ADvice to someone who has skills from on-job-training but no college degree?? (employee, degrees)

[loves2read]

My son who is early 40s found out today that his team (9 people plus their supervisor) were being cut--
Going to outsource their work to India or Bangalore--someplace where it is cheaper even if they don't understand nuanced English idioms...
They create visual/audio media for educational software--have to write content and do voice overs as well as create the media
company sells to public and private schools and has arm that sells to colleges...
He has MA in English w/BA in secondary education--double major in English and History
Taught for few years but it was not good fit for him
Went back and got degree in Masters in Creative Writing--thought he would get PhD but he was too old by then and not at prestigious enough university--he should have taken a more business oriented degree--like curriculum design or something in adult training/education where he could have merged his creative and interactive skills with the education background...but the Dept was selling that dream to lot of their students to keep their numbers up...unfortunately...

He has skills--based on his past reviews with this last company before today he seemed to be well-regarded---
Got promotions (now Media Producer I think and had couple of people under him so some management duties but he didn't really want the management side when they offered it)
and raises---and everyone was cut--not just him---

In the real world, how tough is it to get interviews or hired when you don't have tech degree but you are doing a tech job??

[charlygal]

He's already proven he can do tech work. Some job ads will specify an IT degree and some will just want any degree. On his resume, have him list the degrees but not the major. They can ask at the interview.

[move4ward]

Degrees are for the entry level jobs and internships. He doesn't need a degree, if he has a experience.

Half the people on my teams had no MIS degrees, but the had jobs in IT.

[SVTLightning]

Originally Posted by move4ward

Degrees are for the entry level jobs and internships. He doesn't need a degree, if he has a experience.

Half the people on my teams had no MIS degrees, but the had jobs in IT.

I agree!!! I have never been to college and never had a problem getting a tech job. (knock on wood haha)

[loves2read]

I used poor heading--
He has a Master's degree in English--and a secondary teaching degree w/double fields in English and History for his Batchelor--so he has college degrees--
Just nothing in a tech field....

Any recommendations for sites dealing in tech jobs that are better than average---
Any recommendations for best ways to construct a resume
Does he need to clean up his Facebook page--nothing stupid like drunken images of himself but he is anti-Trump in a big way
Should he look for ways to connect with tech groups -- professional groups-- to make contacts

I don't know if his job qualifies as an "IT" job vs maybe something more creative--
he created interactive web designs for educational software vs stuff like trouble shooting systems or setting up server farms

[move4ward]

Originally Posted by loves2read

I used poor heading--
He has a Master's degree in English--and a secondary teaching degree w/double fields in English and History for his Batchelor--so he has college degrees--
Just nothing in a tech field....

Any recommendations for sites dealing in tech jobs that are better than average---
Any recommendations for best ways to construct a resume
Does he need to clean up his Facebook page--nothing stupid like drunken images of himself but he is anti-Trump in a big way
Should he look for ways to connect with tech groups -- professional groups-- to make contacts

I don't know if his job qualifies as an "IT" job vs maybe something more creative--
he created interactive web designs for educational software vs stuff like trouble shooting systems or setting up server farms

He needs to clean up his Facebook. no politics, sex, or drunken images. If he is in a small town, it will be difficult. There's not much he can do except move. If his metro area is at least 800k people, it's a world of difference.

My favorite site for tech job discussions are www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions . It has plenty of job discussion for web designers not just computer scientist.

I get almost all my jobs from LinkedIn. When he starts interviewing, former co-workers will remember him from his profile picture.

Some former colleagues will hit each other up on LinkedIn every 1-2 months for lunch or happy hour. It's good to find out if their teams are hiring. You can give send the resume through LinkedIn to them to forward to their manager.

He should set up his profile to make sure recruiters know he is available. Here are some instructions that I send to friends, when they wanted to get recruiters contacting them.

Desktop Browser Only (Instructions do not work in mobile or the LinkedIn App):
1) Make profile visible to everyone.
2) Enter in all your skills(software, hardware, etc).
3) Set Job Seeking-Let recruiters know you are open to opportunities to "Yes."
4) Update career interests with location preference, company size, job titles, contractor/full time. Contractor is nice, as you may get some nice long term contracts. Client company will often give a little more flexibility on guys that are short of all the requirements. You don't get the same breaks for perm position.
5) Set Data Privacy and Advertising-who can discover your profile to "Everyone".
6) Set Communications-Basics-Who can send you invitations to "Everyone".
7) Set Communications-Basics-Messages from members and partners-Allow others to send you InMail to "Yes".
8) Check Privacy-Blocking and hiding-Blocking for list of people blocked. Make sure you really want to block them and prune the recruiters that may have been locked on accident.
9) Remember to take a a clean looking head shot for photos. You don't have to be a model. No mean mugging or Zoolander faces. Have a smile.

[loves2read]

Thanks--
Good advice
He lives in Dallas TX so large enough area but his wife is working for this same company in different department--her job for now seems fairly safe--she is going to lead a long-term project and apparently her boss (who was very pro cutting my son's team) likes her...
No chance for son to work on the content side even though he is definitely qualified for that work because of the animosity factor...
But I don't think relocation would be an option unless it was a superior opportunity--
They have no kids but his wife has been dealing with serious health problems finally diagnosed as bad/prolonged case of SIBO---she has had to take health leave or work from home in past year but she has been very lucky she does great work and her boss apparently likes her well enough not to hold the absences against her (so far)...
I worry for them both though--needless to say--in such a competitive, cut-throat job market

Our daughter is married to guy who has had his own issues with unemployment over past 3 yrs and is working now for recruitment firm in Sarasota FL area. They do comb Facebook and other social media sites for background info on applicants for the companies they are working for--
So will suggest they discuss how to clean up his on-line presence

Regarding physical appearance--and I know this is asking w/o any photo to judge from--
My son had developed alopecia likely because of cancer treatment when he was a child--
No recurrences of the cancer (knock wood) but he has issues like no spleen...
The doctors think this is auto-immune reaction from some of the chemotherapy side effects...
He really has no other health issues that are unusual for someone his age--
he is height/weight appropriate, takes blood pressure medication but think that is about it--

He has lost his eyebrows, can't grow facial hair (and he used to keep a mustache/beard when he was younger) and has lost a good deal of hair on his head---
He was talking at Christmas about maybe just throwing in the towel and shaving his head
I know that first impressions can be so important in getting a toe-hold in the interview process
Is there any way to judge if he would improve his chances by doing something dramatic like shaving his head?
Having no eyebrows does make an impact in his appearance but don't really see a way around that...

[LesLucid]

I swore I'd never end up in sales, worked in labs for 12 years as a biologist. I ended up in sales (microscopes and digital imaging equipment). He knows the front end of educational software it sounds like so he could look at companies that sell that sort of stuff. I was considering patent law when I left the lab but figured I'd just try sales for a bit and that I'd probably come out ahead financially even if I didn't like it. I ended up staying with it until I retired.

[jade408]

Why tech job? I work in tech. I do not have an engineering degree. I work in marketing operations. Some marketing teams have content creators. Some companies have training and enablement teams that create content for internal teams and employee development. Every company has product marketing which looks for writin and project management skills. With a side of communication.

There are loads of “tech” jobs outside of engineering.

[loves2read]

I didn't mention "engineering" --
I was referring more to IT I guess since he has done interactive web design since getting his Masters
But no certifications or degrees in that area...