IT industry NYC or Charlotte? (Greenville: job market, university, income)

[Tia4545]

Hi, I'm new to the forum so I'm hoping that I post this in the right location. I am in the Systems and Network support industry. I recently moved from NYC to Greenville, SC to be close to family. Prior to that I lived in Miami for 8 years. I never had issues finding work in either one of those places, so it never occured to me that I might have issues in SC. Long story short, after 4 months I'm currently answering tech support calls for Verizon Wireless. So, I'm leaving SC. My employer in NY desperately wants me back, and it was great work, great money... but I absolutely hate NY. My brother lives in Charlotte and I've visited and love it! I just don't want to turn down the opportunity to go back to NY if the IT job market in Charlotte is not good. I'm A+ and MCDST certified and I'm currently working on my CCNA. I tried companies like Teksystems and Robert Half when I moved to SC and I was not impressed. I don't know where to look, what companies are reputable, what to do??? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[diertac]

That's interesting that you are having such a hard time finding a job in SC. I have always felt that network and IT work is like the "plumbing" of business. You should be able to get on in any industry, as all companies have networks and IT.

In Charlotte, a lot of the IT work is concentrated with the banks. For networking, you can also try Time Warner Cable in the area. I had a job offer from them once, and I do network project management. EMC has a small office in the University area, mostly sales-based, doing networked storage support. It's a little different from networking but the same basic principles are everywhere. Lowes is also based out of the Charlotte area. Duke Energy is too, and might have some networking jobs.

Go to Monster.com or a similar place and search and you will quickly find the names of the larger companies here.

Teksystems works with the banks, as does ettain, etc. They may not have impressed you because they just couldn't market your skillset in a smaller metro area. Here they might be able to. DM me if you want me to give you the names of some recruiters in the CLT area.

[ellemaew]

Honestly, if you have a guaranteed job in NYC the last thing I would do is turn it down for a maybe in Charlotte - or anywhere else for that matter. Yes, there are several large/big/huge companies here who need those kind of skills, but there seem to be a lot of people with those skills right now - I saw one person who's been looking for that kind of job here for several months now. As much as you might hate New York, IMHO, you would be better off to take that job until you are able to secure something here. Work with Teksystems (I wasn't too impressed with them either), but there's also Ajilon, Modis, and a host of other smaller agencies. Work with a bunch of them in the meantime, and you'll at least have some income - and maybe some savings by the time you land something here.