Roanoke...what's up with this?? (Hampton, Lynchburg: jobs, housing, moving to)

[j1n]

My friend (in real life), ChristieC, posted on here about "why she's leaving Roanoke". Her husband (my old and close friend) has had his resume out since Jan. Nothing. He's in IT, a great guy, super-consciencious and responsible, impeccable resume, etc, etc.
They love Roanoke, own a home in Vinton, and have family in the area. They are actually feeling squeezed out by the lack of jobs!
Whats up? Anyone got any leads??
(SeanPecor...I hooked him up with roanoke dot gov to see if anything happens there)

[CosmicWizard]

j1n

Perhaps the IT guy needs to revise his resume to better accentuate his skills and experience. When I was living in Va Bch 18 months ago, I sent my resume to just a few places in Roanoke and they all called me in for an interview. At the time I was applying for positions in VB & SQL programming.

regards...Franco

[ChristieC]

Hey j1n!
Yea this is really unfortunate circumstances. I believe it is the type of employment we are looking for. Blue collar here is great, anything industrial is easy to find, it is white collar for young professionals that is scarce.

As for...

Originally Posted by francowell

j1n

Perhaps the IT guy needs to revise his resume to better accentuate his skills and experience. When I was living in Va Bch 18 months ago, I sent my resume to just a few places in Roanoke and they all called me in for an interview. At the time I was applying for positions in VB & SQL programming.

regards...Franco

He has done EVERYTHING possible to get a job here. Changed the resume 3 times at least to see if he just needed a new format. It just isn't happening. The question is...did you go to the interview? Did they offer you a job? If they offered it to you was it absurdly low? He has had a few interviews that went well, second interview, and then, 'sorry went with someone else".

He is on every job forum, He has been getting the tech newsletter since January. Oh, and he is using an employment agency. Really, it is confusing.

[seanpecor]

Has he talked with Stuart Mease? Stuart could offer up some leads, he knows alot of people. Touching base with Stuart could even get some cogs unstuck with certain folks and garner your hubby a callback.

Sean

[Mahdiya]

I left Roanoke for lack of a job.

Roanoke was much nicer than Lynchburg.

Though I do like my job here in Lynchburg very much.

[j1n]

Originally Posted by seanpecor

Has he talked with Stuart Mease? Stuart could offer up some leads, he knows alot of people.

Sean,
I passed along that info to him...turns out he had already registered there and actually met Stuart Mease. Still no leads.
This is a frustrating situation for my friend. Actually it is a frustrating situation for us too, as the lack of IT jobs and the discrimination that they are encountering directly impacts us too. We are looking to move to that area, and these are our friends there! They are really the only folks we know there, and I'd hate to see them moving away as we are moving to the Roanoke area! My wife is pretty sold on the Roanoke area. I'm at about 85%. But without these folks there, my percentage drops.

[CosmicWizard]

ChristieC

original post: ChristieC

He has done EVERYTHING possible to get a job here. Changed the resume 3 times at least to see if he just needed a new format. It just isn't happening. The question is...did you go to the interview? Did they offer you a job? If they offered it to you was it absurdly low? He has had a few interviews that went well, second interview, and then, 'sorry went with someone else".

Based on my impressions during the interview, it was obviously NOT what I was looking for, so I made it clear that I was no longer interested in the position.

regards...Franco

[ChristieC]

I could see that. A few "IT" interviews he has been to were completely admin jobs like filing, and spreadsheets. woo.

[CosmicWizard]

"IT" is a vague, broad term that actually says very little about the specific type of employment you are looking for. Try using more descriptive words like Database Administrator, Programmer/Analyst, Network Engineer, Web Developer, etc.

good luck with the job search.....Franco

[jballa]

I'm from Roanoke, own a home near Natural Bridge and was forced to abandon it all when I lost my job in Lynchburg but took an UNBELIEVABLE job in Hampton Roads.... thing is housing here is so outrageous I can only afford a shack in the ghetto for $200,000. crazy huh?

So 6 months later I'm still looking for a good mech. engineering design position in Roanoke b/c theres not a lot of opportunity there to get back in the area with a >$60,000/yr position.

All I can say is that in my case, experience, qualifications, resume, education, or references DEFINATELY are not the problem.... just the area.