Unable to find suitable work.

Homer J Simpson

Hello,

For the last 8 months I have been working as a labourer on a building site to pay the bills. This is not by choice. I have an honours degree in IT & telecoms and 10 years of IT\Telecoms experience supporting both LAN's & WAN's.

I currently live in Cork and have said I will relocate to anywhere except Dublin. Besides my degree as of yet I do not have any other qualifications such as CCNA or MCSE (Currently studying for my CCNA).

I have applied for over 25 positions in this period for positions ranging from Helpdesk support to Field Engineer positions supporting telecoms networks. Some agencies have said I'm over-qualified for Helpdesk positions whilst others decline to interview me for telecoms roles as they say I do not have enough relevant experience. I have managed to have 3 interviews 2 of which called me back for 2nd interviews. They however cancelled the 2nd interview as their employee decided not to leave his position for a finish.

Can someone give me advice as to what I should do next? I am at my wits end and fear that if I continue working as a labourer I can forget ever working in the IT\ Telecoms industry again.

Regards,

Saruman

Do you not make more money where you are now?

Unfortunatly Dublin is the powerhouse of the economy so if you will not relocate to the place where most of the jobs in the country are located... then that is your choice and it seems you are finding out how difficult it can be.

Just for the laugh, include dublin in your search for work and see if you get any offers... If so then you can dismiss them if you like.

the_syco

Tough one alright. Apart from dumbing down your CV, I can't think of much.

Why do you hate Dublin so much, though? Have you tried looking around the outskirts of Dublin? Places such as HP, Intel are in Leixlip, there's a few places in Maynooths Business Park, thenfurther out, there's Wyets (spelling?) in Newbridge, check out Naas Industrial Park...

And half won't be on the "big" sites. Surf around, email a few CV's off, and go from there.

As for lack of certs, it depends what you're trying to get into. Some may see experience in a better light than certs.

Raskolnikov

Did you look at Trend Micro's offerings in Cork? What about VMWare? Some crowd called are advertising for a job that looks right up your alley here?

Your story only confirms to me what I've already found in my personal experience of job hunting in the IT sector. It stinks. The key is to not lose heart. You have to keep firing out the CV's and when you get the interviews; maintain your professionalism. You'll get the result eventually.

the_syco

Oh, just thought I'd add something: was working in a cinema before I got the current job. Was sending CV's off left, right and centre for my last 4 months there.