5 Things You Must Know to Land an IT Job

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It’s the same in most fields, but particularly acute in Information Technology: You need experience to land a job, but you can’t get that experience without a job.

 

In today’s tough job market, employers can be really choosy. They’re swamped with resumes overflowing with IT experience, so why should they pick you, a college grad with barely any experience?  Here are five things to know to beat the odds:

 
More Training & Certifications are No Guarantee. Adding advanced level certifications won’t replace the need for hands-on work experience. The same holds true for advanced training. Certifications and training should supplement what you know and become a tool you can use, but they're no guarantee in securing a job. You should at least know about MS Access and how to properly format a hard disk. The lesson here is this: don’t spend too much time and money on advanced certifications and training before you know where you’ll be working in IT. 

Hone Resume/Job Interview Skills. Learn to fully exploit even part-time IT positions you may have held while in school. Also leverage any school IT projects you led or were involved in. Sharpen your interviewing skills with colleagues, instructors and potential employers. Learn and polish until you become a super salesperson selling you as the product. 

Network Like Mad. Go to job fairs, seminars, trade shows. Introduce yourself to as many working IT professionals as you can. Print up some business cards with your name, phone, email, and similar professional organizations to which you belong. Nothing fancy, just black & white on basic card stock. You can get 500 of these for about $20.  Hand out the cards to every working IT manager you meet. Ask for their business card and send them an email reminding them of your conversation. They’ll connect you with a face and note that you’re looking for a job. If something opens up in their department, they can either wade through a stack of faceless resumes or call you in for an interview. My guess is, they’ll call you in.  

Shoot for Tech Support. Opportunities abound in all areas of IT, but tech support and similar areas seem to have more opportunities for newcomers. Unlike trying to get into more complex applications, tech support is a great way to get hands-on work experience. Look into internships—paid or even unpaid. Once you’re in, you can branch out and move up. 

Start with a Small Company. Your chances of landing an IT job are better with a small company. While they may not have the big pay and perks of a big firm, they can provide the hands-on experience you need to move up. Small firms and startups need talent, not prima donnas. If you’re willing to start from the ground up, maybe share a cubicle and settle for a starter’s salary, this is a smart way to go. 

It’s a catch 22, but you can beat the odds and break into IT as a gainfully employed professional. As my father used to say, if you want a job, you need three things: preparation, persistence, and personality. 

Image by Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot / www.freedigitalphotos.net
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  • Martin G
    Martin G •
    As an experienced IT/IS professional with over 20 years in the industry I can safely say to new IT grads stay as far away from support roles as possible.  Better to take the programming skills you learned in college and apply them to entry level work.   So far as certs, I was around BEFORE they started and IT/IS was far better than it is now.  Too many HR folks copping out to Certs and using them as an excuse to NOT READ RESUMES.  Frankly, having taken some of the classes (there are exceptions) the info isn't necessarily applicable to real world situations.  Make sure that if you need to certify for your employer that he/she is willing to pay for it.  You'll find that you can quickly rack up further debt from the various certs MS, Cisco, Comptia, ITIL, Oracle, etc.  Try to SAVE YOUR OWN $$$ and get the employer to invest in you his/her greatest asset.At the end of the day outsourcing, lower wages, and competition are making IT/IS Support roles unattractive even if you have all the experience and Certs in the world coupled with a Bachelors Degree in IT/IS or CS.  Don't wast your time on support, apply the programming you learned in entry level positions, trust me you'll be far happier and more stable.
  • Will D
    Will D •
    I find the comment "catch22" to be for me the most accurate quote. I'm an unemployed IT professional who has been unemployed for 6 mos. Companies today are hiring here's the "catch22" they want to compensate you by paying you at a minimum salary of $12 to $ 20 hr. I don't know of any responsible adult with family who can survive off such a salary that's the "catch22" I've encountered.
  • Michael E
    Michael E •
    Excellent advice. Thanks for taking the time to write this article.
  • Alex Kecskes
    Alex Kecskes •
    Thanks for all your comments. They help readers get a grasp of what's happening out in the trenches. I know things are tough out there. But if you can network and connect with working IT pros, it can give you a leg up in landing that job you want.
  • Tatjana
    Tatjana •
    I do not think you are being Harsh. However, I do feel that many company's reap what they sow. Because of the lack of loyalty companies have shown to its employees there is now a lack of productivity and loyalty from the employee to the company. In addition to creating a test for prospective employees to take i would highly recommend following up on their sources of recommendations I would also contact former employers to find out how they performed while there. With respect to showing loyalty to the employee. Employers should offer incentives for business brought in by an employee either in the form of bonuses or additional time off. Employers should also take charge in getting their employees training on how to bring in business. not everyone is proficient in sales or in networking to increase name brand or product recognition. If you want better employees then train them to be better employees. If you treat them like a number or a pay check they will act like a paycheck.
  • john
    john •
    I fully agree to the content of your article because my situation mirrors what you indicated.I went back to school to further my education thinking that it would an advantage, and one year later, I have not found a job nor called upon for an interview.I am enrolled in a four year college to continue IT education, but I have to reconsider my decision, why saturate myself with knowledge when there is no hands on experience. It does not make sense.Thanks for allowing me to breathe.John
  • Terry K
    Terry K •
    This article is so right on from my past position.  I started out as an Engineering secretary and ended up a Database developer and administrator.  As they believed in me, I was more successful.

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