CoffeeCommando

Anyone have any recommendations on looking for jobs? I've been using Monster, Career Builder, but I am sure there are other sites and other ways besides the iNet to go about it.

Thoughts?

Bugout4x4

What do you do?

EZEARL

+1
Where abouts are you in Fla?

CoffeeCommando

Central Florida. I'm in Polk county, about halfway between both Tampa and Orlando in Winter Haven.

I have historically done IT since I went in the Marines in 2003. I got out in 2011 and went to afghaniland as a contractor for another two in the IT realm, then did 1 more stateside. I just finished another year here locally.

I really just want something that will allow me to have free days during the week. Part time, full time that works on the weekends, it really doesn't matter what the job is in particular as long as it's around 10 or more an hour. I'm not being picky. I am angling to have the free days during the week so I can work on finding local businesses with commercial fleet vehicles I can install hydrogen generators for until it becomes prolific enough I can leave the part time job.

I want to make simple setups but I have a high performance application I want to sell as a complete DIY installation kit for citizens that want a noticeable amount of power for around half the cost of a supercharger kit (around 2.5K, and that's factoring in a $700 alternator).

Bugout4x4

I'll do a little Polking around. Found one for myself already working on garbage trucks and heavy iron. lol

EZEARL

CC,
I'll forward your info to my son in Orlando. He's a survey manger among other things for a company involved in the I4 project.

CoffeeCommando

Simple splendid! I've been reconsidering looking at areas near the Orlando area given the paucity of things in my own neck of the trees.

OldTires

Indeed dot com seems to have good listings.

Rogue4x4

I'll be straight up here, I never had any luck posting or responding to online jobs..
I was recently unemployed for several months, and got a tip from a teacher that a local business was looking to hire soon, so I went down there, took my resume, and talked to the owner directly. He explained to me their contracts for the new work were still in the approval process, and he'd keep me in mind, and to check back with him in a couple of weeks. I did. Kept going back until I was offered a temp position to prove my worth. I'm now on payroll.

What I'm getting at, is it shows initiative by going in person. They get to see your face, and it shows you genuinely want the job. It makes more of an impression than just a piece of paper or pdf on their screen.

Find local companies that do what you're looking to do, and show up. Talk to them, relay what you're looking for, and be patient. Perseverance pays off.

Bugout4x4

This is very good and wise advice. Even working through a temp agency will land you a full time job in no time. You work a few different places and then one of them will want you back again and offer you a full time position if your work ethics are superior. And they use a resume of skills that you fill out to place you in temp work.

The temp agency trick works very well because most big companies now have a practice of actually hiring through a temp service rather than directly. Even if you have a personal contact that can help you get in the company and make sure you are hired, most big corporations make you sign up and work through a temp agency for the first month anyhow.

I had a system when I was out of work. I would ask around to find out where the bosses in a certain line of work would meet for breakfast every morning, because they do indeed do this to talk shop over breakfast. I would be there waiting and strike up conversation for a few days in a row and then I was in like Flynn.

investinwaffles

I work in IT but am "between jobs" (aggressively unemployed, enjoying some time off, LOL)

There are a LOT of jobs in Tampa for IT, and in my opinion, there is a need almost everywhere for good competent systems administration.

What specifically in "IT" do you do? Sysadmin, Networking?? Those are going to be two fields that you should be able to find easy work in.

Tampa has a HUUUUGE amout of DOD contractors, like a ridiculous amount. If you have previously been TS/SCI clearance for IT, you will jump to the top of the stack because they favor people that have a government history - but most of those are going to want FULL TIME employees only. Not sure about the Orlando market to be honest.

Indeed is generally the best for IT jobs, Glassdoor also has lots of postings.

The tough part is finding somewhere that wants either contract or part-time work only. The Reddit Sysadmin group also has lots of job postings, but they aren't location specific and posting a resume is probably not going to yield too much response (but is still worth a shot).


EDIT: (rambling a bit here...)
IT is a bit different than most fields - we already have to operate with minimal resources so hiring is a difficult process (generally IT is in SUPPORT of the company's primary business - unless you work for an IT or technology company)
Pre-screening is huge as are pre-requisites. Training times are long and complex - and wasting time training a potentially incompetent employee, while you are already stretched thin from an employment perspective is both a waste of time and potential security risk. The best way to get a shot is to be very confident in your abilities, and portray that confidence during training. Don't talk too much - don't make promises you can't keep, and don't ask too many questions that don't require specifics about the environment - google you way through and pretend you are a savant and it has gotten me pretty far. And I have zero formal training in IT - I am just a huge computer nerd and it comes naturally to me.

