Is Atlanta Really that Bad???? (Savannah, Druid Hills: apartment, condos, home)

[TakeAhike]

Thanks again. New to the forum, and I'm really appreciating the friendly help![/quote]

I am a very limited user of Technology.

I want to know 'What' is going on with the international hacking.

Just read an article on Drudge about another incident.

CNN/AP---@2006--cursory nod to posting FAQ's--time consuming to C&P--cannot discuss certain topics unless there is a way to reference articles. Assume the Hacking has contributed to disabling of links at CD and it has messed up my computer since last week--or something has...
I have had 'enough' technical experiences and Need to Know when there are 'Problems' beyond anyone's control..

Hackers hit key Internet traffic computers
POSTED: 4:34 p.m. EST, February 6, 2007
Story Highlights• Hackers hit computers that manage Internet traffic
• Vast amounts of rogue data traced to South Korea
• Attacks passed largely unnoticed by most computer users

Thanks--for any insight.

sls

[AK123]

I lived in Austin throughout the 90's and just think it's overrated. Surprisingly, I've talked to several other people who moved there from somewhere else and agreed with me.

And if it's culture you want, Austin is pretty limited on that... most of it revolves around the university scene.

[AK123]

People say ATL lacks culture, but it seems to have much more culture than Orlando, Tampa, or Houston.

Don't know about that. I would never group Houston in with Orlando or Tampa. It has the 2nd largest theatre district after NYC, top-notch performing arts, and only 3 other cities have more fine arts musuem space. Museum of Natural Science is one of the most visited in the country, and traveling exhibits from overseas (i.e. Dead Sea Scrolls, Russian jewels) only come to a few U.S. cities with Houston often being one of them. And only two other cities have more foreign consulates. In those ways, many would say Houston would be above Atlanta.

[gt6974a]

Well, as a software programmer myself, I wouldn't say Atlanta is a great IT market. It's decent but not great. I'm trying to find a new job now and it's not nearly as easy as it was straight out of GT 4 years ago. I'm actually having a hard time and I have BS from Tech in CS, 5 years experience, Microsoft and Java certs.

Most companies use recruiters/head hunters. You're constantly competing with several random applicants, the recruiter/head hunters just throw anyone and everyone with a resume at companies. Most companies are very picky and specific in the skill set they demand. You pretty much need to be an expert in everything and anything and have the work experience to back it up.

Basically, they all want Senior developer skill set but want to pay mid-level wages. Not sure how far out of school you are but if you're new with little or no experience there are even fewer opportunities.

The influx of Indians hasn't really helped the situation either. They are visa sponsored workers and work for far less b/c of it. I'm not bashing the Indians here, it's a fact.

Many companies outsourced their programming b/c of costs. But most have realized they aren't really that productive or saving money. So they are starting to bring the work back. But then again, they have the visa workers here they can hire.

I've read the same articles as everyone else, about how Atlanta is a great IT market, adding jobs, etc. But as I look it's not nearly as easy as they make it sound.

I'm not trying to discourage you but be aware. I'm personally going back to get my MBA to get out of development. It's just not as cool as when I was in school.

[gt6974a]

Originally Posted by AmbitiousProgrammer

As far as the Atlanta vs Austin in IT industry, I don't think it'll matter too much. At this point in my career (1yr profession experience), I don't think I would be disappointed with either city IT-wise. I am looking for a non-contract job that's involved in physical technology, robotics, science, engineering, or something Google-like.... if that makes a difference.

Just for the info though, I did a search the other day on Dice for available jobs in both ATL and Austin.

Here's the break-down:
---------------------------Austin----------Atlanta
"Software Developer":-------20---------------37
"Software Engineer":-------- 49---------------89
"Programmer":---------------57--------------161

Just read this, before my previous post.

With one year it's going to be hard, I wouldn't put a time limit on when you think you'll have an offer.

The best site for getting a developer job in Atlanta is going to be www.computerjobs.com

Careerbuilder second

Dice third

hotjobs 4th

monster 5th

The last two are pretty much useless.

Most jobs in Atlanta aren't the cool elaborate jobs like you mentioned. I'd love to have those myself. 99% are going to be a database applications. Healthcare, insurance, finance jobs are big right now. Google has an office here but good luck getting by the 100's of resumes they receive a day.

[LLD]

Very interesting GT. As a side note, you can't go wrong with an MBA these days and technical experience. Lots of jobs for that skill set -- business plus technology experience.

I have several colleagues in the Atlanta area and I've been talking to them about the job market. It seems decent to me but then I'm a senior person with 15 years experience and a grad degree. I haven't investigated the market for new and mid-level job hunters.

BTW, to you and the original poster, Google has an engineering team in midtown and I think they are hiring. From what I understand, they don't deal with outside recruiters because they already get tons of resumes as you might have seen in the news lately.

[LLD]

here are two meta job search engines that I find are very useful and they search all those sites you mentioned gt6974a:

www.indeed.com
www.simplyhired.com

And you can easily restrict the search to the Atlanta area.

[gt6974a]

Originally Posted by LLD

Very interesting GT. As a side note, you can't go wrong with an MBA these days and technical experience. Lots of jobs for that skill set -- business plus technology experience.

I have several colleagues in the Atlanta area and I've been talking to them about the job market. It seems decent to me but then I'm a senior person with 15 years experience and a grad degree. I haven't investigated the market for new and mid-level job hunters.

BTW, to you and the original poster, Google has an engineering team in midtown and I think they are hiring. From what I understand, they don't deal with outside recruiters because they already get tons of resumes as you might have seen in the news lately.

guess you wrote that as I was editting my post about google

what kind of work do you do?

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by jxu66

Just want to correct something OP said.

Atlanta does NOT have stronger IT industry than Austin. Atlanta is ranked around 15 in term of IT, not very high at all. What Atlanta has is diversity economy. It is not prone to up and down like IT cities like Austin or Dallas.

Most IT jobs in atlanta are located in northern side of town, Dunwoody, Marietta, Alpharatta, midtown and Buckhead. It is very spreadout. Atlanta does not have big IT center like what Austin has in Round Rock or Telecom Corridor in Dallas.

Of course, it's also important to differentiate between "jobs in the IT industry" and "IT jobs". Most medium-to-large companies are going to have some form of IT department, even if it's only to manage stuff that's been contracted out to specialized IT firms, and some of those positions can be a lot of fun.

I worked for both Unisys Corporation and Northwest Airlines in the Twin Cities as a programmer/analyst, for example. The first job was part of the "IT industry", while the latter was not, but the latter position (writing/supporting in-house software used by NWA flight operations) was far more challenging and more technical in nature than the one I had at Unisys (writing/supporting software used by paying clients I almost never talked to).

[LLD]

gt6974a -- check your private messages