State of the job hunt

Hello,

I have been 7x Certified and used my bench time since my contract ended to upgrade to 8x but was far too busy interviewing to make the final hop to 9x.

Here is my assessment of the job hunt for Oracle DBA's. Certification seems to be worthwhile as I was picked out of 500 resumes for my new job. My contract ended on Dec 23rd and I have been all action without traction ( unless I wanted to live in New Jersey ) until now. I had two job offers yesterday and took my favorite pick. I did not attempt to play one off the other for a sweeter deal. Its very slow out there and I think 2003 is not the year for counter offers. The 2nd one was telling me to go ahead and ask for more, now that I had an offer in hand the 'shoe was definitely on the other foot' he said. But it was not my first choice and any package improvement could not change how I felt about the location so I considered their 2nd offer for a short while just to give it the attention it was due.

Despite spending an enormous amount of time interviewing and preparing for interviews the hire cycle is mind-numbingly slow. Further I suspect some companies never intend to actually fill a position, its free consulting for them to bring people in and ask them for ideas on solving their toughest problems.

If your not thrilled with your job right now I would recommend 'tolerance' until next year.

14% of IT workers are on the bench.
33% with jobs said this year they intend to find a better job with less overtime.

So if you quit you will be competing with 47% of the people in your line of work. Companies can afford to be incredibly picky, its like being at a an all-you-can-eat buffet and not being particularly hungry - your going to look everything over pretty good before you make your decision.

B

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Originally posted by BJE_DBA

14% of IT workers are on the bench.
33% with jobs said this year they intend to find a better job with less overtime.

So if you quit you will be competing with 47% of the people in your line of work.
B

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The 33% are not to be added to the 14% but compare to 86%.

So I'd say that would make you competiting againt 42.38% ( 14 + (33*86)/100) of the total and not 47%... reassuring, no ?

:)

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Originally posted by BJE_DBA

Here is my assessment of the job hunt for Oracle DBA's. Certification seems to be worthwhile as I was picked out of 500 resumes for my new job.

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Great, congratulations!

Denver, was this somewhere in Colorado (sorry I am European)? Can you really find certified people in Colorado is my question? You know the proverb about the "kingdom of blind people"?

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Originally posted by julian
Great, congratulations!

Denver, was this somewhere in Colorado (sorry I am European)?

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You're saving grace is you're not French...

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Can you really find certified people in Colorado is my question?

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To borrow from FMJ:
There's only two things that come from Colorado, Steers and Queers. Which one are you boy?

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Originally posted by yanban
The 33% are not to be added to the 14% but compare to 86%.

So I'd say that would make you competiting againt 42.38% ( 14 + (33*86)/100) of the total and not 47%... reassuring, no ?

:)

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Yes my math was a bit sloppy but far more dramatic no ?

:D

You can now find Certified Cisco women in the Afghan so why not Denver? Yes I live just outside Boulder CO and its beautful and sunny ( 70 ) once again. Mostly barb-wire fence companies for all thoses steers such as Sun Mircrosystems, Raytheon, Qwest, Level3, Corporate Express and Gateway Computer to name the usual suspects.

Also I thought that line was from Officer and Gentlemen and not Full Metal Jacket ?

Yes people seem to be requesting Certifications and of course mine is emblazened in red and black at the top of my resume.

But I wont stop there I am also CFI,CFII and MEI - anybody know that that is ?

:D

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Originally posted by BJE_DBA

Also I thought that line was from Officer and Gentlemen and not Full Metal Jacket ?

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You got me there. I should have consulted the great yoda...

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Originally posted by BJE_DBA


Here is my assessment of the job hunt for Oracle DBA's. Certification seems to be worthwhile as I was picked out of 500 resumes for my new job.

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Did the companies with whom you interviewed make favorable remarks about OCP?

Well there is a great deal of technical quizing. It would seem that a cert and 3-15 years of experience gets you passed the gatekeeper. Lots of jobs now request a cert in the posting. Others are requesting security clearance which filters me out.

The only thing they have not asked for thus far is "Must have authored at least 2 successfuly IT books". :D

With so many resumes you are hoping you get noticed and then carry yourself on your technical depth and story telling ability. Of course you cant know everything so you as much as they are hoping your experience closely matches their needs.

My formula got me a lot of calls but still its tough to make it all the way down the line through 3-5 rounds of cuts and still be standing - sometimes the company was laying off by then so it was a hollow victory.

CFI - Certified Flight Instructor ( by FAA )
CFII - Certified Flight Instructor Instrument ( by FAA for airline flying )
MEI - Certified Multi-Engine Flight Instructor ( by FAA )

All of the above require a commercial pilot license

So I am stuck in IT because aviation, my other skill is obviously in the dumper, my father just lost his retirement with a little company you may have heard of United Airlines.

Its a rough world right now.

My experience has been that more and more companies are asking for a college in Computer Science. The part of flood of avaiable candidates comes from the fact that IT jobs do not have a formal certification/degree requirement[like to practice enginerring you do need an Engineering Degree plus license(some countries)], this makes number of applicants multiply. You can have no qualifications and take some training and there you are in the line as a candidate of job ... some even 'multiple' copies of resumes. This whole thing changes dynamics of job market so much. Many employers are skeptical
of resumes and makes hiring managers job more difficult.