First time I moved a huge stack of EMC VNX 5500's it was in the middle of the night and I was completely alone in a data-center. Definitely could have set myself up for failure, but I was confident and didn't freak out at every minor glitch, and all the prod systems were up and tested well in advance of opening hours. Usually I learn the most from failures, but you want to avoid that as much as possible, and learn a "little" from a lot of of successes. Same goes for the first time I needed to restore a cluster of Exchange servers from backup - production servers, no safety net, completely on my own. I guess I might be lucky, or have a knack for computing, but I definitely learned alot about proper Exchange setup during that ordeal. The worst is Cisco hardware though, they do their best to hide as much of their documentation from the public so finding exact syntax and steps can be a pain in the ****

CoffeeCommando

My last job was from in-person networking as well. I also have never had any luck with iNet postings, although a company looking to send me around the US finishing off doing some imaging updates for the USAF contacted me and had me go through their signing on procedures. I was under the impression I still had a secret clearance from working with the government as a contractor. I just found out that if you haven't had your clearance actively used within 2 years of your last activity it goes into archive which makes it inactive, and you have to undergo the re-investigation processing (which usually costs the company 10K and it takes a few months as I recall). I think they lost interest after that although they said I could still do it at a reduced pay. They haven't been responsive since I finished their security questionnare so I'm guessing that's a no-go now.

I've never had a TS/SCI unfortunately. My job never required it. I've been reconsidering looking into Tampa. I like to drive so it wouldn't bother me making trips there. I had to work with personnel over the phone with troubleshooting interconnectivity issues from Afghanistan. I think they were at McDill AFB.

Sysadmin isn't my background. Networking administration and telecommunications specialist are my backgrounds, and I've done 8 months of voice over IP system development for a project to field and replace the analog phone switching systems in the Marines. I wrote the troubleshooting portion of the class. I left for personal reasons and came back down to Florida.

Although I have studied CCNA and worked in that position as if I had the certification I never did get it. Knowing it was enough for me and I never needed it previously since my performance carried me along.

I've been searching forums, search engines and the Microsoft tech articles on how to fix problems since 2004 when I first came into the Marines. One of our instructors told us how to use the event logs on Microsoft's web site to find clues to problems to point us in the right direction and it's stuck with me ever since.

I haven't had trouble with Cisco products personally, although they do hide things like the fact that some of their fiber modules are actually compatible with other non-cisco products. You can't find that out from the command line, you have to have an account with them as a certified Cisco fill-in-the-blank to be able to find that out. So you have to know the command from memory to apply it. Actually one other time while in Afghanistan we found out their 4 port VWICs module was capable of only supplying a 48V VoIP power source to two modules, or 4 24V phones. Anytime we tried to use more than 2 phones they would constantly reset. There are always some odd nuances about hardware no matter who the manufacturer is. I encounter that stuff a lot more than most since the technical control MOS in the Marines is taught how to integrate different standards and vendors' hardware. Fabricating custom cables and spending 2 solid months of doing nothing but troubleshooting inserted errors from the instructors is part of the training and final test. If you can't troubleshoot you don't pass. That job field has only maintained 30-35% of the alotted manpower because that few, who reenlist from a prior communications background (a requirement), can't manage it. You learn several job fields as well as your own, set up giant networks that are all interconnected, then they tell you "x" is the symptom of the problem and you have to figure it out. You have to be able to remember everything they've ever taught you since the beginning of the course in order to make it through. That's why there was a 28K reenlistment bonus for passing the course.

CoffeeCommando

You sound like an old pro. I have heard good things about temp-agency'ing here in our particular area. I have heard it goes exactly like you just said.

I haven't been out physically going anywhere since I've been without wheels since the first week of December. It sucks. Once I get back on the road I will be glad.

My gym sounded ecstatic to have me on board but the owner never contacted me to set up an interview. I'm guessing he saw my prior work history and canned it due to the over-qualification principle. The managers were concerned about it but I talked with them about how I only wanted a part time'ish job to cover monthly expenses while I worked on developing my side business for the next half year. I guess they want someone with less background that will be there for at least a year. After listening to a podcast on The 48 Laws of Power from the writer I've come to realize that being over-qualified is typically an excuse used to cover ulterior reasons. Generally people become afraid that you will become a threat to their position, whether that's a real possibility or not. People don't like to look bad and being out-shone by someone is something that can keep you down, especially in the IT field (at least in the Marines). I've always been good at being a team player but that only takes you so far when looking for a new job and people don't know you. 1 of the only 2 guys at the last job I held was subtly one those types of characters. It became more apparent when someone else with a long history of IT got hired at another company we worked with closely and a bunch of degrees and certifications. He had nothing but negative things to say about how it was all paper. I don't like being around people like that. If that guy took the time to have all of those certs on top of degrees it isn't because he's faking it. You don't go out of your way to learn all of that just because it seems like it's a good way to make money, you have to intrinsically be interested in that type of stuff to take the time to self study and pay for exams. A $1500 CCIE exam isn't something you just casually go for because you want to make money. Almost no one passes that on the first try so it usually costs $3k to get.

