#ExperiencedITJobseekers #JobSearch #CareerAdvice #ProfessionalNetworking #ResumeTips #ITJobs #TechRecruiters #CareerDevelopment
Experienced IT jobseekers, this is your time. Whether you’ve been looking for a while or you just started, you have to go hard NOW. The IT job market may have been rough, but there’s a window of opportunity coming in Q1 of 2024, when budgets will be approved, projects will be greenlit, and headcount will be increased. Now is the time to step up your game and make the most of this upcoming window of opportunity.
### Create Specialized Resumes
– Tailor your resume for different IT positions such as Sysadmin, SRE, and DevOps, as they each require specific skills and experiences.
– Use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) format to showcase your achievements and skills effectively.
### Apply Strategically
– Utilize popular job search platforms such as Dice, Indeed, LinkedIn, and ZipRecruiter to apply for positions where you meet at least 60% of the qualifications.
– Optimize your LinkedIn profile to highlight your skills, experience, and achievements, as it has become an essential tool for job seekers.
### Skill Enhancement
– Take up the cloud resume challenge to showcase your cloud computing skills and stock your GitHub with impressive projects and code samples.
– Consider pursuing certifications such as Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA), Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE), or AWS Professional to demonstrate your commitment to continuous learning and mastery of relevant technologies.
### Engage with Recruiters
– Reach out to technical recruiters and establish a rapport with them, as they often have early access to job opportunities and can effectively advocate for you with hiring managers.
– Leverage the professional networks of recruiters to tap into potential job opportunities before they are even posted.
### Professional Networking
– Attend industry conferences, enroll in relevant classes at community colleges, and participate in career-oriented events such as hackathons or Capture the Flag competitions.
– Join community groups or online forums focused on IT and technology, as they can provide valuable networking opportunities and insights into potential job openings.
In conclusion, the upcoming window of opportunity in Q1 of 2024 presents a crucial time for IT jobseekers to proactively pursue new career opportunities. By strategically customizing resumes, applying for relevant positions, enhancing skills, engaging with recruiters, and expanding professional networks, experienced IT professionals can maximize their chances of securing rewarding job opportunities in the IT industry. So, seize the moment and embark on a comprehensive job search strategy to make the most of this favorable period. The clock is ticking, but the opportunities are abundant for those who are prepared.
Wow, you just told me everything I could be doing to take my career to the next level. But dang man that’s a lot of stuff.
Is it ok if I want to do these types of things at a slower pace and not try to do them all at once?
How do you judge if a recruiter is trustworthy? Are they all paid? Or do they work for some third party?
I appreciate you, thank you. I’m on it!
What’s neat for me is part of this is integrated into my personal 2024 plan already. Going for the AWS-SAA around the beginning of March, then the RHCSA by/around summer.
Then in the meantime I will be building out my homelab with a focus on servers, linux, and then orchestration, then more I’m sure.
What sucks is beyond my degree I only have 19 months professional experience. I want to make my way *towards* cloud roles but I know that will take time. I feel like I need to jump to a big company to get the enterprise firehose because the current 70 user small environment is plateauing my interest, it feels like I’ve conquered things here and there isn’t much room for upward growth
I’m impatient lol. I wanna move up! Hoping this year is the year I find a new opportunity.
No pressure, guys!
Thank you I was getting the same vibes too its time to go hard
Currently the market now and just starting to see it. I have my resume and LinkedIn up to date and have been doing an extremely aggressive job search and been having more and more recruiters reach out to me lately with 3 interviews this week alone.
I have my Masters in cybersecurity, CCSP, CISSP, CKA, and RHCSA. I am currently working on OSCP and might grab the AWS security specialty cert. It is go time 🙂 Kubernetes Platform Architect is something I have eyeing or go deeper infrastructure for Cybersecurity tools. I am looking for community and open source ideas. I have thought about hosting mirror sites.
If you’re experienced, then you probably don’t need help finding a job. The only people having trouble finding a job are people who are new to the industry. I’ve yet to meet someone IRL with experience who is having issues finding a well paying job.
The notion that “OMG clock is ticking!” is silly. A ton of organizations have fiscal years that don’t follow the calendar year. Not only that, but people switch jobs all the time.
How do you reach out to a recruiter? Do you have a preferred template that you use?
>Lastly you have to step up your professional networking efforts. Go to conferences, take a class at a community college and use their career center, join a discord or a cert study group, volunteer for an open-source project or attend a hackathon or CTF comp. Community groups like NoVA Hackers and Dallas Hackers have made people’s careers.
As much as people like to push this type of advice, it’s never once helped me. My best results come from keeping in touch with the good people at each job. It’s helped me build a very large network. This doesn’t really apply if you’re looking for a first IT job though.
Great call, the little FAANG division of ~30 I work in has posted 6 jobs since Jan 1 and the internal mailing lists are flooded with job postings again after months of dead air.
I’d add ensure someone good has reviewed your resume. There are so many terrible resumes coming in.
I am def seeing lot more roles open up recently compared to last year
Nothing outright wrong with any of the advice, but I just hate hustle culture, grindset sh**. It might work for you, but not for most people here. They’ll just burn out and quit IT altogether. We should encourage a healthy sustainable pace and daily effort over this. Also, anyone reading this, go live your life. Work is work, there will always be more skills to learn. Have some balance, get some rest, have a nice meal, learn to step away from the computer. These things are much more beneficial for you and your career than any of OPs advice.
>Experienced IT jobseekers, this is your time. Whether you’ve been looking for a while or you just started, you have to go hard NOW
Gee, why would I have to do that and do it now? I’m employed and have been continuously employed for almost 9 years now, and spanning 3 different employers back-to-back without a break. You know something I don’t?
Not a bad idea. Further movement upwards by mid-level people can create vacancies which need to be filled by entry-level. Filling those roles would create vacancies in entry-level, which widens the bottleneck in entry-level at the moment.
I got my deploma in informatics devolpment and started working with a company as an it specialist 8 months ago, this is my first job Also low salary i do most of it tasks in company gaining some experience but i really want to develop my career i also have a loot of free time because mostly I don’t have too much work so I’m just sitting on my desk just scrolling social media and i don’t know where to start
Love this post. Every fucking person in this sub needs to see this and understand it. Success takes work. IT isn’t a job where your one education and a couple friends will carry you through the future.
Excellent points, OP.
Yeaaaaaaaaahbut….Employers enforce the catch-22.
Employer: “You’ve been working 5 years as a junior, we can’t hire you as a senior”
[Candidate shows skills of senior level learned by self-learning and going above and beyond at the job.]
Employer: “Nope, we don’t see a thing here. Your job title is junior, it is impossible for you to have senior level skills.”
>Create a few different versions of your resume for sysadmin, SRE and DevOps. No, they’re not the same.
Lol this is entirely job dependent. My ex was a “DevOps Engineer”, but 90% of her tasks were that of your standard SysAdmin. I’m an SRE, but most of my current tasks fall under DevOps. There is no one size fits all for this, but neither are the definitions standardized across companies.
>There’s going to be a window in Q1 of 2024 where budgets will be approved
I don’t know about other organizations. But the one I work at had their 2024 budget approved and spent back in August.
We are now starting on the projects that money was spent on.