Relocated to Austin - Looking for IT Work

Hello to all,

My husband and I relocated to Austin earlier this year. Fortunately he has secured employment, but I have yet to find work in IT. I have about 10 years of product / project management and business analysis experience and am struggling to find an opportunity.

I am doing some independent contract work here and there, but really need to find full time work (either as an employee or a contractor). Since I am new to the area, I would really appreciate some advice / guidance. Are there recruiting agencies, local organizations or forums you would recommend?

Thank you!

Christina

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Comments

softwarejanitor's picture

There are quite a few

Submitted by softwarejanitor on Mon, May 18 2009 - 11:19 AM.

There are quite a few recruiters on the forum. Don't feel bad, as you've noticed the market is really bad right now so it probably isn't you or anything you are doing wrong, there just are very few opportunities and lots of people competing for every one. Hopefully things will level out sometime next year and we will get some idea of what the new IT job market normalcy will be.

ag98byas's picture

Thank you! I appreciate your

Submitted by ag98byas on Wed, May 20 2009 - 8:26 AM.

Thank you! I appreciate your feedback. I will take a look at the recruiter forum.

johnlogic's picture

Welcome to Austin, and

Submitted by johnlogic on Thu, May 21 2009 - 7:30 AM.

Welcome to Austin, and welcome to the club! There are many good people looking for work right now.

I recommend getting more education and networking like crazy. (Fortunately, you automatically get some of the latter with the former.)

This is a major college town, so it's safe to assume that most employers seek at least 4-year degrees for any job, to the point it could soon become a qualification for even waiting tables and washing dishes. (I have 7 degrees, and the regular full-time job I've found in Austin since September 2001 was in Dell's factory, which is now closing; I love Austin, but if I don't find a decent job soon, I'll likely abandon Austin next month.)

You're already on door64, so you have a great start to the networking part. Next, check out the Launch Pad Job Club, which meets on Friday mornings.

Good luck with your search!
- John

softwarejanitor's picture

Unfortunately, there is an

Submitted by softwarejanitor on Thu, May 21 2009 - 2:17 PM.

Unfortunately, there is an old saying around here... "Austin has the best educated waiters in the world". And it is even more unfortunately, incredibly true. It is not uncommon at all to find that waiters and bartenders around town have Masters or even PhDs. It is even more common to find service industry staff around here who are currently working on advanced degrees. Part of that is just normal for a big college town (and there are few bigger than Austin, with UT one of the largest public schools in the nation plus Texas State so close, as well as multiple good sized private colleges in the area such as St. Edward's, Concordia, Southwestern, Huston-Tillotson, etc., but in Austin it is deeper than that. It is such a great place to live for so many other reasons that many people would rather squander their talents by working a crap job in Austin than move somewhere else. That sort of pressure makes the job market here very tough for candidates and great for employers. It is too bad more companies don't realize it and relocate or open branch offices here. A few already have like Borland, for example. But others like Dell seem to be stupid enough to walk away just for the lure of easy tax breaks in cheaper locations. Although as many bad things as I've heard about Dell being hell as an employer maybe despite the short term pain Austin will be better off without them.

ag98byas's picture

I already have my BBA in MIS

Submitted by ag98byas on Thu, May 21 2009 - 7:35 AM.

I already have my BBA in MIS and have been considering pursuing my MBA. I will certainly strive to network as much as possible. I'll check out Launch Pad Job Club as well. Thanks for your feedback! I appreciate it.

johnlogic's picture

UT and St. Edward's have

Submitted by johnlogic on Thu, May 21 2009 - 7:04 PM.

UT and St. Edward's have good MBA programs. (I earned my BBA from St. Edward's.) With the local job market so soft, this is a great time to go back to school.

Also see the similar Moving to Austin - My Job search/networking quandary thread.

- John

stevec's picture

PhD and former flower shop

Submitted by stevec on Fri, May 22 2009 - 6:30 AM.

PhD and former flower shop floor sweeper here.

Downturns are good opportunities to gain additional education. St. Edwards also has a Masters of Science in CIS degree. It is similar to the MBA/MIS with the marketing, hr, accounting classes replaced by more in-depth IT courses (security, data mining, web programming). As noted above, they are also very good networking opportunities.

Good luck,
Steve

threew's picture

If you would like a couple

Submitted by threew on Fri, May 22 2009 - 8:01 AM.

If you would like a couple of names and contact information for local recruiters -- highly professional, high quality -- please let me know. You can contact me by email through my door64 profile.

The local PMI chapter is a good resource and they have a LinkedIn Group as well.

William W. (Woody) Williams
Senior Project Manager
Software Development, PMO, IT Governance
door64 Blog
enweave
LinkedIn

ag98byas's picture

Thanks everyone for your

Submitted by ag98byas on Fri, May 22 2009 - 8:12 AM.

Thanks everyone for your guidance. I will take a look at St. Edwards master degree programs and the local PMI chapter. William, I will send you an email for those contacts. Thanks again!

matt's picture

You may be interested in

Submitted by matt on Fri, May 22 2009 - 8:20 AM.

You may be interested in this upcoming first-ever meet-up, the "door64 Startup Gang":

http://door64.com/event/n/10069