Bugout4x4

Here's the misconception about Temp agencies. A lot of folks let their ego get in the way and consider a temp agency as a place where illegal aliens or destitute homeless folks go to get work. "Day labor" per say. "Temp agency" = "Walmart" to some egos.

Well it is... But it is much more than that. Many high skill and high tech industries also use temp agencies to temporarily fill a much needed placement because they need someone "right now.. tomorrow." Until they can advertise and Interview potential employees to fill that spot permanently.

Well guess what... If you are the one the temp agency sends you are actually now in that position and personally showing your skills. The idea of not having to run an ad and interview anyone else is VERY advantageous for them and most times they just end up hiring you instead.

I had the hardest time getting one of my son in laws to go try this. After the first day in the first job he was hired permanent for a very good position in a good company and they paid for all of his future training and certifications and it turned out to be a very good job.

I myself hired on as a commercial driver through a temp agency and ended up with a full time position running a maintenance shop for Waste Management within a month, the largest garbage company in the world and it was still one of the best jobs I have had yet.

A temp agency sticks your foot in the door of possible employment without first going through the whole resume interview process. I know at least 50 people who tried this after I suggested it and they all have great jobs now. And it doesn't even have to be IT, you can list what you are willing to do.

All you do is go fill out a skills Q&A form and they call you when something in your line comes up, you can take it or not but the more you turn down the less they might call you and the more chances you might miss of landing a position somewhere.

But yes, you would have to be running and ready to go when they call as you know.

investinwaffles

Quick ramble here, but I am starting to look for jobs so I thought I would throw some of my thoughts in here

I'm only recommending to stay in IT because obviously you have a background and aptitude for it which makes jumping from technology to technology pretty easy. And honestly, I am mostly familiar with general systems administration (which involves pretty much everything, include network/security) and haven't really looked exclusively at network/security positions in a few years.

To be a good sysadmin, you are going to need a pretty high level of Windows Server and all its roles in a domain environment. Hard to do unless you get a low level position and move up from there (which is what I did), or spend a ton of time building a virtual lab which again, is tricky without real daily users.

Networking is easier to get experience in IMO, because the Windows side is more convoluted, confusing, often times compartmentalized in large organizations - whereas networking to me is a bit more straightforward and you can even map it in real life to help with visualizing how it is setup or how to accomplish a specific routing task. Less caveats and weird conditions. Less backing stuff up and having to restore when **** hits the fan....

I have mostly been private sector consulting, which is basically a Sysadmin for hire. Great way to level up skill wise, but brutal because you have to constantly troubleshoot stuff you are seeing for the first time, with minimal background. In-house always gets some sort of yearly budget, but when you are consulting, you basically need to "convince" the client to spend money which can be tricky. I usually just swagger in, give them an in-depth technical explanation acting a bit bored, and when they say "we don't want to spend any money", I just counter with my reason for the recommendation and that I don't really care what they do in the long term, because it's not my data/infrastructure. Then they usually say, "OK, lets get all of it done. How fast can you get it done??".

Networking is so much simpler, lol. Less red tape. Not as expensive (as say, servers and storage) and you get to just do what you are paid to do. Stay with networking, lol

I don't have any major certs right now - most of my colleagues did but even without them, I just like to be the best but do it humbly. I usually downplay most of it and when you are working with a team of other sysadmins, they all know that it was a hard night. Acting humble about it makes it seem like you are even better at what you do and makes people have even more respect IMO. Getting a job without certs is much harder unless you have 5+ years and good recommendations. Even then, you always need to say "oh yea, I plan to get my [whatever cert] shortly". I guess they are good for the company, but personally I am not going to remember all the useless stuff they make me learn, and I learn better on the fly anyways. I do think I am going to get my CompTIA Security+ because it is one of the DOD compliant certs for TS/SCI,, but I looked through the curriculum and it is mostly written for people just getting into networking and is hard for me to read.


I have no clue how to find temporary/part time work for networking though. Unless you are at a high level, then contract work is really easy (I know a guy that contracts with Cisco and makes tons of money flying around and doing onsite work about 8 months of the year). And you are pretty much going to need a cert unless you are working strictly on help-desk level stuff (which might be worth looking for because its easy and at least pays money)