I have never seen much in the way of messages from other S2KI members whose hitech jobs have evaporated in this economy. I lost my IT Mgr. gig last Nov. 1st after a painful slowdown at my employer. Fortunately i was an Auto Mechanic for years and and Electrical Eng. and so I am now out of Computers and working for a major Newspaper doing electrical / electronic / mechanical repairs to equip ranging from battery powered fork lifts to giant printing presses (think lots of ink )
Happy as can be to be earning a living wage even if it's less than before and not having to part with any of my toys.
Heres to any other S2000 owners still in the same boat and Please use this thread to say something about your situation as networking is the best way to possibly help get a gig or blow off some frustration.

Ross

 

ross, glad to hear that you found a job and didn't have to sacrifice too much other than previous salary level.

 

We just got word yesterday they are forming a committee to weigh the benefits of outsourcing our IS department.

So I may join the ranks of the unemployed.

It reminds me of the Office Space movie. You have to interview for your job. But in our situation, they'd outsource the entire IS department, around 200 people.

 

I been out of a job for over a year now thanx to the dot com demise. I was enjoying my time off till unemployment ran out. Now I am freelancing from home. The only upside is I can take my S out during the day and cruise around =).

If anyone in the Westchester NY area is hiring drop me a PM. Im a jack of all trades.

 

ross, congrats! Having been laid off twice now, I know the feeling of impotence My latest was back on October 8th, so I'm pushing 4 months now. I have a potential lead from a former officemate, but that lad has been dragging on for over a month now...it's like pulling teeth to get a call/email. If anyone needs a DSP Firmware Engineer with a lot of experience in imaging/video apps, I'm your man. Looking in the 48 state mainland area + Hawaii (with relocation )...Alaska is just too friggin' cold.

You probably haven't seen too many posts here inthe open forum as most try to keep their posts in the local forums. Imagine how many posts we would see out here in the main forum if every posted here...

 

I've been out of work since last April.

Lost my job within weeks of buying my S and having our first child. Company went out of business.

I loved staying home and being Mr. Mom but I'm ready to get back to work. I've been in Distribution/Project Management for the last 15 years. Still looking for work here in Louisville but would consider a move to SC, NC, or TN. If you have any leads please let me know.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by thunderchicken
[B]We just got word yesterday they are forming a committee to weigh the benefits of outsourcing our IS department.

So I may join the ranks of the unemployed.

It reminds me of the Office Space movie.

 

well, i'm employed now and after checking out the job market last night, I know I'm really lucky. Very very lucky to still be employed. I just have to cross my fingers and know things always work out for the better, no matter what happens.

 

Sorry 2 hear the news. I am definitely going thru a reality check with this new gig. From beautiful offices and white color work sitting on my ass to wearing a mechanics uniform and standing all the time working in an extremely dirty (much worse than an auto shop) environment.
I have started sending angry letters to internet job ad's offering rip off low ball salaries.
I actually got a good reply to one cause the replier said that mine was the most "civil" f the replies and why wasn't it such a good deal and wasn't it better offering some scumbag low ball offer to thew poor people out there than nothing at all. I sent a nice business like reply from the other side! Here is the conversation Btw and here's the original ad.
Job requirements:

Must be able to lift up to 50 pounds

Analyze software/hardware problems and setup classrooms

Deploy/maintain/troubleshoot corporate systems

Monitor enterprise/classroom servers

Administer virus scan software

Administer backup software

Provide software technical support to customers

Communicate with software/hardware vendors


Qualifications:

RESPOSNIBLE and ORGANIZED.

Ability to maintain a high level of professionalism and attention to detail

Must have excellent communication skills

2+ years of experience maintaining/deploying/troubleshooting PCs in a corporate environment. Setting up/ monitoring Windows NT/2000 server, MS-SQL 7/2000, Active Directory, IIS and Exchange server


This postion pays between 30K to 35K DOE and qualified applicant may take up to four MCSE classes per year free

Ross,

I'm looking for an entry level systems analyst. You don't think 35k plus up to $8500/yr in education is not a fair deal? I'm curious because others have sent such emails, which were way worse to say the least.

Is offering a low paying job worse than not hiring someone at all? My good friend whom was making 60k during the boom is now working at the customer service desk at Lowe's. I'm sure that pays less and does not offer any education. Technical skills need to be used to stay sharp you know.

Good luck to you because I now know how hard it is out there. I have almost 200 responses in 24 hours. Most are over qualified; ex director of telecom, senior sys admins, etc. I personally suffered a 20% cut in pay two weeks ago.

Anyway, your comment is appreciated.

Take care and thanks,

HR

My reply
Fortunately, i have found a job and fortunately it is not in IT. As an electrical engineer and former auto mechanic I am running the electrical / electronic / mechanical repairs for a major newspaper. Its dirty and more physically demanding (think ink!) but is paying twice what you are offering for example. Otherwise I might not have had the nerve to get angry at a possible employer. When I see ads offering insultingly low wages while asking for skillsets that are way beyond entry level I think I see employers taken gross advantage of the economy and it makes me mad.Technical skills don't need to be used to stay that sharp. There is nothing that is rocket science about business computing. After 20 years of it, I may never go back, but then I turned down a stable 6 figure salary with an economy proof job in SF 2 years ago to work for a small software company close to home that lied to me in the interview process about how well they were doing. I think the job u were offering was worth at least in the high 40's. Do u know that the post office with good federal benefits and job stability is offering 45k to auto mechanics and 48 to electronic techs? What good is your education to someone trying to make ends meet. I have friends who are much more educated than the courses you are offering who can't get work. The paper oem degree's (cne, mcse etc.) don't mean too much in this economy. Most companies take the short sighted approach of paying as little as they can and end up paying more by having to retrain someone new over and over again.

Hope that gives you some of the view from the other side.

Sincerely,

Ross Elkins

 

Good for you, Ross.

Best of luck and thanks for sharing your story. Very interesting, indeed.

(And makes me grateful for my job, even though the environment at work makes Office Space look like a dream!)