UNIX Systems Admin jobs - are there any? (Albuquerque, Hope: house, job market)

[TheTravellers]

Thinking about relocating to ABQ and been poking around Monster and Careerbuilder to see how the job situation is for UNIX/Linux Systems Administrators and haven't been very heartened by what I saw. Are there any local recruiters (I'm in the Pacific NW) I need to be getting in touch with that would have the scoop? I'd kinda prefer to not work on weapons, been there/done that, but might not have much choice in the matter if those are the only ones around. I'm guessing there might be more popping up after the first of the year (there always are ), but just wondering if anybody does know of any locals I should be getting in touch with... Thanks a lot!

[jombie]

The IT job market in ABQ sucks. The biggest employers are government
type jobs (City/County, Sandia Labs and APS). There are smaller companies
that have occasional needs, but there's very few. Good luck on your search.

[pmurphy4]

You could try IT staffing companies like Robert Half, Volt and TEKsystems that have offices in Albuquerque. It's a little disheartening to see the population to IT job ratios in Denver or Phoenix compared to Albuquerque. It just doesn't add up. You can get 4 hits for say Oracle or Cisco in ABQ (pop ~800,000) and 120 hits in Phoenix (pop ~4,000,000). I'm not local to Albuquerque yet, but my guess is that there is a lot of small town type friend of a friend hiring without the need for national recruiting on Monster or Dice.

I think another issue with ABQ, is when Intel or Sandia Labs lays off hundreds of local workers, it might be hard to compete with them if you're from out of town.

Hopefully some locals will chime in on this thread. I've been keeping an eye on the ABQ IT job market for a while and I'm a bit nervous about it as well. I'm planning to move there next year and I've seen a couple of potential leads, but not nearly the amount I'd expect for a city of that size. I have 12 years in IT, the last 7 as an Oracle DBA, so I thought it I'd easily find at least 15 or 20 jobs available on Monster at any given time, but that certainly has NOT been the case. 1 or 2 or sometimes none.

I've been studying for Cisco certifications lately and I may transition out of DBA work into networking. However, with the job market the way it appears to be, I may have to hold off on the career switch until I have CCIE certification. My only target company so far is Abba, which seems like it is a really great company to be a part of.

Best of luck and keep us posted on how things work out for you.

[pmurphy4]

Even though I'm not ready to start looking seriously yet, I started to follow my own advice about the recruiting companies. I found a forum of people who used Robert Half Technology and I found universal complaints about them lying and being completely incompetent. I think I'll avoid RHT.

I was optimistic because my one and only experience with a recruiter was great. It was a local company with only one office and they specialized only in IT. I'm going to try to find a local recruiter, if I can. Anyone have recommendations?

[TheTravellers]

Originally Posted by pmurphy4

Even though I'm not ready to start looking seriously yet, I started to follow my own advice about the recruiting companies. I found a forum of people who used Robert Half Technology and I found universal complaints about them lying and being completely incompetent. I think I'll avoid RHT.

I was optimistic because my one and only experience with a recruiter was great. It was a local company with only one office and they specialized only in IT. I'm going to try to find a local recruiter, if I can. Anyone have recommendations?

Ouch, unpleasant to hear, but thanks for posting it, I'll avoid them too. But I think I'm screwed anyway due to the lack of IT jobs, so ABQ might not be an option for us since the consensus (from what I've seen as well as heard from others) is just not great on that subject. I have no other skills, so I gotta be a sysadmin (and don't have enough time/incentive to turn into something else) for the time being. Thanks for the responses, looks like it might be the KC area for us...

[yukon]

Has anyone tried sending resumes directly to companies in the ABQ area and not waiting for job postings? I'm in a different field, but I did a direct mailing to employers in ABQ last month and the response was overwhelming. I'm moving there in January and already have a job. And of the many responses I received and interviews I had scheduled, only ONE of the employers had placed an advertisement (which I didn't see and didn't respond to, LOL). I assumed from the lack of job postings on Monster, CareerBuilder and Jobing.com that there were very few jobs in my field, and I was totally surprised to find that was not the case at all.

On-line appearances are deceiving - there is a stronger small business base and job market than the on-line ads would lead you to think.

I guess what I'm trying to say is the ABQ job market seems to be as quirky and unconventional as the people (it's a compliment, ABQ!), so you might want to go to the employers, rather than waiting for them to post their needs for you.

[funkymonkey]

You could have a look at
New MexicoHigh Tech Job Forum :: Matching Job Seekers and New Mexico Jobs

[pmurphy4]

Originally Posted by funkymonkey

You could have a look at
New MexicoHigh Tech Job Forum :: Matching Job Seekers and New Mexico Jobs

CCNP jobs with 3-5 years exp in Phoenix or Denver are $75,000 - $125,000...the two network jobs on the board are in the $45,000 range!? Maybe for junior helpdesk jobs but not network admins. And the combo network admin / CIO for up to $60K ;-) The cost of living in Albuquerque is not THAT much cheaper than DEN or PHX. Are the salaries really this bad in ABQ?

[funkymonkey]

Originally Posted by pmurphy4

CCNP jobs with 3-5 years exp in Phoenix or Denver are $75,000 - $125,000...the two network jobs on the board are in the $45,000 range!? Maybe for junior helpdesk jobs but not network admins. And the combo network admin / CIO for up to $60K ;-) The cost of living in Albuquerque is not THAT much cheaper than DEN or PHX. Are the salaries really this bad in ABQ?

I really couldn't tell you. I noticed the one combined CIO job isn't in Albuquerque though, and is for a college of some sort so I wouldn't base ABQ salaries on that listing.

[Homewardbound66]

Originally Posted by pmurphy4

CCNP jobs with 3-5 years exp in Phoenix or Denver are $75,000 - $125,000...the two network jobs on the board are in the $45,000 range!? Maybe for junior helpdesk jobs but not network admins. And the combo network admin / CIO for up to $60K ;-) The cost of living in Albuquerque is not THAT much cheaper than DEN or PHX. Are the salaries really this bad in ABQ?

It is definitely an indicator of what you'll get for a salary. We moved from Illinois and husband took a job here for $20,000 under what he made in Illinois. We are on a VERY tight budget until son starts school in the Fall and hopefully, I can make some money again. $20,000 is another income and we were only living on one as it was and still is the situation. Food seems to be a lot more expensive here than where we came from, but we can always tighten our belts. We did buy a house and are making ends meet. It can be done, but the move has to be more than about the salary. We have camped and hiked in the mountains. We are on 2 acres with a nice house and we could NEVER have afforded a home with 2 acres in Illinois. Its in the upper
50s today and sunny. I talked with a girlfriend in Illinois and they just got 4 inches overnight. The belt tightening isn't that bad.