of the high paying jobs want degrees or advance degrees. Too many certificate mills out there that basically teach nothing and hand out sparkly pieces of paper.

[brian_n_phuong 193]

Beware of certifications, Everyone pays money for them and most of the high paying jobs want degrees or advance degrees. Too many certificate mills out there that basically teach nothing and hand out sparkly pieces of paper.

Cisco and Microsoft certifications are verifiable online, a check that most employers do during the vetting process. There are plenty of certificate mills that also pump out college degrees, so that arguement is without basis. That said I have personally conducted over a hundred job interviews over the years, and have seen my share of clowns with advanced degrees that didnt now the difference between a router and a switch. Employers want people who can perform the job WITHOUT sending them to vendor schools that cost tens of thousands of dollars. Verifiable Cisco, Oracle, Microsoft industry standard certifcations provide that assurance to the employer that someone can immediately turn a profit. vs someone with a Masters degree that can lecture them on European art appreciation.

I am doing just fine with my Sparkly paper CCIE certification which required years of study and decades of experience. Those that whine about certifications are those usually who came running to an employer with their MIS degree in hand, but were passed over by some guy with a CCNA/CCNP/MCSE/Oracle cert whom the employer can send directly to work without training and changing his diapers when the network goes down.

[Mark UK 3]

Actually, in certain areas, a certificate is seen as -somewhat- irrelevant, really. IMO, it helps more if you're a consultancy, etc, so your bosses can show off something to a potential customer, though a lot of customers now seem to be wanting to see resumes instead. For instance, I've got 10 years experience as a DBA and simply haven't had time to get my certification. In DBA-land, it's more the experience that counts (especially given some of the situations you find yourself in) than a piece of paper. A lot of people are getting OCA/OCPs but with little real world experience which, in turn, degrades the standing of the certification. I've, personally, interviewed people who have certain certification(s) and then asked 'so what would you do in xyz situation?' and drawn a blank.

Having said that, I'd like to become an OCP/OCM (just to say I am one), but I can't realistically see where I would find the time. Nor the money unless my employer thinks it's beneficial to them for some reason.

But in the context of an immigrant coming into the States and you're trying to get your foot in the door, you're right in that certain certifications are universal and are even better regarded than degrees from foreign universities. I think that's got something to do with the fact there is a lack of recognition of foreign education over here. But that could be just my experience.

[jessphil 0]

Dont sell yourself out. There are lots of people looking for IT jobs, but most dont have any experience, and many that HAVE experience DONT have proper certifications.

Certifications + Experience = Job.

Do you mind me asking your skill sets. I have worked in WAN engineering and related IT/Telecom industriesfor a long time. Might be able to point you in the correct direction.

To get an idea of whats out there, log into dice.com which is like monster.com, but is oriented exclusively to IT jobs.

I have worked for more than 4 years in MS C# .Net programming and some 2years in PHP Back-end Web development.

I'm also thinking of taking some training on Network setup because I have some knowledge on setting up PC hardware and Network by my on self study, I have been into computers for more than 15 years now,

I have a degree in Computer Science but never have a change to take some certification on Microsoft.

You are correct I looked at the dice.com and monster.com most employers looking for people who has certification in Microsoft or CISCO

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

I work for a very large company and just searched jobs in the IT department and every one required a college degree and not one mentioned certifications. We have thousands of IT employees and I have never heard of them putting cerifications above a degree and experience.

[Winning23 25]

Very large companies DONT specialize in IT usually outsource their IT internal projects to third party consulting firms i.e. IBM, Booz Allen, PWC. I consult for one of the largest banks in the USA, and most of the works is by contractors who charge around $250 per hour.

If you want to make a good living by that i mean over 100K a year, go to college and get a degree in Computer Science, and get some specialization such oracle, development or networking and if you are a US Citizen, try to work for a govt contractor and get a clearance which is a golden ticket for job growth

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Large companies do their own IT when they can't allowed other to access the systems. Even the large IT service companies follow the same model. They hire non degreed people to run around and service crashed/damaged hardware and reserve the good ( and well payed ) jobs for the employees with degrees and experience.

[brian_n_phuong 193]

They hire non degreed people to run around and service crashed/damaged hardware and reserve the good ( and well payed ) jobs for the employees with degrees and experience.

Sounds like you have an ax to grind with those that have certifications. I usually find that those type of folks are the one that CANT PASS the exams, so resort to whining about those that have.

As i said before, I am doing quite fine with my CCIE, and you can rest assured that I am well ("payed").

Edited November 14, 2011 by Brian_N_Phuong

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Sounds like you have an ax to grind with those that have certifications. I usually find that those type of folks are the one that CANT PASS the exams, so resort to whining about those that have.

As i said before, I am doing quite fine with my CCIE, and you can rest assured that I am well ("payed").

Actually I have a double BS in electrical and computer engineering and a masters in IT with additional work that would be counted to the Phd should I decide to take it up. Obviously I have no trouble with intaking data or taking tests. I simply stated that my company uses a degree as the minimum requirement to be hired in IT. It does outsource the hardware to an IT service company that hires people that are less qualified.

[brian_n_phuong 193]

It does outsource the hardware to an IT service company that hires people that are less qualified.

It depends on how you define "Qualified". You seem to be very condenscending toward those without college degrees, as if those people are less intelligent than yourself and are geared toward menial tasks. I'll stack my Cisco engineers (some without degrees) up against you any day to accomplish any type of complex engineering task.

Our top Cisco employees are VERY well paid and VERY respected, and in most cases have a higher income than most of the college graduates.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

It depends on how you define "Qualified". You seem to be very condenscending toward those without college degrees, as if those people are less intelligent than yourself and are geared toward menial tasks. I'll stack my Cisco engineers (some without degrees) up against you any day to accomplish any type of complex engineering task.

Our top Cisco employees are VERY well paid and VERY respected, and in most cases have a higher income than most of the college graduates.

And you behave like the typical non degreed person that thinks a few hours of classes and a couple hours of tests is equal to years of training and hundreds of hours of testing. I have 2 relatives that work for cicso as degreed engineers and I know what they get paid , the answer is nope they don't get better pay.