[JViello]

Originally Posted by Colossus_Antonis

Good that they're leaving

Here's the problem, J. Of all those folks, only 20% will be pure engineers.

You'd be surprised to find that many of them majored in chemical engineering, civil engineering and other ridiculous domains like Bachelor of Economics, Literature etc. So where's the connection to computer engineering?

Another problem with IT programming, anyone can learn.

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Next conversation, I'll get into what discipline they studied.

For the record, most of the people I have met are decent hard working folks. However, I have to wonder why we allow people to come take American citizen's jobs (Yourself included) when they have no intent on staying and/or assimilating into our society.

I think you know what I mean, when I say the majority of Indian workers here on visa live very frugal, keep to themselves and don't put much into the local economy. It's just a cash grab to take back home to Mumbai or wherever.

Anyway, thanks for sharing.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by oberon_1

Dear girl,
Don't get disparate. It is the same all over US, with maybe a few exceptions. Hartford is no worse then most places. You just tackle real life for the first time. There may be nothing wrong with you, your grades, or your resume. The problem is the current US economy and the fact that most programming jobs were either outsourced, or given to H1-B visa holders. Very few companies recruit new employees and for each jobs there are about 1000 applications.
That however, may change and you need to be alert.
My advice is open your search to include all of the US and temporary contract jobs as well. Maybe something pops up somewhere in DC or on the west coast and you need be ready to move.
Patience is always a virtue.
Good luck with your job hunt.

DC may be a good option for you as the government is still hiring. Also with the census coming up there'll at least be a temporary bump in IT needs in the gov't.

[mlassoff]

Originally Posted by Colossus_Antonis

Another problem with IT programming, anyone can learn.

Umm, Baloney.

If it's that easy, why did we have to bring in all these overseas workers and outsource our programming work to India? Why didn't Americans just "learn"? The fact is its not easy and many don't have the aptitude for the level of analysis and problem solving that computer programming requires.

Now to respond to the OP, I am a corporate technical trainer teaching technologies like Flex, Actionscript, Javascipt, Java and PHP mySQL all over the country. I get exposure to a lot o different job markets and see some contracting and hope in others. I see almost no expansion -- and no training demand in Connecticut. I do see expansion in Washington DC-- especially among government contracting firms who are/will be doing stimulus projects.

I can tell you stay away from: Austin, Las Vegas, Phoenix but you might see action in NYC, DC or even San Francisco... It's tough right now, but will get better. There is still expected to be expansion in the IT/software development sector over the next 10 years and there will be jobs. If you continue to look in CT, look in to public sector IT/programming jobs-- the state university system when it starts hiring again uses developers, as does the state in large numbers.

Good luck and feel free to reach out with a private message if you have any direct questions.

[Slipperman]

"The fact is its not easy and many don't have the aptitude for the level of analysis and problem solving that computer programming requires."

this is true. i do this for a living and it can be challenging but i never considered it to be rocket science. however, it's not for everybody. when i went to Jr college, only about 1/3 of the freshman in my class made it through to graduation. a lot of them just didn't get it. i saw the same thing when i got my 4 yr degree online - a lot of people just couldn't get it and dropped out. it's not that they were all unintelligent, it just wasn't for them. it does require a certain type of logical thinking.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

Umm, Baloney.

If it's that easy, why did we have to bring in all these overseas workers and outsource our programming work to India? Why didn't Americans just "learn"? The fact is its not easy and many don't have the aptitude for the level of analysis and problem solving that computer programming requires.

Now to respond to the OP, I am a corporate technical trainer teaching technologies like Flex, Actionscript, Javascipt, Java and PHP mySQL all over the country. I get exposure to a lot o different job markets and see some contracting and hope in others. I see almost no expansion -- and no training demand in Connecticut. I do see expansion in Washington DC-- especially among government contracting firms who are/will be doing stimulus projects.

I can tell you stay away from: Austin, Las Vegas, Phoenix but you might see action in NYC, DC or even San Francisco... It's tough right now, but will get better. There is still expected to be expansion in the IT/software development sector over the next 10 years and there will be jobs. If you continue to look in CT, look in to public sector IT/programming jobs-- the state university system when it starts hiring again uses developers, as does the state in large numbers.

Good luck and feel free to reach out with a private message if you have any direct questions.

Stay away from Austin? Most of the media seems to think it's the #1 job market in the country right now.

[mlassoff]

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

Stay away from Austin? Most of the media seems to think it's the #1 job market in the country right now.

I live there (at least for a few more months till I move back to CT). I know loads of out of work programmers and many having the experience of several interviews and no offers. Austin is a media darling-- undeservedly so! It is probably true that the economy in Austin has not been as hard hit as places like Vegas, but the programming jobs in town are few and far between. Besides that you're going to compete with 200+ computer science and 100+ computer engineering majors graduating from the University of Texas every year for entry level positions.

[nomore07]

Originally Posted by Colossus_Antonis

So, rather going into IT full-blown, you can use IT as the base and funnel yourself towards the functional side of IT, more into domains, concepts and processes.

I'm talking PMO, project management, business intelligence and reporting. These jobs can never be offshored. And these jobs are recession proof. Despite, the recession I found a job in Denver in a matter of days.

So... everyone should be in a management role? Not everyone has the background or interest... some prefer hands-on work...

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by nomore07

So... everyone should be in a management role? Not everyone has the background or interest... some prefer hands-on work...

And as this economy (and honestly the one of the early 1990s that I entered coming out from a Master's Degree) can attest there certainly aren't management positions for everyone.

[pjsson]

I'm a .NET developer moving from NYC to Connecticut. Don't worry, I will continue working in NYC so I will not add to the competition. Try to network, just sending resumes will not land you a job in a recession with no experience. Try a career fair, CT .NET developers group has one in June: ctdotnet.org

[neo08]

Originally Posted by nomore07

So... everyone should be in a management role? Not everyone has the background or interest... some prefer hands-on work...

I think we have too many manager wanna-be types as it is. If everyone went in to management, who'd do other types of work ( specially tech sector).

Tech sector has exploded with SO Many options (look at microsft alone) with so many technologies and buzz words. I would advise to pick a technology and get a entry level job with it and go from there.

"Never stop learning" even if you have a full time job. I have heard some people read a book a month and learn a new language every year. This is a good idea, considering so many new keep springing up.